The Legend of Zelda: TOTK THEORIES with a side of salt 

Yeah, im thinking something related to that, If the consciousness of demise was kepth in the master sword, and the malice was ganons (or demise) hatred. I t could be that when both were combined, Demise became whole and set aside Ganondorf. So when Ganondorf returns he became backsided by Demise and he now has to figure out what to do. I dont think he, portrayed always as someone so prideful would became servant of someone else or allow to be possesed somehow. In the other hand, that perhaps forces to the godess Hylia to act. She never appear before when facing Ganon, why would she appear now if its not to stop Demise, her nemesis?

And Impa says that Demise's last remnants are slowly decaying in the sword, and that was almost literally eons ago. By this point its unlikely that there's anything left of Demise in the MS.

​@xdragoonzero0 the master sword constantly needs sacred power to work, so its not always at its best

So Demise's consciousness was sealed within the Master Sword while his Curse manifested itself as Ganondorf. Ganondorf realizing his part in this eternal drama of life, death and rebirth may be working to free himself from the cycle but with the sword broken he will probably be fighting an internal battle within himself. Or what is probably more likely he will fully merge with his former incarnation to destroy everything.

@@TheAdventGamer perhaps. But in the mural with the title's name we see Ganondorf clearly leading the monsters. Also we all see the person resembling Demise. What i said it's the only way i can understand both in the same game.

And the final one is Hestu’s gift. Fertilizing the hero’s scalp.

Link's mullet versus Ganondorf's/Demise's ponytail

Now this is a theory I can get behind!

Ganondorf is evil, and that's not going to change. IF demise is in the game in any way, (which I doubt) he'll either be possessing Ganon, or they work together. And link has a different hair color in the mural, to assure that he's not mistaken for zelda. His hair is darker then hers. And on an old, faded mural the color may come off as rusty looking. The master sword didn't just trap demise inside it. The sword destroyed demise. Impact tells you that at the end of skyward sword.

Impa (not impact) sorry, stupid autocorrect.

Ghiriham too.

yeah, and it broke

And that brok- oh shit. Yeah Demise is returning.

and the sword is broken. but zelda is holding the broken sword and also might be in the past... oh yeah. dual battle with zelda or playable zelda against demise.

​@@Alex-ko897 except it's specifically stated that his spirit is being degraded in the sword. Even if part of his spirit remained it'd be far too weak to do anything.

i'd also like to ask. Ganondorf got the Triforce of Power afterwards... and it's Stuck to him even through reincarnation... if it comes to it.. is the Triforce Ganon's or Demise's?

I keep forgetting that Vaati was originally a Zelda character. My mind keeps going to soothing voice DS lore videos Vaati

​@@IanAnimatesBagels I can understand that 😎

Break the cycle Ganondorf.

If I not mistaken isn't Demise to Ganondorf how Hylia is to Zelda in that they were reincarnated into mortal bodies. If I had to go on a guess I feel like Ganondorf is probably regain his form as Demise

HERE COMES THE FURRY ART

@@IAteABox WAIT NO!

Won't lie, I was kind of hoping that Link's original form was that of the Fierce Deity from Majora's Mask. Purely because I'm in love with the design.

@@TheAdventGamer ... wait a minute... wouldn't that mean.... the current iteration of Link is like a Chihuahua or a pug? genetically engineered to look "cute" and "defenseless"

@TheAdventGamer Might be! I was just thinking it would make sense for him to change just like Zelda to Hylia and Ganondorf to Demise.

And ngl it would totally fit his character.

This is actually what I've been theorizing - the mural of "Link" and Zelda fighting the calamity shows a red-haired dude with long hair, it really hints that it's depicting Ganondorf and Zelda. Not so much Link... Link has blonde hair (why was Zelda depicted accurately but not Link? A lot of people are questioning this) It really sounds like Ganondorf is gonna find out about the truth of the eternal reincarnation and he's gonna lose his shit

​@@iverakansol9218 That doesn't make any sense because Calamity are caused apparently because the mummy of Ganondorf is sealed and malice at some point forms the calamity. and since theCalamity from 10 000 years isn't the first one (that's why guardians were created), that means Ganondorf is sealed prior to this... soooo it can't be Ganondorf in the tapestry fighting the calamity.

It could make sense if Ganondorf somehow got separated from ganon

@@nombreoriginal616 ? Ganon and ganondorf are the same person/being. Do you mean demise?

Aren't all of Ganondorf's appearances the same incarnation? Wind waker Ganondorf is the same one that fought Link in Ocarina of Time.

