Demise is a character that appears in Skyward Sword, serving as the Final Boss of the game.^[4]

Eons before the events of Skyward Sword, he and his army of demons broke through a fissure in the earth and sought out the Triforce. After a long war, he was eventually sealed away by the Goddess Hylia. He is resurrected during the events of Skyward Sword, but is defeated by Link through the use of the Master Sword. However, upon his ultimate defeat, Demise utters a powerful curse stating that his hatred will not end, but will be reborn in an eternal cycle. The form of this evil is thought to be Ganon, as Hyrule Historia specifically mentions that his flaming red hair is to signify a connection to him.^[5]

Biography[]

Background[]

Demise was an eternal entity who had conquered time itself.^[6] When the Golden Goddesses departed from the world, they trusted their ultimate power, the Triforce, in the hands of Hylia to protect it.^[7] However, Demise, wanting the Triforce to make the world his own, gathered an army of monsters and together launched an attack against the people of The Surface, murdering them and causing misfortunes to get their hands on the power guarded by Hylia.^[8][9]

To prevent the great power from falling into the hands of Demise, Hylia and the five tribes who lived on the Surface joined forces and fought back against the Demon King and his forces in a war, which would end with Demise sealed away and peace restored to the land.^[10] Due to the seal placed upon him, he assumes the monstrous form as The Imprisoned for the majority of the plot.^[11]

Resurrection[]

Ghirahim, who is actually the spirit of Demise's Sword, pursues Princess Zelda to steal her soul and thus resurrect Demise, who is his Master.^[12] Meanwhile, Demise attempts to break free of his seal by his own means in the form of The Imprisoned, but he is constantly repelled and re-sealed beneath the Sealed Grounds through the efforts of Link and Groose. When Link finally obtains the Triforce, he manages to kill Demise by driving the Statue of the Goddess from Skyloft into the Sealed Grounds as The Imprisoned awakens for the fourth time. However, Ghirahim kidnaps Zelda and takes her to the past through the Gate of Time in the Sealed Temple, where he begins a ritual to revive his master.

While Link manages to defeat Ghirahim, he is too late to stop the resurrection of Demise. The Imprisoned begins to absorb Princess Zelda's soul and eventually transforms into the Demon King himself. Ghirahim welcomes back his master,^[13] but Demise pulls a dark Sword out of Ghirahim and seals his entity within the weapon. Demise continues to absorb the soul of Zelda to gain divine power; he is impressed with Link's determination to protect the goddess and invites him to do battle.^[14][15][16] To Demise's shock, Link manages to ultimately defeat him via a mighty Down Thrust to his chest, but in his dying throes, he warns Link that it is not over, and that an incarnation of his hatred will be reborn as a being to pursue domination of the world, as well as those with the blood of the Goddess and the spirit of the Hero, in a cycle of rebirth.^[17] Demise is then sealed away within the Master Sword, where his remains begin to decay.^[18]

Characteristics[]

Demise carries a cocky and overbearing temperament,^[19] and will stop at nothing to prove his power to any who defy him.^[15][20][21] Fi describes Demise as "the source of all monsters," and states that he "has conquered time itself."^[6] Demise bears a strong resemblance to Ganondorf: large stature, fiery red hair, dark skin, and even his facial features are similar, and in the cutscene before the final battle with him, a variation of Ganon's leitmotif plays.

After Link enters the chosen battlefield through the portal in the past, Demise praises him for his courage,^[22] but tells him that when he falls,^[23] he shall rule over everything in the world.^[24] After Demise states that he will eventually acquire the Triforce and rule the world with it, the battle begins.^[25]

Striking Demise through his guard can be difficult, as he will attempt to block every attack Link makes.^[26] Additionally, Link's Skyward Strike is unavailable as the power of the Goddess is negated by Demise's personal battlefield.^[27] Link can quickly defend himself with a Shield Attack when Demise attacks with his Sword, then follow up with a vertical attack or Spin Attack. Eventually, Demise will be thrown backwards, seemingly defeated, but will then rise up and summon a storm. Demise can draw the lightning from the storm to charge his Sword with electricity. Link will now be damaged if he strikes the Sword and Demise will cause twice as much damage as before. Demise is now able to perform his own variation of a Skyward Strike, after which he is forced to recharge his Sword by pointing it skyward. It is possible to defeat Demise by attacking him before he can recharge his blade, but it is easier to mimic Demise and point the Master Sword to the sky. This will charge the Master Sword with electricity from lightning bolts, allowing Link to attack with a Skyward Strike and paralyze Demise, making him vulnerable to attack.^[28]

Eventually, he will fall back again, allowing Link to finish him with a lightning-charged Fatal Blow. However, Demise will usually dodge the attack at first, and sometimes the second. If Link is quick enough to land the second attack or attempts to land the third, the battle ends with the villain defeated.

