Longtime Zelda fans might be shocked to learn that the Ganon, the Bluto to Link's Popeye, will not be present in Skyward Sword to try and take all the spinach… err, Triforce.
I couldn't find a Zelda/Popeye crossover image on Google, so I made this. I'm sorry.
In an interview in the August issue of Nintendo Power, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma went on record stating that the iconic blue pig/man/demon/thing will not be around to torment Hyrule in the new installment, replaced with a new main villain named Lord Ghirahim, an effeminate, emo-looking wizard and swordsman.
He discusses a lot things about the game, from the art design to the story to the chronology ("before Ocarina of Time" is all that was confirmed), but the most interesting thing to take away from the interview is the fact that Ganon won't be a bad guy for the first console Zelda since Majora's Mask:
"Ganon typically appears in a Zelda game when the story is centered around the Triforce. This time around, the Triforce sort of takes on a different meaning and plays a different role in the story. So because of that, Ganon will not appear."
Elaborating more on the new villain, he said:
Thinking about Gannon, the prototypical villain in the Legend of Zelda series–he’s a very masculine, powerful, evil character that anyone can look at and realize is your archenemy in the game. This time around, I thought that if we featured a character similar in presentation to Ganon, it really wouldn’t make that much of a difference and that new character wouldn’t have much impact. I wanted to make to make a character that contrasted what people think about Ganon–someone who is a little bit mysterious and kind of makes people think, 'well, I don’t really know what to make of this somewhat terrifying character.'"
I played a boss fight against Ghirahim at the E3 demo—one of many hinted at throughout the game. The dude makes for a cool mini-boss encounter, but I have my reservations about whether he can be a truly compelling villain. Then again, while the interview said Ganon wouldn't make an appearance, it didn't say anything about Ganondorf. A long shot, I know, especially considering that Skyward Sword takes place way before the Ocarina Ganondorf was even born, but anything's possible.
[Source]
