Moblin

Moblins are pig- or bulldog-like monsters that often reside in forests. They most often carry Spears, but are known to carry Swords and Clubs as well. There are few individual Moblins&mdash;the only Moblins that are part of their game's storyline are the Moblin King (The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening), the Great Moblin (The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons), and Moe (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker).

Name confusion
Moblin was, at one point, believed to be Molblin, sparking debates over the true title. It is a generally accepted fact that Molblin is an inconsistency of Nintendo of America's translation team. Nintendo of America is well known for their mistranslations and inconsistencies, more well known for the infamous mistranslations Gannon, Zola and Miyahon. The original Japanese name for the Moblin is モリブリン ("MORIBURIN"). This was rendered as "Molblin" in the first two Zelda games (The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for NES); it is also the spelling used in the officially licensed children's book Molblin's Magic Spear. From The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for SNES and onwards, the name was rendered "Moblin" in all official sources.

Appearances
The appearances of Moblins vary slightly between games, but there is never one fixed style. Moblins do not appear at all in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The Legend of Zelda
Moblins first appear in the original Legend of Zelda as spear-throwing bulldog monsters. They had two key varieties, red and blue; blue are stronger than red, as they require more hits to kill. Most commonly they are found in forest areas. Their spears can be blocked by Link's shield. Red Moblins can be found hiding in caves where they give Link Rupees, making the infamous quote, "ITS A SECRET TO EVERYBODY".

The Adventure of Link
Later, in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Moblins come in many new forms. The top-down view of the original Zelda made them seem short and squat, while the side scrolling view made them look tall and quite thin. The Moblins in this game are after Link in order to use his blood to resurrect Ganon, who was previously vanquished by Link. Moblins came in four varieties - red, blue, and two different kinds of orange. One orange moblin charged straight at Link stabbing in front of him, and deducted experience points on a hit, the other stayed at a distance and threw spears. Red Moblins carried spears and could stab either high or low in the same way that Iron Knuckles could. Blue Moblins could stab low, and throw their spear instead of stabbing high.

A Link to the Past
In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Moblins can only be found in the Dark World, taking the place of the variously-colored soldiers in the Light World. While the Pig Soldiers appear to be Moblins, they are never referred to as such. The ones who are Moblins are the spear-throwing ones, whose Spears can be blocked by Link's Shield. The ending added to the remake of this game implies that Moblins and Pig Soldiers are actually Ganon's only true soldiers, and that the other enemies are not on his side. In the Satellaview direct sequel, BS Zelda: Kodai no Sekiban (The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tiles), there are no Moblins, on account of the fact that the Dark World is not present.

Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening marks the first time a Moblin ever used a sword. Moblins mainly appear in the Mysterious Forest and the Moblin Hideout, as Sword Moblins (always with shields as well). The Moblins with swords do not wander around aimlessly throwing spears like most of their race, but instead home in on the player like the guards in A Link to the Past. There is also a Boss named King Moblin, who kidnapped Madam Meow-Meow's Bow-Wow (a Chain Chomp from the  Mario games).

Ocarina of Time
In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Moblins only appear in one area right before the Forest Temple, in the Forest Meadow, when Link is adult. All but one of them will charge at Link with a spear when they spot him; the last one guards the Forest Temple, and when Link approaches it, it will launch shockwaves from his club at Link. They are much bigger than any previous Moblins. Note in the Master Quest version of Ocarina of time there is one more large moblin in the Spirit Temple.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
In The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, Moblins are one of the most common enemies. They act exactly as they did in Link's Awakening. They come in red and blue variants; the variant Link sees is determined by either the current season (Seasons) or the current age (Ages). Red appear in the Present, and blue in the Past.

The Great Moblin also appears in both games. In Oracle of Ages he builds his keep on Rolling Ridge, and manufactures bombs, presumably to run the Gorons out of business. He appears in Oracle of Seasons west of the Sunken City, and guards a Piece of Heart.

Moblin Ring
In both games, Link can acquire a magical Ring that transforms him into a Moblin. He cannot use any attacks while in this form, but he is ignored by any Moblins (with the exception of the Great Moblin), and also cannot be eaten by Like Likes. The ring can only be found in the possession of Maple, or inside of a Gasha Nut.

The Wind Waker
In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Moblins are large, grey pig monsters who carry spears. They do not appear as often as they do in past games, on account of them being much more powerful than most types of Moblins. If they catch Link inside the Forsaken Fortress they will set him alight with their lanterns and throw him in a cell. They were the first enemies shown for this game, and upset many fans because of their comical nature, such as the floating in the air scene, after Link swung from a chandelier over a pit. The spears that the Moblins wield can be stolen from them by Link and wielded as a weapon, albeit a rather cumbersome one.

