The introduction of Ganondorf into the new era of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom complicates quite a bit about the lore that had previously been established in Breath of the Wild. More importantly, this next step in the new era appears to have strictly separated Ganondorf from the Calamity Ganon that had previously threatened Hyrule.
This specifically stands against the ways that classic Legend of Zelda titles have handled both Ganon and Ganondorf in the lore leading up to Tears of the Kingdom. The contradiction also goes against what many fans had assumed would be the explanation for the existence of both Calamity Ganon and the Demon King, Ganondorf before the game was released.
Ganon and Ganondorf's Historic Connections
Although it is no longer the groundbreaking twist now that it was in 1998, the connection between the newly introduced Gerudo villain Ganondorf and his beast form of Ganon was a major change in the series in Ocarina of Time. Suddenly, this villain who was resurrected, sealed, released, defeated, and resurrected again, was the second half of an even more interesting character that flaunted political power along with brute force. In fact, the Zelda games timeline that would eventually be better consolidated after Skyward Sword and the release of the Hyrule Historia considers the original villain Ganon to be the power-obsessed form of Ganondorf after stealing the Triforce.
This connection between the beast form of Ganon and the Gerudo Ganondorf even led to many fan theories about what Ganondorf's introduction would mean for Tears of the Kingdom. Specifically, the leading expectation from fans was that Calamity Ganon would be a form of Ganondorf's malice that had spread from beneath Hyrule Castle and acted as the first wave of the villain's continued attacks on the kingdom. However, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's storytelling and lore through the Hyrule Compendium and Character Profiles seem to go against this popular assumption.
The Demon King Freed by Calamity in Tears of the Kingdom
Throughout the narrative of Tears of the Kingdom, a lot of emphasis is put on the story that developed between Zelda and her ancestors Rauru and Sonia, all while fighting against Ganondorf who would eventually become Demon King. However, the presence of the Calamity itself is never really mentioned as being a part of the threat to Hyrule, nor is Calamity Ganon ever shown to be a part of Ganondorf's powers or plans. Instead, the closest mention of the previous antagonist comes from Zelda fearing Ganondorf's name on instinct, as well as the creepy Phantom Ganon enemies in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that stalk Link in the form of a mummified specter and hands that rise out of the ground.
An even stranger disconnect between Ganon and Ganondorf comes from the character profile that is awarded to players after beating the game. After beating Tears of the Kingdom, players are rewarded with a profile on Ganondorf himself, who is stated to have been sealed away by King Rauru, with the seal slipping during the Calamity from Breath of the Wild. It sets a hard divide between the two villains that had historically been the same entity, instead of contextualizing Calamity Ganon as a version or extension of Ganondorf and his Demon King powers.
It is a strange new direction for the series with Tears of the Kingdom seemingly setting up Ganondorf and his Demon King form to be something completely different from Calamity. Instead of being connected entities, these are two separate characters that are empowered by malice that manifests as either Breath of the Wild's damaging Calamity or Tears of the Kingdom's vitality-sapping Gloom. This makes for a new look at the lore for this latest era of The Legend of Zelda, where many of the previously established icons of the series don't fall into the same formula that they used to.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now for Switch.