PLAYER Name: Raile Age: 26 Personal Journal: N/A E-mail: railerat [at] gmail [dot] com AIM/MSN/etc: RAILERAT on AIM, RAILEHATESFUN on Plurk
CHARACTER Name: Ganondorf Dragmire Canon: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Age: Unknown (mid-30's) Timeline: Before he breaks into the Sacred Realm If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: N/A
Personality: Ganondorf is a powerful and arrogant sorcerer, one known by many names: Mandrag Ganon, King of the Gerudo, King of Thieves, Guardian of the Desert. Eventually, he will be known as the Great King of Evil. His thirst for power and desire to rule are his most driving motivations, and as a result, he is known for his ruthlessness, his cunning, and his cruelty.
Evil and its origins play a crucial role in Ganondorf's makeup. But so do his people.
The fact that the Gerudo are all women isn’t even close to being an incidental detail. Of the races of Hyrule, the Gerudo alone operate independently of every other race (well, there’s the Kokiri, but they’re a bunch of children who are protected by a magic forest.) Ganondorf was raised by women, amongst women, in a culture of women. Ganondorf is not only respectful of how strong women are, he is steeped in it. It is his entire culture. Men are nothing. Women, however, are to be respected and reckoned with. Ganondorf is used to female superiority to the point where he power inequality favouring males is not just alien but downright BACKWARDS. Male-dominated power structures are, however, the norm for every other race on Hyrule (excluding--again--the Kokiri, who have no real power structure because they're all children parented by a giant tree.)
Ganondorf very clearly gives a lot more credence to the power and authority of women than he does men. He doesn’t care much about or for the King of Hyrule, for example--and regards Link as an inconsequential threat, even after Link possesses the Triforce of Courage. He is, however, concerned about Zelda and her power. Even when Zelda is a mere child, Ganondorf is all too aware of Zelda’s potential. In the future, when Zelda wants to escape Ganondorf’s radar, she becomes Sheik, a man. And it works. Arguments could be made that Sheik/Zelda is using her magic to shield herself from Ganondorf in general, but why would she need to be Sheik to do that? If you’re going by the game, two reasons. One, she can’t just disappear from him awareness like that, but Ganondorf has no real reason to be overly interested about some lyre-playing Sheikah man, last of his people or not. Two, who do you think Link is going to give more of his time to? The mysterious male figure claiming to be last of the Sheikah, or very feminine princess he thinks that he needs to be rescuing? And Ganondorf is implied in canon to have allowed Link to purify the temples, knowing that it will draw Zelda out into the open--Zelda, not Link, is Ganondorf's goal.
And yet still there is that question of evil. Ganondorf's initial ambitions, while ostensibly noble, quickly flower into cruelty and greed. Even once he has control of Hyrule, his unquenchable thirst for power drives him to seek greater dominion, to the detriment of all (and everything he has gained.) There are a number of reasons behind this, some as simple as Ganondorf's egotistical temperament and gross sense of entitlement--other, more complex reasons suggest that Ganondorf becomes corrupted by the Triforce of Power itself. These are not to be discounted. However, Ganondorf is also the bearer of an ancient curse, one he has no knowledge of, but which shapes the arc of his quest not only in this life but in his many futures. Long ago, the demon Demise placed a curse upon the bloodline of the goddess (in this case, Princess Zelda) and the spirit of the hero (Link), declaring his hatred would return to fight their descendants, an endless cycle of violence and woe.
Ganondorf is the incarnation of this curse, and his evil heart--though not exactly his fault--curses him as well as the land he is born in and the people who inhabit it. He is, ultimately, fuelled not by benevolence but by jealousy, greed, and hate--and when he touches the Triforce, wishing to rule the whole of Hyrule and all its lands, he consequently blights those lands and everything upon them. In a sense, Ganondorf's true monstrosity was shown only after Hyrule's prosperity was destroyed--not only by his refusal to relinquish his corrupting grip, but by his determination to ensure the land should never be anyone's but his. If he could not have it, no one could.
Despite this, he is not without honour; when a young Link draws his sword in an attempt to stop him from pursuing the Princess Zelda, he is not angered but amused and impressed with the boy's courage. He knocks him away effortlessly, but allows him to live and rides on. Even later, when Link challenges Ganondorf in his own castle, Ganondorf will wait for Link to rise if he falls before resuming his attack.
Background: Ganondorf Dragmire was born to a race of desert-dwelling warriors known as the Gerudo--a race made up entirely of women. A single male child is born into the tribe only once every hundred years, and destined by Gerudo law to become king. Ganondorf was such a child.
The Gerudo valley and its surrounding desert can be reached only by crossing a single bridge that stretches over a high canyon and being granted passage through a large wooden gate. This bridge is guarded fiercely by the Gerudo themselves. Warriors and equestrians without peer, they are feared and respected for their martial prowess, and do not accept guests well. (In the future, they destroy the bridge and instead cross by leaping the canyon on horseback--a harrowing feat, to say the least.)
Just as the Gerudo do not welcome outsiders, those outsiders--in this case, the other races of Hyrule--do not trust the Gerudo, and view them with suspicion (at best) or outright hostility (at worst.) This is in part because of the Gerudo's reputation as thieves: they regularly set ambushes and stage raids outside of their territory for food, treasure, and other goods.
