Tears of the Kingdom Community Is Divided Over a Pretty Wild Ganondorf Theory

When Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma revealed it would be The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2014, he said every new Zelda game would be “revisiting the conventions of the Zelda series.” said. Breath of the Wild fully lives up to Aonuma’s promise — at least from a gameplay perspective.

The 2017 game’s story, on the other hand, was much closer to the rest of Zelda’s history: Ganon returns, and Link and Zelda must join forces to seal an ancient evil. , with Tears of the Kingdom on the horizon, some fans believe a Breath of the Wild sequel could destabilize the long-running power struggle between the Triforce’s three main wielders. I think.

Potential Spoiler Warning: This story dives deep into theories about what might happen in Tears of the Kingdom.

Some Zelda fans on Reddit are convinced that Ganondorf could be the hero of the Tears of the Kingdom story. It’s been floating around in the minds of many fans (myself included), but the proper reveal of Ganondorf in the latest story trailer has fueled speculation further.

To properly explain the theory, we have to go back to a key moment in Breath of the Wild. Early in the game, Impa shares with Link his legend of the First Catastrophe that occurred 10,000 years ago. There is an image of a hero wielding the Master Sword and a princess or goddess fighting Calamity Ganon. The main character has red hair, a green body and outfit, both of which are in line with Ganondorf’s official art.

Fans have compared Ganondorf’s appearance to the character on the right side of this mural. sauce: reddit

Initially, A fan drew a comparison The tattered green costume of the protagonist in the mural, Link’s ripped green tunic in an early Tears of the Kingdom trailer. The present after the events of Breath of the Wild and 10,000 years before him during the events of the First Catastrophe.

However, with Ganondorf’s proper reveal, some fans think the traditional Zelda villain might actually be the true hero of events that happened 10,000 years ago. many reddit post It’s theorized that Ganondorf is the one who wields the Master Sword in the mural, possibly taking matters into his own hands to put an end to the Zelda series’ endless reincarnation and his own cursed destiny. .

As Reddit User Must_Go_faster_84 “What if this mural depicts a non-evil Ganondorf 10,000 years ago? was. His resurrection in TOTK is basically Demis possessing the corpses of dead heroes.

Many fans hope that the demise of Skyward Sword will be revived in Tears of the Kingdom.

Much of this theory is also based on events that unfolded in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. His Wii game in 2011 takes place in the first part of the Zelda timeline and explains the origin of the endless rebirth cycle that sees Ganondorf constantly returning to battle Link and Zelda’s ancestors. .

Skyward Sword explains that it is actually the game’s final boss, Demise, who drives these events. Many fans believe that in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer, we’ve found the demise of a mysterious figure with flowing red hair staring directly into the blood moon. It’s possible that Ganondorf is in the process of transforming back to his human form, but the resemblance to Demis is striking.

Kneel and pray This is Hylia and Demis oh my goODDDDDDDDD pic.twitter.com/P0nyUmtGTf

— Amelia (Ames)▴TOTK!!🧚‍♀️ (@Ames_liaa) April 13, 2023

And a mysterious woman who appeared in the trailer. Our first gut reaction was hoping this could be Din, the goddess of Hylia, but fan speculation took things the other way. Believed to be a goddess or princess character depicted in the murals of Breath of the Wild, others attribute it to the goddess Hylia, who first created Skyloft and sealed Demis in the events prior to Skyward Sword. I think it is possible that it is you.

content creator Austin John Plays One of the first to jump on this theory, it has gained a lot of popularity in the last few days. Given that the mass of Hyrule is rising from the ground into the clouds above, Tears of the Kingdom already has a very obvious similarity to Skyward Sword.

There are many fans who do not believe this theory. Reddit user thepurplecubby “I see post after post that Ganondorf must be an ancient hero because he’s red. Literally that’s the only reason. It was absolutely an artistic choice. I don’t advocate it… but… Throw it away. All existing lore and mythology are well established. In the tapestry scene, a warrior wielded a sword that sealed darkness and carried the hero’s spirit. Reddit post It claims that the hero featured in the mural is Link and nothing more.

Indeed, Tears of the Kingdom seems set to address the ongoing reincarnation story of Ganondorf in the Zelda series. The game’s logo itself represents Ouroboros, a dragon that eats its own tail. Ouroboros represents the eternal cycle of destruction and regeneration. Perhaps Tears of the Kingdom will finally end the story of the Zelda series as we know it and allow Nintendo to head off in a fresh and new direction for the franchise’s plot.

Ouroboros logo from Tears of the Kingdom.

Will Ganondorf team up with Link and Zelda to confront Demis and break free from the endless cycle of reincarnation and violence? can be made into an infinite loop? Fans can only guess a few weeks before Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12th.

For more on Zelda, check out Buckethead, the “Tears of Kingdom” character the internet is in love with. And our thoughts on what makes Tears of the Kingdom ready to return to Hyrule.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over 7 years of experience in the games industry and has bylines for IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.