A recent issue of Nintendo Dream featured a developer interview on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. A section was dedicated to the antagonist Ganondorf, including his design and depiction in the game.
The interviewer notes that Tears of the Kingdom is the first game involving director Hideomaro Fujibayashi to install Ganondorf as a villain. We remember: Fujibayashi is an old series hand. He has already taken a seat in the director’s chair for the “Oracles” games, “Minish Cap”, “Skyward Sword” and “Breath of the Wild”.
“Tears of the Kingdom” solidifies Ganondorf as a character
Fujibayashi explains. “For me, Ganondorf is untouchable or something that is very difficult to touch. He is an important figure in the long history of the Zelda series. I even thought that Ganondorf was like another protagonist.” He continues: “Ganondorf is evil personified to the people of Hyrule, but he is also a “king” with his own dignity and way of thinking, as a demon king and also as King of Gerudo.”
Series producer Eiji Aonuma adds: “This is the first time that Ganondorf is seen killing on screen, which shocked me.” So far, Ganondorf has only been gently portrayed as evil, “but in my opinion he had to be that way for this world be a villain, otherwise the story wouldn’t work. “Even though I’ve been portraying Ganondorf for a long time, I think this game really solidified his character,” explains Aonuma.
As ___y as he is evil
Ganondorf’s new look is also discussed in the interview. Fujibayashi had specific wishes. He didn’t want to just make Ganondorf look violent. The designers fulfilled his wish to “make him look overwhelmingly evil while at the same time being handsome enough that both men and women would fall in love with him.”
In addition, Ganondorf was supposed to have “a strong sense of beauty and good taste” from the start. Fujibayashi explains: “We thought that he would probably be a character who places a lot of emphasis on his appearance and demonstrates his dignity and intelligence as a king, and designed him with that in mind, designing his face, his body, down to his personality Fingertips have been carefully designed, making it appear robust and ___y at the same time.”
Aonuma also adds that Ganondorf “enjoys the Japanese aesthetic.” Fujibayashi picks up on it and explains: “We incorporated something like the coolness or essence of Japanese military generals. Look at his stance with his sword and how he unsheathes it, among other movements.”
Another important aspect for the team was to show Ganondorf’s “humanity”. “We also paid very close attention to the expression on his face when he killed. We actually wondered if we should show it at all, but we thought it would make sense, so we did it.”
What did you think of the portrayal of Ganondorf in “Tears of the Kingdom”?
via Nintendo Everything, images: NintendoThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo
