#redeemed ganondorf

[newtabfics]

💖💖💖💖F!reader take a fluffy bath time with redeemed ganondorf💖💖💖💖

UGH THESE TWO ARE DESTROYING ME CURRENTLY. IM WORKING ON SOME STUFF IN THE BACKGROUND BUT GAH

Y/N blushed as she entered the shared bathroom. He looked so...uncomfortable in the tub. The Gerudo had to have his legs hooked over the sides to create a spot for her.

He gave am awkward grin and said, "Care to join me?"

Y/N let out a soft laugh, eyeing him. "The flower petals too?" She teased lightly as she stepped in, carefully plucking a petal from the water.

Ganondorf chuckled and shrugged as he grabbed the matchbox and lit the candles nearby.

"You know, even Zelda would be shocked to hear you are secretly very romantic," she chuckled as she stripped.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't tell her then," he said, gold eyes trailing over her exposed form as she finally joined him.

He kissed her head and carefully began to massage her shoulders. He relished in the soft moan she let out.

Y/N hummed and leaned back into his chest, letting him slide his arms around her waist. "Ganny, where's this coming from?" She asked.

"You've been working hard on research," He hummed, nuzzling the side of her head. "You need to relax."

She smiled and turned her head, gently kissing him. "I suppose I could take a little break."

Ganondorf smiled as he kissed her, gently rubbing her shoulders and back. Silence passed between them, lips finding one another and hands touching sweetly.

They were more than content in just simply being with one another.

[ruthimages]

[acepalindrome]

So [[MILD TOTK SPOILERS]]

I just found out that apparently you can carry over your horse from BOTW to TOTK, which sucks because I restarted my game and now I need to rush to get the stupid big Ganon horse again. I was gonna do it so I could taunt Ganondorf with it, heehoo I stole your horse, but then I thought….what if he really loved his horse? What if the horse was his friend? And now he’s waking up 10,000 years later and everyone he ever knew is dead and his horse is long gone too but here’s one that’s probably the descendant of his old beloved horse and it’s the only connection he has to his old life…..you can have my big horse, Ganondorf.

[bubtans]

the worst part about totk having a legitimately bad story is that it's such a good game and that seems contradictory but it's like. the caliber of the game is so outstanding and the amount of love that you can feel in the actual Gaming Experience just does not carry over to the Narrative experience, and what makes it difficult is that you don't WANT to criticize it for anything.

you want to enjoy every element to the fullest so that the game can live up to its boundless potential. AND YET. just like so many games in this franchise, creative brilliance is so painfully stifled by not only rigid narrative structures and genres but by the inability of creators (and audiences because god knows tloz's playerbase is so rife with some of the most potent levels of misogynoir) to look past biases and see possibilities.

[wutheringmights]

Do you think this Ganondorf can live up or be better then the Wind Waler one?

Isn't it enough that he's hot?

[ganondoodle]

just want to reiterate that i dont mean hes not allowed to be or do the things he does, he doesnt have to be a victim that is a poor traumatized lil boi or something, you dont HAVE to go with the opposite of what canon says about him, you can like him doing all the things he does in canon, in a way, well, good for him, he can do what he wants

but i just think its still good to remember that hes still a fictional character that does things a certain way bc the writers decided to and that some .. or alot of things (especially the nonsensical stuff...) might really just be an attempt to make sure hes still blatantly evil enough to label him the ultimate enemy, that his evil surpasses whatever else has happened, and that it is very intentional we never get to see another side of him lest we sympathize too much with him (which still happens, no matter what they do people will like him anyway) and forget we are supposed to view him as nothing more than a monster really

in the end im not trying police how anyone talks about him or views him, i just wanted to share how i view it since the whole "he actually is as selfish and violent as canon tells you" is very much a double edged sword, on one hand, yeah, theres people like that and he could be it and you can still like him just the way he is- on the other hand it also plays right into those tropes and i personally find it the most interesting to dismantle those (and find it a lil weird how quickly some are to reject even the idea of not 100% believing what canon tells you about him?)

