One of the most recognizable parts of theZeldaseries is the enemiesLinkmust defeat on his journey, training him to take down whatever supervillain is threatening Hyrule that day. Agahnim,Majora, orYugamight be the big boss of the day, but they often get left behind by more recurring villains of the series.
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While recently some enemies have had the spotlight shone on them, such as the Lynels and Guardians fromBreath of the Wild, many of the enemies from the most recent title have been around for much longer than fans realize, with some being in nearly every game that has been released so far.
11Bonus: Ganon
The demonic pig and wielder of the Triforce of Power may be the overarching villain of the entire series, but that doesn’t mean he has been in manyZeldatitles. First appearing in the originalThe Legend of Zelda, he has taken many variations of the bestial form Link must defeat, with Ganon’s most recent incarnation inBreath of the Wildbeing his largest and most imposing transformation yet.
As Link and Zelda have managed to defeat Ganon so often over all of the timelines, it’s not surprising that he doesn’t appear as an enemy as often as other lesser creatures.
10Darknut
Like Ganon, the Darknuts haven’t appeared in many titles, but they are a force to be reckoned with and some of the hardest enemies to defeat in the games they do feature in. They are often dressed in full armor, shield, and sword, but have also appeared wielding a mace, rapier, or a larger sword and no shield.
For most of their incarnations, Link must either maneuver around them skillfully to find an opening in their defense or, more recently, knock their armor off to strike at their weak points.
9Wizzrobe
The Wizzrobe are masters of magic and can be a thorn in Link’s side if players aren’t careful in how they are dealt with. Initially, they only appeared inside dungeons inThe Legend of Zelda, but as time went on and they featured in more titles, they ventured outdoors and took on more difficult roles for the player to deal with.
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InMajora’s Mask, in particular, the ice variation features as a mini-boss in the Snowhead Temple, while the fire versions appear in many locations around Ikana Canyon and the Stone Temple.
8Like Like
These strange, worm-like creatures have appeared in both the 2D and 3DZeldatitles, one of the few enemies that can claim as such, and are equally annoying in both dimensions.
They have a habit of sucking Link into their body, where they will deal damage over time if the player doesn’t act to escape their grasp. When they do manage to break free, the player will often find they have lost some Rupees or consumable items that they must replace once the creature is dealt with.
7Gibdo
Although these undead creatures may have debuted much earlier on, many players will know this enemy fromOcarina of Time, often seeing them for the first time under the Graveyard area in Hyrule Castle.
Like the ReDeads, they freeze Link in place when spotted and slowly shuffle towards him, although unlike the Redead, Gibdo do not emit the high pitched scream, and make a low moaning noise instead.
6Armos
The Armos are animated statues that will chase after Link if he gets too close to one, jumping around and trying to land on the young Hylian. In most of their appearances, they are simple but monstrous-looking statues holding a sword and shield, although their look inTwilight Princessis significantly different.
Wielding a hammer instead of a sword, the Armos that attack the Hero of Twilight look more like tiki statues than their older counterparts and also don’t appear around Death Mountain as they normally do.
5Tektite
These one-eyed, four-legged, hoping spiders have been a part ofZeldasince the very beginning, and are one of the most recognizable enemies in the series. In most of their appearances, they are fairly simple to defeat in a few strikes of even the most basic sword, but inAdventure of Link, they are made harder to take down.
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Heavily armored, immune to many normal attacks and capable of launching fireballs from their eyes, the tektites inZelda IIare much harder to defeat than their other counterparts, and can only be defeated by using the Fire spell, although they are immune to Din’s Fire inOcarina of Time.
4Stalfos
The skeletal Stal enemies have appeared in many games over the course ofZelda’srun, but the most frequently occurring are the terrifying Stalfos. They are oftentimes reanimated Hyrulean soldiers who died during the Hyrule Civil War, although the ones present around the Lost Woods ofOcarina of Timeare thought to be adults who were lost in the woods and transformed.
Although they don’t invoke the same level of terror as the Gibdo or ReDead, their menacing faces and devastating attacks make them oftentimes difficult to defeat for newer players.
3Keese
Also simply known as bats, the Keese have appeared in nearly every mainlineZeldagame since the series began, often appearing in caves as low-level enemies that are more of an annoyance than a challenge, similar to Zubat fromPokemon.
Keese, like the Wizzrobe, comes in different elemental variations that change the type of damage they do to Link, between Fire, Ice, and Electric. The standard form, with no elemental affiliation, are the most common ones seen in the series
2Blin
Moblin, Bokoblin, Miniblin, Bulblin and Big Blin are all variations of the same creature that appear over many of theZeldatitles, and often times have wildly different appearances between games. For the most part, their design seems to be based on Ganon’s pig form, with many of them taking on a boar or pig-like appearance while acting more like traditional goblins in fantasy, hence their name.
While the Moblin fromOcarina of Timeare menacing soldiers that Link encounters around the Sacred Forest Meadow, and cannot be defeated head-on, their counterparts inWind WakerandBreath of the Wildare equally imposing but easier for the player to deal with.
