Moblin

Moblins (モリブリン) are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. They are pig-like or bulldog-like monsters belonging to the Goblin race, which often resides in forests. They most often carry spears, but are known to carry swords, clubs, and bow and arrows as well. While most Moblins are simply just underlings of Ganon without much explanation, there are a few exceptions; there are few individual Moblins that appear in their game's story in some capacity or another.

The Legend of Zelda
Moblins wield spears and are frequently found in the Overworld. They come in two colors: red and blue, with blue requiring more hits to defeat. Their spears can be blocked by Link's shield. Secret Moblins can be found hiding in grottos around the Overworld, where they give Link Rupees. Unlike other Moblins, Secret Moblins will not attack Link.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Unlike in The Legend of Zelda, Moblins appear to be tall and thin as a result of the game's side scrolling perspective. Moblins come in four varieties: red, blue, and two different kinds of orange. One orange Moblin charges straight at Link, stabbing in front of itself, and deducts experience points from Link upon impact; the other stays at a distance, throwing spears at Link. Red Moblins carry spears and can stab either high or low much in the same manner as Iron Knuckles. Blue Moblins stab low and throw their spear instead of stabbing high.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Pig Soldiers can be found in only the Dark World, taking the place of the variously-colored soldiers in the Light World. While the Pig Soldiers highly resemble later games' Moblins, they are never explicitly referred to as such. These enemies throw spears, which can be deflected with Link's shield. Several throw Bombs constantly at Link instead of throwing spears.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Moblins appear in different areas on Koholint Island; the most prevalent are the Mysterious Woods, the Moblin cave near Mt. Tamaranch, and west of Goponga Swamp. For the first time, Moblins wield Swords and Shields. Unlike the other Moblins, which attack by wandering aimlessly and firing arrows at Link whenever he is within reach, the Moblins with swords home in on the player, similarly to the Hyrule Guards from A Link to the Past. There is also a mini-boss known as the Great Moblin, who kidnaps Madam MeowMeow's pet, Bow-Wow.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Moblins appear only in the Sacred Forest Meadow when Link is an adult. Two kinds of Moblins are found, with the more common ones wielding spears and charging at Link when they see him. A single Club Moblin stands at the end of the Sacred Forest meadow maze that leads to the entrance of the Forest Temple, who shakes the earth when it strikes. This Moblin is also substantially bigger than other Moblins found in the game. To defeat it, Link must dodge the shockwaves on the ground repeatedly; this will allow Link to go behind the Moblin's back. Once this has happened, the Moblin can be defeated with the sword, Hookshot, or bombs. Upon defeat, the Moblin drops a substantial amount of Rupees. When Link exits the Forest Temple, the Moblin can be found on the opposite edge of the passage. Link can either choose to sneak past the spear-wielding Moblins in the hedge maze, or defeat them with his Bow or Hookshot.

In the Master Quest version of the game, a second Club Moblin can be found in the Spirit Temple.

Unlike most enemies, Moblins cannot be Z-targeted at all in Ocarina of Time. Consequently, Navi cannot identify these enemies as Moblins.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
Moblins are one of the most common enemies in the Oracle games. 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 age or season. Red appear in the Present, and blue in the Past.

The Great Moblin is a mini-boss who appears in both games. In Oracle of Ages, he resides within Great Moblin's Keep on Rolling Ridge and manufactures bombs, presumably to run the Gorons out of business. He also appears in Oracle of Seasons, west of the Sunken City, and guards a Piece of Heart. During a Linked Game, he will make mention of his previous encounter with Link in the originator game.

In both games, Link can acquire a magical ring which allows him to take on the physical appearance of a Moblin. He cannot use any items while in this form, but cannot be eaten by Like Likes. This immunity is likely the result of a programing oversight. The ring can only be found in the possession of Maple or inside a Gasha Nut.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Moblins are similar in appearance to those from The Wind Waker, however, they do not carry lanterns. They wield either a Bow or Spear.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Moblins are large, grey pig-like monsters that carry Long Spears and sometimes lanterns. They appear less frequently than in certain other games, on account of them being much more powerful than most types of Moblins. They serve as guards within the Forsaken Fortress; during Link's first visit there, if he is caught, they will set him alight with their lanterns and throw him in a jail cell. Any Moblins that subsequently appear will either stab or swipe at Link with their Long Spears, causing him to fly back and take quite some damage. The Long Spears that the Moblins wield can be stolen from them by Link and wielded as a clumsy weapon. Disarmed Moblins use hand-to-hand combat until they retrieve a weapon.

Link can temporarily scare away Moblins by taking out a Bomb. Quite humorously, if one sneaks up on a Moblin from the back and stabs it, the Moblin will run away, holding its bottom and its head shaking back and forth, with its tears flying everywhere, and could even fall off a ledge. Furthermore, when a Moblin is defeated, it may drop a Skull Necklace; if Link uses the Grappling Hook to take the necklace, then the Moblin in question will no longer be seen wearing it. A Moblin appears as the mini-boss of Dragon Roost Cavern, where it duels Link on the summit of Dragon Roost Mountain.