(just to clarify, the people i mean that are all for his canon ways are those that still love him and are on his side essentially, cheering him on- not those fuckers who think he, or the gerudo in general, need to be even more blatantly horribly bc they are just not evil enough so they should kidnap people for reproduction or some shit)

saw a few posts talking about ganondorf and while i dont want to uh .. risk having to argue with strangers ... i cant shut up entirely (you know me)

(in my opinion that is probably missing alot or just not as well read as a lot of others since i really just say what i feel instead of knowing what im talking about-)

its kinda hard to really talk about him bc hes so .... steeped into tired old stereotypes and harmful tropes with intentionally so little else, if anything, that you almost always end up playing into them if you just take what canon tells you (and alot of people love defending it too :/ )

to what degree is it really his character and what is literally just some things that were decided he does to make it clear hes the one note evil guy, to justify whatever horror is done to him and overshadow/bury what anyone else has done, to not think about maybe he had a point bc look how much bad stuff he does! if you made him fight for the freedom/sovereignity of his own people against an oppressive hyrule he would be in the right- so ACTUALLY he opresses them violently and selfishly even WORSE and then wants to murder everyone tm that dont bow to him bc thats what evil people do! and hyrule is justified in taking them over in turn bc their rule wont opress them :)

its like a game of trying to one up whatever hyrule did with something more bad tm bc otherwise it gets hard to justify killing him over and over

im not saying hes not allowed to be prideful, selfish or violent of whatever, but you gotta know that all of that IS one of those ways that is supposed to make it clear how evil tm the desert guy is; it doesnt matter what hyrule has done bc look! ganondorf is so much worse! and im sure hyrule had their reasons :)

hes never actually allowed to interact with his own people, hes isolated/alienated from them and their culture constantly, hes their king yet he .... violently takes over "free" gerudo villages (what? what for?? what does "free" even mean? they werent following him? their king?? were they .. allied with hyrule, who are good tm, which means they were living in paradise aka "free"? (bc they are good ones tm bc they rejected their evil one in a hundred year man king ruling violently over only women .. *cough*)), yet hes never seen fighting alongside his own people (the most is them .. silently serving him in what, one scene??) and then he drops them the second he has evil MONSTERS to fight for him instead and orders them to kill every living thing or something bc thats obviously evil, he doesnt even care about his own people! how evil! why would he do that? idk, hes the sole, selfish violent evil man opressing his own people, who are all women! that what they do! and WE need to free them from HIM (and they should be thankful to us for it and try to attone for ever having birthed him in the first place) (or he is the reason tm why they suffered/were wiped out and he is literally the sole survivor of his people, bc he doesnt care about ANYONE but himself)

i dont mean he has to be a goody two shoes character (you can be an ass and still do good/be in the right btw) bc more often than not what that actually means is being allied with hyrule bc those are the designated good guys and being on their side makes you automatically good (eugh) but do you rly want to just ... play along with all the propaganda?

imo, aside from being obviously racist, thats also so boring? does selfish, violent evil man king with no people (bc hes not part of them or fighting for them, hes always presented as the worse oppressor) and nothing else to him that only wants to murder bc ... idk evil? sound interesting to you? (to the point that the ONLY time we were shown literally any sort of vunerabillity, end of ww, that theres people trying to argue he was trying to to manipulate you even there?? what for? why? are you trying to reject literally the one glimpse we are allowed into his perspective qoq)

why do alot of people reject the idea so much to consider he actually cared about them, how maybe that prideful and selfish look is just a facade, or even a fabrication? violence that had to be met with violence, not for any sort of selfish reasons, but for his people and was met with a fight he could not win yet kept fighting on, perhaps losing himself more and more in the process, or a lie told so often that it became reality, if someone has nothign left to lose, if all was taken from them, maybe even blamed on them, why not play into what you where made out to be, you cant convince them otherwise anyway its the reason hes never shown to have done a single nice thing, never seen non angry/smug smiling, how he has no one at his side unless he forced them, how he is not allowed to be human even a little bit, never shown being anything but a boring ass trope personified, hes less a character and more a big bundle of racist tropes that fights you at the end (sorry) while looking epic so trying to meaningfully analyze him just by what we are told and shown in canon will always fall kinda flat or end up playing righ into every shitty trope

that is my opinion :I

[veggiecorner]

What do you think about redeemable Ganondorf headcanons or stories

real shit: i....do not care for them. Mostly because "redeemable villain" is overdone for me? I don't necessarily dislike it, I just feel like its...cliche. I get wanting to have Ganondorf to be more than just "big bad evil guy" or the concept of fighting Demises' curse, though.

I DO see Nintendo maybe one day doing a "Ganondorf was once a good man but turned evil" type of plot. Again, cliche but its Nintendo

(Putting possible plot things under keep read because a I feel like I'm posting a lot of long posts tehe)

I'm more interested in how crazy the Hylian royal family is. I want a plot of the family breaking things apart from within. Where things get corrupt or maybe the people are just straight up tired of being ruled by that family. I'm not necessarily saying "an evil Zelda" (because I don't think Nintendo will do it right), but more of a "hey many the monarchy has been uh, ruling us for way too long. And the fact that our Princess is someone with 'divine blood' which is insane". A power struggle plot would be sOOO fascinating and imagine just throwing Link into it. Just some dude with a sword. Also theres a dark past in the royal family's history? Why not discuss this? And the shiekah??? imagine a plot where they straight up are like "actually no we will not be pro-royal family" (yes like the Yiga but more seriously).

