Writer’s Note: This article is highly opinion based and does not represent the views and opinions of this site as a whole.
It started with a screenshot, followed by a trailer. Rumors of Ganon’s return began to spread across the net. Then, to our surprise, the Spanish site for Spirit Tracks gave it a name- Mallard. Finally, it appears we now have confirmation courtesy Neogaf that it is in fact NOT Ganon. So who is the Demon King, and what role will he play in Spirit Tracks?
In an attempt to answer this question, let us see whether the Demon King has someone below him. In A Link to the Past, Agahnim was merely a tool of Ganon. In Four Sword Adventures, Vaati was also a pawn of Ganon, and in Twilight Princess, Zant filled this role. As one can see, it has become increasingly popular in recent years for Zelda villains (specifically Ganon) to enlist henchmen. So, who’s working under the Demon King?
Everyone knows gingers are evil.
Chancellor Cole is the obvious answer, for, not only is he a ginger, he’s also the most widely seen antagonist in the screenshots and character art Nintendo’s released thus far. And if that isn’t enough, multiple sources have already confirmed that the Chancellor’s goal is to revive the Demon King. So, if the Chancellor is simply an underling of the Demon King, it is likely the Demon King is the main villain in Spirit Tracks. Who he is, however, is a completely different story.
As noted earlier, the Demon King is no longer thought to be Ganon. What little we know of him is that he ruled the land Spirit Tracks is set in before it was taken over by Hylians, and that he is a demon. The demon line could imply that he was once a living being, possibly from one of the races in the game. The truth is we don’t really know who the Demon King truly is just yet, so why am I devoting an entire article to this question?
Timeline theorists have been analyzing every piece of news that has come in about Spirit Tracks these past two weeks. The reason being, many believe Spirit Tracks will answer longstanding questions about where other games fit into the timeline. Thus, understanding who the Demon King is will likely be integral to answering such questions. In the meantime, the best we can do is try to find something the others missed and be the first to solve this great mystery!
