Stalfos

Stalfoses were undead skeleton monsters that often carried swords and shields, or jumped at their enemies.

The Legend of Zelda
Stalfoses often appeared in dungeons, where they walked around with two swords, trying to attack Link.

In Second Quest, they could shoot sword beams.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Stalfoses were found in the various palaces, now carrying a sword and shield. They attacked at at torso height and did not defend their legs. Red Stalfoses attacked head-on, while blue Stalfoses used the Downward Thrust against Link. Some Stalfoses also wore helmets that protected them against Link's Downward Thrusts.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Stalfos were unarmed, but could jump around to avoid Link and would occasionally throw bones at him. They could be colored either blue or red. In some places, their skulls would detach from their bodies and spin around and make a rush at Link.

A larger form known as the Skeleton Warrior appeared in the Ice Palace dungeon.



The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Stalfoses were again unarmed, but could not detach their heads. Hooded Stalfoses also appeared, and attacked Link in a manner similar to a Moblin.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Stalfoses were first mentioned when a Kokiri girl stated that Hylians who wander into the Lost Woods for too long would transform into Stalfoses, similar to how it is said that Kokiri would transform into Skull Kids.

Link then faced several Stalfoses in the Forest Temple. They were armed with swords and shield and would parry many of Link's attacks. They often fought in pairs, and occasionally, Link would have to kill the other Stalfos quickly before the first one regenerated. Link battled a total of 16 Stalfoses during his quest.

There is also a smaller form of Stalfoses called Stalchildren who appear at night.



The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Stalfoses were apparently rare in Termina, as the only ones Link met were Igos du Ikana, an undead king, and his bodyguards. These bodyguards would regnerate after being defeated, and could only be destroyed by shining light on them.



The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Seasons
Stalfoses came in two variants: cloaked Stalfos that shot arrows, and regular Stalfos which jumped around.

In Holodrum, Link met a Pirate Captain who is a friendly Stalfos. It is later revealed that the Stalfos Captain was once the King of Labrynna and husband to Queen Ambi, and that he was somehow transformed into a Stalfos while lost at sea.



The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Stalfoses rarely appear in dungeons on the Great Sea, and they were larger than previous Stalfoses. They hobbled around on short stubby legs while swinging around large spiked maces. They wielded the maces inexpertly and would spin across the room while using them, often losing their balance. When Link slashed them or used bombs, their bodies would shatter and their heads bounced away from Link. Link had to destroy the heads, or the Stalfos would soon reassemble. Link could also cut them in half in which case their torso and legs would walk around seperately. Taking a Stalfos's mace when it was shattered and waiting until it reassembled would cause the Stalfos to pull off its left arm and use it as a weapon until Link dropped its mace.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
There were two types of Stalfoses in The Minish Cap, blue Stalfos and red Stalfos. The blue ones would dash towards Link to collide with him, while rhe red ones threw bones. Sometimes a Stalfos would disguise itself as one of the breakable skulls in a dungeon, during which Link could actually suck in the Stalfos in skull form with the Gust Jar and destroy it. If Link used the Gust Jar on Stalfoses that were walking around with their full bodies, it removed the head, and the body would wander around slowly. A decapitated Stalfos would not notice or attack Link, but would hurt him if he touched it.

Tingle RPG
The Stalfos Pirate Captain returned.



The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Stalfoses were again armed with swords and shields, and could only be killed by dropping bombs on their broken corpses (or alternatively, using Bomb Arrows or the Ball and Chain).

Several "relatives" of Stalfoses also appeared; Stalkin, Stalhounds, Staltroops and Stallord.

Death Sword and the Hero's Shade were also quite similar to Stalfoses, though not counted to be such.