Not to make Link a knight again but my ideal zelda plot is a power struggle between the people and royal family, the royal family within itself, and Zelda struggling to accept whats considered the "right thing to do" as she learns more about how corrupt things have been. Meanwhile Link, a loyal knight to the royal family, is thinking "no actually the monarchy is fine" and then he's struggling to see the reality of things as well.

Yeah so basically politics with a lil bit of "hey the Triforce is a thing as well again!"

[blueskittlesart]

How do you feel about concepts for redeemed/good guy Ganondorf? I don't remember if you've said anything on it before, so I am curious to see what sorts of thoughts you have to share or if you've thought about the idea before (especially since you've worked on SoF so I assume you've thought about many possibilities of a "what if" Zelda game)

For my part: I have mixed feelings, and I think a lot of concepts end up being "I want a buff guy to ship Link with"; I also think a lot of criticisms of the racism in many depictions of Ganondorf have merit (though I don't speak on them in depth because I'm white) and would love to see a more favorable/complex portrayal of him and other characters of color in LoZ. I personally haven't seen many versions of good guy/redeemed Ganondorf that really engage with the base structure of the LoZ games but I would love to see one that did.

Anyways I love your blog and analysis and I love seeing someone who finds analysis as inherently a part of their engagement with fandom as me, it's really nice :) I hope you're having a good day

I never posted about it much but sof did actually have a somewhat redeemed ganondorf, or as close to "good guy" as i'm willing to go with him in my own writing. sof was/is very much about me exploring the religious aspects of the lore and issues of fate vs self-determination, so my ganondorf was a much younger version of the character (similar in age to link and zelda) born into an extremist hylia-worshipping doomsday cult. in sof, ganondorf finds the remains of DEMISE'S sword and believes it to be the master sword, so when it starts ordering him around he follows the orders without question, believing that he's hearing the voice of hylia, and basically everyone in his life affirms to him that this is the correct choice and he's hylia's chosen one. Because of the intensity of the religious doctrine he was raised with, he has no problem following the sword's orders even when they become progressively more and more violent, and by the time link and zelda get to him he's nearly past the point of no return. (this is also partially a product of the setting I chose to put sof in--it's one of if not the first cycles after sksw, so the hyruleans' understanding of the reincarnation cycle and their own general history isn't super solid.) So that's my personal take on a "good guy" ganondorf, and, i think, the way i'd like to see it done in canon if ever they choose to go that route--because loz deals so much with the concepts of fate and cycles, I think leaning into a ganondorf who isn't inherently evil but can't escape the fate that waits for him is a fun way to take it.

[ladyrijus]

Lately, I have been thinking about Kotake and Koume, and, out of interest, have read through a lot of interesting takes on their involvement in Ganondorf's upbringing during Ocarina of Time. However, I've noticed that some of these discussions tend to depict them as emotionally distant, exploitative, manipulative, and even borderline cruel.

Which, granted, isn't entirely out of line for their characters. What other personality traits could we expect out of witches who brainwashed their people into doing the bidding of their king, who were born nearly 400 years before the events of Ocarina of Time and therefore hold a vastly different worldview than the rest of their tribe?

But as always, I like to carry a bit of sensible skepticism when it comes to the narrative that is being pushed in the game. And I find it almost imperative to do so for Ocarina of Time, given that it is played through the eyes of Link, a child soldier who fails to question the orders that he believes he is meant to follow, and the kingdom of Hyrule, which had recently come out as the victor and dominant power after a "civil" war.

The question still remains, however. What, in Ocarina of Time, would "redeem" Twinrova? Where can we see evidence of their "goodness"?

In my opinion? Their powers.

Their powers, I argue, were not chosen randomly by the creators of Ocarina of Time. It was absolutely intentional to show their association with the Gerudo Tribe and more importantly, the Gerudo Valley/Desert. Just think about it, the climate there is scorching hot during the day, yet biting cold during the night.

Wouldn't you, with powers of ice, try to cool down your people after they return from a tiring yet successful hunt?

Wouldn't you, with powers of fire, try to warm your people up when there is not enough hides and furs to pass around?

And given that no one (aside from maybe Ganondorf) has these powers, it is safe to assume that the Gerudo regarded Twinrova as blessed beings; divine guardians sent by the Goddess of the Sands as a reward for their endurance in such harsh climates.

Again, this isn't to condone their actions that take place during the game. We see they are more than happy to kill in the name of their king, willing to coerce others into killing by ways of dark magic.

