The lore of The Legend of Zelda can be an absolute trip to go down. Much like following the white rabbit into a infinite labyrinth, so many questions arise from this franchise. With its multiple timelines following the three consistent heroes and villains of Link, Zelda and Ganondorf, it can be hard placing exactly what happened to these characters and if reincarnation, revival or being sealed ages these characters like fine wine. With such an interested concept being that Legend of Zelda has ended in many ways, with many more outcomes to be shown in the future, just exactly how old is Ganondorf in through The Legend of Zelda entries. Well, Vincent’s guide will attempt to answer this question.
How Old is Ganondorf Through The Legend of Zelda?
What we have to remind ourselves based on the story thus far is Ganondorf works similarly to the stages of life Link and Zelda go through. As Link and Zelda are reincarnated time and time again, with Zelda following her bloodline, holding the Light Force, Link is forced to sleep until the time comes for him to be the savior of Hyrule, Ganondorf follows a similar path in that he will forever be brought back to life to take control of Hyrule. Keep in mind however that much like Link, he is often not aware of his past failures or accomplishments in The Legend of Zelda timeline. Rather, both characters are separate versions of themselves, awaking in their eyes for the first time to take each other on. In every game, Ganondorf learns of Link’s presence for the first time, meaning that both characters have no idea who each other are at the time of waking up.
The only difference is noted from Breath of the Wild, taking place in the third timeline in which Ganondorf learns about Link before being sealed away by Zelda and the King. Because of this, Ganondorf is in a way a step ahead of Link, however, being forced into a slumber, much like Link remains throughout the franchise, he is unable to put what he has learnt to good use and gain the much needed upper hand against the Hero. As Ganondorf is often resurrected rather than reincarnated into a new version of himself via an alternate timeline. This means that whilst Ganondorf in theory is aging due to his awareness of Link’s identity such as in Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker, his death results in a aging pause. But as most games are following different timelines rather than a continual sequel, Ganondorf’s age remains within roughly a decade apart.
Related: How Old is Link and Zelda in Every The Legend of Zelda Game?
The History of Ganondorf
Ganondorf has taken on multiple forms throughout the franchise, being originally his human self in the earliest games of Ocarina of Time (1998), The Legend of Zelda (1986) and The Wind Waker (2002). These show his passage before becoming what we all refer to him as Ganon, being his Pig-form. But unlike Link and Zelda, it is rather difficult to pin-point Ganondorf’s age throughout the franchise due to little concrete evidence pointing anyone in the right direction. Many believe that Ganondorf is 30-years old in his human-form as seen throughout the franchise as a Gerudo. With the general knowledge that Gerudo are born every century, this does not imply that Ganondorf is over 100-years old due to him being reincarnated or entrapped before breaking the seal.
Throughout the franchise, Ganondorf is either in his human-form, a Gerudo, as Ganon the Pig and King of Gerudo and as the incarnation of Demise. In his Ganon form, Ganondorf often dies at the end of the game, such as in The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. These of course, alongside a couple other games in the franchise, represent the times when Link succeeds and Ganon fails. Almost every time Ganondorf is killed, his is resurrected via the Triforce of Power. Due to the belief that Ganondorf is frequently brought back, we can assume that Ganondorf is not aging, much like Link. Because of this, we would place his age in his 40s throughout the franchise. Whilst a century has passed since the events of Ocarina of Time, separating the story into 3 different timelines, Ganondorf was not alive throughout this century.
So Exactly How Old is Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda?
For the reasons listed above, Ganondorf appears to be in his 40s as he makes his move into power. That is until the events of Breathe of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, bringing us Calamity Ganon and the Demon King. With these games set 1000 years after Ocarina of Time, it is believed that the Ganondorf in this timeline is over 10,000 years old. Seeing as Nintendo has never officially came out with an answer, it is all theories and nothing is concrete enough to answer Ganondorf’s age. With all of his resurrections, revivals and unsealing himself from entrapment, is he really aging as time passes him by?
That was Gamer Journalist answering the confusing question on Ganondorf’s age in The Legend of Zelda. Does this clear anything up? Or do you have just as many questions as we do? For more articles on The Legend of Zelda, specifically Tears of the Kingdom, feel free to see our GJ recommended here. Thank you for reading.