Sword[]

Throughout Skyward Sword, Ghirahim pursues Zelda in attempt to revive Demise from his imprisonment. As Link progresses farther in the game, Ghirahim's appearance begins to gain dark marks in several places. In the final stretch, in order to fully revive Demise, Ghirahim takes on his true form which bears great resemblance to Fi, strongly emphasizing that he is in fact the spirit of a sword. When Demise is fully revived, he summons the sword from Ghirahim, his true form, and Ghirahim is sent into the sword. In the end, when Demise is defeated, the sword dissolves, likely taking Ghirahim with it.

The blade is significantly larger in comparison to the Master Sword. It is capable of sending Link flying backwards in one strike and when lifted in the air during the presence of a severe thunderstorm, it can absorb lightning bolts to charge up and send electric shocks when stricken with a metal object, as well as beams.

Demise's sword is almost completely black with a red aura surrounding it. The hilt bears resemblance to the Master Sword, with a red jewel as opposed to the Master Sword's golden one. The blade differs from the Master Sword in terms of shape and size, but it bears an upside-down Triforce emblem.

Other Appearances[]

Trivia[]

• It is commonly thought that, despite elsewhere referring to Demise as male, Fi exclusively calls Demise an "it" while describing him to Link.^[29] However, she uses this pronoun only when describing him as an abomination that takes different forms in each age, accentuating the fluidity of his true nature. For each subsequent analysis, she consistently addresses him with male pronouns.
• Demise will stare at the Bug Net if it is brought out, similar to the uses of the Net, Empty Bottle, and Fishing Rod in previous games. As with Agahnim's attacks in A Link to the Past, Demise's Skyward Strike can be reflected by the Bug Net.
• Although the English version of Hyrule Historia clearly states that Ganon is Demise's reincarnation, the Japanese version only suggests a connection between the two while leaving it ambiguous as to their precise ties to each other.
• Demise bears a glowing, "X"-shaped scar on his forehead, which may be a result of the Sealing Spike. It is located in the same area that his reincarnation, Ganondorf, wears a forehead jewel, and in Twilight Princess, both Ganon and his human counterpart Ganondorf have similar scars which serve as weak points.

• Demise shares the title of "Demon King" with Malladus and Ganon.^[30]
• Demise bares a strong resemblance to Akuma of the Street Fighter fighting game series, specifically Street Fighter V and 6, as both are powerful beings with a visibly muscular stature with red eyes and a flaming hair, and have cold personalities intent on brutally taking down anything that gets in their way.
• Two of Ganondorf's Weapons in Hyrule Warriors, the Swords of Demise and the Trident of Demise, are named after and designed around Demise. On a similar note, Ganondorf's design in the same game takes cues from Demise, such as the lengthy mane of hair and the waistcoat.
• Demise stands at the same height as Ganondorf, but appears even more muscular.
• The appearance of Demise's Sword mimics that of the Master Sword, but with a darker look and upside down Triforce.
• When compared to Ganon, it is possible that Demise is more inherently evil, as his goal was to wipe out all life, while the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda series simply wanted to rule Hyrule (with the possible exception of Tears of the Kingdom where Ganondorf expressed a similar desire for genocide of all life as Demise as part of his plans to remake Hyrule). Despite this, Ganon himself is no stranger to murdering people or his own minions with malicious intent.
  • That said, he may have had less inherent evil than Null, as he did not express any interest in destroying all of existence, while Null sought to reduce everything back to the primordial void.
• The monologue Demise gives about how his hatred is forever renewed and that the descendants of Link and Princess Zelda throughout the entire series will be forced to confront the embodiment of his hatred for eternity^[17] resembles the speech that Ganondorf was originally supposed to give before his death in the ending of Twilight Princess.^[31] The difference between the two speeches is that Demise specifically bestows the curse himself, while Ganondorf implies that their being locked in eternal conflict has been preordained by the Golden Goddesses.
  • In the Japanese version of Skyward Sword, Demise's final speech was meant more as a warning about how the cycle of violence will continue on in part because of not just his own hatred, but also that of his rival Hylia and by extension Princess Zelda and Link,^[32] although Eiji Aonuma during the E3 showing of Skyward Sword nevertheless indicated this would still ultimately result in Ganondorf's actions in Ocarina of Time.^[33]
• Demise may be inspired by Susanoo-no-Mikoto, a wrathful storm god in Shinto. Similarly to how Susanoo has a rivalry with his sister, Amaterasu, Demise has a rivalry with Hylia.
  • His final speech in the Japanese version was largely derived from tenants of Japanese Buddhism, specifically the Shugendō sect of esoteric Buddhism.^[32]
• Although Demise himself doesn't appear in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the former game indirectly alludes to Demise's role in Ganondorf's constant revivals just before the Final Boss fight against Dark Beast Ganon,^[34] and the latter game has Ganondorf's Demon King form having noticeable physical similarities to Demise, in particular the glowing long red mane of hair and having portions of his torso being scaly. Ganondorf as the Demon King is gained using a Secret Stone, which amplifies one's innate abilities, presumably alluding to Demise in Ganondorf's case. On a similar note, Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom was shown to have a similar desire to committing omnicide that Demise had as a part of his plans to remake Hyrule.
  • Similarly, although Demise himself does not appear in Hyrule Warriors (not counting The Imprisoned), he is alluded to by Ghirahim in the ending of the first Ganondorf mission, where the Demon Lord noted a resemblance to his former master in Ganondorf (indirectly alluding to Ganondorf being Demise's reincarnation).^[35] Likewise, in Cia's Tale, Demise and his connection to Ganondorf is given an indirect reference where Ghirahim's ulterior motives for siding with Cia were because he sensed a similar presence to that of his master within her (heavily implied to be Ganon).

