Reviewing Monsters: The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past, Part 1

Ah, A Link to the Past. Probably the only other game than Ocarina of Time and Breath of the Wild to have the illustrious title of being the 'definitive' Zelda game and no one would question it. 

A Link to the Past is actually one of my very first Zelda games ever, and I played it on a relative's Super Nintendo, before discovering the GBA version of it, never completing it, and then finally completing it on an emulator years later. A lot of the tropes in A Link to the Past are honestly ones that I sort of took for granted in other Zelda games, but it's basically the Zelda game that codified the whole 'alternate world' gimmick, the one that really got the 'one plot device item per themed dungeon' item down, and really expanded on a lot of the tropes that would define Hyrule for basically every single game until BOTW. And unless I'm mistaken, ALTTP is also the first game to give the game's Link a backstory -- even if this is admittedly a simple one. 

The story's honestly simple, it's a typical "evil forces have kidnapped the princess and the castle" bit, Link has to rescue the princess by getting a bunch of plot devices stashed in various dungeons all over the world. The twist here, of course, is that Link gets transported to the 'Dark World' around one-fourths of the way through the game, which is a dark reflection of Hyrule with far more stronger monsters.

On with the enemies, though, since this is what we're talking about!

Soldiers

I'm going to group all of these together, because there's a lot of them. The first 'dungeon', which is more of a tutorial, is Hyrule Castle. A cutscene early in the game makes it pretty explicit that these guys -- or at least the ones you meet in the castle -- are just regular Hyrule Castle soldiers that were brainwashed and corrupted by Agahnim. Regardless of whether the transformation is permanent or not, Link does basically spend a good chunk of the game slaughtering a lot of the kingdom's soldiers. Although most of the times, anything talking about ALTTP sort of gloss over this part -- Nintendo probably doesn't want one of their main heroes to be a mass murderer of humans.

Anyway, there are a lot of them. Some carry swords, some carry daggers, some have javelins or bows, some throw bombs, some have spiky helmets, some hide in bushes. In-game it's neat to see the same ol' soldier types get stronger and stronger, but they don't really leave much for me to talk in a monster review unless you want three paragraphs of me just rambling about where you meet each type. There are a lot of them, and they are mostly found in the 'normal' or 'light world' Hyrule. 

Ball and Chain Trooper
I suppose I'll mention this guy briefly, too, which is technically your first 'boss' enemy in the tutorial dungeon, although, again, since he goes down pretty quickly and it's just you learning to avoid the simple spinning flail weapon, it's not that much of a challenge. ALTTP doesn't quite reuse bosses as regular enemies as much as some other games do, but the Ball of Chain Trooper does show up a couple of times in some other dungeons as just a pretty strong enemy. For the most part, I'll save all the minibosses and dungeon bosses to cap off the review. 

Bee
Some of the earliest enemies in Hyrule are your regular batch of generic fantasy-setting animals. Again, for the most part, ALTTP defines these guys as enemies in the world of 2D Zelda. The bees are pretty simple enemies that can come out when Link slashes patches of grass with his sword. Later on you can catch bees with a net and keep them in an empty bottle, then sic the bee at your opponents. It's highly impractical and there are better weapons and spells that Link has access to, but I like that this little easter egg exists.

Rat

Giant rats in an RPG game as a starting enemy? No one would expect that! Anyway, these guys exist, and they mostly show up in the castle's sewers and dungeon areas. Not much to say here, they're basic enemies that die to one hit. 

Rope

Snakes have always been called "Rope" ever since the very first game, and this hasn't changed even now. I do find it refreshing that ALTTP sprited their snakes to be black. That's about it. This is a relatively simple stage in the game, and the Ropes basically have a gimmick of moving slowly then accelerating when they 'see' Link. 

Keese

Zelda's classic bats are back, and they also inhabit the same underground caverns that the Ropes hang out in. Again, the big fun here is basically their behaviour, where they roost in the walls of the caves before flying at Link. Like most Keese incarnations, they're simple. 

Crow

Crows, meanwhile, take over the flying annoying enemy in the overworld, hanging out in trees, divebombing Link and will continually circle back to peck him in the head. Not much to say here, it sure is a jackass crow. 

Cuccoo

Cuccoos are also here, and A Link to the Past is the very first Zelda game to codify Cuccoos as a staple, as a harmless chicken that will summon the Cuccoo Revenge Squad if you hit one too many times. If you don't know what that is, in any Zelda games where Cuccoos show up, hitting them too many times will cause them to summon a swarm of indestructible Cuccoos to chase and murder Link until he dies or he manages to leave the area. 

