*This article contains massive spoilers for the finale of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom!*The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is here, and with it returns one of Zelda's most iconic villains: Ganondorf, the King of Evil. Ganondorf makes a triumphant return to the series by absolutely dominating Link in the game's opening cutscene, shattering the Master Sword, and reducing Link to a shadow of his former self. After journeying across Hyrule to save the lands from strange phenomena and cultivating his strength, Link and the five Sages return to the Depths beneath Hyrule Castle to challenge the Demon King, once and for all. The encounter with Ganondorf is long and arduous, so coming in with a few pointers will absolutely tip the fate of Hyrule in your favor.
Diving into the Depths beneath Hyrule Castle will have you enter a brief dungeon leading up to Ganon's lair. The lead-up to Ganon's lair includes encounters with Silver enemies, the strongest tier of enemy as introduced in Breath of the Wild. These may be the first Silver enemies you encounter up until this point in the game, so make sure to prepare adequate food and elixirs. In particular, gather Sundelions from Sky Islands and cook them into food; Sundelions have the power to heal hearts claimed by Gloom, and the large amounts of Gloom permeating the dungeon will no doubt be a problem without the proper preparations. The underground tunnels will eventually lead you back to the Imprisoning Chamber from the start of the game. After reaching the precipice of Gloom's Lair, take the dive to challenge Ganondorf once and for all.
Updated by Devin Amlen on June 30, 2023: To better prepare yourself for the climactic fight with Ganondorf, we've taken the liberty of actually adding some additional information to this article. Namely, a full list of Ganondorf's attacks - reference it if you feel the need to prepare yourself (or if you want to do a hitless run). Also, some additional information that may be useful has been highlighted.
War In The Depths Of Hyrule
Your first encounter within Gloom's Lair is a massive army of monsters summoned by the Demon King. You'll have to fight multiple waves of monsters before being able to challenge Ganondorf, but don't worry, you're not alone! The five Sages; Sidon, Tulin, Yunobo, Riju, and Mineru will appear to fight by your side. In order, you'll fight waves of Bokoblins, Lizalfos, Gibdos, and finally Moblins. Though you'll be fighting standard rank-and-file monsters, don't discount the danger of this encounter. All of the monsters in the Demon King's Army will be infused with Gloom, causing them to drain your max health with each hit. Furthermore, monsters appear in great numbers, so the fight will be very chaotic, especially if the enemies decide to gang up on you. Persevere, and work with the Sages to take down the Demon King's Army. You'll have a moment after this segment to gather your thoughts, so make sure to capitalize on it by preparing food for the upcoming fight. It's recommended to prepare some Sundelion-infused food to immediately deal with Gloom damage.
Any dungeon bosses you haven't beaten yet will appear here and must be fought prior to proceeding.
The Menace Unleashed
Here it is - the climactic battle with Ganondorf begins in the Depths beneath Hyrule Castle. The first part of the battle is a duel between Ganon and Link - if you've encountered Phantom Ganon prior to fighting Ganondorf, you'll notice several similarities. Ganondorf fights very similarly to Phantom Ganon, boasting multiple weapons he can switch between on the fly and having nearly identical attack patterns. However, Phantom Ganon is but a pale imitation of the man himself, as Ganondorf has more than enough to distinguish himself from his demonic pawn.
Ganondorf has unique attacks that will demand you dodge; in particular, Ganondorf will charge up a downward strike, creating an updraft. Quickly deploy your paraglider to dodge the wave of gloom that erupts from Ganondorf's attack, as it covers the entire arena. One thing to note with Ganondorf is that attacking him wildly will cause him to perfect dodge your attacks, something not seen before by any foe Link has encountered. This may sound scary, but don't worry, you'll have more than enough time to be able to respond with a flurry rush of your own.
Master Of The Secret Stone (2nd Phase)
After emptying Ganondorf's health bar, Ganondorf powers up and enters his Demon King form, restoring his health and then some. Don't be intimidated by the massive health bar, as the five Sages will arrive to back you up. In kind, Ganondorf will answer with five duplicates of himself - make sure to focus on the real deal. The Sages will keep the clones busy. There aren't many changes in this fight from the previous one, besides a new coat of paint - the real changes come when half of his health has been deducted. Once this happens, Ganondorf will absorb his clones and knock out the sages, bringing the fight back to a one-on-one. This is where the difficulty turns up to eleven.
Ganondorf will now always perfect dodge your melee attacks, and even perfect dodge your flurry rushes. You'll need keen instincts and timing to answer his flurry rush with your own, second one - that, or take pot shots at him with your bow. Ganondorf will also gain new attacks involving Gloom; the hardest of which is his Spear attack. Ganondorf will fire three homing projectiles that will chase you around as Ganondorf charges up a charging attack. You can deflect these projectiles with your shield, or hit them with your sword, otherwise they will constantly chase you and inevitably hit you as Ganondorf mows you down with his spear. The rest of Ganondorf's new attacks send waves of Gloom across the arena, and may seem scary, but are much easier to deal with than his Spear's attack. Be courageous, and keep up the pressure until you take down the Demon King once and for all.
Draconified Demon King
Much like the finale of Breath of the Wild, Ganon puts everything on the line and takes on a bestial form to take down Link once and for all. This time, however, Ganondorf transforms into a monstrous Demon Dragon by swallowing his Secret Stone, undergoing the forbidden art of draconification. The Demon Dragon is a formiddable foe, but you have your own draconic ally for this fight - the Light Dragon, the draconified form of Princess Zelda herself.
This fight is much easier than the previous battle against Ganondorf, but don't let that take away from the fight's sheer spectacle. Ride on the Light Dragon to gain a good vantage point to mount the Demon Dragon and strike at its weakpoints, masses of glowing demonic eyes. Destroying each weakpoint will cause Ganon to buck you off, wherein the Light Dragon will swoop in to catch you, repeating the cycle until the Demon Dragon is felled once and for all.
Know Your Attacks
Ganondorf is a skilled warrior who fights using every type of weapon there is. One-Handed, Two-Handed, Spear, Bow... Make sure to go over the following list of attacks to make sure the Demon King can't pull a fast one on you. As a general rule of thumb, try not to linger too close to Ganondorf during the fight; certain attacks, such as his charged attacks, will have a reduced charge time and fire off automatically if you hang around too close to the Demon King.
Having trouble fighting Ganondorf? Use your bow; Ganondorf can dodge your melee attacks, but not ranged attacks.
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One-Handed |
Two-Handed |
Spear |
Bow |
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