When you think of Ganondorf, the villainous entity that plagues The Legend of Zelda’s Hyrule, what comes to mind? Despicable, evil, heinous, repulsive, vile—all good adjectives for the Demon King. “Robust and sexy” might not cross your brain, but those two words were purposeful descriptors to sketch his appearance in Tears of the Kingdom, according to a recent interview with two TotK developers.
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Read More: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s ‘Rehydrated Ganon’ Has Everyone Desperate For WaterBuy The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop
Around the time of the Breath of the Wild sequel’s May 12 launch, folks online were already losing their shit over Ganondorf’s glow up. Voiced by Matt Mercer (Attack on Titan’s Levi Ackerman, One Piece’s Trafalgar Law), ToTK’s interpretation of the Dark Lord left everyone gasping for air: He was hot, having been colloquially referred to as “rehydrated Ganon” due to his newly jacked figure after a June 2019 reveal trailer made him look like a shriveled prune. Well, Ganon’s bodybuilder physique was an intentional thirst trap, according to director Hidemaro Fujibayashi and producer Eiji Aonuma.
TotK’s Ganondorf was intentionally evil and hot
In an interview with Japanese magazine Nintendo Dream that was translated by Nintendo Everything, Fujibayashi said the team wanted TotK’s Ganon to be almost another protagonist in the game and a foil for Princess Zelda’s plans. Ganon needed to be evil, and Fubayashi says they wanted him to be attractive, too. Here’s why:
Elsewhere, the devs pointed out that Ganondorf was inspired by a Japanese warrior aesthetic. Fujibayashi added that this can be seen through the cruelty in his expressions when performing violent acts.
“We incorporated something like the coolness, or essence, of Japanese military generals,” Fujibayashi said. “Take a look at [Ganondorf’s] stance with his sword, and how he unsheathes it among other movements. […] I [also] wanted to show ‘humanity’ through Ganondorf as well. His expressions when killing was also something we were meticulous about. Actually, we wondered if we should show that at all, but we thought it was a meaningful shot to include, so we did.”
Read More: Everybody Thank This Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Designer For Making Ganon Hot