 

Poe

Another long-running classic Zelda enemy is the lantern-holding Poe, who just appear if Link pushes gravestones around. Desecrating gravestones is a bad thing in real life, but Link sometimes need to do it to access hidden items! I don't have a whole ton to say about the Poe that I haven't said in other Zelda reviews. And it looks like I'm being indifferent to a lot of things, but they are starter enemies and I've talked a lot about these classic guys like the Poe, Keese or Rope. 

Buzz Blob & Cukeman

Ah, now we've got a fun little new enemy that's original to ALTTP! Buzz Blob here is basically the proto-Chuchu before Majora's Mask and Wind Waker defined the Chuchu as the default Zelda slime enemy. Because, well, it's just a slime with two cute dot eyes that waddles around with two feet. For some reason, they exude electricity and will electrocute Link, and they're a nuisance until Link gets the boomerang to kill them from afar. On the plus side, unlike most enemies on this page, they're actually docile and won't pursue or actively attack Link. I like that a lot, I like that some of the enemies are just theoretically weird creatures that attack Link only out of self defense. 

Sprinkle some Magic Powder; an item Link receives from a witch, and the Buzz Blob will transform into Cukeman, who have cartoony glasses-like eyes and thick lips, and while still otherwise behaving similarly to Buzz Blobs, they can talk to Link for some bizarre random lines of dialogue. It's mostly hints wrapped in gibberish, but it's such a bizarre little thing to do. Even more bizarrely, some specific combination of attacks (freezing it then smashing it with a hammer) will revert the Cukeman to the Buzz Blob. I'm not sure if there was supposed to be an in-joke or something, but... this sure exists. 

Slime

Some other weak enemies will transform into Slimes if sprinkled with Magic Powder. They're little blobs with eyes and a little tiny plant on top of it. It sure looks like a copyright-friendly version of the Dragon Quest Slime, huh? Considering its Japanese name is actually just straight-up 'suraimu', and later international releases of official ALTTP guides would quietly rename this enemy into 'Zol', I guess that was supposed to be an intentional homage. 

Spiny Beetle

Alternatively called Hoarders in some sources (the English translations have had several slightly-different sources), the Spiny Beetles make their first appearance in Zelda here. They're... they're a pretty interesting enemy! From an in-game perspective they're kind of little assholes, bugs that masquerade as regular pieces of the background and will run and damage Link. Their 'true' form is honestly just kind of bland, just a regular beetle-looking creature with cartoon animal eyes, but I do like the idea that this is an animal that, whether for predation or camouflage purposes, is simply just a huge bug that has either learned to disguise itself with nearby objects or actually just straight-up grow them. Either one seems plausible in Hyrule. I like them. 

Thief

Unlike the soldiers (who die by the dozen) which are ambiguously human, the Thieves in the Lost Woods are human and therefore Link doesn't actually kill them. They just jump out, run past Link to steal his money and ammo, and you can stun them into dropping what they steal. A neat little annoying enemy, although I must confess I completely forgot these guys even exist in the game. 

Sand Crab

I remember these guys most fondly from Link's Awakening and I forgot they even showed up in ALTTP, but yeah, giant crabs! I love that they move very slowly vertically, but very quickly horizontally. Just like a real crab! Sort of! Not much to say here, I do like the colour palette of having the main body brown and the limbs green. 

Octorok

Octorok return as yet another Zelda staple! And, again, ALTTP's slightly more sophisticated AI engine (at the time, anyway), really do make all these weirdo enemies feel pretty unique. Octoroks in ALTTP move very slowly as they gloop around with their tentacles, until they see Link, at which point they go berserk, running around in straight lines as they shoot out their rock projectiles. Not too much to say here, I still really find it charming that out of the things that they could do with an octopus enemy it's to borrow their 'mouth' (the funnel organ isn't even their mouth) and have it shoot projectiles. 

Popo

Oh, finally something new! At this point we're starting off with enemies in the Eastern Palace, the first dungeon in the 'regular' Hyrule. And as such we're slowly weaning off the weirdness of the enemies. I'm not entirely sure what Popos are. A mass of worms? A land anemone? Plant vines? Tentacles? They're cutely orange and purple, and are unremarkable as an enemy, being surprisingly a non-aggressive one. It does give a sense that the enemies in the East Palace are weirder than the mostly regular animal-themed or human enemies you've met before. 

