Demise

Demon King.
Demise
Species	Demon
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Red
Voiced by	Takashi Nagasako
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Demise is the original Demon King who acts as the overall antagonist and final boss of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. He appears to be the original evil of Hyrule and the first known Demon King. He is also shown to be the forebear of Ganon as well as possibly some of the series' other villains.

Background

Demise's origins are unknown, and his past is described in broad terms. He has been described as "the source of all monsters" and a being "who has conquered time itself". Tales about Demise have been passed down through generations, and he is said to have taken on different forms in each epoch as well to each different person who sees him. His form in Skyward Sword is that of a tall and imposing human-like man with red eyes and flaming hair. The Demon King also had a sword with its own spirit known as Ghirahim, who was his most loyal servant. The only hint at Demise's motivation is his mention of a hatred for the gods boiling in his blood. His ultimate goal was to obtain the Triforce and use it to rule over the world. For this cause, he attacked the land with his army of monsters after they abruptly emerged from a fissure in the ground one day. They began massacring the land's people and ravaging the land to wage war against the Triforce's protector, the goddess Hylia.

The Imprisoned.

Hylia entered the battle only after she had saved the humans from danger by sending them to the sky. Demise ultimately fell to Hylia, but she was badly wounded in the battle. Demise was sealed at the bottom of a pit, and the area became known as the Sealed Grounds. Demise was too powerful to remain sealed forever. As long as the seal was in effect, he was trapped in the form of a giant behemoth known only as The Imprisoned. This was a form that was relatively weak, but it was still powerful enough to ravage the land, and if he could absorb Hylia's soul, he could regain his true form and power. Hylia's mortal form of Zelda arrived from the future soon after the seal was in place and entered a deep slumber within the nearby temple to strengthen the seal on Demise. Ghirahim still survived and sought a way to revive his master. It was not until ages later that the seal weakened, and the Imprisoned broke free for the first time. This form was black-scaled behemoth with a gargantuan mouth and a pair of legs as its only appendages. Link had to trip it by destroying its toes and then drove the sealing spike back into its forehead until Demise was successfully resealed. The Imprisoned would break out twice more and slowly became more powerful each time. It first gained arms which it used for climbing, and it then grew a tail. The final growth was a type of circular set of wings which allowed it to fly. Both times, Link worked with Groose to wound The Imprisoned with giant bombs fired from the Groosenator until Link could reseal it again.

Eventually, Link was able to obtain the Triforce and used his wish to ensure Demise's destruction. The Isle of the Goddess fell into the pit and completely destroyed the imprisoned Demise. This seemed to be the end for Demise, but his loyal servant Ghirahim was able to capture Zelda and brought her back to the past, where Demise was still alive within its seal. Ghirahim proceeded to perform a ceremony which drained Zelda's soul into The Imprisoned. This restored Demise's true form. Demise only acknowledged Ghirahim by turning him back into his sword form and wielding him. Demise was immediately intrigued by Link, as he had never knew of a human who would actually fight for something. The Demon King remembered their kind only as cowards who were dependent on their goddess. Demise also scoffed at the mortal form which Hylia had lowered herself to, and he quickly summoned a tornado to toss her to her death, but Groose was able to save her. When Link still defied him, Demise was fascinated by his courage and decided that they would fight in a place of his choosing. He opened a dark portal to another realm and waited there for Link while also giving him the opportunity to leave. After the years he had spent sealed away, he saw no harm in giving Link some time to face him. Demise possibly did not know that Zelda's soul had not been fully absorbed into it, so he had not reached full power.

Their battlefield was in some other plane of reality (similar to the place where Zelda brought Link at the end of Ocarina of Time). Demise was glad when Link came to face him and told him that he would show him his hatred of the gods through its blade. Demise also let Link know that following his victory, he would completely dominate everything else while wiping out all of Link's friends and kin who stood in his way to claim the Triforce. They engaged in a sword fight of epic proportions. Demise's magic clouded the scenic world they were in and prevented Link from channeling power for Skyward Strikes. Demise instead channeled lightning for his own version of the Skyward Strike, but Link could raise his own sword to steal the lightning to use against Demise. When Demise was knocked onto his back, Link could perform a lightning-charged Fatal Blow that would finish him off. Although Demise would most likely dodge it the first time or two, he was eventually stabbed by the Master Sword.