Nomenclature[]

Names in other regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	終焉の者 (Shūen no Mono) (SS)[36]	Person of Demise
	FrenchEU	Avatar du Néant (SS)[37]	Avatar of the Void
	German	Todbringer (SS)	Death Bringer
This table was generated using translation pages. To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Gallery[]

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  Demise and Ghirahim in their true forms from Skyward Sword

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  Demise readying Ghirahim to transform from Skyward Sword

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  Demise holding his Sword from Skyward Sword

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  Demise absorbing Ghirahim into his Sword from Skyward Sword

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  Close-up of Demise from Skyward Sword

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  Close-up of Demise from Skyward Sword

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  Link standing before Demise from Skyward Sword

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  Link about to confront Demise from Skyward Sword

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  Demise with his back to Link from Skyward Sword

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  Demise about to commence the battle from Skyward Sword

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  The second round of the battle with Demise from Skyward Sword

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  Demise's Sword from Skyward Sword

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  Concept artwork of Demise's sword from Skyward Sword

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  Concept art of Demise from Hyrule Historia

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  The Swords of Demise from Hyrule Warriors

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  The Trident of Demise from Hyrule Warriors

References

Notes

v · d · eCharacters in The Legend of Zelda Major Protagonists Link · Princess Zelda · Ciela · Epona · Ezlo · Fi · King of Red Lions · Linebeck · Midna · Navi · Tatl · Tetra Minor Protagonists Anjean · Daruk  · Darunia  · Din · Farore  · Great Deku Tree · Groose · Impa · King Rauru  · Maku Tree · Marin · Medli · Makar · Mineru  · Mipha  · Nabooru  · Nayru  · Queen Sonia  · Ralph · Rauru · Ravio · Revali  · Riju  · Ruto · Saria · Sidon  · Tingle  · Tulin  · Urbosa  · Yunobo Major Antagonists Bellum · Demise · Ganon · Ghirahim · Lady Maud · Majora's Mask · Malladus · General Onox · Shadow Nightmares · Twinrova · Vaati · Veran · Yuga Minor Antagonists Agahnim  · Byrne · Chancellor Cole · Dark Link · King Bulblin · Master Kohga · Princess Hilda · Shadow Link · Skull Kid · Vire · Zant Characters by Game

v · d · eHumanoid Enemies Enemies Chilfos · Freezor  · Garo Robe · Gibdo · Hinox · Mago · ReDead · ReDead Knight · Shadow Beast · Skull Kid · Thief · Wizard · Wizzrobe Bosses Agahnim · Agunima · Blaaz · Blind the Thief · Byrne · Carock · Cragma · Dark Link · Demise · Flare Dancer · Fraaz · Ganondorf · Garo Master · Gerudo Thief · Ghirahim · Hinox Brothers · Odolwa · Possessed Nayru · Possessed Zelda · Shadow Link · Snapper · Stone Hinox · Twinrova · Veran · Yuga · Yuga Ganon · Zant Enemies