Ganon's Tower

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Ganon's Tower
Location(s)	Dark World, Hyrule
Game(s)	A Link to the Past Ocarina of Time The Wind Waker
Main Item	Red Mail (A Link to the Past) Golden Gauntlets (Ocarina of Time) Light Arrow (The Wind Waker)
Boss(es)	Agahnim (A Link to the Past) Ganondorf (Ocarina of Time) Ganondorf (The Wind Waker)
Theme Music	Ganon's Castle Theme (A Link to the Past) Ganon's Castle Theme (Ocarina of Time) Ganon's Castle Theme (The Wind Waker)

Appearing in various games of the Zelda series, Ganon's Tower, also known as the Tower of Ganon^[1] or Ganon's Castle^[2], is the stronghold of Ganon and is usually the last dungeon Link must travel to in order to save Hyrule and Princess Zelda.

In all of its incarnations, the entrance to Ganon's Tower is blocked by a sort of protective barrier or force field that cannot be shattered until a certain prerequisite is met.

Contents 1 A Link to the Past 2 Ocarina of Time 3 Master Quest 3.1 Forest Barrier 3.2 Fire Barrier 3.3 Water Barrier 3.4 Shadow Barrier 3.5 Spirit Barrier 3.6 Light Barrier 4 The Wind Waker 5 Trivia 6 Gallery 7 References

A Link to the Past

Ganon's Tower (or Tower of Ganon^[1]) is the final dungeon of the game, located in the Dark World. The seal on it can be only broken by the descendants of the Seven Sages, and as such, Link must free the Seven Maidens to break the barrier and reveal the staircase leading to the inside of the tower.^[3]

Ganon's Tower consists of a large basement where the Red Mail, map, and compass are located; however, all of these items are optional and are not required to complete the dungeon. Link will, however, have to negotiate this floor in order to reach the sub-basement where the Big Key is located. In order to obtain the Red Mail, Link must once again defeat all of the bosses from the first three Light World dungeons. Above the ground floor are four floors leading to a balcony where Agahnim waits. Each of the floors are infested with enemies that will try to impede Link's progress, but the young hero is not required to defeat most of the enemies to scale up the tower. Once Link reaches the balcony, he must fight Aghanim yet again where, upon the wizard's defeat, Ganon abandons Aghanim's body and escapes to the inside of the Pyramid of Power.

Ocarina of Time

Two terms are used to describe Ganon's stronghold in the Nintendo 64 game Ocarina of Time. It is both referred to as Ganon's Tower^[4] and as Ganon's Castle.^[2] It replaces Hyrule Castle over the seven years that Link sleeps after he withdraws the Master Sword from its pedestal. Ganon's Castle floats over a large lake of lava, rendering it inaccessible until the Six Sages are awakened and create a bridge of light allowing Link access to Inside Ganon's Castle.

Within the tower's center is a giant spindle leading up to the top that is blocked off by a surrounding magic seal. The force field that surrounds the spindle is ejected by six barriers that are based on each of the adult dungeons. Above each of the barriers is the symbols that represents the element, theme, and its corresponding Sage. The young hero must progress through each of these sections and solve various puzzles to reach the end of each section, where Link must shoot a Light Arrow into a bright, orange energy ball to make the respective Sage appear and dispel its barrier (e.g. the Forest Barrier has the Forest Temple theme, making Saria appear to dispel the barrier).^[4]

There is a secret room under the bridge that contains various Business Scrubs and fairies, which can become helpful as Link dispels each of the barriers in Ganon's Tower. Once the six barriers have been disintegrated, the magical barrier will disappear, allowing Link to make his way up to the tower.

The way up to the castle is a long staircase that leads to rooms filled with Dinolfos, Stalfos, and Iron Knuckles which Link must all defeat individually to progress up the tower. At the top awaits Ganondorf, who plays an organ while Princess Zelda remains trapped in a crystal above him. After Ganondorf is defeated, the tower will begin to rumble, forcing Princess Zelda and Link to escape the tower within a time limit.^[5] All of the doors of the castle have been blocked, and as such, it is up to Zelda to use her powers and open up each of the exits. The two take a long path that winds in and out of the castle, fighting enemies and dodging falling rocks. Once out, the castle collapses in front of their eyes, where among the rubble Ganondorf appears yet again and transforms himself into the dark beast known as Ganon using the Triforce of Power. Link must defeat the beast once and for all to restore peace to Hyrule.

Master Quest

The mini-dungeons corresponding to each temple have been remixed in the Master Quest version of the game. Also, instead of two Beamos there are a Blade Trap and an Ironknuckle in the first room.

Forest Barrier

The first room is identical. In the turbine room, there are now more Beamos and also an Armos. The Song of Time must be played several times.

Fire Barrier

Most platforms are moving or either go up or sink when Link stands on them. There are two big rocks now, and the silver rupees are in places that are difficult to reach.

Water Barrier

In the first room, there are several stalagtites that fall from the ceiling, and the blue fire is surrounded by a pillar of water. Curiously, there is a lone Dead Hand's hand that is used to "reveal" the location of a switch hidden inside a wall that lower the pillar of water when hit. On the second room there are three Keese, each one is different. There is a silver rupee puzzle and more red ice.

