Soapbox: Ganondorf's Villainous Intro In Ocarina Of Time Is One Of Gaming's Best

Not intending this to sound mean but:
"but for those first couple of hours exploring the new 3D land of Hyrule, we could only guess at who this “wicked man from the desert” was."

I mean, really?
You really didn't know that GANONdorf would be Ganon?

@Spider-Kev To be fair, the game doesn't tell you his name, it just shows a guy in a horse in Link's dream. And Ganon never showed up as a human in-game before this point.

I personally think this is still to this day, one of the most memorable villains in any video game. Everything from his appearance to the in game lore about him, sets him up so well as the main antagonist.

Personally still prefer the Ocarina of time formula to the new Zelda games.

@bagajr @Spider-Kev To be even fairer, unless you played the previous games, a newcomer would have no idea who the guy is.

@bagajr maybe, but if you read the blurb on the back of the box, the very first word is Ganondorf…

I dunno, I prefer Ganondorf's intro in the Wind Waker myself.

@gaga64 Honestly, rarely have I met any kid who took time to read the box. Most kids just saw the cover and ran with it.

Ocarina’s Ganondorf the desert rogue is one of the best versions. It’s definitely the version the film should pull from

It helps Ganondorf's villainous reputation that every single scene of his in Ocarina is memorable. In particular, the introduction to the final boss battle's second phase when he emerges from his ruined castle in a rage and uses the Triforce of Power to turn into his true boar form should also be iconic. If there was ever any doubt and if the castle's name hadn't given it away, he IS the boar-like overarching villain of the series!

@Spider-Kev You don’t find out his name until you go to Hyrule Castle. Also Ganon until this game was always shown as a Boar Monster. I always assumed in LttP that he looked like that because the dark world/sacred realm changes everyone but it isn’t until OoT that you find out that he used to be a person and where he came from. The closest hint you had prior to that was the NA manual to LttP but that was NOA doing their own thing.

@bagajr
The box and manual and Nintendo Power and commercials all said it

Okay that's it.
From this moment on Ganondorf shall only be called by the moniker Big G in my house and in any conversation I shall be part of.

I don't know, man. His introduction in Tears was pretty bitchin.

Gandy's the man. You know you're a stone cold badass when your eyebrows connect to your hairline.

It's the second best in the series, but nothing can beat TotK's intro Ganondorf.

Ganondorf was first named in A Link to the Past. In English at least, the name is mentioned in both the manual and by one of the maidens you rescue from a dungeon in the Dark World.

After looking it up: the maiden from the Swamp Palace says "You are the only one who can destroy Ganondorf, the thief-no, Ganon, the evil King Of Darkness!"

I remember playing OoT and thinking the story was the deeper lore hinted at in the backstory of ALttP. My impression from ALttP was always that the evil in Ganondorf's heart turned him into Ganon and OoT told that story in more detail. I've never really cared for the continuity. In my mind, Zelda games are often just the same story told in different ways.

I liked the unseen story in ALttP. I like it when a story or game has deep lore that is not made explicit and leaves much to the imagination. Prequels are rarely satisfying and it's best to leave things unsaid. But I agree, the introduction of Ganondorf in OoT was incredible.

@Moonwatcher Personally, I think Ganondorf peaked character wise in Wind Waker.

Controversial opinion for sure, but he should have retired after that. He's presence in Twlight Princess felt forced, and worse, took away what could have made Zant a memorable villain.

In BOTW, he's just full on rage mode, and ToTk there is barely anything there.

I like G.dorf, however I'd like a new main antagonist. One of things I liked so much about Majora's Mask, is the fact Majora is so unlike Ganondorf in every way possible.

This showed me Nintendo can make a villain just as memorable as Ganondorf. Just as mysterious and just as terrifying. I was very much interested in Zant as a character. But when he got tossed aside, all I could think was "What a waste."

lets not forget twilight princess intro of ganondorf watching about to be executed and then goes full ganon on the sages well the water sage got the worst of his anger before being imprisoned in the twilight realm.

I know we’re talking about OOT here because of its recent anniversary, but…I remember feeling all the way back at launch that Gannondorf was a weak antagonist. Can’t put my finger on it, but it was only AFTER Link made it to the Temple of Time that anything truly evil had transpired, and it was due to Link’s actions…not Gannondorf’s. The final battle was, and still is epic though.

I was more interested in learning about how the Gerudo’s reproduce if only one male is born every 100 years! 😂 Like…how’s THAT work?

He's introduction in Ocarina was good, yes, but the real impression he made for me was the fact that, after defeating the king of evil and escaping the crumbling tower, he was still alive underneath the rubble only to transform into the beast we know as Ganon. I remember the fight being on such a scale that my TV couldn't show the entirety that he's beast form was. The feeling of "this is far from over" always stuck with me and I don't believe any other boss battle lived up to this one.

@Spider-Kev You say that like most players got to see any of those before playing. I remember playing OoT as a kid, I hadn't seen a single commercial (did the game really have commercials?), and my dad had opened the package before I even got to see it. I wouldn't get a Nintendo Power subscription until the late GCN era. I can't imagine I was the only one (and it sounds like I wasn't) who went into the game fully blind, it wasn't that hard in the pre-internet era.

