Puffstool

The Puffstool is a mushroom-like enemy from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It is found in the Deepwood Shrine. They are vulnerable to the Gust Jar.

Appearance
Puffstools have rounded beige bodies, stumpy feet, and red bell-shaped heads with resemble mushroom caps. They have no arms and no facial features apart from two large, blank eyes.

When Link blasts them with the Gust Jar, their heads briefly turn grey; when Link uses the jar to suck out their spores, their whole bodies turn grey, indicating they are vulnerable to attack.

Puffstools are similar in size to Link when he is in his Minish form. (And therefore are much smaller than him normally.)

Attack
Although Link loses a quarter of a heart if he walks into a Puffstool, these enemies do not attack directly, prefering to wander around in a random direction. Their only ability is to scatter spores onto the dungeon floor. To do this, they jump into the air twice, and on landing the second time they vent spores onto a 2x2 square of the ground. These spores slow Link down when he walks on them, but he can easily clearly them with the Gust Jar.

Puffstools can hide under clouds of these spores, ready to pop out when Link clears the spores away. However, they can only start hiding in this way when Link is out of the room.

Defence
Puffstools are almost completely indestructible when their bodies are coloured. Link can stun them by blasting them with the Gust Jar, which turns their heads grey but does not render them any more vulnerable. However, if Link uses the jar to suck out their spores for a few seconds, their whole bodies turn grey, they are stunned, and Link can then finish them off with a single sword swipe.

One way to kill them without sucking out all of their spores is to suck up a pot with the Gust Jar and fire it at them. This kills them regardless of what colour they are at the time. However, a Puffstool killed in this way will automatically vent a 3x3 square of spores as it dies.