Demise

"Take a good look at where you now stand, for this place will serve as your tomb for eternity!"

- Demise taunting Link before their final battle

Demise, the Demon King, also known as The Imprisoned, is the Bigger Bad and final boss of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and the master of the central antagonist, Ghirahim. He is the primal King of Evil of the The Legend of Zelda universe. It is said that he has conquered Time and that he is the source of all demons and monsters. His hatred was reincarnated in the form of Ganon/Ganondorf, the primary antagonist of the franchise. Being the source of all monsters, he is indirectly responsible for the existence of every evil being that ever threatened Hyrule.

Background
In the beginning of time, after the Golden Goddesses Din Farore and Nayru shaped the world and returned to Heavens, leaving the Triforce behind, Demise appeared from within the earth. Since he coveted the newly created world for himself, he sought to gain the Triforce and use its power to surpass the Golden Goddesses and pry the world from them. He spawned an army of monsters and invaded the surface, spreading plagues and destruction on his wake and killing millions without mercy.

However, the Goddess Hylia, patron of life and keeper of the Triforce, established mankind (which was powerless against Demise) on floating islands in the sky, where she hid the Triforce and the Goddess Sword: a weapon potent enough to fell the King of Evil. After this, she led the five other races of the world (probably Dekus, Kokiris, Gorons, Zoras and Fairies) in a war against Demise's forces and held them at bay. Hylia eventually sealed Demise away; reducing him to a gigantic monster who would later be known as the Imprisoned. A Sealing Spike marked his prison in the Sealed Grounds, at the bottom of a great pit behind Faron Woods. (However, she was too severely wounded and had to reincarnate herself as a human.)

After Demise's imprisonment, the spirit of his sword, Ghirahim, vowed to free his master. Once the seal began weakening, Ghirahim began to set about reviving Demise using the soul of Zelda, Hylia's reincarnation in human form.

About Demise
Demise is the demonic counterpart of the Golden Goddesses, the supreme deities of the Legend of Zelda franchise. Fi states that his looks change following the era and the people who see him, likely taking the most frightening form possible to whoever faces him. However, the aspect under which he is seen during the final battle might very well be his real one, as he appears as this at the very moment he is fully reborn. His goal (which would later be that of Ganondorf) is to take over the entire world and turn it into a dark and hellish place fitting his own designs.

Demise shares several traits with his next life Ganondorf; namely the calm and collected attitude, the condescending confidence, the voice and the fighting style. Unsurprisingly for the King of Evil, Demise is cruel, violent, scornful and ruthless in battle. He has a very low opinion of humans, regarding them as fearful and uninteresting insects. However, he holds Hylia in high regards and is very favorably impressed when someone stands before him without fear. He enjoys the prospect of a challenge, which he sees as an entertainment. In stark contrast with Ghirahim, Demise is stoic, collected and his praises to Link are genuine.

Demise respects his opponents and fights fairly, taking his defeat in stride and even complimenting Link as a paragon among humans, despite cursing him and Zelda before dying. He also remains extremely confident in his abilities, being certain that he can overcome any challenge. Though such arrogance is justified by his overwhelming power.

History
After Hylia's servant, Impa, escaped with Zelda into the past, and a Gate of Time was revealed in the Sealed Grounds, the seal on Demise broke and he escaped under his Imprisoned form. However, the Chosen Hero of the Goddess, Link, defeated him, driving the Seal Spike into his skull and resealing him below the Sealed Grounds.

Demise later escaped again, but was again defeated and sealed up by Link, with help from a fellow child of the sky, Groose, and his catapult. This happened a third time as well. As Demise was about to escape a fourth time, Link made a wish with the Triforce, causing the Statue of the Goddess to fall and crush Demise, obliterating him.

However, Ghirahim traveled to the past with Zelda and, by means of a ritual, gave her soul to Demise, who was able to return to power. Demise transformed Ghirahim back into a sword and remarked Link, who is facing him without fear. Favourably impressed, Demise told him that if he wished to fight him, he should enter his own dimension away from any distractions, otherwise, he could just wait for Demise to destroy the entire world.

Link entered the dimension and fought Demise. Eventually, Link defeated Demise by stabbing him with a Killing Blow using the Master Sword. Before disintegrating into black smoke, Demise praised Link's valour but cast a curse so that his hatred would be reincarnated to torment Link and Zelda's descendants forever. What remained of Demise's consciousness was absorbed into the Master Sword, to decay over time until there was nothing left.