However, we should also acknowledge the fact that we're encouraged to see just that: two antagonistic witches who revel in brainwashing, killing, cheating death, and being unapologetically evil.

Boring. If we wanted absolutely evil, death seeking creatures, we can look to literally any other magical creature in Ocarina of Time.

Rather, it's important that Twinrova are humans (or humanoid, though either way their sentience still stands), as it forces players to 1) look at the bigger picture and question why the twins behave the way they do and 2) recognize that they have motives that go beyond simply helping a king assert control over an entire world.

Perhaps, Twinrova might have been prolonging their lives to look out for their people, as they had no one with magical affinity to mentor until Ganondorf had demonstrated his own prowess in the mystical arts.

Perhaps, over the centuries, they realized the chiefs and chieftesses before Ganondorf were not cutthroat enough like their Hylian counterparts to fend off territorial expansion/colonization.

Perhaps, after seeing their era of prosperity being snatched away from them, they grew hateful of the kingdom that lives in splendor, and wanted to see it burn and freeze the way they do.

Perhaps, after seeing the complacency of the new generation, how some of their best warriors seek out lovers in that damned Castle Town, they realized this boy was their only hope of restoring their honor and dignity.

[fireworksfactory2]

Some thoughts on Link's new heroine role in EoW

Ever since LttP, a defining feature I've noticed with Link is that sometimes despite his hard work and effort, he may fail anyway. Sometimes due to something he overlooked, but usually due to his major enemies being a step ahead of him. LttP has him fail to save Zelda from being sacrificed, LA him failing to realize him completing the quest will vanish the island, OoT failing to prevent Ganondorf from reaching the Triforce.

And as the games have gotten better at storytelling and character expression, they've increasingly portrayed Link at feeling the weight of his responsibilities over these failures, a good example in Skyward Sword, when Impa chews him out for "being late" in finding Zelda. His frustrated expression hurts to see. And then of course TotK makes his failure to save Zelda in the beginning a thematic motif: losing his arm and having it replaced, the Gloom Spawn, and of course his main objective being to Find Princess Zelda.

You get the idea. The point is, this boy takes his role as Hero seriously, and feels the weight of his heroic responsibilities esp when he fails. But bcs he is in the role of protagonist, he can take action in redeeming himself for his failures. Finding Zelda in the Dark World, making peace with Koholint being a dream and treasuring his moments there, defeating Ganondorf, etc. All this is possible because he's the playable character.

But what of EoW? What is Link without the Hero role? He did break Zelda's crystal, but he doesn't know for sure if she successfully escaped. And with him having sunk into the Rift, possibly at Ganon's mercy, he's unable to do anything else but wait for Zelda. We'll have to wait for Nintendo to give more details on where the story will go, but given how used Link is to being an action man, I can imagine he's frustrated as hell over his current powerlessness.

Anyway I had more to write but kinda pooped out so sorry for not saying more.

[newtabfics]

Can I request that f!reader learn archery from totk Ganondorf PLEASE?

I love that Ganondorf is so skillful his bow....😇

it's going in the redeemed gan series :3 we'll say this is after they have accepted their feelings for each other and are together but also UHHHH my mind ran a little and i kinda made it more than just learning archery OKAY BYE--

Triggers for TECHNICALLY self-harm? Like not like THAT but like...ignoring the pain kinda thing? Idk how to label this so I'm playing it safe.

Y/N blinked as the arrow pierced into the target. "Nicely done," Link praised, nodding to Ganondorf. "Looks like your body remembers the skill at least."

Ganondorf nodded, studying the target as he shifted the bow in his hand before blinking. He studied Link's expression for a moment before scoffing. "You want to test my sword next?"

"Later…And when we have more space to work with," he muttered, looking around.

The three stood in the road, aiming at a target with the waterfall behind Paya's home roaring gently. Zelda and the leader both sat on a bench behind them, watching the two fire off arrows as Y/N studied their bodies carefully.

"Your turn," Link told Y/N as he returned from the target with the arrows.

She gulped thickly as she took them, notching the arrow carefully. With effort, she attempted to pull the string, grunting when it wouldn't bend to her strength.

Ganondorf frowned and gently coaxed her arm, holding under her biceps to feel her muscles strain. "Too difficult?"

"Yeah," She sighed as she relaxed, not daring to loose the arrow in fear of it flying some other direction.

He hummed and took the bow, testing it. "This is a heavier bow. Link, do you have a spare from your own inventory?"

Link hummed and beamed as he began to dig through his bags. Ganondorf blinked when he pulled out an axe, a shield, some meat–

"I still have no idea where you store all this," Zelda chuckled. "Was it a gift from Hestu?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. He did a little dance and suddenly, magic bag. It doesn't have infinite storage though. Aha!" He beamed as he gripped a small bow. He gave Y/N the traveler's bow, smiling softly. "Try this one."