@@Shendrift I think the one from the original NES Zelda was his own dorf, but aside from that, the series does have a tendancy to use the revive/unseal Ganon plot point.

@@wakkaseta8351 There's also one of the four swords games, where the Ganon in that was a reincarnated Ganon who traveled to a forbidden pyramid where his past selves trident was sealed despite being told to stay away, becoming corrupted by its power.

@@Shendrift WW Ganondorf is the exact same as OoT Ganondorf, after he was sealed away at the end of OoT. TP Ganondorf is *also* OoT Ganondorf, but after his plot was foiled by Young Link upon returning from the future.

Well, the Hero's line doesn't exist anymore in WW so his existence is basically pointless. Might explain why he makes no effort to return afterwards as well.

I very much hope that gdorf is on our side but the situation is "would be our enemy in any situation but this". I also hope it's gdorf who approaches team hero and proposes a temporary truce to break the cycle.

He has a horn when he turns around the exact same horn Ganondorf has in the mural at the end of the trailer. This theory has so many plot holes that just deny it, like Demise completely fading away in the master sword at the end of SS, he's gone there's no way for him to return

that redemption arc theory sounds like the most ridiculous thing ive heard today

@@Rageouz yeah it makes no sense

@@Rageouz the rebuttal most are making for that disproval is that his body alone decayed, not his spirit/soul.

for future reference, Teba's son is named Tulin. 👍

@@Khaelis thank you, I have a hard time rembering

The tears look closer to magatama than as representations of yin and yang

4:00 To me, this pendant looks much more like a Magatama than a yin or yang fish, which would also make sense since it is associated with the soul and could possibly be used to call upon Hylia. One of the defining traits of a yin yang symbol however are the "eyes" which represent yin in yang and vice versa, which is not found here.

If this is the case, then who will have the seventh tear? Since there are 7 tears in the zonai mural

He’s literally just a magical manifestation of hatred. He’s not even a person and never was.

There's a webcomic that should scratch that itch for you, it's called 'a tale of two rulers'

There's also the "Hero's Purpose" by Majorlink, which has Sad dorf

@midgetydeath Actually false in the game. He does seem to have limited free will tho. As he has to be the bad guy and evil somehow and the enemy of Hyrule.

THANK YOU, I've been commenting on several videos now that they are Magatama and I even looked up and one of the theories on reason for it's shape is to resemble the human soul.

Doesn't the woman in Ace Attorney wear one as well?

@@Soumein yeah and she gives one to pheonix wright

@@Soumein Yep!

I was trying to think of the name, but couldn’t remember it. Thank you for reminding me

I mean I don't think it'll happen but god would it be amazing.

@@TheAdventGamer It's such a great idea that I'm sure it won't happen because it would be too good.

I just hope demise doesnt just treat ganon like zant and kill'm just before he reveals himself

Also if the cycle does end, they can finally start having new villains in future games (I know we've had games where Ganon isn't the villain)

Imagine if we had an official mainline Zelda game where Link and Ganon actually teamed up willingly.

That’s so awesome. That’s why TP link is my favorite. Badass💪any other super interesting things to come out of the manga?

@@andimari9194 the scene where Link gets bonked on the head in game is replaced with his arm being chopped off. They also do a lot more on the relationship between Link and Midna. It's basically confirmed ship, but she still does the same as the game and breaks the mirror after kissing him.

@@DarkRayquaza121 holy shit his arm chopped off? That’s kinda funny considering BOTW link looks like he’s gonna go through something similar. And yeah I saw the ship w one part of midna playinng w links hair and saying it’s burned or something like that and he’s smiling. Sigh… makes me want a tp sequel we’ll never get :(

@@andimari9194 They really go hard with the ship in the final chapters

Yeah, I liked TOTK's story, but this is honestly better in a lot of ways.

Ah yes Groose, the likely progenitor of the Gerudo

​@@alinkinthechainit's still insane to me how that's actually a huge possibility

I’ve seen a theory that Ganondorf is Groose’s reincarnations possessed by Demise, so if that theory’s true, you might get a two-for-one.