Honestly I don't think I connected him to Ganon either until far later, despite having played the original LoZ a couple times. Not sure I ever learned Ganon's name in that though.

I disagree with Ganondorf being one of the best villain intros. There’s so many more that left me with a memorable impression of the villain whilst doing something interesting with them. Ganondorf is just simple and his intro serves its purpose, yet nothing more.

I really don't mean to sound rude, but we've been getting all of these OoT soapboxes and I just don't see the point. It just seems to me like the writer/writers are, forgive the usage of the term, fanboy-ing at this point. I get that we all have our favorite games that we love to death (I sure do love me some OoT, too), but coming here every day just to see these takes over and over praising the heck out of one game that's nearly 30 years old just seems out of place and a bit self-indulgent to me. I wouldn't mind it so much if it were also other Nintendo games that get praised, since this is a Nintendo website and not strictly a Zelda one. I guess my request would be to give some other series and games from Nintendo some love, heck maybe even some of their 2nd parties, instead of constant OoT worship. The game has a sterling 100 on Metacritic and regurgitating this praise like no one's ever said it before really doesn't do it for me. Again, no offense meant, but just a suggestion.

@Ryu_Niiyama
What if you don't go to the castle right away?
Other places talk about Ganondorf

@Spider-Kev But not his name. That’s the point most folks are making.

Also people enter the series at different ages. If OoT is one’s first (or in my case second) Zelda, one may not get the association. I read the manual over and over for LttP as a child and knew Ganondorf was evil (as the game bluntly foreshadows him) but I thought he was a construct/alter ego like Agahnim (as in Ganon was always a pig monster rather than him becoming one as he does in OoT).

Lore was really sparse before OoT and I still bet that NoA doing what they wanted in the manual forced The dev team to start tying things together. Instead of expecting people to just play the game in the moment.

Would love a best game intro poll.
I still think soul reaver would be top 5? But there are lots of games I haven’t played.

@Ryu_Niiyama
I'm replaying the game, Ganondorf is mentioned by name by a few and I haven't yet been to the castle.
I went from Kokiri Forest to Great Deku Tree to Lon Lon Ranch to Gerudo Valley dropped down to to Lake Hylia then to Kakariko Village.
Ganondorf has been named three times talking to all the NPCs

I was glad to finally see the mentioned human form of Mandrag Ganon from LttP in the flesh in OoT. I knew right then and there this was an origin story for Ganon.

@Oracles_fanboi Exactly. This is why I was critical in their best song from OoT poll for being predictable. Nintendolife staff seem only choose what's popular and it's same thing over and over again.

It would be refreshing if we had some contrarian views, or unpopular takes to make things feel fresh. Everytime there is a poll here, I can predict with nearly 100% accuracy how the list goes. That's just not fun.

Back on this topic, Nintendo has over 30 years worth of things to talk about, but Nintendolife only seems to constantly pick from a handful.

They're doing all these articles about OoT because it's the 25th anniversary, as it says at the top of the article.

@Purgatorium That is true, however none of the articles so far have been interesting.

His ominous introduction is absolutely one of my standout character introductions in the history of my gaming life. I'll never forget meeting him and discovering his evil intentions when I was so little. Those days are a distant memory but every time I am reminded of a video game from my youth, a long forgotten memory reappears and graces my presence. This was another one of those.

@Frailbay30 @Oracles_fanboi The many OoT articles right now has to do with the game, one of the most iconic and beloved of all time, recently turning 25. It's only logical that a Nintendo website would celebrate that.

I actually think his villainous outro is the greatest in gaming: climbing the final castle stairs, the huge clunking door opens to reveal Ganondorf himself is playing the villainous theme that's been accompanying you this whole time on the organ. He keeps playing, building the tension and suddenly pauses, and turns around unfurling his cape in frustration at you, hiding in plain sight the triforce piece he needs for total power.

Just brilliant, let's have that in the live action film please!

The best all time introductions for ganondorf For me its
1: Ocarina of time (best ever)
not only the intro but everything, the story from beginning toll the end.
The curses he placed on many, i felt bad for the Great Deku. Would love to see him being freed from that curse.

2: Tears of the Kingdom.

I also love the Demise part, from Skyward sword, where he is the original source of it all.

What i really miss in Zelda, is where they bring it all together. The godesses (not only hylia) But the source of the Triforce (Din, farore, nayru) where they actually do some stuff lol.
And i want the magic back from Ocarina and Majoras mask, where you go from a young link story again to an adult. I sooo miss that in BOTW and TOTK.
Now its all technology. I want them to mix both stuff. Magic and technology.
(Ocarina of time item, please Nintendo, bring it back) lol.

If I remember right, didn't he turn and look at link when he's peering though the window in the garden?

@Spider-Kev Ocarina was my first Zelda game so I didn’t know anything. And it. was. amazing. 1998 was another great year for gaming.

Nah. I don't really think so. Other games have had better. Even Ganondorf himself has had better. Its pretty generic.

@Oracles_fanboi It's the game 's anniversary.