She tested it and beamed as she easily pulled the string. "Much better. Thank you. Ah, here," she said, offering him the other bow. He put everything away quickly as she notched the arrow again. "Okay," She sighed softly.

Ganondorf watched her stance and shook his head. "Stop," he said. "Stay still."

Paya gasped and covered her mouth, face reddening as the Gerudo man gently began to coax her body into the right stance. Zelda had to look away, surprised and attempting to hide her giggle.

"Get a room," Link groaned, making the two blush brightly now.

"Ignore them," Ganondorf sighed, leaning close to her as he helped her aim. He watched her face scrunch and lightly pinched her side to get her attention. "Eyes open. You want to see the target. Deep inhale, loose it, then exhale."

She gave the barest hint of a nod as she took a slow inhale, staring at the target solely, before letting it go. The arrow lurched out from the bow, stabbing into the fence beside the target.

Y/N let out a groan as she looked up at the sky, praying to Hylia for her to finally give her the gift of weaponry.

"You'll get it," Paya encouraged. Y/N pursed her lips as she sighed heavily. "Don't be discouraged."

"Hard not to be, leader," She bit out, making Ganondorf blink.

He watched her correct her form as she aimed again, focusing on the target. He watched her brows furrow as she took a stabilizing breath and loosed another arrow. While it still hit the fence behind the target, he couldn't deny she was getting closer.

"Why have you never learned weaponry?" He asked absently, making her flush as she looked away shamefully.

Paya smiled. "I'll tell him if you don't," She chuckled, earning a heated glare from the woman. "It's nothing bad. Y/N here was just never truly interested in combat. She much preferred the magic all Sheikah are adept to. She's even taken it as far as to studying Wizzrobes in the field, from a safe distance and with a guard nearby mind you. But even then–"

"My mother was Hylian and my father was Sheikah. It doesn't mean much of a difference, but it does mean I'm not…as adept at magic," Y/N sighed out finally. "I can do little things like, push the air so I can jump higher or mute my footfalls but…that's about it."

Ganondorf blinked, thinking of all the times he'd catch her jumping around the village. He smiled a slight. "There…could be some books in the castle," He suggested, looking to Zelda. "Right?"

"It's possible," She hummed. "I read a few myself as a girl. Link, would it be possible for us to make a trip there? Scour the old library."

"Sure. Might be good to make sure no monsters have made a home there," He agreed as he gathered Y/N's arrows. "Relax. You're doing good."

Y/N huffed when he patted her shoulder and nodded, gathering herself and trying again.

Ganondorf watch her as she loosed arrows before gathering them and beginning again. Zelda and Paya had since gone off. Link was watching them both from a distance. It was clear to the Gerudo the hero knew he wouldn't be a threat but wondered if he grew worried leaving the two of them alone.

That didn't matter though as Ganondorf's eyes fell on her wrist, seeing it redden after she loosed another arrow. He gripped her shoulder and quickly lifted her arm, pulling her sleeve to reveal the marred skin.

Link let his head fall into his hand as Y/N's flushed face looked at Ganondorf in aghast horror as he glared down at her. "G-Ganny! C'mon. I gotta practice–"

"You've been hurting yourself like this," he sighed. "You're stopping for today.'

"He's right," Link said before Y/N could protest.

"Hey! You're the one who wanted me to learn!"

"Not at the cost of your limbs," The hero snapped out. "We have equipment for a reason. Where's the bracer I'd loaned you!"

Y/N looked away sheepishly. "I-In…In my house. It was too big for me."

Link clenched his jaw. Ganondorf blinked in surprise before sighing. "She gets it. I'm angry too, but it'll do no good if we continue this." The hero sighed and looked away as Ganondorf looked to Y/N. "You really should have said something," he said, taking the bow. "You felt it. You know this could cause an injury. Why did you press on?"

He watched her look away shamefully and shook his head. He knew when she refused to speak on such things and instead gave Link the bow. "She might try to squeeze in practice when no one is looking."

"You're right," The hero sighed as he inspected it. "We'll start up practice again when Zelda and I return from the castle. Until then, rest. Ganondorf, can you keep her safe?"

The Gerudo nodded and watched the hero storm off. After a long while, he muttered, "How petulant."

"No," Y/N sighed, rubbing her neck. "He just gets like that when he's worried. When The Upheaval happened, he was on everyone. He wouldn't let anyone some much as leave their homes without some security. At least, those who were close enough to him. Purah couldn't leave her lab for a long while because of him."

