The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Bosses

Key
  • HP is the maximum number of hits the boss can take.
  • A hyphen (-) implies immunity.
  • For all weapon squares, the number refers to how much damage it deals.
  • For all armor squares, the number refers to how much damage you will take with that armor on.


Armos Knights

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  HP 48   16   -   ½
  2   KO   8
  2   4   8   ½
  4   1   -
  8   -   -   ½
  4   4   -
  • Japanese name: Degu Armos
  • Location: Eastern Palace
  • Description: A group of six individual blue statues which come to life and stomp the ground in an attempt to crush Link.

These six statues appear harmless until they shake and rumble to life. They begin to bound around the room in special circular patterns. If you have plenty of arrows, you have little to fear. You can fire at them from the bottom of the room, off to the side, and stay relatively safe. If you are forced to rely on your sword, you must attack a lot more carefully. The patterns that the Knights follow are fairly predictable, so fire your arrows patiently; you can't afford to waste too many of them.

As you attack the Armos Knights, you will defeat them one at a time. Ultimately, you will be left with one final Armos Knight, who will transform from the usual blue color to an angry red. The final red Armos Knight has no interest in following a pattern since there's no one else to follow it with him. Instead he takes slow, but purposeful leaps in your direction. Move out of his path, and retaliate with an arrow or a sword swipe until he finally expires.

Lanmolas

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  HP 16   4   -   1
  2   KO   8
  2   4   8   1
  4   -   -
  8   -   -   1
  4   4   -
  • Japanese name: Lanmola
  • Location: Desert Palace
  • Description: Three green snaking creatures which attack in a group of three by jumping in and out of the sand.

When the Lanmolas sense a disturbance on the surface of the floor, they rise out of the sand and sail through the air in an effort to attack the intruder before landing back down into the sand and burrowing underneath for a while. Their bodies are covered by a hard exoskeleton, but their head is far more vulnerable to your attack. You will have a brief moment's notice where they are popping out of the ground before they appear to attack. When they pop out of the ground, four clods of dirt scatter that can hurt you. At that time, it's a good idea to have your sword charged for a spin attack. Stand along side the shifting dirt where they are about to appear, and release your attack when you see their head. After a number of attacks on the head of each Lanmola, they will disappear. When only one Lanmola remains, the force with which he escapes the sand causes eight clods of dirt to fly around.

Moldorm

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  HP 12   -   -   1
  2   -   -
  2   -   -   ½
  4   -   -
  8   -   -   ¼
  4   4   -
  • Japanese name: Degu Tail
  • Location: Tower of Hera
  • Description: A gigantic Tail Worm with huge eyes, yellow skin, and a small ball on the end of its tail.

In addition to Moldorm's enormous size, he also has exceptional defense. He mindlessly wanders around his den, but he likes to keep it clean. Any invader on his floor is treated the same; brushed off the edge. As a result of Moldorm's thick impenetrable skin, there is only one weak point on his body that can take damage: his tail.

As Moldorm wiggles and writhes across the floor, you must do your best to situate yourself behind him in order to strike his tail. This is no easy task, as Moldorm never holds still, and rarely travels in a straight line. He prefers to turn frequently, and his motion is hard to predict. Initially Moldorm's pattern is somewhat random, but after a few hits he'll start to come after you directly and try to push you off the battle area. Naturally, if you want to get through this fight fairly quickly, the biggest thing you'll want to avoid is getting pushed over the edge and down to the floor below. You will be able to return if that happens, but Moldorm will return to his full strength if you leave the room.

Agahnim

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  HP 60   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  -   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  -   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  • Japanese name: Priest Agahnim
  • Location: Hyrule Castle Tower
  • Description: A large wizard with green and purple robes, with the powers of fire, ice, and lightning at his disposal.

It's you and Agahnim in a fight to the finish. Agahnim teleports around the room, casting one spell before teleporting to some other location. At first, the fight may seem a little one-sided; Agahnim's powerful magics protect him from physical harm. Even the Master Sword does not appear to touch him. Agahnim has a few different spells that he likes to employ against you, based on fire, ice, and lightning. His fire spell is a giant fireball that he sends in your direction. The ice spell is composed of six small ice crystals. And his lightning spell is a devastating attack of lightning arcs. However, in order to cast it, he must always move to the top of the room, and will always face the door below. This is your clue to get out of the way and move to the side of the screen. With all the ways that Agahnim has to hurt you, and your inability to touch him, there's only one way to defeat him: turns his spells against him. You have been told all along of the Master Sword's ability to reflect evil magic. That's not just a metaphor, it can literally do just that. The best time to use it is against Agahnim's fireball spell. When he sends one your way, swing your sword at just the right moment, and send the blast back at him. You can't return his lightning spell, and your sword causes the ice spell to scatter, so stay focused and alert when he casts a fireball spell at you. He will always turn to face you as he does. Hit him with a number of fireball blasts, and he will be forced to stop. He will not allow you to defeat him. With the little energy that he has remaining, he will curse you to the dark dimension. You can also reflect his attacks with the bug net.

