The Legend of Zelda villain Ganondorf has taken on several unique designs across the games he’s appeared in, and not all of these looks are created equal. As a series that features few direct sequels, The Legend of Zelda frequently puts a fresh coat of paint on its characters. Central figures like Link and Princess Zelda have evolved from 8-bit sprites to sophisticated polygonal models, changing costumes and features many times along the way. Despite his towering status in the series lore, Ganondorf hasn’t received as many iterations, but the ones he has taken on are all memorable in their own ways.
Ganon has been the primary antagonist of the Zelda series since the original NES game, but his distinctly humanoid form of Ganondorf didn’t appear until the series leaped into 3D with Ocarina of Time. Since then, he’s returned three more times in mainline games, appearing in The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess,and Tears of the Kingdom. Ganondorf is always a Gerudo across every iteration and retains certain features associated with his people, but his makeovers are exhaustive in many other ways. None of these designs have been failures, but it’s still possible to order them in terms of their overall impact.
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If anything, Ganondorf’s first appearance is simply more basic than later showings, which leaned into specific aspects of his design to enhance his memorability. As the template for every character iteration since, Ganondorf’s design in Ocarina of Time got all the essentials right, but that also gives it little that sets it apart from a retrospective view. The elements of Ganondorf’s presence in the game that many players are likely to remember mostly come from his presentation in the story, with dramatic cutscene cues setting the tone in a way that had been impossible on 8 and 16-bit systems.
Twilight Princess’ Ganondorf is all about intimidation, doubling down on the menacing aspects of his Ocarina of Time appearance to fit the darker stylings of the GameCube and Wii title. Once again, the game’s presentation of Ganondorf in cutscenes and cinematic moments does wonders, making him feel like a hulking monster that would be foolish to defy. His ornate armor enhances this sense of a behemoth foe while tapping into a royal elegance, starkly contrasting with the simple chainmail that Link wears under his standard green tunic in the game.
2023-08-06 18:48:02
Source from screenrant.com
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