1st Form
In all but the final battles, Demise is referred to as "The Imprisoned", and is in a giant, black, scaly form with a large mouth full of sharp fangs. He tries to walk up the spiral ramp leading to the Sealed Temple. Link must defeat him before he reaches the Temple, otherwise the game is over. Link must avoid the monster's stomping feet and attack his toes.

Once all his toes are destroyed, Demise will fall over, and Link must use an ascending vertical strike to hammer the Seal Spike into his head. Once Link does this three times, Demise is resealed inside the spike, and the seal is completed by striking it with a Skyward Strike.

2nd Form
The second battle is similar, except Demise has arms and can climb, and whenever he stomps the ground, it causes a dark shockwave that must be dodged.

However, this battle is considerably easier because Groose has a catapult called the Groosinator. When he calls Link, the player can switch to him, and catapult a giant bomb at Demise to stun him, giving Link time to attack his toes, stopping him from climbing, or, if he is down, keeping him down for longer.

3rd Form
The third battle is similar to the second, except Demise now has a tail which will damage Link if he touches it, and in the second phase, Demise can fly, as he has a halo above his head, and will fall to the bottom of the pit when hit by the Groosinator.

In the third phase, Groose is blocked off from his store of bombs so he must catapult Link at Demise's head. Once on top of the demon's head, Link must drive the Seal Spike back into his head to end the battle.

Final Battle
Demise is the final boss of Skyward Sword. The first phase is quite easy; Link must shield bash his attacks, staggering him long enough for Link to attack him once. Demise can swing his sword at Link or try to punch him. If hit enough times in succession, Demise will fall to the ground and Link can attack him repeatedly.

After enough hits, the second phase will begin. Demise can charge his sword with lightning by raising it to the sky. He can swing his sword at Link, charge at Link, or use a lightning-powered attack similar to Skyward Strike. Most attacks do 2 hearts of damage, and if Link attacks Demise when he is electrified, Link takes damage. Link can attack Demise when he is not electrified, or he can raise his sword to the sky to be struck by lightning and charged with electricity. This is best done when Demise is doing the same, although it can happen at any random point in the battle.

Once Link uses this lightning-charged Skyward Strike on Demise (although it will be cancelled out if Demise shoots his at the same time), Demise will be stunned (and no longer electrified), allowing Link to attack him repeatedly. After enough hits, Demise will be knocked down, and Link must finish him with a Killing Blow - although if Link doesn't immediately use it, Demise will get back up, although it won't take many hits to knock him down again.

In Hyrule Warriors
Demises makes a cameo one of the giant bosses fought in Hyrule Warriors, under his aspect of the Imprisonned. Ghirahim performs a ritual to bring him from the Skyward Sword era to stall the protagonists in their war against Cia. During the boss battle against the Imprisonned, Ghirahim taunts the heroes stating that his true lord has returned and that all will cower before him.

The battle against the Imprisonned is very similar to the ones fought in Skyward Sword. The demon attacks by stomping, and by emiting a succession of dark shockwaves or lightning blasts from his feet. The heroes must destroy his toes until he falls over and repeatedly strike the spike on his head. the more he gets wounded, the faster he becomes, and he will start to glide towards the heroes to attack them.

When the Imprisonned starts levitating over the temple and concentrating dark energy in his mouth, the heroes must rush into the temple and use the Groosinator to blast him and make him fall, before he can destroy the temple with his darkness breath.

Trivia

 * The word "demise" is a synonym for "death", and more generally for the end of something. In the original Japanese version, he is known as "Shuuen no Mono", which can be translated the Harbinger of Demise, or the Personification of the End.
 * Demise is based on Kronos and Tartarus, due to the fact he has conquered time, like Kronos and is the source of evil monsters, like Tartarus.
 * Demise shares the same voice actor as Ganondorf. His final form looks similar in appearance and size to Ganon. The way he is defeated is similar to Ganondorf's defeat on Twilight Princess. Which makes sense considering that he is Ganondorf's original incarnation.
 * Demise is the source of all evil in The Legend of Zelda universe.
 * It is unknown if Demise has any connection to the Demon King, Malladus, in Spirit Tracks, but it seems likely as he is the source of all monsters and evil. However, it is quite clear that despite sharing his title Malladus is inferior to Demise. Demise's successor's Ganon's Japanese title "the Great Demon King" somehow emphasize this point.
 * Nintendo has stated that a possibility for a prequel for Skyward Sword is open so either we may not be seeing the last of Demise or an even more ancient evil will be introduced.

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