Stalfos

...because the Eastern Palace has your first Stalfos! And they're just simple living skeletons, but there's something different about fighting a living, sentient skeleton compared to fighting weird beetles and crabs, right? The game features five different Stalfos enemies, each with different colours and with increasingly powerful attacks. They eventually gain the power to toss their skull at Link, jump in the air (and assume a weird Space Invaders-esque form) or chuck bones at Link. The green ones only exist as a skull, and the yellow ones are invulnerable unless you beat up their body when the skull is separated. Not much to say here until you actually meet the stronger ones and see their mechanics. I like that. I like that the stronger repaints actually distinguish themselves by having different powers instead of just 'more HP, more damage'. 

Armos

This is the design of the Armos that I feel most people are familiar with, at least until the 3D games reinvented the Armos again. I do like that it actually hops around like a chess piece with its stand, and that despite looking like a knight with a sword and shield, they don't actually use them and just rattle and hop around. Not much to say here, it sure is an Armos -- they're one of the staple enemies here. 

Eyegore

I still love the pun of 'Eyegore', and I'm so happy it's actually present even in the original Japanese version. ALTTP's Eyegores are far, far cooler 'living statues' or 'golems' compared to the Armos, although having an eye does imply that it's not wholly artificial. The Eyegores are completely immobile and 'sleeps' as a statue until Link gets close, at which point their eyes burst open and they start moving around and attack Link. Again, I think that makes for a far, far more flavourful 'sentient guard statue' enemy than the Armos.

Eyegores are one of the best examples of "this enemy is weak, but becomes much easier once you gain a weapon". In this case, the bow -- which, if you can't already guess, can easily kill an Eyegore with a single shot to the eye. I'm not going to repeat it for every single enemy with a repaint, but there are two variants of Eyegores, with the red ones being stronger. 

Anti-Fairy/Bubble

Called 'Bubble' even in their Japanese name and translated as 'Anti-Fairy' in some official translations... I kinda prefer the term Anti-Fairy here, because they don't really have much in common with the Bubbles we're familiar from the 3D games beyond being just floating skulls. The Anti-Fairy is more of a trap anyway. It's possible to kill them with sword strikes but it's really not worth the effort; they're floating skulls covered with red bubbles that bounce around and drain Link's magic if they hit Link. 

Zora

Zoras! Of course, prior to Ocarina of Time where they are reimagined as a mermaid-like culture of people, the Zora in the Zelda games are just a race of angry fish-men that was more 'sahuagin' or 'monster from the black lagoon'. They're pretty cool fish-people, though! Fish skin, giant grinning catfish lips, fangs, fish-fin ears... It's actually interesting! Those of you that have read enough of my 'reviewing monsters' articles would probably expect me to go into a tirade about how the original monstrous version of the creature is the coolest, but I actually do like the more humanoid Zora. I just wonder if these 'River Zoras' are actually related to the 'merman' Zoras in some way. ALTTP actually features a 'King Zora' NPC that is very much helpful to Link, so yeah, these guys are definitely as sentient as their anime-faced brethren in the 3D games. I actually would like to see a Zelda game where we see more of a cross between the two takes on the same 'fish-person' race.

Also, these Zoras attack by spitting fireballs at Link, which is always bizarrely delightful to me. 

Toppo

It's a bit hard to tell here, but the Toppo isn't just an angry bunny. Its arms actually end with a single long claw. Or is it a blade? They will jump out of a patch of grass to ambush Link, and are generally weak enemies... but cut the grass before the Toppo jumps out, and surprisingly, this is yet another example of sentient monster that will run away leaving behind a valuable peace of loot. Such a bizarre little encounter!

Mini Moldorm

Or simply just the default name of "Tail", this is my personal favourite monster in 2D Zelda. And also its bigger sibling, the non-mini Moldorm -- the one that often gives me the most trouble in these games. We'll be covering regular-sized Moldorm below with all the bosses, though. Mini-Moldorm are supposed to be these giant worms, but they are depicted as a series of circular bodies with googly-eyes, something that I have always found to be utterly adorable. The very original Legend of Zelda had them be a series of circles because the graphics simply can't depict any flowing creature well; the artwork clearly intends the original Moldorm to be a giant earthworm. But I absolutely loved the fact that ALTTP essentially codified the iconic Moldorm as, well, just being a giant worm whose body just so happens to be a chain made out of circular segments. Adorable! Later games would go all over the place trying to 'update' the Moldorm's design, but as cool as the more realistic-bug designs are, I will always love these dumbass googly-eyed bastards that bounce around the screen. 