@@GurrenPrime after a long, terrible battle, Link finally manages to sever Ganondorf’s connection to Demise, allowing him to utter a single, strained “The Groose… is Loose..” with a smile before he falls unconscious

Link also has a "possession form" and it's Groose

Cool idea! If we take your idea and weave it back into Falco’s here, the guy that puts arm on Zelda could just be Link in his possessed form. Maybe this game introduces the deity behind Link’s incarnations? Maybe…. IT WAS THE FIERCE DEITY ALL ALONG???? As the only evidence I know of in the series of a GOD possessing LINK. 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Nah, it's not. He has the bracing on both arms, likely just standard arm braces for the Zonai

That's exactly what I've been thinking. In the last trailer when we see Zelda fall into the pit, she has yellow sparks around her, the same sparks that are floating around in the repaired inner sanctum later in the trailer. I think she swaps places in time (but not space) with the other Zelda here to save herself. This may also tie into Demise's curse and the theme of reincarnation; all of the other royal family are dead, so Zelda is the last one. If she died, there would be nobody left to carry the blood of the goddess, and there wouldn't be another Zelda ever again. And because Demise specifically says "Those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero... They are eternally bound to this curse", there might be reason for Demise himself to time swap the Zeldas, so that the curse remains unbroken.

I do like the idea of the Ouroboros meaning that the whole Zelda timeline(s) are an infinite loop where the end of the game has Ganondorf assuming himself as Demise and Zelda awakening as Hylia to cause the prologue legend of Skyward Sword. But that’s just a theory.

I am very excited to be wrong XD and honestly at this point I don’t want to know the right answer.

Well, in Skyward sword isn't it kind of implied that Zant and Fi are counterparts? They're both the embodiments of their master's respective swords, so why doesn't Ganondorf already have a sword that he always uses like Link with the Master Sword?

@WhiteSandCosmos YOOOO WAIT THAT'S SO TRUE WHAT THE HELL I TOTALLY FORGOT THAT GIRAHIM WAS ALSO A SWORD-BEING

Those are based on Magatama which are not SUPPOSED to be reflective of Yin and Yang, but maybe nintendo combines them here with this work of fiction? Maybe interestingly, the small drop in Yin and Yang is symbolized as a tear or a similar object, but the larger body is something else. Magatama has the ENTIRE thing represented as a droplet, and the circle in the middle is just a hole. Also in OOT the Child era scared stones were representations of 1, 2, and 3 -sided 'tomoe', a type of magatama. They remain as their own symbols of the tribes, alongside the Triforce symbolizing goddessess above them. All are primarily influenced by japanese 'kamon' family crests, that are kinda like the Uchiha clan symbol in Naruto, for one example.

It's probably not relevant but the Tears of light from spirit tracks come to mind when ever I see the pendant

​@@gangleymini1049 no yeah they fill the same role as the tears in Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess. Which could be a tell towards a possible different realm. Be it spirit, twilight or silent.

Yunobo was Demise all along!

We see a stone crusher in the shot with all the other champions so either he is replaced by another Goron like Teva or the shot was cut so that it could fit in the trailer better

@@user-jm1cx7nc9o I've been seeing the theory that maybe Yunobo gets a massive glow up they'd rather players discover for themselves. It'd be pretty cool if we got to Goron village to discover Yunobo has become big and strong and confident like Daruk in the years we've been gone from this world. Admittedly one knock against this theory may be that if they were hiding something like a Yunobo glow up, it seems weird they'd clue us in something may have happened to Teba to make his son take his role as the hero's ally, but maybe the speculative part is making us anxiously wonder what happened to Teba.

@@user-jm1cx7nc9o I'm seriously curious about what happened with Teba. Why isn't he fighting? Why is his son?

Yunobo is dead

Imagine if she references every game the master sword was in throughout Totk.

@@lordshennington2756 my theory is she's the reason the timelines converged.

@@Jewellsensei perhaps she always spoke using percentages of chance, because she was aware of the multiple paralel timelines going on even then, not so much predictions as straight up obsevations

I hope Fi comes back too! If Fi returns imagine if the reminders for low batteries comes back too through more Fi reminders!

there was a moment in the trailer where ghirahims theme played, and with the whole master sword breaking possibly first return, I wouldn't be surprised if ghirahim returns in the same vein, since they mirror each other

or maybe its demise and hylia forcing all the characters into their roleplay session

@@emperortoho and one of them will ask if the Bear Owl is called a B'Owl

​@@emperortohoThat _is_ what they're doing, isn't it? Hylia's plan and Demise's curse keeps railroading every campaign back into Hyrule. It's been over 10,000 years since anything resembling the last games of the timeline occured and the royal bloodline is still kicking.

@@milk_choc7889 exactly

if ganon ran a dnd campaign he’d totally use “rocks fall everyone dies” if the party annoys him enough

I cannot see gdorf becoming an anti hero, but I can see them as "not the problem right now" an enemy to be aware of but not a constant threat.

