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.

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.

Role
The Tower of the Gods was created in order to test the courage of one who would seek the Master Sword. After Link triumphed over the trials of the tower and climbed to the top, the gods spoke to him and asked 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 defeated Gohdan would be deemed worthy of wielding the powerful Master Sword.

Because Gohdan was created to challenge, rather than to kill, when its foe's supply of arrows (which are vital in defeating this boss) is depleted, he will actually sneeze more out onto the battlefield to aid 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, to wait for another challenger. Once Link had reached this stage, the gods congratulated him and allowed 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 sneezed 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. It should also be notable that Gohdan is similar to Andross, the main antagonist of the Star Fox series, in the sense that both have disembodied hands and are just a floating head. The fight strategy is also similar between the two.

Battle
This clip was provided by lleeoo2010 at YouTube mNoLXbDbX3I 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 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.