Gohdan

Gohdan, the Great Arbiter, is the third boss in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It is a giant stone statue created by the gods of Hyrule for the purpose of guarding a certain weapon and is the final test of the Tower of the Gods. It is the only boss in The Wind Waker that is not evil or Link's enemy. Gohdan is similar in appearance to Mazaal and in fighting style to Bongo Bongo. Interestingly, it also bears resemblance to Andross and his robotic form from the Star Fox series. It is possible to obtain Gohdan's photo for the Nintendo Gallery sidequest after the boss has been defeated if Link takes a photo of his face that is embedded in the wall from which he appeared when Link fights him.

Appearance
Gohdan consists of a floating stone head and two disembodied hands which hover around it. The head has a gold-colored crest and two piercing red eyes, in addition to a large nose and mouth. The hands each have one glowing green eye in the center of their palms. The entire head and hands have blue energy pulsing around.

Story
The Tower of the Gods was created by the gods in order to test the courage of one who would seek the Master Sword. After Link triumphs over the trials of the tower and climbed to the top, the gods speak to him and ask him to accept one final ordeal, namely battling Gohdan. Because of this sacred role of the statue, it is given the title of "The Great Arbiter". Anyone who defeats Gohdan will be deemed worthy of wielding the powerful Master Sword.

When Gohdan was made, it was created to challenge, not defeat, its opponent; it will actually sneeze more arrows or bombs onto the battlefield to aid its challenger, should its challenger run out of them.

Similarly, the boss itself is not meant to be destroyed, and when beaten it will simply retreat to its original position embedded in the chamber wall and become inanimate once again, possibly to wait for another challenger (of course this is only a conjecture; he may just stay inanimate). Once Link had reached this stage, the gods congratulate him and allow him access to the rooftop from whence he could travel to Old Hyrule and claim the Blade of Evil's Bane. Suspended on the wall, Gohdan sneezes out a final gift: a Heart Container (as is the custom of vanquished bosses in the series).

Although it cannot be confirmed, it seems likely that Link is Gohdan's first and only challenger.

Battle
Whether the boss has been imbued with artificial intelligence or whether it is controlled directly by the gods is unclear, but it attacks with surprising dexterity and agility despite its solid and unwieldy appearance. Gohdan attacks firstly with its hands, trying to sweep the challenger into the electrified gutter surrounding the arena. If Link falls into this trench he is shocked repeatedly and can struggle to clamber back onto the ledge of the combat zone. The Great Arbiter's hands also possess potent crushing attacks, attempting to either squash Link between them or smash him into the ground.

Link retaliates by firing two arrows into each hand's gleaming eye, briefly paralyzing them. This follows the trend of using the item obtained in a certain dungeon to defeat that dungeon's boss. After doing this, Link would face the head itself (although failing to attack it quickly can result in a revival of the hands). Link has to shoot two arrows into each eye of the statue to cause it to fall, briefly lifeless, to the ground. Link throws a bomb into its gaping mouth to remove a third of its health. This is repeated twice more before the statue is finally defeated.

Gohdan also has a rapid-fire, exploding fireball attack. When utilizing this skill, it will close its eyes, making it invulnerable, then tilt forwards, open its mouth, and launch a fearsome volley of blasts at Link, turning to follow him around the room if necessary.

Video
This clip was provided by lleeoo2010 at YouTube mNoLXbDbX3I

Etymology
Gohdan's name may be a shortening of the phrase "god hand".