@@56safety Could always see a “I want to conquer the world for my people, Demise just wants to destroy it. I can’t rule what doesn’t exist, so ergo I’m helping the people who want Demise gone” kinda plot working

@@illegalmemedealer3549 Ganondorf and demise both want the same thing. to destroy hyrule and turn it into another Demon Realm

@@infiniteedge4427 but how much of Ganondorf’s goal is his own, and how much is Demise’s hatred?

As long as we don’t have to fight him 3 times lol

@@peterlynch9929 I mean if they drastically change it up such as it first racing across the plains and you chasing on horseback from one, the second having it fly so you have to make use of aerial attacks, jumping from floating structures and maybe have a few allies giving you whirlwinds, launchers and cannons to shoot from to attack and the final one having Imprisoned be some giant construct you gotta beat down using various constructs, some of which you could prepare in advance to raid it like a fortress before climbing in it to break its `heart`..... Yeah i think that would be loads more fun then playing a reverse tower defense, except its less of a tower defense and more of a one-man resistance to seal a bugger back up.

"Expanded moveset" God I'd love to have Age of Calamity weapon moveset in an open world game like Tears of the Kingdom. Actually I'd love to have Devil May Cry style combat if anything. Show how much of a master swordsman/weaponmaster Link truly is.

NOOOOOO

@@TheAdventGamer I believe wuthering waves, a open world mobile game made by the same guys who made punishing: Gray raven are gonna do a closed beta soon which fits that style of DMC’like combat in open world. Maybe take a gander at it to pass the time I guess. Shame it’s release window ain’t established yet.

Good guy? Didn’t you watch the trailer when he was talking about destroying hyrule.

@@slidersides If we follow along with scott's theory, it could just be assumed to be demise rather than ganondorf

I personally hope he's an ally, not a good guy. Very much "not the immediate problem" kinda vibe, staying true to his manipulative and power hungry original portrayal

Plus, there has been no other game with Ganondorf in it besides Four Swords Adventure where he was not a Gerudo looking for better land for other Gerudo and being a conqueror. Him dropping it here, while sensible, would still be out of character for Ganondorf.

It'd be funny to see Link as the villain. According to some people's gameplays like myself, he is a bit of an anti-hero. But, not this time unfortunately.

Main problem with that,1. there isn't one specific individual who takes the part of the curse. The Japanese version of SS confirms it's the whole demon tribe. 2. Demises spirit is inside the master sword, slowly degrading. Cool idea but doesn't hold up to how the curse itself works.

Also, Ganondorf is a gerudo, and presumably their king as in other games, which would explain his regal raiment.

Nintendo doesn't care about the timeline

Ganondorf has always been tied to Shinto and Buddhist traditions. Ganondorf and Demise reference Negative Karma and that hatred, bloodlust and violence can consume a person and turn them into a demon. That hate doesn’t just end at themselves but to everyone it touches and that demon will live on forever in hatred and it’s perpetuation. It’s not just Demise or Ganondorf’s hate but also Link, Zelda and Hylia that will continue this cycle. Fighting and killing Ganondorf by this logic will never be a permanent solution as this hate and violence will cycle throughout the rest of time. The only way to stop the cycle is to break the cycle

I actually think a Shadow of the Colossus type Imprisoned would be sick. Make him even bigger and scarier like Dark Beast Ganon where you have to climb up him and attack his weak point like a giant Stone Tallis, or something.

I don't think it was that link couldn't forgive, but that link was being puppeted by the goddess in a similar way to Ganondorf being influenced by Demise. Every time Link drops his guard tries to actually talk with Ganondorf, their's a flash of white accompanied with a specific audio chime and Link is on the offensive again.

@@daniels3529 honestly yea I agree, maybe even a little of both. It’s been awhile since I watched that episode of MajorLink so I’m probably not remember it 100% right but I could’ve sworn there was a line Link said yelling at him saying something like “do you think I could forgive you for all the people you’ve killed” and then flashes to Hyrule castle town and everyone dead/injured, but I could be remembering it wrong I haven’t watched it since that episode released but MajorLink is absolutely amazing

Maybe it could signify the END of the franchise. I doubt it, but things having a satisfying, clear end like John Wick 4 did recently is a trend I'd like to see get popularized. Finish the franchise off with a bang and move on to the next, maybe expanding the same universe, or doing more prequels, but letting the timeline end.

just look at phantom hourglass and spirit tracks. In that timeline Ganondorf was permanently killed by a combination of being stabbed and petrified by the master sword, followed by the King using the triforce to destroy everything in hyrule, himself and Gdorf included. Thus in that timeline the cycle is already broken and they had to introduce entirely new villains. It could be argued that these new villains are new, non-ganon incarnations of Demise's hatred that appeared to replace Ganondorf after he was zero-summed, but we have no confirmation either way.

