Ganondorf and the possible changes to his moveset hasn't really been a hot topic in here, and really I don't care whether or not his moveset changes at all. However, I know there are bound to be lots of folks out there who want him to have a sword, and I found this YouTube video of a hack of Brawl that got me thinking about what I'm posting right now.
See the sword hack here if you want
Basically what the hack did was make the sword stay out after he used his taunt, and after it was out, essentially it worked like a Beam Sword. Does that sound like a reasonable thought? Using his taunt to pull out a sword to give him some range?
Here are some thoughts on the mechanics. Of course, everything is debatable and just quick thoughts, give suggestions afterwards:
-The sword taunt leaves him with the sword out. The sword would work as (or similar to) a beam sword. Or it could change some other normal attacks, like Smashes.
-When the sword is in hand, you can't pick up other items (like a normal Beam sword).
-The sword would have unlimited hits, or in other words, if it fell on the ground, it wouldn't disappear.
-The sword can be dropped from Ganon's hand when he gets hit, but he can't voluntarily drop it or throw it.
-To get it out of his hand, Ganon can taunt again to put it away
-Taunting when the sword has fallen out of Ganon's hand should replace it with some sort of angered or woeful taunt. (Anger is more in character)
-The sword can be picked up by other players, and can be dropped and thrown normally only by other players.
-The only way to "destroy" Ganon's sword is by throwing it offscreen.
-Once the sword is "destroyed", Ganon can't produce another one unless he loses a stock. (Or maybe after a certain time limit another spawns in his taunt?)
-As far as Costumes go, regardless of what is chosen, each form of Ganondorf that could possibly be suggested have a useable sword. (OoT has that one from Melee from that Gamecube demo movie, WW has his own sword, and TP has his own sword).
So that's my suggestion on Ganondorf and his sword. Of course, you can always just add a sword to certain moves like his Smash attacks and make him more of his own character, but PLEEEASE keep that Vacuum kick with his up tilt.
As for Specials, I don't really know what should be changed, if anything.. I liked his specials, personally. But here's some suggestions to make him SLIGHTLY less Falconish, mostly just the way the moves look.
Neutral Special: Instead of a punch, what if he pulls back his hand, charges up his dark energy in his palm, and then thrusts his palm form for a cool explosive effect. The hitbox could remain pretty much the same. Of course, backfists are awesome, maybe we should keep it. Another suggestion is that perhaps, as he pulls it back, if the Special Attack button is pressed at just the right moment, he actually shoots the energy he's gathered forward as a projectile. It could reduce the knockback and damage, but increase the range.
Smash Special: I personally liked how they handled it in Brawl, at least as far as how it looks and how it fits into Ganon's character. However, I'm open to suggestions.
Up Special: I really don't have any new suggestions for this one either. The changes in Brawl always felt rather weird, I've never really mastered it, but at the very least it looks less like Falcon's.
Down Special: Either change the animation so that it's a move he does with his hand rather than his foot (like diving down and punching or something), or maybe make it a vertical stomp straight down when he's in the air. Doesn't do jack for recovery that way, though, not that it was very useful in Brawl to begin with to my knowledge.
Okay, anyone get anything out of that?