"The same guy that jumps out of hot air balloons into the Depths is overprotective?" He scoffed before nodding. "Suits him. Though, I can't exactly blame him. Come. Let's put a cool towel on it."

He walked with her to her home, ducking under the threshold. Y/N looked up as he slouched to make his way through her home and frowned, making him sit. "It really worries me when you walk through my home." She made her way to her first aid kit, grabbing the soothing gel and a cloth.

"It's nothing."

Y/N sighed, looking at him in annoyance as she sat on the bed. "Ganny, your neck was at a ninety-degree angle. That's not…normal for your spine."

"Neither is letting something whip you repeatedly but you continued to do so." He sighed when she looked away quickly. His finger slid under her chin, making her look to him. "Why didn't you say anything?"

With a thick gulp, she finally muttered out, "I didn't want to disappoint you."

Ganondorf studied her reaction, watching how she seemed to be looking everywhere but him. She was embarrassed by the contact and ashamed of her petulance. He smiled softly and took the supplies, dampening the cloth with the gel before gently laying it over her inner arm.

She hissed softly, grimacing as she rested her head on his chest. His large hand rubbed at her back as he gently held her hand, squeezing it as her arm twitched.

"You don't need to rush this," He said gently. He paused for a long moment before muttering, "I might be able to help you, but it's risky."

She frowned as she adjusted, looking up at him. He sighed softly. "I could use magic. Since the seal on my memories though…I've been unable to. I could…attempt to teach you to my best ability but…"

Y/N's eyes widened as she gulped. "But it could mean being who you were before."

mwahaha cliff hanger

[legends-on-legends]

People who get defensive about Ganondorf’s characterization (or lack thereof) in ToTK seem to willfully misunderstand the criticisms we’re making about that game. Nobody’s demanding that Ganondorf have a “tragic backstory” that exonerates him or a “redemption arc,” we’re just asking for the bare minimum: a coherent motivation and some thematic relevance, that’s it. Also, maybe some actual dignity for the Gerudo, too, instead of them getting disproportionately shamed for the deeds of One Guy over ten thousand years ago.

It’s not like ToTK would have had to stretch very far to give Ganondorf that bare minimum, all the ingredients were already there: the Zonai mining activities in the Gerudo region, the “ancient evil” that existed before Ganondorf entered the scene, the Gerudo’s own archaeological site from where they investigated the Depths, etc. Just add like 2 – 3 more backstory scenes focused on developing Ganondorf a little more, put some actual meat on the skeleton of a story we got in ToTK, and there you go.

The fact that some Zelda fans are so vehemently opposed to the bare minimum effort of writing for one of Nintendo’s most iconic villains is honestly baffling. The fact that they’re so opposed to Ganondorf having any semblance of humanity, that they’re apparently fine with Nintendo outsourcing the script for the highly anticipated sequel to one of their most successful games, absolutely bewilders me.

Like…this is definitely a combination of Modern Fandom’s extreme polarization and moral puritanism, plus the Zelda franchise containing conservative themes that a large part of the fandom seems to have internalized, and of course, good ol’ fashioned orientalism.

I’m inclined to mostly blame Modern Fandom because the way that people talk about villain tropes and “redemption arcs” and all that seems to overlap with “antishipper” nonsense. It’s like many young people nowadays are terrified of being judged for the “sin” of liking or relating to the designated Bad Guys, so they have to loudly and repeatedly proclaim that they are Good and Proper Christian Fans who engage with media in the Appropriate Manner, and denounce anyone who wants villains to be interesting or complex.

Even something like ATLA that recently had a revival is seeing Discourse like “Zuko should never have been redeemed bc he’s an evil colonizer, that teenage boy should have been executed instead!!!1! and Aang not killing Ozai at the end means that the writers are trying to excuse/defend genocide!!!1!”

I know it’s not most fans who have this kind of mindset, but dang, it’s getting more common.

[batteryacidisedibleenough]

Is it bad that I think Herobrine could save the Minecraft movie

Because I genuinely think it could be a redeeming quality of the movie if done well. Don't make any hints to his existence.

The movie kinda looks like it's gonna be a shitty jumanji copy, but the characters quickly start living like actual players, building and exploring.

Later, things start going unnervingly wrong, and over time it becomes clearer that other forces are at hand.

Now, there are a lot of different ways it could be executed, but I have one in particular I like.

Herobrine is no generic villain, but what he's always been: A specter, haunting those he finds. A mote of hatred in a universe of love. Scaring the hell out of the players. He would not act directly. He would not act physically. He spooks you, causes disarray, but mere violence is not his goal. Dead farms, cattle somehow rotten to the bone in hours, forests set alight. He could move along the plot by introducing nether portals, forming eyes of ender, etc. There doesn't even have to be a resolution to him to close out the plot, you could save Herobrine for later.

