When the first trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 released at E3 2019, it was revealed that the malice plaguing Hyrule has been pouring out of a mummified Ganondorf. This revelation took the Zelda community by storm and led to countless theories about which Ganondorf it might be and what it means for BOTW's place in the timeline. While the return of Ganondorf is undoubtedly exciting for many fans, there is a decent amount of evidence to suggest that the sequel's main villain will actually be his distant ancestor, Demise.
Demise was introduced in the first game of the Zelda franchise's timeline, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. For most of the game, Demise took the form of a dark creature with two bulky legs and a mouth full of sharp teeth known as "The Imprisoned." As the name suggests, this was the form that Demise took after being sealed away in the Faron Woods by the Goddess Hylia. Once he was freed by his servant Ghirahim however, he took on a more familiar appearance.
His broad features and fiery red hair clearly harken back to the Ganondorf designs of Super Smash Bros and Twilight Princess, as they are all his descendants. After his defeat, Demise curses the descendants of Link and Zelda to battle with the incarnations of his hatred for all time. This hatred is what spawned the monsters that plague Hyrule and is eventually reincarnated as Ganondorf - but more importantly, the most common physical form of Demise's hatred is the substance known as Malice.
Though Malice's presence in the franchise is most prominent in BOTW, this integral part of Demise and Ganon has been a part of Zelda's history for a very long time. Skyward Sword revealed that all the monsters of Hyrule were created from Malice, which can be seen when they are defeated as they often explode into clouds of purple, red, and black. What makes BOTW so significant is that it's the first time since the beginning of the timeline that the presence of Malice has been so strong, and there's a good chance that this is due to Demise returning to the physical world.
After thwarting the latest attempt to spawn Ganon from Malice in BOTW, Link and Zelda explore the caves below Hyrule Castle only to discover the mummified body of Ganondorf, held in place by a glowing green hand as Malice flows from of his body. Ganondorf is briefly shown controlling the Malice in the second trailer for BOTW 2, but he looks notably primal while doing so, which is in stark contrast to the calm and calculating nature of Ganondorf that fans have come to know.
This is likely due to the Malice escaping from his body when the seal is broken, allowing Demise to escape the bonds of Ganondorf's body and leave the soulless remains to operate on primal instinct. The figure's physical appearance supports the Demise theory as well, as this version of Ganon has long red hair, harkening back to Demise's fiery red hair - but the main feature is the figure's eyes. In both the first and second trailer, the mummified body's eyes glow fiery red when it awakens, which is historically true of Demise's eyes but not Ganondorf's. The closest the latter ever came to having this specific feature was when his eyes glowed while wielding the Triforce of Power in Ocarina of Time, but the intensity of the flaming eyes suggest that these are mostly likely the eyes of Demise.
Nintendo isn't being shy about supporting this possibility, either. BOTW has a region known as "The Breach of Demise," a location only present in this title and its spin-off, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The choice to release Skyward Sword HD right before BOTW 2 also seems like a very deliberate choice, having now seen Link mirror iconic moments from the former such as falling through the clouds and traveling between floating islands. All of this points to Skyward Sword having a big influence on Breath of the Wild 2, so what better way to codify that influence than by making the original Demon King Demise the main villain once again.
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