Ganondorf (Super Smash Flash 2)

Ganondorf is a veteran unlockable character in Super Smash Flash 2. He was revealed during the Super Smash Flash 2 Beta 1.3 announcement trailer. His sprites are custom-made, based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. His moveset is mostly based on his appearance in, albeit moves like his smash attacks are taken from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate instead, while his up throw is original to SSF2. His voice clips are taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Ganondorf's attacks are relatively slow yet strong, meaning he can knock out anyone with a high amount of damage in almost one fell swoop. As a result, he tends to struggle against rushdown-type characters, who tend to have quick attacks and can easily overwhelm him.

Attributes
As with his Super Smash Bros. incarnation, Ganondorf is the epitome of the heavyweight archetype. In exchange for slow ground speed, slow air speed, high weight, and a fast falling speed, he boasts immense power on many of his moves. As a result, he is one of the least mobile characters in the game, yet is still a formidable opponent should his attacks land.

Ganondorf's most defining trait is his raw power. Many of his attacks deal 10-25% and can kill well below 100%, giving him an extremely effective punish game. His forward tilt and down smash are semi-spikes, while his forward and up smashes utilize a large sword to cover a wide area. Also, both of these attacks boast great power, with forward smash killing below 40%. His standard special, Warlock Punch, has the highest startup in his moveset, though it deals immense damage and knockback in return, dealing even more if it is reversed. His held up tilt can kill at 65%, making it one of, if not the strongest up tilt in the game, in addition to breaking full shields. His sweet spotted down aerial is the most powerful aerial in the game, killing most fighters at 0%, with similar power being seen with aerial Wizard's Dropkick. With these tools, Ganondorf can quickly rack up damage in just a few hits, killing them when he gets the opportunity.

Despite this immense power, Ganondorf does have two useful combo starters. His neutral aerial is quick and deals low forward knockback, which lets it set up into moves such as Flame Choke or grounded Wizard's Dropkick. Flame Choke, as mentioned, is his most reliable combo starter. When it catches an opponent, it slams them onto the floor in a prone state, allowing Ganondorf to follow up with his neutral attack, any of his tilt attacks, or any smash attack. The opponent can tech this blast, though that can effectively set up a tech-chase situation. Should the opponent roll out of it, Ganondorf can quickly address this due to the move's low end lag. He can use Flame Choke as a Sacrificial KO in the air, though this is only useful when the player has a stock lead.

However, Ganondorf still packs glaring flaws, one of which is his lack of defensive options. Due to his tall stature and high gravity, he has a more challenging time dealing with combo-heavy characters such as Sora or Sheik. This weakness is further shown through his lack of a projectile or any reliable way to deal with them. Many of his attacks are very slow to balance out their immense power, which makes said moves unsafe to throw out unless when spaced correctly. His grab game isn't notable either; in addition to possessing a short-ranged grab, none of his throws realistically KO, and down throw, while serving as a combo throw, loses its usefulness at higher percents. Ganondorf's recovery is also very weak; both Flame Choke and Gerudo Hawk cause helplessness, which, combined with his low jump height and air speed, make his recovery reasonably predictable, although he can use Gerudo Hawk again should he grab an opponent.

In all, Ganondorf is a high-risk, high-reward character; his immense damage and knockback capacities allow him to quickly rack up damage in only a few attacks, KOing his opponent once he gets an opening. However, his lack of defensive options and linear, predictable recovery means that any Ganondorf player must be careful, as a single mistake could cost him a stock just as quickly as he can remove the stocks of others.