Ganondorf (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

This article is about Ganondorf's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For other uses, see Ganondorf.

“	His new design matches his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time! Now he uses his sword for all of his smash attacks. He's a bit slimmer than he was before, but his Warlock Punch is devastating! For his Final Smash he transforms into Ganon, the Demon King and quickly charges forward.	”
—Description from the Super Smash Blog.

Ganondorf
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Also appears in	Melee Brawl SSBWU/3DS
Availability	Unlockable
Final Smash	Ganon, the Demon King
Voice Actor
Voiced by	Takashi Nagasako

Ganondorf is a veteran fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, first playable in Super Smash Bros. Melee. He was confirmed during Nintendo's E3 2018 presentation. His fighter number is 23.

When unlocked, he is fought at Bridge of Eldin.

Attributes

Strengths

• Extreme damage and knockback.
• Extreme weight.
• Faster attacks and mobility compared to other heavy characters.
• Many attacks, such as Up Tilt, Forward Smash and Warlock Punch, deal massive shield damage to the point of breaking in a few hits.
• Good variety of knockback angles for various attacks.
• Benefits greatly from Rage thanks to his weight and power.
• Can cancel some of his moves into each other, such as Up Smash into Tilts and short-hop Back Aerial into Tilts, allowing him to reduce ending lag.
• Powerful edge-guarding game thanks to his fast aerial attacks.
• Down Aerial, Flame Choke, and initial frames of aerial Wizard Foot can Meteor Smash. Down Aerial is capable of KOing at very low percentages if sweetspotted. It also has hitboxes imbued with Transcendent priority. It also is the only Meteor Smash in the game that cannot be teched when used on grounded opponents.
• Reversed Warlock Punch has extremely high knockback, capable of killing opponents below 40%. If reversed on the ground, can One-Hit KO opponents near the ledge. Both ground versions have powerful Super armor at the start of the animation.
• Flame Choke allows him to perform many follow ups and tech chases, which is his most versatile tool. Can also perform the infamous "Ganoncide" with Flame Choke, which gives him an advantage in stock matches.
• Can cancel the ground version of Wizard's Foot into a jump when using it towards the edge. In the air, Wizard's Foot can also Meteor Smash opponents at the beginning of the move.
• Up Tilt can break shields in a single hit, being the second attack which inflicts the most shield damage, after Marth/Lucina's Shield Breaker. It is also a good ability to use against recovering opponents coming from below.
• Neutral air has long lasting frames and can edge guard effectively.

Weaknesses

• Very tall, having a large frame and being easy to hit.
• Slow movement, having the third slowest air speed and air acceleration and third lowest jump and double jumps.
• Terrible recovery.
• Has considerable lag on some attacks.
• Most attacks, including his grabs, have poor range.
• Poor grab game, barely being able to deal enough damage and knockback to kill at reliable percentages.
• Relies too much on tech chases in order to dish out proper follow ups.
• Lacks moves with high active frames.
• Cannot deal very well against projectiles, zoning or fast characters that can put too much pressure.
• Flame Choke and Wizard's Foot can lead into suicides if not well timed or misused.

• Sword attacks are relatively slow and predictable.
• Poor recovery options.

Changes from SSBWU/3DS

Ganondorf was heavily buffed in the transition to Ultimate, largely due to his horrible tier placements in previous games. The universal changes of reduced landing lag and faster jumpsquat allow him to approach more consistently with aerials. The majority of his normal moves and Specials have been buffed in terms of damage and knockback, offering greater utility. The most significant change however to Ganondorf was reworking his Smash attacks to incorporate sword swings, allowing more disjointed reach for his powerful KO options, remedying one of Ganondorf's significant problems in lack of reach.

However, to compensate for the reach of his Smash attacks, they also have increased endlag, making them easily punished if missed. The two biggest nerfs to Ganondorf however were his up aerial, as its inability to connect with opponents below him on the late hit removes its utility, and Flame Choke has less utility as a sacrificial KO move due to opponents being able to escape via mashing as well as Ganondorf being KO'd first. In addition, Ganondorf's flaws of poor recovery and slow mobility still remain problematic and make him susceptible to being easily juggled and edgeguarded.