Wind Waker saw the introduction of the first Moblin with a specific name, "Moe." Apparently, he worked at the Forsaken Fortress and developed a relationship with Maggie, the daughter of the rags-to-riches peasant/patrician on Windfall Island. (Moe is supposedly the source of the man's newly found wealth, as Maggie's father sold the Skull Necklaces he gave to Maggie for a high price.) The father forbids the relationship, but Link can help her by delivering a letter to Moe. As it turns out, Moe has mail for Maggie as well (which Maggie misinterprets to be romantic, when in fact Moe writes that he likes her so much he'd like to eat her for dinner). For helping Maggie and Moe, Link receives a Piece of Heart. Although Moe is crucial to this side quest, we never see him. But this shows that Moblins can read and write, probably in some form of Hylian, and that perhaps Moblins are capable of love.

Furthermore, the first form of the final sub-boss of Ganon's Castle, Puppet Ganon, seems to be based on the Moblin; however, it may be based on Ganon's pig-like form, which in turn may have inspired the appearance of the Moblin.

Bokoblins


Relatives of Moblins are Bokoblins, little pig imp creatures who are often found in Dungeons and all over the Great Seas, often on Rafts and Lookout Towers and in Submarines. They come in blue, green and pink and often carry Telescopes, Machetes and Boko Sticks. The blue variety usually carries Boko Sticks or Machetes, the green nearly always carry a wooden shield and a Machete and the pink type usually carry a Telescope. Their attack style is to go straight-on, moving left and right waiting for a good time to strike, and often do jump attacks. However if a Bokoblin has no weapon it will attempt to fight hand to hand. They were first introduced in The Wind Waker as one of the most common enemies, and later appeared in Twilight Princess with an exceptionally different appearance.

Miniblins
Even smaller than Bokoblins, Miniblins are a sort of pygmy side species. They are almost always found in large groups and continue spawning until Link leaves the area. They are mostly found in Submarines and the Forsaken Fortress, but sometimes appear in the Overworld, making odd "na-na" sounds.

Nintendo Gallery
The Nintendo Gallery is a room on a tall island near Forest Haven. Link has to take a colorized picture of a character or enemy and show it to the Figurine creator, and after a day passes in-game (skip to the next day with the Song of Passing), it will be made.


 * Moblin (Forsaken Fortress): "These mighty enemies swing their long spears with the greatest of ease. They've knocked Link around with that attack countless times."


 * Bokoblin (Forsaken Fortress): "These little imps wield sharp machetes and Boko sticks when attacking. If they have no weapon, they'll attempt to fight hand-to-hand."


 * Miniblin (Forsaken Fortress): "These little beasts are quick and agile. They scurry along walls and gather in great numbers. You should deal with them individually so they don't surround you."

The Minish Cap
Moblins in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap are virtually identical in appearance and actions to their The Wind Waker counterparts, although they never carry torches. They are equipped with either bows or spears. The bowmen will shoot Link on sight, while the spearmen charge at him in a straight line (they have no slashing attack whatsoever). They come in "flesh" and grey varieties, and often drop large amounts of Rupees when slain.

Figurines
Two Moblin Figurines appear in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap


 * Spear Moblin - Appears in Minish Woods, etc. They rush Link on sight. They also block head-on attacks with their spears.


 * Bow Moblin - Appears in various areas. They fire arrows at Link on sight. These can be blocked with the shield before then closing in to attack.

Twilight Princess
The Moblins do not appear in Twilight Princess, though a similar race called the Bulblins are in the game, led by King Bulblin, who closely resembles a Moblin. The Bokoblins also reappear, their appearance very different from previous incarnations; this may be a result of the influence of Twilight.

Moblins in the cartoon series
The Moblins in the The Legend of Zelda Animated series had red eyes (like those in the original Zelda game) and a bulldog-like appearance. Their trademark stupidity led them to constantly foul up their master Ganon's plans. However they could still think for themselves, and at one point decided Ganon was so hopeless (Link always thwarted his schemes) that they were better off without him; they overthrew him and formed "The Brotherhood of Underworld Monsters", but in the end they weren't much more effective without their leader.

Moblins in the comics
As in the animated series, the comic-book Moblins are not intelligent, but even so have personalities (and can speak) that has not, as a rule, carried across to the games, although Moblins in The Wind Waker are known to speak and understand Hylian.

Molblin's Magic Spear
Main article: Molblin's Magic Spear

An officially licensed children's book published by Nintendo, Molblin's Magic Spear takes place during the events of the original Legend of Zelda. It is noteworthy that the book was published before the decision was made to permanently change the spelling to moblin. Link faces off with a specific adversary, whose magic spear makes him impervious to most attacks.