Yeah, the fact there there are already multiple timelines means that this COULD BE the finale of the entire game universe. And still leave room for more games, because apparently the timeline takes place over hundreds of thousands of years.

​@@Highstar25Let's not forget Yuga in A Link Between Worlds which becomes a Ganon like figure even without having any relation to the guy himself

@@Zerorenren4761 well, Yuga is in the downfall timeline where ganon has just permanently become a pig beast, and his entire plan is to fuse himself with this ganon, so I wouldn't say the form he obtains from that fusion is unrelated to ganon.

Hey fellow otamatone

He was?

👀 let's pray rather than hope

@@berniebear5935 Press A to pray

If they take it down, it’s canon

Why? Why would they do that?

@Ohiya smith hang on a min, he might be cookin something 👀

Too true. Such an alliance could be something no more complicated than "my enemy's enemy."

There are the three goddesses originally attributed to creating the triforce. Maybe they have some role in the reincarnation that we don’t know about?

Yeah, Ganon was used in BOTW. TOTK better be different

And Zelda is British! It all makes sense now!

*Beats Tears of the Kingdom* "Wait, It was Xenoblade all along?" Nintendo/Monolith Soft: Always has been

HELL YEAH I’ve wanted this forever and if this is about breaking the cycle, it’s the perfect opportunity for it. Not going to happen, of course. But we can dream ):

@@whoknows4780 NPC allies are a thing so they already set up the possibility of having Zelda and maybe G-money helping out as `allies` in the final fight if demise does make a return. I would say the real kicker would be if Link gets injuried again in the final fight to reference the `prologue` to Breath of the Wild again, but instead you have Ganondorf picking up the master sword, probably having it enlargen into a claymore like blade and then your playing as HIM for a portion of the fight, beating the snot outta the final boss if once again, Demise in some form does return.

Would entirly depend on who he's supposed to be. think its possible that maybe ganondorf as we know him was a worshipper and ally of hylia. To defeat demise he sealed the monster's power into himself. But was betrayed, reduced to a mummy. If this is supposed to fit with other timelines, Ganondorf's soul endures reincarnation like link and zelda's thanks to be connected to Demise, with Ganondorf from ocarina being him incarnating as himself and filled with rage against hyrule for crimes he barely remembers. Maybe the gerudo were originally Zonai themselves, but were cursed to not bare male children to try and contain him. it slips even few centuries though but eventually it took full hold.

@@BladeSerph I am huffing massive copium that Zelda, and maybe that green goat guy, could stand as extra powerful the-Master-Sword-of-allies NPC fighters for Link that you have to work for to unlock, similar to the Master Sword itself in BotW but hopefully a little more involved; I'd love a main plot adjacent side quest that's optional and difficult but encourages players to stick through it to get the cutscene of Link and Zelda reuniting and being able to unlock and equip Zelda with her light powers to fight alongside Link.

I'd buy the game in a heartbeat if we get the ability to play Gannondorf. Nintendo PLEASE let this happen

@@lordshennington2756 With all the talks even from BotW speculation of fans wanting a tragic villain Ganondorf, or an ally Ganondorf, or a younger Ganondorf that's Link's friend and/or mentor before it all goes wrong, if it doesn't happen in this game I really hope Zelda team was paying attention and wrote some of those ideas down to cook on them for a future Zelda title.

But that’s just a theory

No it wouldn't it would be ridiculous, Ganon deserves to be the final villain. Way more satisfying. The only way they could pull this off is if Ganon was only using Link to 'absorb' demise or something.

@@durpanda123 Lets not pretend like Ganondorf is some super deep villain. The dude's goal is to just rule the world. Having him actually team up with the hero to defeat a bigger bad guy can give him actual development. It could be something like Piccolo teaming up with Goku to beat Raditiz. Thinking about it more, I don't really see it happening though. I still think Demise is in the game but it might be a situation where you fight and defeat Ganondorf but then BOOM second phase Demise pops up.

Just like when people though Samus was Metroid

Yeah... at least its fun to play

@@moralkombat66 true. story's a 4, but gameplay's at LEAST an 8 or a 9

@@cabbagyboi9129 Idk if I'd give it a 4. The story is just kind of there because they needed something to make it go