Helmasaur King

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  HP 28   4   -   2
  -   KO   -
  4   4   -   1
  8   -   -
  16   -   -   ½
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Jeekrock
  • Location: Dark Palace
  • Description: A giant red beast with a blue armored mask and huge flailing tail.

This gargantuan version of the little Helmasaurs won't be taken down quite as easily. In addition to the damage that he can inflict upon you with his claws and face, he has a massive tail that he can swing and extend in front of him in order to strike his opponents. You must watch his position and his tail if you want to avoid taking damage. He can also spit deadly fireballs at you that break apart and scatter.

He enters brief periods of immobility, giving you ample opportunity to attack. But how will you manage to damage him with the thick, skull-like helmet protecting his forehead? With the Hammer! You'll need to chip away at that mask piece by piece. As you do, he will continue to attack, especially with his tail. He will swing the tail back and forth just before he is about to attack.

If you have plenty of health, then focus on hitting his head. If you are running low, play a little more cautiously with hit and run tactics. Eventually, his mask will completely break apart, revealing his weak point, the green crystal in his forehead. A few well placed slashes to the crystal with your sword will do King Helmasaur in completely. His mask can also be broken using bombs.

Arrghus

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  HP 32   4   -   2
  -   KO   8
  4   -   8   1
  8   -   -
  16   -   -   ½
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Wahto
  • Location: Swamp Palace
  • Description: A giant floating red jellyfish like creature with a large eye and numerous orange creatures covering its body.

With the Hookshot equipped, you must fire it up at the mass, plucking one ball at a time off of Arrghus' body. When each ball is pulled, begin to attack it with your sword. After a few hits, it will be destroyed. If, for some reason, you do not completely destroy it in time, the ball will float back to Arrghus, and you will have to pluck it off again in order to continue attacking it. Keep this strategy up until every single ball that floats around Arrghus is destroyed. Once the last ball is defeated, Arrghus is revealed as a red eyeball with tentacles. Arrghus likes to jump up in the air and try to slam down on you. After he lands, he bounces around the room in an effort to collide with you. Slashing his eye with you sword causes him to stop, jump up in the air, and repeat the process. Continue to hit him with your sword until his life is depleted.

Mothula

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  HP 32   -   -   2
  2   -   4
  4   -   -   1
  8   -   -
  16/-   -   -   ½
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Gamos
  • Location: Skull Woods
  • Description: A giant oversized moth that fires three beams from its mouth.

Mothula is vulnerable to your sword, hammer and Fire Rod (remember that it drains your magic when used). The big problem is, it's immune to the spikes that line up its room, which has two consequences on the original SNES version (corrected in the GBA remake):

  • Because the spikes and golden sword do the same "kind" of damage to monsters, immunity to spikes means immunity to the golden sword: it does no damage to Mothula (but "pokes" with the golden sword deal tempered sword damage).
  • And because knocking an enemy into spikes replaces the sword damage with the spikes damage, any hit whose knockback sends Mothula into spikes is negated. Both sword slashes and fire rod hits have knockback, so you'll have to time your shots carefully to avoid wasting magic!

In addition to its immunity, Mothula has a lot of health, so you may run out of magic using the Fire Rod and will have to revert to using your sword at close range (or hammer at even closer range). What makes matters worse is the room itself isn't static:

  • The floor moves constantly in random directions.
  • The spike traps all around the outside of the room randomly slide from one side of the room to the other. You are warned of their eventual move by the shaking they do just before.

It's difficult to attack Mothula and focus on the spikes at the same time. Stay persistent, and bring health and magic restoring potions if you are having a difficult time with this fight.

Blind the Thief

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  HP 90   -   -   2
  10   -   -
  10   -   -   1
  10   -   -
  10   -   -   ½
  10   10   -
  • Japanese name: Blind
  • Location: Gargoyle's Domain
  • Description: A floating monster with a red body and a white robe that hovers over the floor. Disconnected heads will fly around the room.

This is a difficult fight as it's hard to dodge most of the attacks. Bringing fairies in bottles is a wise strategy. Blind moves left and right along the top and bottom of the room. His head is his weak point. He will either fire a laser at you, or shoot off small fireballs. When you hit him in the head enough times, he falls down while his head roams free of his body. His head will fly around the room independently and shoot fireballs at you, and there's little you can do about it. Meanwhile, a new head will grow in the old one's place, and the battle will resume. Strike the new head until that one is knocked off his body. One final head will take its place while you avoid the attacks of the previous two. Strike that head enough times until Blind is finally defeated.

Kholdstare

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  HP 64   -   -   4
  -   -   16
  4   -   -   3
  8   -   -
  16   -   -   2
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Shyuu Eyes
  • Location: Ice Palace
  • Description: A pink puffy eye ball trapped beneath a block of ice. When it is finally freed from the ice, it turns out to be three eye balls.

