When it comes to video games, especially ones with a “certain feel or story” to them, you need to have a bad guy that stands out. Why? First, you want the villain to be memorable, which further ties the player to the game and gives them things to remember. Second, you want them to feel accomplished when they defeat said villain. Finally, if you’re lucky and have the right kind of franchise, you can bank off the love of that villain and keep bringing them back. If you look at The Legend of Zelda, they have been doing that for decades with Ganondorf.
The ”Demon King,” among many other names, stands as one of the greatest video game villains ever. He has taken over Hyrule many times and plunged it and its residents into darkness simply because he wants to rule everything. We’ve seen many physical versions of Ganondorf and his powers throughout many games. But, given the newest game of Tears of the Kingdom, fans wonder if there could be more from him going forward.
The reason for this is that the game is the first time we hear the voice of Ganon speak out, and it is intimidating. Second, while the character is well-known, his personality and depth are typically surface-level. We often don’t see him until the end of the game or in key cutscenes where he makes villainous moves. So outside of his base goals of ruling the realm and getting the Tri-Force, there’s not much we know about him.
In a chat with the New York Times, the series producer, Eiji Aonuma, discussed that there might be more coming from characters in the game going forward, including its villain:
“It’s very possible from here on out that we will be able to see further character development and changes to his personality as the series continues. Ganondorf is an ingredient that we use to supplement gameplay.”
He’s not wrong. Part of what makes the recent release so special is that the Demon King’s resurrection completely changed the Kingdom of Hyrule, giving players numerous new places to go, explore, and have fun in.
But what could they do to make Ganondorf’s story deeper and him more engrossing? Depending on the version of Hyrule and the world, we could see his true rise to power beyond what we typically get. We could also see the connections to the monstrous Demise by which his “curse” was born.
It all depends on what the team wants to do.
