Ganontena

Ganontena is the het ship between Ganondorf and Palutena from the Super Smash Bros. fandom.

Super Smash Bros for Wii U and 3DS
Should Pit activate Palutena’s Guidance for Ganondorf, he will comment on Ganondorf’s evil look, to which Palutena replies that Ganondorf can take many forms. According to her, he’s known as “The King of Porkness” as Ganon, only for Viridi correct her saying that it’s “King of Darkness”. Viridi then says that Ganondorf has brought Hyrule to the brink of ruin countless times, only for Palutena to claim that her “Archvillain Database” doesn’t have any information about his past. When Viridi makes the claim that there are many different Ganons, Palutena compares it to Link and Zelda always reincarnating as well. She then tells Pit that he should use Ganondorf’s weight to his advantage.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Should Pit activate Palutena’s Guidance for Ganondorf, he will be concerned about having to fight him, only for Palutena to tell him that he has taken many forms throughout the ages. She says that this one is known as the “Great King of Evil”. She further explains that Ganondorf is a Gerudo warlock, saying that Gerudos are a desert tribe that mostly consists of women. She says that every hundred years, a man is born to their ranks, Ganondorf happened to be that man. Palutena ignores Viridi’s snide comment about the Gerudo’s “bad luck” and explains that Ganondorf is sealed away and resurrected countless times. When Viridi and Pit comment on Ganondorf being the same person while Link and Zelda have their memories erased, Palutena warns Pit that Ganondorf is an aggressive heavyweight and that Pit should dodge when he sees Ganondorf winding up, then counterattack.

Fanon
Ganontena is fairly popular in the fandom, though fanart of it is rare. It's popularity comes from the fact that they are considered polar opposites: Ganondorf is the Prince/King of Darkness, while Palutena is the Goddess of Light. Ganondorf has red hair, Palutena has green hair. Ganondorf is big and rugged, Palutena is pretty and dainty. Ganondorf is the antagonist whenever he appears (though Brawl has him assist the heroes against Tabuu to serve his own ends), Palutena is a heroic supporting character (before being made playable). The fact that Ganondorf's first incarnation (Demise) respected his goddess nemesis (Hylia) and was disappointed with her reincarnation adds a bit of fuel to the ship. As a result, it has a bit of popularity with Light/Darkness and Hero/Villain shippers. Some fanwork will give Palutena a more assertive edge, though nobody denies the fact that she's already Ganondorf's equal (as a goddess, she might even be considered to be above him).

A common joke that between the fourth installment and Ultimate, Palutena actually read the Hyrule Hystoria and that Viridi's claim that she "spend years studying the Ganon canon" was a complete lie.

It currently has 49 fics on AO3. It's also the most popular ship for both characters (at least for the "Super Smash Brothers" tag).

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * Viridi's claim that there are "many" different versions of Ganon is wrong. Unless you really stretch the definition of "many" by counting Demise and Calamity Ganon (who was revealed after Smash 4) as two of his incarnations, Ganondorf has only been reincarnated once: After the death of Ganon in Twilight Princess a new Ganondorf was born in Four Swords Adventures. Every other incarnation of Ganondorf is the same person in different timelines, either due to being resurrected or simply managing to survive the times where Link was supposed to have killed him. This mistake was corrected in Ultimate by having Viridi acknowledge that some people believe that Ganondorf is the exact same person each time he appears.