How does Ganondorf differ from Calamity Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?

The latest entry in the acclaimed Legend of Zelda series has a lot of hype riding behind it. The latest trailer features many exciting details for fans to gloss over. These range from countless upgrades over the previous installment to brand new surprises. The biggest highlight of the recent trailer was the return of Ganondorf. The iconic villain gets a makeover compared to his previous "Calamity Ganon" rendition in the predecessor installment.

Newcomers to the franchise may be confused as to how they are different. Given how The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is going to be narrative-heavy once again, this matters.

---

Ganondof has finally achieved his ultimate form after Calamity Ganon in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

In a nutshell, Calamity Ganon is the underdeveloped form of Ganondorf. The former first appeared in 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While Ganon and Ganondorf have been mainstays since the franchise's debut, Calamity Ganon as an entity is a newcomer. It is depicted as a dark swirling mass of Malice with a pig-shaped head. It first emerged 10,000 years before the events of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild causing an event called The Great Calamity.

It was eventually sealed beneath Hyrule Castle by a joint effort between the Sheikah tribe and the Hylian citizens. However, just 100 years before The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Calamity Ganon made a final push from within its prison by infecting the Royal Family's Guardian automatons as well as the Guardian Beasts to rebel against the kingdom.

This caused heavy losses for the Royal Family with the hero Link being put into stasis for the next century but Calamity Ganon was sealed once again - but this time with Zelda herself acting as a seal.

With Link waking up a century after Calamity Ganon's rebellion, he tracks down the remnants of its influence known as Blight Ganons and defeats them. Tracking down the main source reveals that Ganon is trying to create a physical form, however Link interrupts this process. This causes Calamity Ganon to awaken in an incomplete form. Defeated by Link and Zelda together, Ganon is gone for good.

That is, until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom where Ganondorf finally retains his complete form. As per the E3 2019 teaser, a mysterious green hand can be seen reviving Ganondorf's corpse underneath the castle. Falling in line with his previous video game incarnations, he is depicted as a human from the Gerudo tribe. This new form might just be his best and most powerful yet if official trailer 3 is to be believed.

But the extent of his power remains to be seen. Players will have to wait until launch to discover what tricks the revived Ganondorf has up his sleeve. Link also has a bunch of new abilities to use on his brand new journey against this new evil. The game is set for release on May 12, 2023 and will be arriving exclusively on Nintendo Switch.