When Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma revealed what would become The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in 2014, he said the new Zelda game would be all about “revisiting the conventions of the Zelda series.” Breath of the Wild absolutely delivered on Aonuma’s promise — from a gameplay perspective, at least.
The 2017 game’s story, on the other hand, stuck very close to the rest of Zelda history: Ganon returns, and Link and Zelda must combine their powers to seal the ancient evil away… Again. But with Tears of the Kingdom on the horizon, some fans think the Breath of the Wild sequel could shake up the long-standing power struggle between the Triforce’s three main wielders.
Potential Spoiler Warning: This story goes deep into theories about what could end up happening in Tears of the Kingdom. If you don’t want to know anything ahead of the game’s release, turn away now!
Some Zelda fans on Reddit are convinced that Ganondorf could end up being the hero of Tears of the Kingdom’s story. This theory has been floating around in many fan’s heads (including my own) since some of the earliest trailers for Tears of the Kingdom, but Ganondorf’s proper reveal in the latest story trailer has the speculation picking up even more steam.
To properly explain the theory, we’ve got to go back to a key moment in Breath of the Wild. Early on in the game, Impa shares a legend with Link from the first Great Calamity that took place 10,000 years ago. There’s an image of a hero wielding the Master Sword and a Princess or Goddess figure fighting Calamity Ganon. The hero has red hair and has a green body/outfit, both of which line up with new official Ganondorf art.
Initially, fans drew comparisons to the hero’s tattered green outfit in the mural to Link’s torn green tunic from early Tears of the Kingdom trailers. This started the speculation that Tears of the Kingdom would take place across two distinct time periods: Present day following the events of Breath of the Wild, and 10,000 years ago during the events of the first Great Calamity.
But Ganondorf’s proper reveal has some fans thinking the traditional Zelda villain could actually be the true hero from the events that happened 10,000 years ago. Multiple Reddit posts are theorizing that Ganondorf could be the one wielding the Master Sword in the mural, taking matters into his own hands to put an end to the Zelda series’ endless cycle of reincarnation.
As Reddit user Must_Go_faster_84 put it, “What if this mural is depicting a non-evil Ganondorf from 10,000 years ago? He was the hero (aka the ‘Link’ of that time period) that helped Zelda defeat Calamity Ganon (which is really an incarnation of Demise). His resurrection in TOTK is Demise basically possessing the corpse of a dead hero.”
Much of this theory also draws upon the events laid out in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. The 2011 Wii game takes place at the very beginning of the Zelda timeline, explaining the origins of the endless cycle of rebirth that sees Ganondorf constantly returning to fight Link and Zelda’s ancestors.
Skyward Sword explains that it’s actually Demise — the final boss of the game — that sets these events in motion. Many fans think they spotted Demise in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer, when a mysterious figure with flowing red hair is staring directly into the blood moon. It’s also possible this figure is just mid-transformation Ganondorf regaining his human form, but the similarities to Demise are noticeable.
on my knees PRAYING this is Hylia and Demise oh my gODDDDDDDDD pic.twitter.com/P0nyUmtGTf
— Amelia (Ames)▴TOTK!!🧚♀️ (@Ames_liaa) April 13, 2023
And then there’s this mysterious woman who appeared in the trailer. While our initial gut reaction had us hoping this could be the Hylian Goddess Din, fan speculation has taken things in a different direction. Many believe this is the Goddess or Princess character depicted in Breath of the Wild’s mural, and others think it could be the Goddess Hylia herself, who originally created Skyloft and sealed Demise away in the events preceding Skyward Sword.
Content creator Austin John Plays was one of the first to jump on this theory, and it’s gained a lot of popularity in the last few days. Tears of the Kingdom already has very obvious similarities to Skyward Sword, given that chunks of Hyrule are rising from the ground into the clouds above.
There are a lot of fans who aren’t buying into this theory, with Reddit user thepurplecubby writing, “I see post after post after post saying that Ganondorf had to be the ancient hero because red hair. Like literally that’s the only reason. It was absolutely an artistic choice I won’t argue that. But…it throws out all existing lore and mythos that’s been well established. It was even said in the tapestry scene that the warrior used the sword that sealed the darkness and he carried the spirit of the hero. Two things Ganondorf can not and will not have.” Another Reddit post claims that the hero featured in the mural is Link, and nothing more.
It certainly seems like Tears of the Kingdom is set to deal with the Zelda series’ ongoing story of Ganondorf’s reincarnation. The game’s logo itself depicts an ouroboros, which is a dragon eating its own tail. The ouroboros represents the eternal cycle of destruction and rebirth. Maybe Tears of the Kingdom will finally end the Zelda series’ story as we know it, allowing Nintendo to set off in a fresh, new direction for the franchise’s plot in whatever comes next.
Will Ganondorf take on Demise itself, freeing himself from this endless cycle of reincarnation and violence? Or, could Tears of the Kingdom actually link back to Skyward Sword, rendering the entire Zelda timeline into an endless loop? Fans only have a few weeks left to speculate before Tears of the Kingdom launches on May 12.
For more on Zelda, check out Bucket Head, the Tears of the Kingdom character the internet is in love with. And, our opinion piece on why we’re finally ready to return to Hyrule in Tears of the Kingdom.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
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