After a long time of patiently explaining to aged family, “No, Zelda is the princess”, 2024 goes to be the 12 months that Grandma is lastly proper. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge is boldly going the place no mainline collection entry has gone earlier than by placing the titular princess within the driver’s seat. How stunning! How daring! How not like something that we Zelda followers have been calling for for years. Ahem.
The ‘Zelda is the hero’ reveal was solely shocking due to how lengthy it is taken. Except for the apparent protagonist confusion, the collection has been crying out for the Hylian monarch to take a starring position. She shines as Sheik in Ocarina of Time (our apologies to those that have averted that spoiler for the final 25 years), she edged into the highlight in Spirit Tracks regardless of it very a lot nonetheless being Hyperlink’s journey, and Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom actually leaned into the cool magic shenanigans. Sounds loads like a game-leading hero, for those who ask us.
We hope that Echoes of Knowledge is the primary of many video games with Zelda on the forefront (they will exist alongside the usual Hyperlink-led initiatives, worry not), however we won’t assist however wonder if Nintendo has plans to push this switcheroo additional. If the Zelda collection can open its arms to new protagonists, why cease at two? Significantly when the third holder of the Triforce is sitting proper there.
We’re speaking, in fact, about Ganondorf, The Demon King / Darkish Lord / Depraved Man of the Desert / Hunky Heartbreaker (solely a few of these are canon).
You see, for so long as Zelda has been caught up in proceedings, so too has ol’ ‘Dorfy. She has lengthy possessed the Triforce of Knowledge and Hyperlink has the Triforce of Braveness, whereas the person with Demise’s contact holds the Triforce of Energy. This stuff are available threes, so it stands to purpose {that a} Ganon-led mission may pop up sooner or later sooner or later. Proper?
Nicely, perhaps. Ganondorf is playable in Hyrule Warriors and he has been a mainstay of the Smash roster ever since Melee, however a sport the place the massive inexperienced imply machine is the protagonist is a tough factor to think about. Basically, Nintendo tends to keep away from video games the place you play because the dangerous man — except you take into account Olimar the last word antagonist of the Pikmin collection (we completely do). They are often playable, as with Ganondorf in Smash or King Boo in Mario Kart, however the family-friendly Massive N would by no means threat having any individual so morally corrupt because the lead.
Or would it not? There won’t be fairly the identical degree of “Give us a playable Ganondorf!” vitality as we now have seen for Zelda lately, however we’re removed from the primary folks to think about the concept. A particularly overpowered, ‘evil’ protagonist feels a bit of out of Nintendo’s consolation zone (then once more, it is readying an M-rated horror sport on the time of writing, so who is aware of what it has up its sleeve), however a Ganondorf sport may simply as simply current a extra sympathetic tackle the beautiful Gerudo à la Wind Waker to fit right into a PEGI 12 / ESRB 10+. Nintendo is not fully oblivious to its followers’ needs, so it is not as if the basic idea of a Ganondorf sport is off the desk.
And what an idea it may very well be! The omnipotent, near-indestructible strategy that we noticed in Hyrule Warriors is all properly and good, however we are able to see it getting tiring after 20-30 hours, and it is hardly very in-keeping with the collection’ anticipated puzzle-adventure gameplay.
What if, as a substitute, we noticed a basic Metroid set-up, with the fully-powered Demon King falling by the hands of a pesky Hero of Time solely to be reincarnated with out his skills? Swiftly, we now have one thing to goal for. The Gerudo Massive Unhealthy has a mission of revenge, actual targets, and an finish objective that is not fairly as anti-Nintendo as ‘Carry Concerning the Finish of the World: 75 XP’.
Ooh, what about one thing with extra of a real-time technique edge? Echoes of Knowledge is about to deliver monster summoning to the forefront of Zelda mechanics, and is not that essentially what the Demon King is all about? Certain, he is all sword-swinging when he and Hyperlink lastly go head-to-head on the finish of every sport, however what has he been doing for the 40 hours earlier than that if not retaining an in depth eye on his forces (other than crunches and pull-ups, apparently)?
And let’s not overlook that other than a bit of slither in Wind Waker, ‘Ganondorf The Sympathetic’ has by no means actually had an opportunity to shine. We’re not proposing a whole ethical turnaround the place it seems, ‘truly, the Massive Unhealthy was proper all alongside!’ however there’s undoubtedly room for a extra personable portrayal of the Darkish Lord that’s nonetheless untapped.
It is a man who’s doomed to hold Demise’s curse, one whose upbringing has hardly ever been explored — one Gerudo male each 100 years and being raised by surrogate moms Twinrova is hardly essentially the most in-depth evaluation for a personality with this many mainline appearances — and one whose sole mission in life is thwarted, again and again, by a toddler in a nightcap. The avenues for a private story are limitless.
Have a look at God of Warfare‘s Kratos. It is a determine who is consistently battling with a latent evil inside, however who is set to higher himself for the nice of a beloved one. He is not an all-out “hero”, however there’s sufficient pathos to hold our consideration and root for his success. Now we’re picturing Ragnarok-style fight as Ganondorf takes on the Hylian military. Possibly an action-heavy strategy would work.
It is all enjoyable and video games to take a position, however we’re no developer — we’ll go away it to Nintendo (or whichever thriller third-party studio it ropes in to work on the sport underneath a shroud of secrecy). All we’re saying is, there’s potential.
The Zelda collection is likely to be on the cusp of an enormous change, one the place its hero does not look fairly so Hyperlink-y and its gameplay is not fairly so dungeon-y. Echoes of Knowledge lastly handing Zelda the reins of her personal collection is an thrilling prospect and we desperately hope that it’s not a one-and-done starring position for the princess. We additionally wonder if that is the beginning of Nintendo branching out. Is that this the long-awaited fan-pleaser or just the second chapter in a Rashamon-style Triforce trilogy?
What do you assume? Does the introduction of Zelda as a lead protagonist open the doorways for Ganondorf to get comparable starring-role remedy, or is that fully off the desk? Fill out the next ballot along with your ideas after which take to the feedback to pitch your dream Ganondorf sport.
