Segment II: The Dark World, the Evil King, and the Power of Darkness

“An Independent Survey of the History of Hyrule”, Segment II: “The World of Darkness, the King of Darkness, and the Power of Darkness”

Lately the topics of the Dark World, King of Darkness, and the Power of Darkness and their relation to one another have been a hot topic within the realm of Hyrulean mythos debate. However, in the tumultuous discussion there has never really been an in-depth examination of the facts, as a whole, in their entirety, so I am going to take it upon myself to embark on this task.

No real legends exist that depict the Dark World, so the only information available for scrutiny is word-of-mouth. This still allows for a fairly reliable examination of its properties, because most of the surviving sources are either Sages, those directly involved with the spreading of the Dark World, or, in one rare case, the spirit of the Triforce itself. As far as the qualities that the Dark World (in its various forms) possesses go, here are the only established and verifiable facts, concluded from deductive reasoning based on the collective knowledge:

1) Monsters dwell there—“the demons run rampant. It is, so to speak, a world of darkness,”; “the Realm of the Heavens is now overflowing with[…]monsters. The darkness[…]must be purged if true peace is to return,”; “I was summoned from the Dark Realm by Twinrova,”; “Ganon’s underlings were calling up new allies from the realm of evil”;
2) It is often related to shadows—“this land of Hyrule was turned into a world of shadows by Ganon,”; “the shadowy Dark World,”; “he cast us into the Dark World, where we[…]were lost in shadow”; “When shadows fall on Hyrule, a hero shall appear...”;
3) It can spread with the help of evil power—“evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and[…]it transformed Hyrule into a world of monsters,”; “a man of great evil found this power[…]and with it at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom,”; “darkness[…]is siphoning the power from the land,”; “if the darkness smothers the light, there must be a reason. Some mighty force...,”; “if the Seven Sages' seal is dissolved, demonic power will suddenly come rushing in,”; “the stronger that person's wish is, the more the Triforce will demonstrate that power. Ganon's[…]evil wish changed the sacred land into the World of Darkness”; “Veran has extended the Dark Realm's reach,”; “you have fought back the powers of evil!”

These three properties allow us to examine the various references to Dark Worlds and Evil Realms throughout Hyrule’s history—or, more specifically, the history of the conquests of the Evil King of Darkness, Ganon—to determine whether they, in fact, all meet the same criteria.

During the Imprisoning War of Ancient Hyrule, Ganondorf the Evil King transformed the Sacred Realm into the “Evil Realm”, and from that Evil Realm, his dark power flowed into Hyrule, casting a veil of shadowy dark clouds over the land and shaping it into a world of monsters. Because the same evil power that corrupted the Sacred Realm spread shadows and monsters throughout Hyrule, we can presume that the shadows and the monsters came, literally, from the Sacred Realm itself. This allows both the Sacred Realm—now the Evil Realm—and Hyrule, the world of monsters, to fall under the criteria of “worlds of darkness”. Albeit, without the full Triforce, Ganon cannot gain “complete mastery of the world”, but he is well on his way to accomplishing his evil ends. Then, of course, he is sealed, and the darkness is removed (or so it seems) from Hyrule. It continues to linger in the Sacred Realm.

After somehow escaping from his Imprisoning War seal, Ganon supposedly transformed Hyrule into a “world of shadows” again. While the Great Flood of the Lost Era obscures the events that surrounded this attack on Hyrule (for the time being, at least—we have recently excavated some documents that may possibly shed some light on the situation), we can safely assume that there were probably monsters and evil power involved—qualifying this “world of shadows” as a bona fide Dark World. In the end, of course, the gods intervene before Ganon can claim their power—and, with it, the mastery and probable destruction of the world—and they seal Ganon away under the waves of the Great Flood. When he escapes again a few centuries later, he focuses all his attentions on collecting the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage as opposed to spreading darkness—perhaps he has learned his lesson, that “there’s no point in having your cake unless you can eat it, too”, as the saying goes. But this time a pair of children—descendants of those who sealed him in the Imprisoning War—rise against him, and, with the blade of evil’s bane, bring about his demise.

A few more centuries go by, and another Gerudo named Ganondorf ascends to his role as guardian of the desert folk. His lust for power draws him to the Pyramid in the desert, where he finds the Trident of Power, which contains the anima—the essence—of the power of darkness. Using this power of darkness, Ganondorf becomes Ganon the King of Darkness and goes on a rampage across Hyrule, killing the Knights of Hyrule and creating portals to the Dark World (in this case, a world of darkness that is neither Hyrule nor the Sacred Realm—the source of darkness, perhaps?). He then goes on to steal the Dark Mirror from the forest temple and uses it to summon a shadowy figure to release the Wind Sorcerer Vaati, who he uses to siphon power from the land.

