Ganondorf is known as the most common villain in The Legend of Zelda series, and for good reason. He frequently kidnaps the titular Zelda and makes protagonist Link jump through some serious hoops to save her and the Kingdom of Hyrule. While Ganon certainly has a rough track record, the character might not actually be the main villain of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — at least, if a new fan theory turns out to be true. In fact, the theory considers that Ganon may be some kind of victim and that the Zonai are the true villains in the history of Hyrule this time around.
Battery for Power
A Redditor by the name of Former_Product9240 recently shared an intriguing Tears of the Kingdom theory, stating that Ganon might not be the game’s antagonist. Instead, the user implicates the Zonai and says this group of magical barbarians is actually using Ganon as a battery to draw power from.
“I think the Zonai are draining power from Ganondorf through that hand,” the Redditor said. “It’s all about gaining the power that the Zonai seemingly worship.”
The “hand” referred to above is from the first Tears of the Kingdom trailer. While the trailer depicts the hand as almost reinvigorating the corpse, it’s possible the Zonai is actually possessing Ganon to use him to overtake Hyrule.
“The Zonai used their technology to turn Ganondorf into a battery, power their sky society disappearance, and take down Hyrule all in one fell swoop, putting their warlike society on top,” the Redditor says.
Could Ganon actually be a victim this time around?
A Well-Timed Fakout
It’s possible Nintendo is attempting to throw us off with the footage of Ganon from the trailers. If the Zonai are, in fact, the true antagonists, this would be a major twist that helps Tears of the Kingdom stand out, especially as a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild.
“I think this time around, [Ganon will] be innocent. [Zonai] appear to believe themselves to be like deities. Those folks never turn out to be good,” the Redditor theorizes.
In a trailer for Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda utters the words, “Please, lend him your strength!” Though, it’s unclear who she’s talking to. It’s possible Zelda is actually speaking to Ganon, who could fight alongside Link to stop the Zonai. If true, this could very well be one of the greatest gaming twists ever.
Since there are several branching Zelda timelines, this wouldn’t necessarily negate Ganon’s evil actions from other games. But it would certainly give the character some additional depth in the upcoming game.
Nintendo hasn’t revealed much about the upcoming game, so it’s unclear if this theory will end up being true. Since the company has shown much, it has led to wild fan theories — many of which would be awesome if true.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch on May 12, 2023.