[CANON] Ganondorf | Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | No Reserve
Name: Raile
Age: 26
Personal Journal: N/A
E-mail: railerat [at] gmail [dot] com
AIM/MSN/etc: RAILERAT on AIM, RAILEHATESFUN on Plurk
CHARACTER
Name: Ganondorf Dragmire
Canon: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Age: Unknown (mid-30's)
Timeline: Before he breaks into the Sacred Realm
If playing another character from the same canon, how will you deal with this?: N/A
Personality: Ganondorf is a powerful and arrogant sorcerer, one known by many names: Mandrag Ganon, King of the Gerudo, King of Thieves, Guardian of the Desert. Eventually, he will be known as the Great King of Evil. His thirst for power and desire to rule are his most driving motivations, and as a result, he is known for his ruthlessness, his cunning, and his cruelty.
Evil and its origins play a crucial role in Ganondorf's makeup. But so do his people.
The fact that the Gerudo are all women isn’t even close to being an incidental detail. Of the races of Hyrule, the Gerudo alone operate independently of every other race (well, there’s the Kokiri, but they’re a bunch of children who are protected by a magic forest.) Ganondorf was raised by women, amongst women, in a culture of women. Ganondorf is not only respectful of how strong women are, he is steeped in it. It is his entire culture. Men are nothing. Women, however, are to be respected and reckoned with. Ganondorf is used to female superiority to the point where he power inequality favouring males is not just alien but downright BACKWARDS. Male-dominated power structures are, however, the norm for every other race on Hyrule (excluding--again--the Kokiri, who have no real power structure because they're all children parented by a giant tree.)
Ganondorf very clearly gives a lot more credence to the power and authority of women than he does men. He doesn’t care much about or for the King of Hyrule, for example--and regards Link as an inconsequential threat, even after Link possesses the Triforce of Courage. He is, however, concerned about Zelda and her power. Even when Zelda is a mere child, Ganondorf is all too aware of Zelda’s potential. In the future, when Zelda wants to escape Ganondorf’s radar, she becomes Sheik, a man. And it works. Arguments could be made that Sheik/Zelda is using her magic to shield herself from Ganondorf in general, but why would she need to be Sheik to do that? If you’re going by the game, two reasons. One, she can’t just disappear from him awareness like that, but Ganondorf has no real reason to be overly interested about some lyre-playing Sheikah man, last of his people or not. Two, who do you think Link is going to give more of his time to? The mysterious male figure claiming to be last of the Sheikah, or very feminine princess he thinks that he needs to be rescuing? And Ganondorf is implied in canon to have allowed Link to purify the temples, knowing that it will draw Zelda out into the open--Zelda, not Link, is Ganondorf's goal.
And yet still there is that question of evil. Ganondorf's initial ambitions, while ostensibly noble, quickly flower into cruelty and greed. Even once he has control of Hyrule, his unquenchable thirst for power drives him to seek greater dominion, to the detriment of all (and everything he has gained.) There are a number of reasons behind this, some as simple as Ganondorf's egotistical temperament and gross sense of entitlement--other, more complex reasons suggest that Ganondorf becomes corrupted by the Triforce of Power itself. These are not to be discounted. However, Ganondorf is also the bearer of an ancient curse, one he has no knowledge of, but which shapes the arc of his quest not only in this life but in his many futures. Long ago, the demon Demise placed a curse upon the bloodline of the goddess (in this case, Princess Zelda) and the spirit of the hero (Link), declaring his hatred would return to fight their descendants, an endless cycle of violence and woe.
Ganondorf is the incarnation of this curse, and his evil heart--though not exactly his fault--curses him as well as the land he is born in and the people who inhabit it. He is, ultimately, fuelled not by benevolence but by jealousy, greed, and hate--and when he touches the Triforce, wishing to rule the whole of Hyrule and all its lands, he consequently blights those lands and everything upon them. In a sense, Ganondorf's true monstrosity was shown only after Hyrule's prosperity was destroyed--not only by his refusal to relinquish his corrupting grip, but by his determination to ensure the land should never be anyone's but his. If he could not have it, no one could.
Despite this, he is not without honour; when a young Link draws his sword in an attempt to stop him from pursuing the Princess Zelda, he is not angered but amused and impressed with the boy's courage. He knocks him away effortlessly, but allows him to live and rides on. Even later, when Link challenges Ganondorf in his own castle, Ganondorf will wait for Link to rise if he falls before resuming his attack.
Background: Ganondorf Dragmire was born to a race of desert-dwelling warriors known as the Gerudo--a race made up entirely of women. A single male child is born into the tribe only once every hundred years, and destined by Gerudo law to become king. Ganondorf was such a child.
The Gerudo valley and its surrounding desert can be reached only by crossing a single bridge that stretches over a high canyon and being granted passage through a large wooden gate. This bridge is guarded fiercely by the Gerudo themselves. Warriors and equestrians without peer, they are feared and respected for their martial prowess, and do not accept guests well. (In the future, they destroy the bridge and instead cross by leaping the canyon on horseback--a harrowing feat, to say the least.)
Just as the Gerudo do not welcome outsiders, those outsiders--in this case, the other races of Hyrule--do not trust the Gerudo, and view them with suspicion (at best) or outright hostility (at worst.) This is in part because of the Gerudo's reputation as thieves: they regularly set ambushes and stage raids outside of their territory for food, treasure, and other goods.