The Wind Waker also features a Moblin with a backstory, whose name is Moe, though he is never definitely seen in-game. Though he may be the Moblin at the Forsaken Fortress outside, as he is the only Moblin who does not return on Link's second trip to the Forsaken Fortress. Apparently, Moe worked at the Forsaken Fortress, and, during Maggie's captivity, he developed a relationship with her. This is the first instance in which a Moblin can read and write, probably in some form of Hylian, and that perhaps Moblins are capable of love. Found in the Forsaken Fortress as well as the Savage Labyrinth are Moblin Statues, stone statues identical in appearance to Moblins; they are indestructible and attack by firing laser beams at Link when he is near.

Furthermore, the first form of the first boss of Ganon's Tower, 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.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Moblins are virtually identical in appearance to their Four Swords counterparts. 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. Occasionally, a defeated Moblin will also drop a green Kinstone.

A Moblin also disguises itself as a woman who takes over Percy's house, although lighting the lamps reveals its true form and causes it to bribe Link with 100 Rupees to keep quiet and presumably move out of the house.

In the Royal Hyrule Library, there exists a book titled Married to the Moblin.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Moblins are very resilient, taking many hits to defeat and absorbing attacks without flinching. They carry large spears and shields made of either wood or iron. Their wooden shields can be easily sliced up or destroyed using bombs, rendering them vulnerable. When Moblins are carrying iron shields, however, Link must find a way around them to attack from behind. A good strategy is to sprint and run up their shield, as can be done to a wall, to land behind them where they are vulnerable. With good aim, the Bow can also be employed against them by hitting them in the face just above their shield. Similarly, the Slingshot can be used to stun them if shot at their head. If archer Bokoblins are present, their arrows can be used to attack the Moblins from behind by luring the Moblin into their range of fire, most notably in the Horde Battle near the end of the game.

Moblins will shield themselves and stab at Link when he tries to slice up their shields, and will sometimes try to Shield Bash him, especially when the shield has been cut a few times. When their wooden shield is destroyed, Moblins will toss the handle aside and go berserk, attacking with wide two-handed swings of their spears when Link enters attack range. The number of consecutive swings can vary from one to three and the spear has a long reach, making this a dangerous attack early in the game. Moblins are not as persistent as other enemies, quickly forgeting about Link's presence if he runs a short distance away form them.

The best approach to these enemies is to edge around or stay behind them and swing rapidly. If snuck up on from behind it is possible to defeat them before they have the presence of mind to turn around, especially with the Master Sword. Staying behind them is preferable not only from an offensive point, but also defensive; when defeated, Moblins topple forwards, and their enormous weight will hurt Link and knock him back if they fall onto him.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Although they never actually made an appearance in the final version of Twilight Princess, a Moblin was shown as a beta enemy for the game. These were only seen in the first trailer released for the game and in a few early screenshots there after. Their bodies greatly resembled the Moblins from The Wind Waker albeit with a more realistic look. Their heads, however, are covered in metal masks and they have much sharper teeth. They were shown attacking with a long axe showing similar attack patterns to their Wind Waker counterparts. After 2004, however, they were never seen in the game again. The reason behind their removal remains unknown.

The Legend of Zelda animated series
Based on the Moblins from the original game, Moblins in the The Legend of Zelda animated series somewhat resemble bulldogs. Their trademark stupidity repeatedly leads them to foul up plans of their master, Ganon. However, they have the intellectual capacity to think for themselves, and at one point decide that Ganon is so hopeless (Link always thwarted his schemes) that they are better off without him; they overthrow him and form the Brotherhood of Underworld Monsters, but it meets a similar end as one of their master's many schemes, and they return, groveling to Ganon's side.

The Legend of Zelda comics
As in the animated series, the comic moblins resemble bulldogs and 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. Certain prints of the comics also refer to Moblins as "Molblins."

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 allows him to make relentless attacks.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (manga)
A Moblin swordsman named Karuna is featured in the Link's Awakening manga. Claiming himself to be the most powerful warrior on Koholint Island, he almost kills Link in the Angler's Tunnel, but is later defeated by the hero.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A Moblin from Wind Waker appears as a sticker. Its sticker provides a +15 bonus to slash attacks. It can only be used by Link, Toon Link, Princess Zelda, and Ganondorf.

Name discrepancy
The word Moblin was, at one point, believed to be Molblin, sparking debates over the true title. It is a generally accepted fact that Molblin is a mistranslation on the part of Nintendo of America's localization team (which is well known for its 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 Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link. It is also the spelling used in the officially licensed children's book Molblin's Magic Spear. From A Link to the Past onwards, the name was rendered "Moblin" in all official sources.

Gallery
Moblin