Stalfos

Stalfos (スタルフォス) are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. They are skeletal warriors who attack with swords, shields, maces, and even their own bones.

The Legend of Zelda
Stalfos appear in Level 1 and Level 7 of the First Quest. In the Second Quest, they attack with Sword Beams and appear in Level 1, Level 3, and Level 8.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Stalfos are found in various palaces, equipped with a sword and shield. Owing to the fact that they hold their weaponry at torso-height, their lower body is rendered defenseless. There are two varieties of Stalfos, red and blue, with the blue being stronger. Red Stalfos simply attack with their swords, but blue Stalfos can jump and perform a Downthrust at any time.

Stalfos Knights wear a helmet and breastplate, making them more durable, but otherwise they are identical to regular Stalfos. Killing a Red Stalfos gives Link 30 experience points; killing a Stalfos Knight gives him 50 experience points.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Stalfos do not attack with weapons; instead, they throw bones at Link to damage him, and jump to avoid his attacks. Certain Stalfos also have the ability to detach their skulls from their body in order to send them toward Link to damage him. They appear in white, blue, and red variations. They can easily be defeated with the Bow or Boomerang, though they can be dispatched with Link's sword if backed against a wall. A thrown jar will also defeat a Stalfos.

Larger Stalfos Knights appear in the Ice Palace; unlike regular Stalfos, these enemies attack with a weapon and require a bomb blast to be destroyed.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Stalfos have no weaponry other than the ability to jump into Link. Shrouded Stalfos whose attack patterns are very similar to the game's Moblins also appear.

A large Stalfos, Master Stalfos, appears as the mini-boss of Catfish's Maw. He guards the Hookshot, and must be battled four times to be finished off.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Stalfos appear as enemies in the Forest Temple as well as in other extant locations. It is possible to encounter a total of 16 Stalfos in the game.

Stalfos are frequently battled in pairs. In the Forest Temple and while escaping Ganon's Castle, Link must slay the second Stalfos within a certain amount of time after beating the first. If he defeats one but fails to fell the other quickly enough, the beaten Stalfos will be revived and must be defeated again. When fighting two or more Stalfos, only the one Link is Z-targeting will attack. In the 3DS remake, the untargeted Stalfos will try to circle behind Link, and will strike occasionally, though far less often than its comrade. Additionally, Stalfos have become much faster, moving constantly, and have reduced vulnerable time before striking.

Stalfos have two attacks. The first involves briefly letting its guard down in order to strike Link with its sword, for one heart's damage. These attacks can be avoided by hitting a Stalfos while it strikes or by blocking its attack with a shield. The other attack consists of Jump Attacking Link, costing him two hearts' worth of damage. Stalfos pause briefly after performing a jump attack, giving Link the opportunity to damage the foe's vulnerable back. In a certain room in the Shadow Temple, and another in the child portion of the Spirit Temple, it is possible to knock a Stalfos off a ledge, immediately ending the battle; the same can be said if Link leaves undefeated Stalfos on the Ferry to the Other World when it sinks into the abyss. Normally, it takes five hits from the Master Sword to defeat a Stalfos.

Fado, a Kokiri girl whom Link meets in the Lost Woods as an adult, explains the nature of Stalfos. She tells Link that all who become lost in the maze-like forest turn into Stalfos, suggesting that some of the Stalfos Link battles were once wayward travelers. According to Fado, such a fate befalls Grog.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons
Regular Stalfos appear throughout both games, similar in appearance and attack method to those from Link's Awakening, but with a number of new color schemes and variations. They can be damaged or killed by the Rod of Seasons, making them some of the only enemies it inflicts damage on.

In Oracle of Ages, the Blue Stalfos serves as the mini-boss of the Ancient Tomb, the eighth and final dungeon. It shoots balls of energy at Link, which he can reflect back at the creature with his sword. When hit, it turns into a baby and becomes vulnerable to damage. If Link unsuccessfully deflects the enemy's attack, he becomes a helpless infant himself.

There is also a character who appears in both games: a Stalfos known as Cap'n, leader of a crew of skeletal sailors who also appear to be Stalfos. It is revealed that Cap'n 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: Four Swords
There are two types of Stalfos in this game. The first type walks around and only damages the Links by contact, but the second type attacks by jumping around and throwing bones at him. They can dodge Link's attacks. In order for Link to defeat them, they must be cornered or stunned with the Boomerang.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Stalfos infrequently appear in Hidden Holes on the Great Sea, and make quite a number of appearances during Link's quest to reassemble the Triforce of Courage, with three being the Earth Temple's mini-boss. They are larger than previous incarnations, and as such, much slower. They hobble around on short stubby legs while swinging around Gigantic Maces. They wield the maces inexpertly and spin violently across the room while using them, often almost losing their balance.

When Link deals enough damage to a Stalfos, its body shatters into several segments and its head hops around the room. In order to keep the Stalfos from reassembling, Link must destroy its head. It is also possible to cut one in half, in which case its upper body will flee, running on its arms, while its lower body will chase Link and try to kick him. Taking the mace of a shattered Stalfos will prompt the Stalfos to pull off its left arm and use it as a weapon upon reassembling.