At first, Kholdstare appears pretty harmless, being stuck in a giant block of ice. Naturally, you can use blasts from the Fire Rod to thaw the ice and release him so that you can ultimately kill him. However, once he breaks free of the ice, you'll soon discover that he is not one enemy, but rather three. And they will each split up and begin to bounce around the room and attack you. While they do this, blocks of ice will drop from the ceiling and shatter into four pieces. Do your best to avoid them while you focus your attack on one Kholdstare at a time. Rely most on your sword for quick successive strikes, but a few blasts from your Fire Rod (if you have magic left) can speed up the process of defeating each one.

Vitreous

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  HP 128   16   -   4
  2   64   -
  4   4   -   3
  8   -   -
  16   -   -   2
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Geldohga
  • Location: Misery Maze
  • Description: A large eyeball surrounded by a green ooze and several small eyeballs.

Vitreous' core is a giant eyeball, but he sends several small eyeballs to attack you. You can destroy them simply by swinging your sword at them, as they won't put up much of a fight. As you begin to destroy the smaller eyeballs, fewer eyeballs remain to weigh the core down. As a result, he will sometimes rise out of the ooze he rests in to fire a giant lightning bolt attack at you. Once all of the small eyeballs have been defeated, Vitreous will have no other choice than to attack you directly with the core eyeball. It will bounce towards you. Keep swinging your sword non-stop, as it is really the only way to defend yourself, and Vitreous will eventually die.

Trinexx

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  HP 40   -   -   4
  2   -   4
  4   -   -   3
  8   -   -
  16   -   -   2
  8   8   -
  • Japanese name: Degu Rock
  • Location: Turtle Rock
  • Description: Initially, a giant rock with one large central gray head, and two surrounding red and blue heads. Once the side heads are defeated, it slims down to one large gray snake-like creature.

This fight is going to require a substantial amount of magic. While it's possible to win the fight with one full magic meter, it's wise to bring at least one green or blue potion to the fight with you in case you run out. Trinexx, as his name suggests, possesses three necks. The two lesser necks on the sides are red and blue. The red neck attacks with searing flames, while the blue neck attacks with blasts of ice that freeze the floor. The center neck physically attacks you, so you must always keep your eye on it will you focus on the outer two. Since the outer necks deal in heat and cold, they are susceptible to attacks of the opposite variety. Therefore, train your Ice Rod on the red head, and your Fire Rod on the blue head. You can simply shoot at the heads with just the rods, or you can hit them once to freeze them and get in close with your sword. They can be taken out in any order, although you may find the blue head to be a bit more of a nuisance. Once both heads are destroyed, the outer shell of the center head explodes, leaving behind the center head at the end of a long snaking body. The body will slither throughout the room at a rapid pace, and this dungeon boss does a substantial amount of damage to you if he hits you. Do your best to stay out of its way, and observe the flashing point in the center of its body. You must strike this point with your sword. Strike it enough times to defeat it, and Trinexx.

Agahnim 2nd fight

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  HP 60   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  -   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  -   -   -   1
  -   -   -
  • Japanese name: Priest Agahnim
  • Location: Ganon's Tower
  • Description: A large wizard with green and purple robes, with the powers of fire, ice, and lightning at his disposal.

Even though you fought him far earlier in the tower of Castle Hyrule, you never truly defeated him. And he intends not to lose to you twice. This time, in exchange for his lightning magic, he will invoke a duplication spell that sends two clones of himself around the room. All three images of him will attack you at once, although the solid image is the only one that's vulnerable. Keep your eye on the solid image, and be sure to swing at every large fireball that he or the clones send your way. They must reflect and strike the solid image to do damage. Be careful not to strike the ice attack that splits into six pieces. Continue to reflect Agahnim's spells back at him until he sustains too much damage and the battle ends.

Ganon

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  HP 255   -   -   8
  -   24   -
  -   -   -   6
  4   -   -
  8   -   -   3
  4   4   -
  • Japanese name: Ganon
  • Location: Pyramid of Power
  • Description: The formidable King of Evil. He holds incredible dark powers, and can only be slain by weapons of justice.

Ganon first attacks by throwing his Trident and then he attacks with his Blazing Bats. In these parts of the fight he can be damaged normally with the sword. Next he will teleport around and release a circling fire bat. He doesn't take damage during this part but you must hit him four times in order to reach the next stage of the fight. After each hit, Ganon will jump up and come smashing down, causing the edges of the floor to break away. Stay toward the middle and be careful not to fall off the edge of the floor. In the last part of the fight, Ganon will douse the lights in the room and make himself invulnerable. You must ignite both of the lanterns at the bottom of the room with the Lamp or Fire Rod to break through Ganon's secret technique of Darkness. When he appears, strike him with the sword. He will turn blue and freeze for a second. When you see Ganon turn blue, immediately fire Silver Arrows at him. Repeat this process until four Silver Arrows have struck him, and Ganon will be destroyed. If you have not acquired the Silver Arrows, it is still possible to damage Ganon in his final form but it is much more difficult. You must first light the torches as you would normally, then hit him with the sword at the exact moment he is teleporting.