Phantom Ganon

Phantom Ganon
Artwork of Phantom Ganon from Ocarina of Time
First appearance	Ocarina of Time (1998)
Appears in	Ocarina of Time The Wind Waker Four Swords Adventures Hyrule Warriors Legends
Title(s)	Evil Spirit from Beyond
Gender	Male
Homeland	Hyrule
Hometown	Forest Temple (The Wind Waker) Ganon's Tower
Kindred	Ganondorf (Creator/Master) (Breath of the Wild) Spoiler: Fireblight Ganon (fellow phantom/"sibling") Spoiler: Thunderblight Ganon (fellow phantom/"sibling") Spoiler: Waterblight Ganon (fellow phantom/"sibling") Spoiler: Windblight Ganon (fellow phantom/"sibling") (Hyrule Warriors Legends) Spoiler: Dark Cia (Creation/Servant)
Race	Artificial Ghost/Doppelgänger

Phantom Ganon is a recurring antagonist in the Legend of Zelda series. He is an entity of pure evil, created by Ganondorf to be a perfect servant and, if need be, killing machine, who asks no questions and does what his master commands. Phantom Ganon is infamous for his fighting style, often utilizing the Dead Man's Volley technique in battle.

Appearances

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Phantom Ganon's first appearance is in Ocarina of Time, as the boss of the Forest Temple. He approaches Link in a hall decorated with paintings. He is at first disguised as Ganondorf, startling Link, before revealing his true nature, perhaps as a means to confuse his enemy.

After Link defeats the entity, Ganondorf's voice echoes throughout the chamber. The King of Evil states that this was a mere phantom and that he himself will not falter so easily. He then banishes Phantom Ganon to the Gap Between Dimensions, calling it a "worthless creation."

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Phantom Ganon's appearance is vastly different from its appearance in Ocarina of Time. Whereas the Phantom Ganon in Ocarina of Time assumed the appearance of Ganondorf's body with a skull head and glowing yellow eyes, this Phantom is a shadowy figure with blue lines running across his body. His fighting style, however, remains almost the same, though he uses a sword here instead of a trident. Link duels with this being twice: once in the Forsaken Fortress and a second time in Ganon's Tower.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Phantom Ganon appears as the boss of Whereabouts of the Wind, the first stage in the game, located at the top of Hyrule Castle. He reappears as the boss of Level 5, the Dark World, in the Temple of Darkness. His appearance is very similar to that in The Wind Waker.

References

Although Phantom Ganon itself does not actually appear in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a similar entity called Phantom Zant appears, only it is instead derived from Zant's likeness. In addition, the Phantom Riders that accompany Ganondorf during the penultimate battle bear a strong physical resemblance to Phantom Ganon, combining aspects from both Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker.

The four Scourges of the Divine Beasts created by Calamity Ganon to control the Divine Beasts in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Windblight, Fireblight, Thunderblight and Waterblight Ganon are said to be "phantoms of Ganon" in their Hyrule Compendium entries, implying that they are artificial phantoms created by Calamity Ganon, much like how Ganondorf created Phantom Ganon. Like Phantom Ganon's various incarnations, they are loyal creations of the King of Evil who act as dungeon bosses and will guard Calamity Ganon if Link reaches the Sanctum of Hyrule Castle before freeing the Divine Beasts. As Breath of the Wild takes place after Ocarina of Time the Scourges can be seen as akin to "siblings" successors of Phantom Ganon as they are all artificial creation of Calamity Ganon who's former identity Ganondorf is mentioned as Ganon's original form.

Promotional Artwork of Link wearing the Phantom Ganon Armor set from Breath of the Wild

The Champions' Ballad DLC also includes an Armor set based on the original incarnation of Phantom Ganon from Ocarina of Time. It includes the Phantom Ganon Skull, Phantom Ganon Armor, and Phantom Greaves. The set was among a collection of historically significant outfits owned by the Royal Family of Hyrule that was stolen from Hyrule Castle during the Great Calamity by the great bandit Misko. By reading Misko's EX Journal 2, Link can find the entire set in the jungle of the Faron region during the EX Treasure: Dark Armor DLC side quest. The skull is located in Corta Lake, the armor under Sarjon Bridge, and the Greaves in Ebara Forest. Each peice increase Link's stealth and the entire set disguises him as one of the undead causing all "Stal" (save for Stalnox) not to attack him and increasees the attack power of Bokoblin Arms, Lizalfos Arms, and Moblin Arm. Additionally NPCs will react frighten or defensive of Link if he approaches them while wearing the set due to it frightful appearance. According to their descriptions, the entire set is rumored to be inspirited by a dark enity implied to be the original Phantom Ganon though it is unclear if there is any validity to this rumor though it may explain the armor set's powers and effect on "Stal" monster enemies as Phantom Ganon once commanded Stalfos found with the Forest Temple indicating he may have some power or influence over them and other "Stal" monsters. If true it indicates Phantom Ganon somehow escaped or was released at some point from the Gap Between Dimensions and apparently his spirit was broken into three pieces and imprisoned in the armor set based on him presumably by the Royal Family of Hyrule or its allies to keep his evil spirit contained.

Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.

Other appearances

Subseries warning: This article or section contains information on a subseries within the Legend of Zelda series and should be considered part of its own separate canon.

Hyrule Warriors Legends

Phantom Ganon from The Wind Waker appears in Hyrule Warriors Legends. His official artworks shows him wielding dual swords, which is likely a reference to his master and creator Ganondorf, who wields two Great Swords. In a new storyline set after the main story, he plays the role of main antagonist, stealing the Triforce of Power from Lana and trapping Cia's spirit in the Temple of Souls, allowing him to create a shadowy doppelgänger of her known as Dark Cia to steal Cia's magic. Using the Triforce of Power he opens another rift in time and space to the Era of the Great Sea which is also his Era of origin. Link is sent to investigate and joins forces with Lana, Tetra, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, and eventually a redeemed Cia, to stop Phantom Ganon's evil plans. Like past depictions, the Dead Man's Volley technique appears during the fight with Phantom Ganon.

Render of Ganondorf in his Phantom Ganon Recolor from Hyrule Warriors Legends

There is also a Era of the Great Sea Phantom Ganon Recolor of Ganondorf's Standard Armor obtained from the Master Wind Waker' DLC.

Material Drops

• Silver Material - Phantom Ganon's Cape
• Gold Material - Phantom Ganon's Sword

Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.

Non-canonical appearances

Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (manga)

Like in the game, Phantom Ganon is encountered in the Forest Temple. Disguised as a painting of Ganondorf, Phantom Ganon attacks Link and Mido from behind when they enter the Temple to search for Saria, though Link manages to sense his presence and warns Mido, before engaging Phantom Ganon in battle. However Phantom Ganon retreats inside a painting and Link discovers his Master Sword has no effect on the phantom. Fortunately, Mido finds the Fairy Bow on a wall and gives it to Link, who uses it to defeat Phantom Ganon, freeing Saria who Phantom Ganon had trapped inside a painting.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Phantom Ganon from Ocarina of Time is featured as a sticker. Its sticker gives a +40 bonus to darkness attacks. Like all other stickers that give bonuses to darkness attacks, it can only be used by Ganondorf.

Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.

Powers and abilities

Phantom Ganon, owing to his more ghostly nature, was capable of phasing in and out of various areas, such as paintings, as well as teleporting, creating decoys of himself, and to a certain degree shapeshifting. In addition, he was also capable of shooting spells at his foes, although these can be deflected back at him with some effort. He was also capable of levitation as well as riding on horseback. However, Ganondorf claimed upon his defeat that Phantom Ganon was weaker than himself.

He was also shown to be unkillable short of the Light Arrows, presumably due to his more ghostly nature. In Ocarina of Time, even after he was defeated, he still proceeded to exist within the fabric of reality, and only ended up defeated for good when Ganondorf sealed him in the Gap Between Dimensions due to anger at his failure at killing Link. Likewise, in The Wind Waker, Link managed to defeat Phantom Ganon at the Forsaken Fortress, only for him to teleport away and taunt Link by laughing before taking his leave, and even when the Master Sword was fully repowered, attacking Phantom Ganon with the Master Sword merely had him teleporting away. It was not until Link got the Light Arrows that he was able to quell the phantom for good.

Attributes

Physical appearance

In Ocarina of Time, owing to his name, he largely resembled Ganondorf, with the only notable difference being that his head is replaced with a horned skull with glowing eyes, as well as the fact that he wielded a trident-like weapon. When he first appears, Phantom Ganon is identical to Ganondorf though it is soon revealed that his Ganondorf face is just a removable mask that hides his true skeletal face. He also rides a steed identical to Ganondorf's Steed.

In The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures, however, Phantom Ganon had a radically different appearance, resembling a black imposing figure with demonic horns, a tattered cape, and having his right forearm and left foot appearing whole while the left forearm and right foot appear skeletal, as well as possessing blue gust-like patterns.

Likewise, his voice slightly differed from the real Ganondorf, either having a deeper, almost demonic pitch (Ocarina of Time) or otherwise carrying an echo (The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures).

See also

• Phantom Rider
• Phantom Zant
• Scourges of the Divine Beasts