Ganondorf's design in Ultimate is based off his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time similarly to Melee, specifically his official art from Ocarina of Time 3D. His darkness-based attacks received new particle effects, and his sword, which is utilized in his normal moveset for the first time, is the Space World 2000 tech demo sword. Ganondof's role is reprised by Takashi Nagasako, who previously voiced the character in Ocarina of Time and Melee through new voice lines.

Ground Attacks

• All of Ganondorf's Smash attacks have been changed to now have him utilize his sword.
• Up tilt comes out faster.

Aerial Attacks

• All of Ganondorf's aerials have less ending lag.
• Up air coves less horizontal distance.

Grabs and Throws

• Forward throw's animation has been changed.

Special Attacks

• The Warlock Punch neutral special has been given more Super Armor.
• The Wizard's Foot down special has less ending lag and travels faster.
• Wizard's Foot's sweetspot is now the tip of his foot as appose to Smash 4 where it was the sourspot.
• Dark Dive does more knockback.
• Flame Choke now is escapable and kills Ganondorf first when used offstage.
• His Final Smash is renamed to Ganon, the Demon King, where he transforms into his Ganon form seen in Ocarina of Time. The Final Smash functions identically to Beast Ganon, however instead of slamming into the ground and burying opponents Ganon slams downwards with his greatswords, paralyzing and meteor smashing opponents before charging.

Moveset

Ground Attacks

Normal

• Neutral Attack: Ganondorf strikes forth with one hand.
• Forward Tilt: Ganondorf performs a push kick.
• Up Tilt (Volcano Kick): Ganondorf raises one leg, and then after some time slams his leg down to the ground, causing an explosion; has windboxes that pull nearby opponents in range of the kick.
• Down Tilt (Leg Sweep): Ganondorf kicks low to the ground.
• Dash Attack: Ganondorf rams forth with his shoulder.

Smash Attacks

• Forward Smash: Ganondorf raises his sword and then brings it down until it impacts with the ground in front of him, similar to Ike's Forward Smash attack. Ganondorf's shout while using this move being heard by some as "DORIYAH!" and the sheer strength of the move itself has led to it becoming a recurring joke in the Smash community.
• Up Smash: Ganondorf swings his sword above him in an arc. This is similar to Ike's Up Smash attack.
• Down Smash: Ganondorf slam the hilt of the sword forwards across the ground, and then slams backwards with the blade of the sword. Despite the use of the sword, it acts mostly the same as his old Down Smash. It is also similar to Cloud's Down Smash attack.

Other attacks

• Floor Attack (Front):
• Floor Attack (Back):
• Floor Attack (Trip):
• Ledge Attack: Ganondorf climbs back on stage with a backhanded slap.

Aerial Attacks

• Neutral aerial: Ganondorf kicks forwards twice.
• Forward aerial: Ganondorf raises his fist and then brings it down in front of himself.
• Back aerial: Ganondorf strikes behind himself with one arm.
• Up aerial: Ganondorf kicks overhead.
• Down aerial: Ganondorf powerfully stomps downwards with both legs.

Grabs and Throws

• Pummel: Ganondorf throws a knee into the opponent.
• Forward Throw: Ganondorf punches the opponent.
• Back Throw: Ganondorf tosses the opponent back and then kicks them away.
• Up Throw: Ganondorf hurls the opponent upwards.
• Down Throw: Ganondorf slams the opponent into the ground.

Special Moves

Ganondorf's Special Moves
	Melee	Brawl	3DS/Wii U	Ultimate
Standard Special	Warlock Punch
Side Special	Gerudo Dragon	Flame Choke
Up Special	Dark Dive
Down Special	Wizard's Foot
Final Smash	—	Beast Ganon

=== [[Taunts]] ===

* Up Taunt:

* Side Taunt:

* Down Taunt:

=== On-Screen Appearance ===

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=== Idle Poses ===

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=== Victory Poses ===

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== In competitive play ==

''To be added''

== [[Classic Mode (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)|Classic Mode]]: ==

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== In World of Light ==

== In Spirit Battles ==

== [[Palette Swap (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)|Palette Swaps]] ==

== Gallery ==

== Trivia ==