How To Defeat Ganondorf In Zelda TOTK (Demon King & Dragon)

Ganondorf like several other Zelda games is also the main boss of Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK) that you need to beat to complete the game. But unlike Ocarina of Time or Twilight Princess, the fight isn’t going to be easy this time. So while you may have new weapons and powers like Fuse. He too has many abilities up his sleeve. So below are all the moves and counters for all phases of Ganondorf in this game.

How to Beat Ganondorf in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK)

You need to defeat all 3 different forms of Ganondorf to defeat him completely in this game. While you can use any powerful weapon against him. Try using Master Sword with the Silver Lynel Horn. Not only is it one of the best fusions for it but also makes the Master Sword very strong. And in this fight, you won’t have to worry about Master Sword running out of energy. Here are all 3 forms of Ganondorf, his Moves and how to Counter them. You can also check our videos below them for a tutorial on how to fight him.

Demon King Ganondorf – The Menace Unleashed

In this fight, Ganondorf always starts with a Sword and can later switch to either a Club or Spear.

• Sword Attacks
  • Horizontal Sword Slash: Ganondorf will slash at you with his sword. The best counter for it is to Flurry Rush it. Check his shoulder and when he starts to move his hand. Just backflip before it and you will do a Successful Flurry Rush. If you miss the timing then simply guard the attack with a good shield.
    
  • Vertical Sword Slash: Ganondorf will slash at you but this time he will slash in a downward direction. To Flurry Rush this attack you need to jump sideways instead of forward. This attack is trickier to Flurry Rush than his horizontal sword. So it is best if you guard it because depending on the number of Hearts you have Ganondorf can easily chip away a lot of your health or one-shot kill you.
    
  • Charged Sword Spin: Ganondorf will take a stance and then do a charged sword spin. This attack leaves behind gloom on the ground. To Flurry Rush this move, stand near Ganondorf and be within his attack range. After he takes his stance and just when he is about to start his attack do a backflip. Try timing your attack or do it earlier instead of late. Because when you Backflip early you will still be out of harm’s way. But if you do it late you will get hit by it.
    
• Club Attacks
  • Club Smack: Ganondorf will smack his club on the ground sending three gloom projectiles in your direction. One is launched straight toward your general direction while the other two are sent diagonally forward to either side of it. You can avoid getting hit by it by standing between the projectiles.
    
  • Jump Attack: After his above attack Ganondorf will Jump at you in an attempt to smack you with his club. You can Flurry Rush this attack by jumping to either side when Ganondorf’s legs are around the same height as Link’s face.
    
  • Club Strike: Ganondorf will swing his club horizontally at you. Simply do a backflip to Flurry Rush this attack.
    
  • AoE Ground Gloom: Ganondorf will raise his club in the air and cause an updraft. This is your cue to get your glider out. Fly in the air because you cannot guard against this attack. Once in the air, you should use Lynel Bow with Bomb arrows to chip away a lot of his health.
    
• Spear Attacks
  • Lunge attack: Ganondorf will lunge at you with his spear. This attack is the easiest to Flurry Rush. Keep moving on the right. Once Ganondorf lunges at you, sidestep to the right just before he is about to thrust his spear.
    
  • Spear Charge: This move is harder to Flurry Rush. Ganondorf will dash quickly in your direction with his spear. This attack leaves behind a trail of gloom. Countering it is the same as how you would counter his Lunge attack.

Note: Since these moves are also used in his next form you will see some screenshots above show the move from that form instead of his Menace Unleashed form.

Demon King Ganondorf – Master of the Secret Stone

There are two phases in this fight and in the first phase, Ganondorf uses all of the same moves as his Menace Unleashed form. The main difference here is his clones. Instead of this being a 1v1 fight. It is a 6v6 fight, where 5 Ganondorf Clones fight the 5 Sages that you recruit during the main quests.

• First Phase
  • Throughout this fight, you should run away from the Clone Ganondorfs and try separating the main one from the crowd. You can easily recognize him by his appearance.
  • Pro Tip – Whenever you are near a Clone and main Ganondorf do not lock onto any of them instead try getting away from them. The game can easily lock onto one of the Clones instead of the main Ganondorf which can be a problem if one of them attacks you costing you your hearts or if he one-shots you then you will have to restart the whole fight again.
• Second Phase

• In the second phase, it becomes a 1v1 again between Link and Ganondorf with all the sages being knocked out. He still uses the same moves as his first form but there are two main changes here. First is that he will Flurry dodge your Flurry Rush the first time. So for each time you fight him you will have to use Flurry Rush twice. And the second change is before each of the above attacks he can use the following moves:
  • Homing Gloom Projectiles: Ganondorf will launch three homing Gloom Projectiles at you. You can run around to avoid getting hit by them. But while you run around also keep an eye out for Ganondorf because he will do a Spear Charge as well.
    
  • Gloom Waves: Ganondorf will hurl two waves of Gloom at you. You can dodge them by moving in their gaps.
    
  • Gloom in a circle: Ganondorf will create a circle of Gloom with gaps in between. This circle gets smaller and closes in on you. You need to move in between them and get out of the circle to avoid it.
    
  • Gloom Arrows: Ganondorf will shoot 3 Gloom arrows at you after using his Gloom in circle attack. The best way to dodge them is by running to either side. Do not guard against this attack as your shield will break after blocking 3 of them. And this applies even to the Hylian Shield.
• After he is done with these Gloom attacks he can use any of the Sword or Club attacks.

Demon Dragon – Draconified Demon King

This fight is on the easier side when compared to his previous transformation. The only move you need to look out for is the Gloom Fireballs that the Demon Dragon breathes at you. Also, you shouldn’t walk on the Demon Dragon’s body as it will inflict gloom damage on you.

The fight starts with you on the Light Dragon’s head. Dive down on the various openings in the Demon Dragon’s body where you can see a clump of multiple eyes. Land there and hit it until it disappears.

Jump off the back of the Demon Dragon and land on the Light Dragon. Once both the dragons realign themselves jump on the next opening.

There are 4 such weaknesses in his body. After destroying them go for the Demon Dragon’s head. Destroy his secret stone and you will defeat Ganondorf for the final this time.

That’s all you need to do to Beat Ganondorf and complete the Destroy Ganondorf main quest in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (TOTK). While you may have completed the main story there are still more things that you can do in this game. Check out our TOTK section to find more interesting information on this game like its ending explained, how you can get the Majora’s Mask, how to get Unbreakable Master sword, and more.