Shadow Barrier

There are now some invisible platforms and a Beamos. The Golden Gauntlets are no longer found here, and Fire Arrows are required to solve some puzzles.

Spirit Barrier

In the first room, instead of silver rupees there are some stone thrones blocking access to a switch. Some Fire Keese and a Torch Slug are found here, and there is an eye on the wall that if shot, makes an Ironknuckle appear so the thrones can be destroyed. In the socond room there are now Green Bubbles, ReDeads and Gibdos. There are several suns, just like in the original version. However, one makes a Wallmaster appear, others make chests with replenishments appear and the last one makes the chest with the Golden Gauntlets appear. The sun required for opening the door is blocked by the Spirit Symbol on the wall and only a small portion of it can be seen.

Light Barrier

In the first room, there is a puzzle involving torches that must be lit quickly to make a chest appear over the door. The next room is the same, but instead of having to collect Silver Rupees, it is now required to activate a switch while avoiding the boulder and a Beamos. In the fake barrier room, there are no enemies, but there is a switch that gives access to the last room hidden inside a torch.

The Wind Waker

Ganon's Tower is the last dungeon in The Wind Waker and is located underneath the Great Sea in the now-forgotten land of Hyrule. Link gains access to it after the Master Sword retrieves its full power and the Triforce of Courage is complete. When these two conditions are met and Link goes back to Hyrule Castle to ensure the princess's safety, he realizes that Ganon kidnapped her and fights two high-class Darknut soldiers. Afterward, the young hero goes outside and breaks the barrier that made Ganon's lair previously inaccessible.

The path to Ganon's Tower is full of enemies such as Peahats, Moblins, and even Darknuts, although they can all be easily avoided. Once inside the tower, Link cannot go further in due to the main door leading to the inside portion of the tower is blocked off by a magical seal. As such, the young hero has to explore the tower's separate areas, as the central room branches into four directions, where each area contains four replicas of the four main dungeons: Dragon Roost Cavern, Forbidden Woods, Earth Temple, and the Wind Temple, where they all require the extensive use of its respective main dungeon item. At the end of each mini-dungeon, Link must once again defeat its corresponding boss in order to dispel a part of the barrier. Once all of the four bosses have been defeated, the seal blocking off the door to the inner part of the dungeon will be broken.

Next is a puzzle room of sorts where Link can both open a quick exit to the ocean's surface and enter a maze where Phantom Ganon confronts him incessantly; in the end, the young hero finds the Light Arrow upgrade, which defeats Phantom Ganon once and for all. This causes the phantom to leave its sword behind that Link must use to bust open a brick wall, leading to a room with a long flight of stairs infested with Moblins and Darknuts. After dispatching each of these enemies with the help of the Light Arrow, Link pushes past a large door and enters an extremely high and wide room where Princess Zelda sleeps on a bed, guarded by Ganondorf. Here, Link fights Puppet Ganon, who transforms into multiple shapes. After victory, Link climbs the room to finally reach the fortress's roof to fight Ganon in a final round.

Just like the rest of Hyrule, Ganon's Tower is flooded after King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule makes his wish using the Triforce.

Trivia

• Ganon's Tower is the twelfth dungeon in A Link to the Past, which makes A Link to the Past have the most dungeons than any other official Zelda title. Ocarina of Time comes in second with eleven dungeons, if the Ice Cavern and the Kakariko Well are counted.
• The Water Barrier of Ganon's Tower in Ocarina of Time is the only one not to stay akin to its temple theme. Instead of having a water-type challenge, it instead incorporates ice elements, with rooms similar to that of the Ice Cavern.
• Ganon's Tower is the name of a web site.
• Though not specifically stated, Level 9 of The Legend of Zelda is where Link fights Ganon.
• In Four Swords Adventures, Ganon is found in the Palace of Winds, which is a big tower high above the clouds.
• In the A Link to the Past comic, Ganon's stronghold is shown to be a massive spiked orb floating in the air, similar in appearance to to an urchin, and inside is nothing but an empty black void. However, it is still addressed as "Ganon's Castle".

Gallery

Outside of Ganon's Tower in A Link to the Past.

Official artwork from A Link to the Past.

Official artwork from Ocarina of Time.

Map of Ganon's Tower in The Wind Waker.

References

Dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Light World Dungeons
Hyrule Castle  · Eastern Palace  · Desert Palace  · Tower of Hera
Dark World Dungeons
Palace of Darkness  · Swamp Palace  · Skull Woods  · Thieves' Town  · Ice Palace   Misery Mire  · Turtle Rock  · Ganon's Tower

Dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Dungeons
Inside the Deku Tree  · Dodongo's Cavern  · Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly  · Ice Cavern  · Kakariko Well  · Ganon's Tower
Temples
Light Temple*  · Forest Temple  · Fire Temple  · Water Temple  · Shadow Temple  · Spirit Temple *Not an explorable dungeon

Dungeons in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Dragon Roost Cavern  · Forbidden Woods  · Tower of the Gods  · Forsaken Fortress  · Earth Temple  · Wind Temple  · Ganon's Tower