Armos

Armos are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. They typically pose as a statue or suit of armor, but they attack when touched or approached. In most games, they appear to be animated statues or suits of armor that are not actually living beings.

The Legend of Zelda
Armos appear mainly near Death Mountain or the Lost Woods, where they are covered in orange and green armor, respectively. Also, several Armos near Level 6 feature a unique white colored armor. Certain Armos move quickly while others move slowly. Armos occasionally cover up hidden staircases that can be revealed by touching the Armos, which gets it to move and reveal the staircase.

Armos take three hits with the Wooden Sword to kill and deal one heart of damage to Link if no rings are worn.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Armos are found near the Eastern Palace. They stand dormant until they are touched, which causes them to bounce towards Link. Inactive Armos are gray, oval-shaped statues, but change to light brown when awakened. Six Armos Knights serve as the bosses of the Eastern Palace and mini-bosses in Ganon's Tower and bounce around in several different formations. They are similar to other Armos in appearance, but are larger and blue. They can each be defeated by three arrows or a single Silver Arrow; the final Armos Knight will turn red and angrily stomp around the room, trying to crush Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Several Armos and a single Armos Knight appear in the Face Shrine. The Armos are similar to those from The Legend of Zelda, though they move more slowly. They often hide among similar looking statues. Many statues resembling Armos form a maze near the shrine to the south of the Face Shrine, but only a few are true Armos. Each wall has one Armos that must be found to reach the Shrine. Inside the Shrine, an Armos Knight guards the Face Key. Its main attack is slamming the ground to paralyze Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask
Armos in both of these games mostly appear in dungeons, and are gray, aged statues. They look the same as regular inanimate statues, the only difference being that actual statues can be pushed around, but Armos attack when approached. A single bomb, or one hit from the game's most powerful sword (Biggoron's Sword in Ocarina of Time, or the Gilded Sword in Majora's Mask) will destroy an Armos. In Majora's Mask, Armos only appear in the Stone Tower Temple.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
Armos are exactly the same as those from Link's Awakening, as Flagship built upon data from that game. They are in no specific area and can only be destroyed with bombs or the Magical Boomerang. There is a mini-boss in the fourth dungeon of Oracle of Ages named "Armos Warrior". He throws his sword, which locks onto Link before returning. The only way to damage him is to strike him from behind or let his own sword strike him. Eventually his shield breaks and he begins charging at Link. Link must dodge the charge, causing the Armos Warrior hit the wall and become stunned. It is then vulnerable to attack.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Armos and Armos Knights come in small and large forms respectively. When Link enters a room, the small Armos activate and bounce quickly towards Link. They can be paralyzed by an arrow in the eye and striking the crystal on their back will cause them to spin around wildly and self-destruct. The Armos Knights are gigantic statues that will slowly bounce Link when he approaches. To defeat one, Link must throw a bomb into its mouth, which opens occasionally, or can be made to open by shooting its eye with an arrow. After the bomb has been thrown, the Armos Knight spins around and self-destructs. Link also has the option of swinging at them from the side with the Skull Hammer, knocking them out of the way for a moment so he can dash past.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
These Armos Knights are slightly different from the Armos found in previous games, bearing resemblance to the Armos in the original Legend of Zelda. In this game, they are red statues powered by a flame inside their head; only a Minish sized person can turn the flame off. When Link approaches, the Armos activates and quickly runs towards him, occasionally pausing. Sometimes Link must activate an Armos to clear a path and other times he must deactivate one to prevent it from blocking a path. To do this, he must change into Minish size through a Tree Stump and climb up the ladder on its shield.

In the game, Armos are revealed to be mechanical creations of the Minish. If Link transforms to his Minish shape, he can climb up the shield of a deactivated Armos to activate/deactivate its power switch.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Armos appear as skull-like statues with large hammers. Fighting them is similar to fighting them in The Wind Waker, where they must be stunned and hit from behind. Once struck on the crystal on their backs, they spin around, screaming with rage, and swinging their hammers violently before bursting into a cloud of dark smoke. Unlike in Ocarina of Time, they do not harm you when they explode. However, they rapidly swing their hammers, so Link should still maintain a safe distance. They are found primarily in the Temple of Time and the Cave of Ordeals. Two quick alternative ways of defeating Armos is shooting a Bomb Arrow at them or 3 rapid shots from the Clawshot; this also sends them into a rage before they explode.

A beta form for an Armos Titan enemy was not included in the final release of the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Armos have slightly different characteristics. When a bomb explodes near them, they will stop moving instead of exploding. The stopped Armos can be moved as normal statues, and as such can be used to hold switches down.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Armos are not stand alone enemies, but they are used as mounts for certain Miniblins. Link can use the Whirlwind to knock a Miniblin off its mount to level the playing field. When this designated Miniblin is defeated, the Armos perishes as well.

Soulcalibur II
One of the weapons Link can purchase (for 900 gold) is called "Armos Series", and it resembles the ovular shield of stone and short sword of the Armos. If Link uses these, his offense is at 100%, his defense at 70%, making it the second worst weapon Link has (the first being the Bug-Catching Net with the Hylian Shield). As a side effect, offense increases with soul charge, but soul charge effect slowly decreases. It should be noted that the shield has the worst defense of Link's weapons, which isn't surprising when one considers how easy it is for Link to hurt an Armos, sometimes with only his sword.

In the manga
A single Armos appears in The Legend of Zelda - Triforce of the Gods, the manga based on A Link to the Past. Link defeats it by luring it to a deep fountain of water, where it sinks. Link and Ganty later find it again at the bottom of the fountain in the Dark World.