Tears of the Kingdom: Ganon’s Voice Is Driving Zelda Fans Crazy

The latest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was…ok. It didn’t reveal a ton of new info beyond confirmation of the game’s May 12th release date, but it was certainly quite the spectacle that also included what seems to be the first significant bit of Ganon/Ganondorf voice acting…well, ever. Actually, that voice acting is already driving Zelda fans wild.

First, a couple of disclaimers. While many believe that the voice at the beginning of the Tears of the Kingdom trailer belongs to Ganon, Ganondorf, or Calamity Ganon, there’s been no confirmation of that information as of the time of this writing. For that matter, Nintendo hasn’t technically confirmed that Ganon will even have a major role in the game. That voice could very well belong to some other villainous creature. Even still, there have been too many hints of Ganon’s presence to ignore.

Also, it should be noted that Ganon/Ganondorf has technically had voice actors in the past. It’s just that the character was previously largely limited to relatively simple sounds such as grunts and laughs. Breath of the Wild was the first Zelda game to feature proper voice acting (the old Philips CD-i titles and previous minor voice samples only technically count), and Ganon didn’t have a voice in that game. As for the Ganon we heard in that old Zelda animated series…well, Len Carlson did what he could.

If we’re all willing to assume that is Ganon we hear at the beginning of the Tears of the Kingdom trailer, then those few lines represent a significant moment for the character. Ganon has long been one of gaming’s great villains, but he’s largely been more of a presence or a great boss fight. Hearing him speak in an almost Lich King-like manner really captures what a presence he is in that universe. There’s a long way to go, but the early sample of that voice certainly suggests that Nintendo found a pretty good English voice actor for such a big role.