Demise tried to reach its feet, but his sword disintegrated. Demise commended Link as a paragon of his kind and told him that he fought like no man or demon that it had ever known. He went on to warn Link that his death would not end its existence, as his hate would be constantly reborn in an endless cycle. Demise bound people like Link and Zelda, who had the spirit of the hero and the blood of the goddess, to a curse in which an incarnation of this hatred would follow their kind for all of eternity. This would "doom them to wander a blood-soaked darkness" for all of time. With this curse complete, Demise's body dissipated. All that was left of Demise was remnants of his consciousness, which was absorbed into the Master Sword and sealed there. There it would slowly decay, although Impa decided to ensure that Demises's spirit never awakened from the sword. As for the incarnation of Demise's hatred, his final words imply that this would come in the form of Ganondorf or possibly just his Demon King Ganon form, who would end up battling various incarnations of Link and Zelda across the ages and multiple timelines.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• The Imprisoned appears as a recurring boss monster in Hyrule Warriors. It is fought in a similar manner as in Skyward Sword. Miniature versions of The Imprisoned also appear; they can be harmed by normal sword attacks, but they still can unleash powerful attacks. The Imprisoned appears several times in Legend Mode during Ghirahim's attempts to summon it. Demise's true form does not appear, although Ghirahim does make reference to him and notes Ganondorf's similarity to him. Ganondorf's design in this game also has longer hair than usual, which is evocative of Demise's hair, and he has two unlockable items weapons bearing Demise's name: the Swords of Demise and the Trident of Demise.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, both The Imprisoned and Demise have been represented by a pair of trophies in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and a pair of Primary Spirits in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Imprisoned's Spirit was an Advanced-Rank Spirit that came with the added effect of lowering the player fighter's speed, while Demise's Spirit was an Ace-rank Primary Spirit. In a Spirit battle, The Imprisoned's Spirit would possess a giant King K. Rool and would have to be defeated in a timed stamina battle. The possessed K. Rool would stay motionless for the duration of the battle, but Ghirahim's Assist Trophy would constantly try to attack the player and defend K. Rool.

Other Media

• The 32-page Skyward Sword manga by Akira Himekawa acted as a prequel to Skyward Sword, which depicted events leading up to the raising of Skyloft. Demise appeared, although he was only referred to as the Demon King, and his physical appearance was obscured, as he appeared to be wielding a helmet. He battled the original incarnation of Link, and although Hylia and Link succeeded in raising Skyloft out of Demise's reach, it was shown that Link was mortally wounded by Demise in the process.

Trivia

• "Demise" is simply a word for "death".
• Demise shares several resemblances with Ganondorf/Ganon which hint at their connection. They share the same voice actor, and Demise's flaming hair is reminiscent of Ganondorf's own hair at least in color. The clearest connection, whoever, is Demise and Ganon's shared title of "Demon King". This also raises confusion as to whether Ganondorf was Demise's incarnation from birth, or if this only happened when Ganondorf touched the Triforce, which is when he is said to have gained the title of Demon King.
• The only other Demon King thus far in the series is Malladus. It is uncertain whether or not he is also a reincarnation of Demise, considering that he may have been around while Ganondorf was still alive.
• Demise's sword resembles a dark version of the Master Sword.
• During the battle with Demise, the Bug Net can be used to reflect the energy from Ganon's Skyward Strikes back at him, carrying on a running gag of mundane items such as the bug-catching net being surprisingly effective against final bosses.
• In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, one area of Hyrule is named the Breach of Demise in reference to him.
• Ganondorf's Demon King form in Tears of the Kingdom bears some resemblance to Demise, particularly his hair.