Re: Ganondorf is not evil
For the record, I'll be referring to the Ganondorf of OoT, TP and TWW, not the dumb Ganon in the other games.
First of all, Ganondorf is not Evil Incarnate. He is not Pure Evil. If any Zelda villain can be called Evil Incarnate, it would without a doubt be the demon Majora. Ganondorf's evil stemmed from his selfishness. Majora's evil stemmed from its desire to corrupt and utterly destroy all. If Satan had the option, I'm pretty sure he'd rather destroy the world and all the works of God rather than rule them all. He also seeks to destroy the souls God creates by tempting them, exposing their weaknesses and corrupting them, which is awfully similar to what Majora was doing with Skull Kid. I don't think Ganondorf cared at all about the souls of others; he just wanted to rule them all.
Majora = Pure Evil
Ganondorf = Corrupted, but not Pure Evil
Alright, now to analyze Ganondorf and the motives for his deeds.
Ganondorf was not evil in the beginning, but he ultimately succumbed to his fatal flaws: Envy, Greed, Wrath, Pride.
After a certain point I'm sure Ganondorf forgot his desires for a better land for himself and his people. At first he probably saw the Triforce as a tool he could use to take over Hyrule, but as he learned more about it he became less concerned with why he wanted Hyrule and more obsessed with the power that could be gained by commanding the Triforce. He forgot that he had experienced contentment when he had felt the winds of Hyrule. In OoT Ganondorf was incredibly selfish; he no longer cared much for his people and instead wanted to rule the world himself and have the power of a god.
When Link and Zelda thwarted his plans, he was then motivated by his thirst for revenge. While he was sealed away his fury continued to build and when he broke free he returned to Hyrule in a red wrath. He didn't care about his people. He cared that HE could have become a god, but the Hylians stopped him and imprisoned him. He no longer cares about taking the Hylians' lands; he wants to destroy the Hylians because of what they did to him. Since no one can stop him, the gods interfere, and Hyrule is sealed beneath the sea.
Ganondorf eventually escapes to the world above the sea, and the events of TWW are set in motion. By now Ganondorf realizes his own folly. He remembers that he could only find contentment in Hyrule, and because of his actions Hyrule was lost. Ganondorf is more restrained and pensive in TWW largely because he knows he has made terrible mistakes. And to Ganondorf the Great Sea is like a post-apocalyptic world, and he feels a degree of nostalgia for the world that has been lost. He is now motivated by his desire to relive the past. The people of the Great Sea are worthless to him; he believes they have been forsaken by the gods and that their existence is meaningless. He doesn't think much of kidnapping children, killing intruders and destroying inhabited islands.
Although Ganondorf had only cared about himself throughout much of the past, I think that by the end of TWW he felt a degree of loneliness. None of the people of the Great Sea mattered to him. He didn't kill Link and Zelda atop his tower at first because he felt a connection to them: Here were Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, the three legendary figures who had been so important in the past. When Ganondorf sees the three of them together he considers them to be evidence that the world is not forsaken, that the past can indeed be revived.
Ganondorf's latent selfishness is unfortunately stirred when the Triforce is in his grasp; he doesn't merely wish for Hyrule to be revived, he wishes to rule Hyrule. That didn't bring him contentment ages ago and it still wouldn't this time; Ganondorf is making the same mistakes over again.
But then the King of Hyrule interferes, seizes the Triforce, and makes the most idiotic wish conceivable. Suddenly Link and Zelda are no longer legendary figures, but pawns of the foolish King. Ganondorf has utter contempt for the King and he wants to dash all his hopes by killing the children. Because the gods have been asked to drown Hyrule, Ganondorf also wants to prove that he can overcome the will of the gods by preventing the King's wish from being fulfilled. The King wished for the Triforce to protect the children; if Ganondorf can destroy them then he is more powerful than the Triforce. Ganondorf knows that he is doomed, that he will soon drown, but in his final hour he has one last chance to prove that he is mightier than the gods.
But Ganondorf fails; the Hero drives the Master Sword into his head. As Ganondorf dies, he sees everything in perspective. He is not greater than the gods. He is no greater than any of his people. The wind brought death to them, and it shall bring death to their king as well.
Last edited by Hylian Dan; 07-10-2006 at 01:45 PM..