They move erratically and even these 'Mini' versions are pretty dangerous to Link at this point of the game. Their weakness would be the Hookshot, which you won't quite get until much later on. 

Octoballoon

Only one of these guys is found in the shore of Lake Hylia, and it's this bizarre 'elite' Octorok that floats into the air by inflating their body. When Link comes nearby, the Octoballoon will explode and send miniature versions of itself dropping and jumping onto the ground, which will explode and disappear. What is this guy? A mutant? A unique species? A phase in an Octorok's life cycle? Such a weirdo, I love this one. 

Vulture

The past couple of enemies are found in general forested or swampy areas, and now we're moving into the Desert of Mysteries! The Vultures are essentially taking over the role of the Crows, although the simple fact that you see them from the front with the wings outstretched really does make their sprite a lot more threatening. The Vultures will actually circle Link around for a bit in the desert, like they're waiting for him to die or something, which I like.

Leever

Is this the game that codifies the Leever as a desert-dwelling spinning plant that burst out of the sand and chase Link around like a demonic plant top? I think it might be. Because that's exactly what Leevers do, they burst out of the ground and chase Link around. Are they meant to be cacti, then? I've talked about Leever in practically every single Zelda review, but they still remain one of the weirdest and yet still simplest enemies in the Zelda bestiaries. It's a simple concept, a sentient desert plant that spins around with fangs in the middle of the plant, but it's just still so weird if you really stop and think about it. 

Geldman

Or, as their katakana reads, "Gerudoman". As in the Gerudo Desert. Which doesn't get named until Ocarina of Time, so did the Geldman here actually feature the original idea for everyone's favourite desert-dwelling people? Hmm. I do like the Geldman, though, as they are -- they just rise up of the sand, just the upper torso of a human with glowing eyes and outstretched arms, chasing Link as this mound of sandy angriness before they disappear under the sand if they move too long. It's a pretty fun 'elemental' thing, and I really do like the idea that they basically 'melt' back into the sand if they move too long. Pretty fun for a sandy area and dungeon!

Beamos

I usually never include the 'trap' enemies like the Blade Traps or whatever, but the Beamos I'll make a special exception because I like the Beamos from the other games. You can't destroy the Beamos in any way in this game, which is the big difference between a 'monster' and a 'trap', but they do show up as enemies in a lot of other Zelda games, so. I like the bizarrely spherical and organic-looking eyeball just slowly rotating around that pillar that, depending on how you want to look at it, just looks like a regular piece of architecture or maybe some kind of tentacled octopus-esque body.

Devalant

Like a 'devil ant', huh? Antlion larvae are very, very cool, one of the straight-up coolest creatures in real life, this quicksand-like pit with a fanged predator sitting below, waiting for foolish prey to drop in. Less biologically-inclined people might recognize this as a 'Sarlacc', which is just as fine, I do like the Sarlacc. And while we only ever fight the 'front' maw of the Devalant, I do like just how much detail they managed to cram into these limited, pixelated sprites. You get to see its primary pincers, what seems to be mandibles or eyes near the black opening hole, a segmented buggy body, and little feet-like protrusions. A very cool and appropriate monster for a desert region, and by far not the only time Nintendo's going to use antlion larvae. 

Deadrock

Oh, hey, I guess now we know where Nintendo recycled the sprites for those gym statues in Pokemon Red & Blue from. I like these guys for that reason, mostly, but they're fun little enemies, too! Chubby cartoon dinosaurs with angry eyes, they populate Death Mountain, the giant volcano that, of course, exists in Hyrule. Their name is more than literal, though, and the Deadrock will petrify itself and turn into an invulnerable rocky form if Link hits them with a weapon. You don't have to kill them, of course, just stun them into their rock form and run away from their territory while they are petrified. 

Tektite

Another one of my all-time favourites, the Tektites have such huge eyeballs in this one! They still are jumping buggy animals that boing around into the air to try and grab Link. Not much to say here beyond the little 'aerial' mechanic; I like how angry they look, and I kinda feel like the flesh-coloured tone of brown they picked for the Tektite's legs look kinda unnerving. 

Hardhat Beetle

These fuckers. Called "Pon" in the original Japanese, they are called beetles and look more like octopi, but actually behave more like bumpers in a pinball machine. They crawl around with their glowing eyes and their tentacle-like feet, and the huge spheres on top of their heads will cause Link to bounce off and be knocked backwards. Which sounds annoying... until you actually ascend a couple of floors in the Tower of Hera dungeon (our final 'light world' dungeon) and realize that these Hardhat Beetles can and will knock Link off of the railing-less catwalks down onto the floors below! The bastards! You have to slowly edge and poke the beetle until they fall victim to their own trick and fall down holes themselves, at least until you get the hookshot (which stuns them) or the hammer (which turns them into pancakes). These guys show up a lot in all the dungeons. 