You could also make him more of a generic villain rather than staying true to his origins, if you really wanted. Even the "you were supposed to be a hero, Brian!" thing has a little appeal. Giving him a similar demeanor to Sisyphus Prime from ULTRAKILL could work. He could still keep that haunting nature, while having a proper voice and character. Building up from ghost-like to something more like Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom is also an option.

TL;DR: if the game has to change, make it interesting. Herobrine could be very, very interesting.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

You know, the fun thing about some of the AUs I’ve made is that they could vibe with Linked Universe just fine without really changing anything lol

Like… Forsaken AU? They’re all OCs from post-Twilight Princess time.

Imprisoning War? That’s Warriors’ predecessor. And there’s nothing stopping Wars from having Ganondorf as a redeemed Dad. Wars would know to just keep his mouth shut on the matter based on the others’ (and even his own) experience.

This new Zelpip fun? That’s just Lullaby and her husband!

[moxpunk]

So, my tabletop group just wrapped up our multi-year Zelda: Reclaim the Wild campaign, and I just wanted to write about it for y'all. This is going to be long and rambling.

To start things off, I made my gal Forota a Gerudo princess (who was also a twin) that transed her gender and abdicated the throne so their non-binary sibling could rule because she just didn't ruling over people. Were they originally named after Kotake and Koume? Absolutely. Were they both destined to be the new-age Ganondorfs because they're both AMAB? Also yes. It's the other reason my gal left her position: she was terrified that because she had a penchant for fighting and strategy and commanding groups meant that she would take on Ganondorf's brutalistic traits.

Because she had a history of being royalty, it was very easy for Forota to find an adventuring position with Queen Zelda (Zelda was finally a queen in our game). The task was to help settle Old Hyrule, which Forota didn't really agree with, but figured she could do a better job than the entire Hylian Army in helping rediscover things. Along the way, she met with a whole party of other adventurers who explored Old Hyrule by her side.

Through all the adventures, a big theme our game took was defying the powers that be and unique relationships with destiny. Personal destiny, the ordained destiny of a culture, the destiny of The Princess, The Warrior, and The Demon.

Turns out, the whole adventuring party had been deigned by Hylia to all collectively take on the soul of the Courage part of the Triforce. We, uh... found a dead Link in the Spirit Temple, where we grabbed the Master Sword and had a fun mechanic where each party-member could only make a single strike with it before it had to be passed to someone else until the whole party got a swing. The Spirit Temple was a huge turning point for a lot of our characters. Cerra, Forota's girlfriend, a Sheikah gravetender, denied her destiny to die in the Spirit Temple. Forota found a new destiny to help raise the Gerudo (who have been splintered into three separate kingdoms in Old Hyrule) from their scorned position of living in the desert. It was... really cool, all said.

Along the way, we met with a whole bunch of different cultures and fun characters. The Deku scrubs were all hyper-capitalists because an evil fairy was demanding all of their rupees. The Zora were all fed into a demon-machine, leaving only children on a single island. The Tokay were absolute trade-gremlins that raised hell with both the Zora and the Deku. The Sheikah knew the dark secrets of the kingdom, and were happy to murder anyone that stumbled on those secrets (that "anyone" also included the party!). The Gerudo were split into a warring kingdom, a political-usurping kingdom, and a fucked-up mushroom-fairy kingdom and they were the coolest motherfuckers. The Rito wished for flight and sought to do so through warfare. The Gorons were subjugated by the Rito, and we helped break their chains.

As we ventured more and more, we began to run into Hylia herself on occasion, and she was the biggest bitch. She demanded perfect subjugation beneath her, and nearly killed Forota when she spoke out against her. As time went on, we realized that maybe Ganondorf had the right idea trying to defy Hylia and the Hyrulean Kingdom.

It all culminated when Ganondorf showed up when we obtained the final shard of the Triforce, and Forota just finally walked up to him and went "I disagree in how you've done your work, but I'll fight by your side to take down Hylia." She had accepted both parts of her destiny, realizing that fighting alongside Ganondorf and using his forces of monsters for good against an unjust Hylia would be how she could redeem the Gerudo's past. He helped repair an ancient crown gifted to her in the Shadow Temple, and allowed her to command 1/10th of his monster army in the final assault against the Sky Islands (an idea our DM came up with long before the first Tears of the Kingdom was ever shown, he took it from Skyward Sword).

Our Zora caster, Hretha, was stolen by Hylia and kidnapped to the sky, and tonight in our final session we helped save her and finally take down Hylia. We gathered the Triforce and the Reversed Triforce that Ganondorf had gathered, and wished upon the Resversed Triforce to strip her of her goddesshood and upon the Triforce to break the cycle of Link, Zelda, and Ganon reincarnation. Now, Hylia gets to sit-in on diplomatic meetings while people essentially child-glove speak to her like "You don't imprison someone in the Golden Realm forever if you disagree, you talk it out like a normal person."

