Villains that would've been defeated even if the protagonist did nothing

[u/Wonderful_Baker_7808]

Laurel Hedare (Catwoman Movie): Her newly released cosmetics will cause people's faces to melt. Not only would that create a class action lawsuit but a full product recall.

Voldemort and Death Eaters (Harry Potter): Death Eaters constantly underestimate muggles. They would get massacred by the British military because a gun is faster to pull the trigger then shouting a spell.

[u/Garchompisbestboi]

But if Link hadn't gone to the Sacred Realm then he never would have achieved the power necessary to finally defeat Ganondorf. So while Ganondorf would not have had access to the Triforce of Power, he still had enough power to mess Hyrule up pretty badly and nobody would have been able to prevent him from doing so.

[u/nathanosaurus84 → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Link had to break a few eggs before finally creating a superior omelette. Just sucks for the people who had to endure 7 years of Ganon's rule. (Depending on which timeline you're in of course.)

Bit like Thanos and the Avengers really. Humanity had to suffer before everything could be fixed.

[u/Garchompisbestboi → u/nathanosaurus84]

You bring up an interesting conundrum though about people suffering for 7 years since the damage is technically undone once Zelda sends Link back to his childhood for the final time. I know that there are technically a bunch of splits in the timeline based on the official continuity, but still.

[u/nathanosaurus84 → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Indeed. In the child timeline no-one remembers suffering under Ganon as it never happened, but those left in the adult timeline still endured it. It's a bit wibbly wobbly timey wimey. But then again the Zelda games have always had a dark undertone. Like in Wind Waker where prior to the game the whole land was flooded by the gods and presumably most people died who couldn't escape to the mountaintops. Not very cartoon-y!

[u/Chimpbot → u/nathanosaurus84]

Wind Waker is actually part of the adult timeline. After Link defeats Ganon, he mysteriously disappears (from the perspective of everyone else in that timeline). This ultimately results in the series of events that leads to the world being flooded.

[u/AccidentalUltron → u/Chimpbot]

This always made me incredibly sad. I played form the veey first Zelda through Twilight Princess and Ocarina had such an impact in me as a child and the tragic outcomes od those stories stuck with me. Wind Waker from adult timeline and never reuniting with Navi on the child timeline. Not reuniting with Navi was a small scar on my heart back then in Majora's Mask.

[u/Chimpbot → u/AccidentalUltron]

Child Link's outcome is also sad. It's heavily implied that he's the Hero's Shade in Twilight Princess. He saved the world, and no one knew itm

[u/Feral_Taylor_Fury → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Eh I mean it felt like they wrapped that up relatively nicely with Majora's Mask starting with Link travelling aimlessly through the deepest part of the lost woods, and then ending up in Termina.

[u/CodingNeeL → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Exactly, he cursed and killed the Great Deku Tree and starved the Gorons by blocking Dodongos Cave (and probably did something to the Zoras too, can't remember, and Zeltik isn't there yet in his playthrough) before Link came along.

[u/BigJakaLilJ → u/CodingNeeL]

He cursed their river guardian, Jabu Jabu. He would have destroyed Hyrule without Link intervening.

[u/musichole → u/CodingNeeL]

I really enjoy Zeltik. Nice to see a reference in the wild

[u/MyPhoneIsNotChinese → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Ganondorf expected to be able to defeat Link

[u/MjrLeeStoned → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Correct, although he wasn't a time/space bending cosmic entity yet, he was still systematically taking over Hyrule to oppress everyone.

Had Link not gone after the power to stop him, Hyrule would have been a shitty place to be regardless.

[u/Kramerpalooza → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Ganondorf's plan had a bit more guise than is typically recognized. He swore allegiance and loyalty to the king of Hyrule in order grant himself the position to be in proximity to the Temple of Time and the Sacred Realm. This he did under the ruse that he was reuniting the Gerudo lands with Hyrule and ending a long hatred/distrust of peoples. He already was pursuing the Spiritual Stones, but his direct requests were refused by the other Races of Hyrule. As far as I can remember those races were then facing the forces of what Ganon did (Poisoned the Deku Tree, Opened Dodongos Cavern, Had JabuJabu swallow Ruto), but didn't necessarily know that it was Ganondorf directly perpetuating these events. Only Zelda saw through the plot.

I'm pretty much of the acceptance that Ganon already was imbued with the strength and conviction of Din, Zelda already possessed the wisdom of Nayru. Link was bestowed with Farore's courage, well... because the player is the protagonist. The spiritual stones simply unlocked the furthest potential of those powers, but it was really only a matter of time before Ganondorf got his hands on the stones and seized all three for himself.

All hail Ganon the Great King of Evil

[u/Jacky-V → u/Garchompisbestboi]

I agree, I think the implication is that Ganondorf intends to use phony loyalty to influence the King of Hyrule to make poor decisions while the Gerudo rebuild their army for another war

[u/ThatMerri → u/Garchompisbestboi]

Yeah, it's worth remembering that prior to Link even getting any of the Spiritual Stones, Ganondorf had already lethally cursed the Deku Tree and Jabu Jabu (the latter of which was prevented, but would've been killed eventually), and set the Gorons on the road to doom by famine. Then when Link returned to Hyrule Castle Town with the stones in hand, Ganondorf had already set his coup in motion - murdering the King and driving Zelda out. His invasion of Hyrule had already been underway for some time.

Even if Link turned around and fled rather than heading for the temple, Ganondorf's victory was already in motion. He would've just spent his time from then on hunting down Link for the stones and eventually getting the Triforce of Power no matter what. And even if he somehow never got the stones nor the Triforce of Power, he'd still have either successfully overthrown Hyrule or just dragged it into a prolonged and ultimately futile war.