Keese

Keese are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. Keese are bats that attack Link by flying towards him. Keese are nimble creatures that prove to more of a nuisance than feared enemies. Keese are most often found in caves and dungeons, but they can also sometimes be found in the Overworld. They usually have black skin, and fly towards Link. They have appeared in every game except Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Some variations of the Keese appears in various games. For instance, a Keese can catch fire and become a Fire Keese. Others can be found surrounded by a strange blue fire that freezes, known as Ice Keese.

The Legend of Zelda
Keese appear in every dungeon throughout the game, and are often found in large numbers in otherwise empty rooms. They fly around the screen randomly before stopping for a short amount of time. When a Vire enemy is harmed it will shatter into two red Keese. Keese can be defeated with any weapon in Link's arsenal.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Similarly to Aches in Zelda II, Keese in this game only move when Link gets close. They stay dormant, and fly around when approached, stopping after a while. Keese mainly appear in the dark tunnels on Death Mountain.

Their Dark World counterpart is Chasupa.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Keese are heavily inspired by the original Keese from The Legend of Zelda. They are dark in color and move about randomly at all times. There are also larger Keese that only appear during the fight with the Grim Creeper, the mini-boss of Eagle's Tower. These are stronger than regular Keese. When it is defeated, the Vire in Turtle Rock breaks into Big Keese that fly toward Link and disappear.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Keese return as black bats, found mostly in dungeons. The easiest way to kill one is to hit it with arrows. If there is a source of fire in the area, they may fly through it to turn themselves into Fire Keese. If an immolated Keese attacks Link, he will be set on fire, and if he's carrying a Deku Shield, it will burn up. There are also Ice Keese, that are surrounded by Blue Fire found in icy areas. If these attack Link, he will be frozen for a short period of time. Shooting a Keese with a Fire or Ice Arrow, it will turn into either a Fire or Ice Keese.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Keese remain largely the same in Majora's Mask. There are larger forms of Keese called Bad Bats, which act the same, but deal more damage. A good way to avoid an attack by a swarm of Keese is to wear the Stone Mask, which makes Link invisible to certain enemies.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
The Keese in Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are similar to the ones found in Link's Awakening. This is due to the fact that Flagship used certain data from that game when programming it. However, they move more erratically than the ones from Link's Awakening. Fire Keese appear in both games again as well. Big Keese sometimes accompany the Blue Stalfos.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Keese appear in most areas, especially Talus Caves. They will persistently attempt to attack Link by flying into him. They are easily defeated by a slash from the Four Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Keese take on a more Goblinesque form in this game and fly faster than most Keese. They are usually found in dungeons. Unlike other Keese, they do not head straight into their enemy, they wait and prepare to strike. Keese appear in normal, fire and ice varieties.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Keese attempt to attack the Four Links by flying into them. Link can easily kill them using any weapon.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Keese slowly fly around dark caves and dungeons, with no real strategy. They are easily defeated and pose little threat to Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Keese abide in all dark places in this game, especially places where the Lantern is required. Without proper lighting, the only thing visible are their glowing eyes. They swoop from out of the darkness and attack Link without warning, but are only effective in large groups. As in Ocarina of Time there are Fire Keese and Ice Keese along with the regular varieties. Fire Keese will burn Link's Wooden Shield and Ice Keese will freeze him in place for a few seconds. Fire and Ice Keese are not found outside of obvious habitats (volcanoes and snowy mountains respectively), although all forms of Keese are found in the Cave of Ordeals.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Keese in Phantom Hourglass are similar in appearance to the Keese from The Wind Waker, but due to the lack of a real third-dimension, they are even easier to defeat as they cannot fly higher. They are also easily balked by Link's shield. Fire and Ice Keese reappear, but without power-ups to the sword they cannot be defeated with anything but the Boomerang and Grappling Hook.

Regular Keese appear in many dungeons and tunnels in the game, while Fire and Ice Keese can only be found in their respective temples.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Keese are identical to their Phantom Hourglass counterparts. Like Phantom Hourglass, Fire and Ice Keese also appear.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Keese are set to appear.

The Legend of Zelda animated series
In the episode "The Ringer", Ganon sends a bat-like creature, presumably a Keese, to see if the Triforce of Wisdom is being guarded. The Keese, being capable of speech, returns to to Ganon and tells him, "It's guarded by Link."

Etymology
The name "Keese" may come from the word Keres, she-monsters from Greek mythology that resembled bats.