Forota got a lovely send-off. She got married to Cerra with a big wedding officiated by both Zelda and Ganondorf in a huge show of peace. Then, when celebrations had subsided, Ganondorf pulled Forota aside and told her that his tie to the cycle may have been broken, but his immortality remains intact. To find his humanity, he needs a general by his side to travel to the Underworld to kill six-billion demons. Forota, overjoyed that she gets to fight alongside the man she dreaded she might have become, happily accepted. She comes to the surface on occasion to hang out with her wife who is now Zelda's right-hand woman.

I plan on doing a follow-up campaign set about 10 or 20 years after this one, where all of our characters can make cute little cameo appearances. Also, it'll be a fun way to bring in some of the Zonai stuff and other mechanics the Reclaim the Wild devs are cooking up in their Discord.

I know this was long, but it was a long adventure! Thank you guys for reading my fun little ramblings, feel free to send me some asks if you have questions you'd like me to write about!

[thepacifistrouter]

About the Portal Zelda AU

So, I wanted to post this to specifically talk about 2 of the 3 Triforce Holders in this AU.

Since I think we can all agree Chell is the most easy to understand , let's talk about the other 2.

Tbh, this, also, was born from my friend's mind, but I'll try to explain it wirh mu words cause it just clicked with me.

I know some of you, maybe even a lot of you, must think Wisdom is not exactly the Triforce piece that fits better with Wheatley exactly and that Power (or maybe none at all) would fit him better, but-but hear.... read me out!!

If you're a Zelda series fan, even if you haven't played all the games, then you must know that Princesses Zelda's role in the games are normally more like passive than active, normally the one who need to be helped or that help giving Link (who's normally the muscle and the puzzle solver) answers, directions or weapons to defeat the evilness around. She rarely takes direct action.

Far from what some think and what the game (or more like GLaDOS) wanted us to believe, I've never thought Wheatley is a moron, not a genius either, but he is not a moron, he just has his own way to think and people around him took that as moronic ideas/actions/decisions. Even if you are agreed with me about that or not, there is another important fact here... wisdom is not really attached to inteligence. Is actually more tied to the knowledge we have about life and our surroundings, how we use it and the decisions we make about it. We can see both in differents Zeldas AND in Wheatley.

Just think about it, he was easily crushed by GLaDOS when we were right in front of her, BUT, knowing there was no way he could do something to fight her so we could escape, who thought about a plan to let GLaDOS disarmed? who guide us to the right place where we could do that with no being catched in the process or to the Portal Gun? who helped us escaping from that final GLaDOS test chamber? lighted our way thinking he could die if he did? and even as a bad guy he came with some silly, but also some good ideas for his own purposes.

And some of you must be thinking, but we haven't had evil or corrupted Zeldas, we haven't had Zelda being our companion during the adventure. Uuuh, yes, yes we've had (SPOILERS FROM DIFFERENT ZELDA GAMES ALERT), for this first, what about Hylda from Lorule (a Kingdome that use to be like Hyrule), what about when Ganondorf possesed Zelda in Twilight Princess? not to for the second, we've had Spirit Truck's Zelda and we could debate if BotW Zelda could count as an spiritual companion until some point. Not to mention how she was so insecure about her fate and destiny.

Heck, we could even debate OoT Zelda's smartnes of her decisions!

As for GLaDOS

First of all... like... come on is GERUDO GLADOS, I mean, how cool is that?? how cool could that look?!! besides, I think it fits her pretty well

Let's remember GLaDOS was not meant to be the main boss of the Facility in the first place, the whole thing was made for Cave Johnson at first, but things turned out... different and here we are.

Apart of that, she is very Ganondorf coded. Arrogant, powerful, ambitious, intelligent and cunning, a great planner, she only cares about her own ends. She tried to kill everyone as soon as she was activated, and every time they tried to stop her they failed, even tricking most people into believing that she didn't. But she's not the wisest, she just happens to insult where it hurts someone who not only hates her, but also has too much power (which was indirectly her fault). She's perfect to be the first final boss of the… game?… let's say the AU.

You might be thinking, but there are not redeemed Ganondorfs or even allies in the games!!... and you're right :P but, this AU would also include a bunch of first times in Hyrule's hystory. There are things that still need to be builded, but we're letting that for another day.

Aaand that's it for.

Sorry I'm bad at summarazing n.n

Pleasedon't doubt into letting any doubt you could have about this See you next time!