The easiest and most expedient method to dispose of these skeletal fiends is to throw a bomb in front of one, then lure the Stalfos over the bomb. When the bomb explodes, Link should quickly L-Target the head and stun it using the Boomerang. He can then run over to the head and smash it with the Skull Hammer. Link is unlikely to take any damage using this method, and he will defeat the Stalfos much more quickly than he will if he only uses his sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Stalfos are usually found in the Dark World or in dungeons. There are standard-sized Stalfos as well as slightly larger ones. Some merely walk around the room, while others throw bones at Link and leap away when he attacks them. Other Stalfos wield swords, performing a lunging strike, before and after which they are vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, there are four big Stalfos who were once Knights of Hyrule, and identical giant Stalfos in the Dark World during the battle with Ganon.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
There are two types of Stalfos in The Minish Cap: blue Stalfos and red ones. Blue Stalfos dash towards Link to collide with him and will also try to jump over Link and smash him, while the red ones throw bones at Link. Sometimes a Stalfos disguises itself as one of the breakable skulls in a dungeon, during which Link can actually absorb the Stalfos in his Gust Jar to destroy it. If Link uses the Gust Jar on Stalfos that are walking around while in their full state, it removes the head, causing the body to wander around slowly. A decapitated Stalfos will not notice or attack Link, but will hurt him if he touches it. It may also walk blindly into a bottomless pit, something that ordinary Stalfos do not do. Their heads can also be removed with the Cane of Pacci. Burning off a Gibdo's bandages with the Flame Lantern reveals it to be a Stalfos underneath.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Stalfos appear in two different varieties: some carry swords and metal shields, while others wield small knives and breakable wooden shields. The wooden shields can be broken with enough sword strikes, leaving the Stalfos vulnerable. Both types will resurrect after defeat if their bones are not destroyed with bombs or the Ball and Chain. Additionally, Link can defeat Stalfos from a distance by shooting them with two Bomb Arrows. They are found in the Arbiter's Grounds, Hyrule Castle, and the Cave of Ordeals.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Stalfos appear on the Isle of the Dead and the Isle of Ruins, as well as in Mutoh's Temple. There are two kinds of Stalfos: blue ones that throw bones, and red ones that wear pirate hats and use swords. The red variety are one of two enemies in the games that employ a unique slashing motion with their swords&mdash;the other being Jolene. Without the Hammer, they are one of the toughest enemies in the game.

Similar to The Wind Waker, their weak points are their heads. They can easily be defeated with the aforementioned Hammer, bombs, or Bombchus. They are usually hidden among other inanimate skeletons lying on the ground, and will rise to fight when approached. Link can throw bombs at them from a distance before they get up. Their heads can be removed from their bodies using the Grappling Hook, bow, or boomerang. Another way to defeat them is to constantly jump-attack at them until Link lands a hit, then attack the head.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Stalfos toss bones at Link from a safe distance. While their attack pattern is essentially identical to that from Phantom Hourglass, they seem more aggressive, jumping away from Link's attacks and throwing bones much more often. The sword-wielding variant also make a return appearance, now called Stalfos Warriors. Without the Grappling Hook to pull their heads off or the Hammer to smash them, both types are considerably more difficult to dispatch than they were in Phantom Hourglass; ranged weapons, such as the Whip, Bow, and bombs work best. Stalfos occasionally drop Stalfos Skulls.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
A Stalfos first appears as the mini-boss of Skyview Temple, protecting the Beetle, three more appearing when Link returns to the temple to obtain Sacred Water. Two more appear in the Ancient Cistern-themed room of the Sky Keep, and two appear at the last fence of the Horde Battle.

In this iteration, Stalfos wield two swords, which are used both offensively and defensively. When a Stalfos holds both swords upright, Link must strike vertically in between them; when it holds its swords sideways, Link must strike horizontally. Stalfos can also hold their two swords perpendicularly, so that Link must strike from a certain angle. Regardless of how the Stalfos holds its swords, it will counterattack Link's attempts to stab at it. Stalfos can, however, be stunned by bombs.

Because Stalfos do not stop moving until they are very close to Link, a safe but time consuming strategy can be used to defeat them. Link should place a bomb so it explodes close to the Stalfos. As the Stalfos is recovering, Link can perform a Spin Attack to knock the Stalfos off balance, giving Link a chance to slash at it.

There is also an enhanced variation of the Stalfos called a Stalmaster, which wields four weapons at once. According to Fi, all Stalfos are undead knights.

The E3 demo of Skyward Sword featured a Stalfos as a hidden mini-boss. By bombing a wall in the demo's starting area, a hidden room could be found containing the Stalfos.

Link's Crossbow Training
Stalfos appear in a number of stages throughout this game. They are first seen in the Gerudo Desert, and also fight Link in the graveyard of Hyrule Castle. Some of the Stalfos are larger and more difficult to kill than the regular variety, and are skillful at blocking Link's crossbow bolts with their shields.

The Legend of Zelda animated series
Stalfos are one of the most common enemies in the service of Ganon. They wield their traditional swords and shields, and also use bombs in battle. Interestingly, characters refer to a singular Stalfos as a "Stalfo", using only "Stalfos" when the creatures appear in numbers.

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time manga
Stalfos are one of the most common enemies to appear in the manga based on Ocarina of Time. Interestingly, in Ganon's Castle, Ganondorf calls one of the Stalfos "Stallord," which is also the name of a boss from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.