With Vaati under his heel, stealing power from Hyrule, and the power of darkness at his disposal, Ganon transforms the once-tranquil Forest of Light into the Lost Woods—called by some the “Forest of Dark.” Long-extinct monsters—the Deku Scrubs—begin to appear, and Ganon schemes to transform the entire land in the same fashion. The transformation of the Forest of Light into the Lost Woods fits the criteria for the “Dark World”—it has monsters, is teeming with shadows, and was transformed by evil power. Before Ganon’s plans can come to fruition, however, the Hero of Light, wielding the Four Sword, combines forces with the Shrine Maidens of the Four Sword, and together they seal away the King of Darkness and undo his evil deeds.

Years later, Ganon once again finds his way into the Sacred Realm and lays his hands on the Triforce. Using its power, he transforms the Sacred Realm into the Dark World—a world of darkness, a monsters’ world brimming with demonic power. He plans to move on to the Light World to spread the darkness there, but the legendary Hero rises up to halt his progress into Hyrule, and defeats him. Ganon’s Dark World vanishes from the Sacred Realm, and the Hero makes his own wish on the Triforce.

But the peace is fairly short-lived. Twinrova, the evil Gerudo witch, summons the evil General Onox and the Sorceress of Shadows Veran from the Dark Realm and bids them to spread its shadow across Holodrum and Labrynna so that she can light the beacons of Destruction and Sorrow in order to prepare for the revival of Ganon. Though the messenger of Hyrule, Link, succeeds in fighting back the spread of the Dark Realm, it still manages to serve its purpose, and the two beacons are lit. Twinrova sacrifices herself in the end to revive a mindless, raging Ganon, who Link defeats with his wisdom and courage, the guidance of the Triforce.

Of course, this still leaves a number of questions about the Dark World, including but not limited to the following:

1) The origins of the Dark World—where did it come from?; how was it created?; who was responsible for creating it?;
2) The nature of the Dark World*—what exactly happens when darkness spreads over the land[s]?; what happens to people who enter the Dark World?; what purpose does it serve?;
3) The Dark World’s relation to the land—can travel between the Dark World and other worlds be universally defined?**; what is the difference between a darkness-covered Hyrule or Sacred Realm and the separate “realm of evil”?

* We know that, when it consumes other worlds, the Dark World tends to take on the qualities of those other worlds, such as the reflection power of the Sacred Realm;
** We see that portals are used to travel between the Dark World and Hyrule in FSA, and that portals other than the main entrance to the Sacred Realm can be used to enter the Dark World when it consumes the Sacred Realm. However, when the darkness has partially consumed Hyrule, one enters the corrupted space without a portal, merely by walking into it. Because of the lack of information, it is difficult to define exactly how moving between worlds of darkness and worlds untouched by darkness works

but these questions may be answered as we uncover more information about the history of these aspects—these anima of darkness.

I didn't understood something, are you saying there is more than one Ganon?

FSA: "Ancient demon reborn."
~ description of Ganon

I hope that answers your question.

There is one Evil Spirit Ganon but there are many living incarnations of Ganon.

I thought there was only one reincrnation of Ganondorf, but I support the two timeline theory in a way in which only one Ganon theory fits Ok.
But I have the whole theory on other computer so I can't post it right now.

Originally Posted by Black Omnimon

I thought there was only one reincrnation of Ganondorf, but I support the two timeline theory in a way in which only one Ganon theory fits Ok.

You're right. Thus far, there is only one known reincarnation of Ganondorf.

OoT-TWW
FSA-ALTTP
LoZ
Oracles

That's four living incarnations (five if you think FSA's Ganon and ALTTP's Ganon are different).

"Reincarnation" and "revival" are different. Since Ganon is more often than not revived, we can't assume that LoZ Ganon is a reincarnated Ganondorf, especially since Ganondorf is never mentioned with respect to LoZ. There are only two "reincarnations" of Ganondorf.

Originally Posted by LexLionHart

"Reincarnation" and "revival" are different. Since Ganon is more often than not revived, we can't assume that LoZ Ganon is a reincarnated Ganondorf, especially since Ganondorf is never mentioned with respect to LoZ. There are only two "reincarnations" of Ganondorf.

I see what you mean. I tend to see any return from the dead to be a new "incarnation", even though you are quite correct that ALTTP, LoZ & Oracles Ganon are all the same incarnation.