prepostmoderism
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2014
- Messages
- 3
WARNING! GEEKY OVER-ANALYZATION OF A FICTIONAL CHARACTER AHEAD! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
I've read a few posts here that seem to complain that Ganon's moves are not 'Ganon-like' and should be changed / new moves should be more 'in line with his character'. The exception I take to this is that there's a slight lack of context regarding what 'Ganon-like' even is. Allow me to nerd out and over-analyze the character.
Why Ganondorf fights like he does...
To explain this requires a little dissection of the Gerudos; Ganondorf's people. The Gerudos are a nearly all-female tribe of humans who (in the Adult1 / Child1 timelines) inhabit Hylia and Termina. They are adept thieves and warriors, and are (in)famous for thier martial skill.
Gerudos ostensibly have three fighting styles. When Link encounters them in the Gerudo Fortress in OOT, they are extremely lithe and acrobatic. The Gerudo martial arts seem to lean toward this fleet combat style - which makes sense, considering a group exclusively comprised of females would need to press their superior agility in battle with the predominantly male, armored soldiery of Hylia. Since the most experienced and masterful practitioners of these arts would be the ones to teach a young Ganondorf - thier future God-King - 'agile' moves such as Uair, Nair, both Rising Attacks and others begin to make much more sense.
Next, when Link encounters Iron Knuckles (which, if you'll notice - are all Gerudos inside the armor), their fighting styles are that of mighty bruisers. This shows that the Gerudo are not unfamiliar with such tactics - making Ganondorf's more 'powerful' moves - Ftilt, Dair, Fair, etc., a bit more congruous. Constant physical training tends to make males larger than females, which explains why Ganondorf isn't a smaller, more svelte fighter. When Ganondorf's size would normally prevent him from training with females - or developing more bulk - they'd just bust out the Iron Knuckle armor. The resulting positive feedback loop could also explain why Ganondorf is as huge as he is. Later in his teens his training may have organically shifted from quickness to power. Not to mention... you know - his various 'duties' as the only male in a society entirely comprised of females. The guy got a lot of exercise, in any case.
Thirdly, there's Koume and Kotake. They are among the only Gerudos to showcase magical ability, and it just so happens that they served as Ganondorf's surrogate mothers. It makes sense that they should pass on their knowledge to their son - destined to be their king. This explains all the purple stuff. Lightning and whatnot.
All in all, Ganondorf is a man who was trained constantly - since an early age - by a tribe of accomplished, agile warriors. Though the techniques he was taught focused on the dexterous and precise, his constant conditioning may have been what made him large and powerful. Furthermore, he was likely given close instruction by his surrogate mothers in the dark arts, more than explaining his magical prowess.
So it's okay that Ganondorf can do flips and s***. There's a reason he's simultaneously a ninja and warrior AND wizard.
Windmill spin-kicks are perfectly within his comfort zone and I hope that the devs don't change that based on lack of context.
I've read a few posts here that seem to complain that Ganon's moves are not 'Ganon-like' and should be changed / new moves should be more 'in line with his character'. The exception I take to this is that there's a slight lack of context regarding what 'Ganon-like' even is. Allow me to nerd out and over-analyze the character.
Why Ganondorf fights like he does...
To explain this requires a little dissection of the Gerudos; Ganondorf's people. The Gerudos are a nearly all-female tribe of humans who (in the Adult1 / Child1 timelines) inhabit Hylia and Termina. They are adept thieves and warriors, and are (in)famous for thier martial skill.
Gerudos ostensibly have three fighting styles. When Link encounters them in the Gerudo Fortress in OOT, they are extremely lithe and acrobatic. The Gerudo martial arts seem to lean toward this fleet combat style - which makes sense, considering a group exclusively comprised of females would need to press their superior agility in battle with the predominantly male, armored soldiery of Hylia. Since the most experienced and masterful practitioners of these arts would be the ones to teach a young Ganondorf - thier future God-King - 'agile' moves such as Uair, Nair, both Rising Attacks and others begin to make much more sense.
Next, when Link encounters Iron Knuckles (which, if you'll notice - are all Gerudos inside the armor), their fighting styles are that of mighty bruisers. This shows that the Gerudo are not unfamiliar with such tactics - making Ganondorf's more 'powerful' moves - Ftilt, Dair, Fair, etc., a bit more congruous. Constant physical training tends to make males larger than females, which explains why Ganondorf isn't a smaller, more svelte fighter. When Ganondorf's size would normally prevent him from training with females - or developing more bulk - they'd just bust out the Iron Knuckle armor. The resulting positive feedback loop could also explain why Ganondorf is as huge as he is. Later in his teens his training may have organically shifted from quickness to power. Not to mention... you know - his various 'duties' as the only male in a society entirely comprised of females. The guy got a lot of exercise, in any case.
Thirdly, there's Koume and Kotake. They are among the only Gerudos to showcase magical ability, and it just so happens that they served as Ganondorf's surrogate mothers. It makes sense that they should pass on their knowledge to their son - destined to be their king. This explains all the purple stuff. Lightning and whatnot.
All in all, Ganondorf is a man who was trained constantly - since an early age - by a tribe of accomplished, agile warriors. Though the techniques he was taught focused on the dexterous and precise, his constant conditioning may have been what made him large and powerful. Furthermore, he was likely given close instruction by his surrogate mothers in the dark arts, more than explaining his magical prowess.
So it's okay that Ganondorf can do flips and s***. There's a reason he's simultaneously a ninja and warrior AND wizard.
Windmill spin-kicks are perfectly within his comfort zone and I hope that the devs don't change that based on lack of context.
. Also there is no readily available form of padding to use for elbows in most Dojos/Gyms so they just aren't allowed for sparring. Actually in Kyokushin Karate's traditional tournaments (not all) there is no use boxing gloves or MMA gloves so face strikes with fist aren't allowed cause they are also "lethal". The reason for that is back in the old days all tournaments were full contact bare-knuckle, but people got hurt and lost teeth, broke bones etc. and since boxing gloves are big and bulky (this is before MMA gloves) and did not allow Gi throws they decided to not use gloves at all and just no strikes (except kicks) to the face (search YouTube for traditional Kyokushin tournaments you'll see).