Kodongo

I like these little chibi ceratopsian monsters! Obviously, they are the smaller versions of the recurring Dodongo enemy (Ko- is a prefix in Japanese meaning 'small'), but they're just so gosh-darned cute. With a single horn (is it a Monoclonus?) and a huge gaping mouth with a cute fang, the Kodongos also inhabit the Tower of Hera, and they spit out fireballs. Not much to say here, they're just a cute little enemy. 

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Dungeon Bosses:

Armos Knight

Yeah, we're moving to minibosses and bosses now! We're saving the Dark World enemies for their own page. The Armos Knights are pretty cool, they're the 'elite' versions of the common Armos enemies and while they still do a lot of the same things, they look so different, and their utterly bizarre-looking mushroom-like helmet, I feel, gives them such an odd look. And are those little spider fangs there? The Armos Knight still looks bizarre, like a chess piece holding a stumpy sword and shield, and it's very chunky. You fight six at once, which hop around in a pattern, and Link basically has to snipe them with his bow while they move around. Again, not too difficult, but as the boss of the East Palace, it's a fun little ending to the first real serious dungeon in the game actually populated by monsters. 

 

Lanmola

And if you're unsatisfied with the goofier looking Moldorms, well, the boss of the second serious dungeon, the Desert Palace, are a trio of these guys, the Lanmola! Which are a far more common archetype in fantasy, they are giant Dune-style burrowing giant worms. In addition to being giant worms that burst out of the ground and crawl (and sort of float?) above the sand, the debris that they launch upon erupting from the sand is also dangerous to Link. Not a whole ton to say otherwise, I do like their buggy eyes. Like the Armos Knight, the final Lanmola of the group will go into a 'berserk' state and move faster and hit harder .

Moldorm

And here's the big honcho, Mr. Burger-Worm himself. The Moldorm (Deguteru, or "Big Tail", since the Mini-Moldorms are just "Tail") is the single boss that I had the worst luck with not just in this game, but also in Link's Awakening and A Link Between Worlds. And... and I still love this dumb bugger, with his little windmill tail, his huge painful-looking googly eyes, and the way that his little circular segments all look like mutant burgers. Are those supposed to be cilia growing out of it? Or hair? Or just little tentacles? ALTTP's Moldorm is fought at the very top of the Tower of Hera, which is a massive tower located on top of the Death Mountain. You need to hit the Moldorm's weak point, its tail, six times to kill it... something that's easier said than done because of how erratic the Moldorm bounces around the battlefield. The Moldorm will charge Link and knock him off the battlefield into a lower floor in the dungeon, and even hitting the Moldorm's body causes Link to be knocked back. A fun, fun boss fight that nonetheless took me way longer than I care to admit to beat up.

All three 'light world' bosses -- Armos Knight, Lanmola and Moldorm -- show up later as minibosses in the final dungeon of the game. 

Agahnim

Here's the act one boss, Agahnim! This evil angry dark priest is just some dude in general fantasy mage-priest garb, but he sort of kickstarts the plot! He has taken over the castle as evil wizards are wont to do, kidnapping maidens and the princess to unlock the seal to the Sacred Realm. Link fights his way into the Hyrule Castle's central tower after gaining the three pendants from the three dungeons and obtaining the Master Sword, and he fights Agahnim whose attacks alternate from a laser magic beam, a lightning strike, teleportation and laser magic balls that Link needs to knock back onto him. The beam-ping-pong thing with Agahnim actually gets repeated in many subsequent Zelda games, mostly in named-character boss fights. 

Anyway... it's pretty obvious that Agahnim is not a pig-man warlord called Ganon, and hey, turns out he's just the puppet and the whole Hyrule three dungeons thing is just the first act of the story! I've always found Agahnim to be kind of underwhelming, but on the other hand so many Zelda bosses are actually giant monsters that Agahnim stands out to be pretty unique as a completely human-looking enemy. Sure, as some of the later Zelda releases find the value in having recurring villains like Zant and Ghirahim, Agahnim becomes less unique... but an evil dark wizard is still a fun fantasy villain trope. 

See you guys soon for the rest of this game's enemies! I promise the Dark World is a lot more creepy.