There Is A Chance That Ganon Wanted To Die In The Original Legend Of Zelda

After yesterday’s post regarding the original 8-bit NES Legend of Zelda, I found myself wondering whether or not Ganon actually wanted to die in that game. Sure, he kidnapped the princess and all that so you wouldn’t think so. Still, there is at least one thing that makes me think either he was trying to commit suicide by Link or he was really, really stupid.

I’m talking about the silver arrow. For those in the know, this is a magic item found in the last level, the same dungeon as Ganon. This item is REQUIRED in order to kill Ganon (you hit him a couple of times, he turns red, and then you shoot him with the silver arrow to kill him). You cannot kill him without the silver arrow.

That alone wouldn’t be much, but think about the fact that Ganon controls the world in this game. Further, it’s in the same dungeon as him, guarded by his own minions. If he could not be killed without the silver arrow, why didn’t he go get it and keep it in his pocket? If Link couldn’t get it until he killed Ganon, he’d never be able to kill Ganon because it was a required item for the killing. It’s not like Ganon didn’t know this, or where the silver arrow was (it’s not like there was a whole lot of stuff in the dungeon, and it was guarded by Ganon’s minions). Ganon could have lived forever.

No, I think Ganon wanted to die. It’s either that or he was just too stupid to think about leaving the one thing that could kill him lying around.