Ganondorf finally gets a voice and it’s blowing the minds of Zelda fans everywhere

After the latest The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer, a familiar tone fans heard was confirmed at last.

Not only was that familiar tone revealed to be the voice of Ganondorf, the series’ long-standing antagonist, but the character’s voice actor is now known to be Matthew Mercer, who confirmed the casting news on Twitter. Keen fans knew from the first trailer of the game, but this recent trailer and tweet make it official.

This marks the first time we’ve officially heard Ganondorf in a mainline The Legend of Zelda game. 

Following the news, Mercer⁠—a self-processed Zelda superfan⁠—showed a picture of his younger self dressing up as the protagonist Link.

It garnered a lot of attention online, with some fans recognizing his old cosplay as Ganon from the web series There Will Be Brawl.

Zelda’s historic Ganon-voicing moment is a bit of a technicality though, as the iconic villain was voiced in the CDI Zelda games. Those games are only loosely linked to the main Zelda games we know now though. Aside from the Super Smash Bros. games where the character grunts and yells, the franchise has yet to officially put a voice to the character.

For a game as popular and as sought-after as this sequel to the blockbuster The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mercer has both big shoes to fill but also no previous voice to compare to. Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom will be a character of Mercer and Mercer’s alone, at least when it comes to his voice. 

Plus, with how important a voice is to solidifying a character’s motives and actions, it’s not overexaggerating to say this performance will set a standard.

Mercer is a popular voice actor, known for his work in anime and video games alike. Some of his most popular performances include Yusuke in Persona 5, Cole Cassidy in the Overwatch franchise, and Levi Ackerman in the English voiceover of the anime Attack on Titan. On top of his voice acting work, he also is the dungeon master and main organizer for famed Dungeons & Dragons podcast series Critical Role.

Tears of the Kingdom is set to hit shelves on May 12.