Skulltula

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Skulltula
Pronunciation	/skʌltʃʌlə/ SKUL-chuh-lə
Habitat(s)	Ocarina of Time Inside the Deku Tree Forest Temple Shadow Temple Majora's Mask Astral Observatory Beneath the Well Woodfall Temple Twilight Princess Forest Temple Cave of Ordeals Phantom Hourglass Ghost Ship Spirit Tracks Forest Realm Skyward Sword Skyview Temple Ancient Cistern Sky Keep
Health	Ocarina of Time 2 Skyward Sword 8
Attack	Ocarina of Time Spin/Contact (1/2 Heart)
Weapon(s)	Sword, Bow, Hookshot
Spoil(s)	Monster Claw (SS)

A Skulltula is one of the recurring Enemies in The Legend of Zelda series. They make their first appearance in Ocarina of Time.

Characteristics

Navi's Comment

Skulltula
Its soft belly is its weak point!

Tatl's Comment

What?! You don't even know about the Skulltula? It's protected by a hard shell, but its stomach is soft!

Fi's Comments

Target lock: Skulltula

This giant species of spider inhabits the deepest areas of forests. It attacks with highly adhesive webbing in order to prevent its prey from escaping.

It has a tough outer carapace, but its stomach may be vulnerable to attack.

I am currently conducting additional analysis into its movement patterns.

show more...

I have observed that it has a tendency to move with its back toward its prey to prevent its weak point from being exposed.

Therefore, you must find a way to flip the beast over to access its weak point.

Its lone weak point is the center of its abdomen, but it is surrounded by tough chitin. This leads me to conclude that a fatal blow will be most effective.

Although the Skulltula's specific appearance varies from game to game, it is always depicted as a large spider with a skull-like abdomen. In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, these foes hang from the ceiling and surprise Link by dropping down and attacking him. Although they do not inflict harm from afar, if he comes too close to them, they will spin around quickly, injuring him and tossing the Hero of Time backwards even when using the Shield (Ocarina of Time only), which they have a smaller hitbox in the latter game, making the enemy more likely to strike Link. Their hard, skull-shaped exoskeletons can deflect many attacks. They are, however, far from intelligent, and often leave their defenses open by exposing their soft underbellies when they briefly turn periodically. The Bow can also pierce its armor instantly with an Arrow. A Hookshot can also be used to easily pierce their defenses. However, it loses its efficiency in Majora's Mask. They are occasionally also invisible, and require the use of the Lens of Truth to be seen.

Twilight Princess incorporates larger Skulltulas that can crawl across the landscape, fighting Link one-to-one instead of keeping to their webs like in previous incarnations. White and orange varieties appear, with the orange kind only appearing in the Forest Temple. They are somewhat more intelligent than their previous incarnations, as they will actively block the Hero of Twilight's frontal attacks and do not expose their underbellies. Link however can counterattack it when it rears back to attack; He can slash back or dodge its bite attack and hit it while it recovers. Other strategies, such as using a Spin Attack followed by an Ending Blow, using a Shield Attack to knock the arachnid off balance, or use a Back Slice to circumvent its defenses entirely while attacking its abdomen, are also efficient.

Akin to the Ocarina of Time incarnation, the species seen in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks like to hang from a single strand of webbing, only after ambushing intruders. Other than that, these creatures do not have much offensive strategy. In the former, the spiders exist exclusively in dungeons, and in the latter, Link can encounter them only deep in the expanses of the Forest Realm while riding the Spirit Train. Only in Spirit Tracks do Skulltulas come in standardized colors: the rudimentary white form can be simply destroyed with one hit, while the stronger red version takes a couple strikes to dispel.

The variants seen in Skyward Sword will jump and hold onto Link if he is nearby and proceed to bite him until he breaks free. They also will constrict Link with silk shot from their mouths. While they are grounded, Link can swing upwards to flip them on their back. This exposes their underbelly, where they have a round, purple spot that the Hero of the Sky can stab. They are often found clinging to webs or hanging on threads, which the Beetle can easily cut away, causing them to fall to the ground.

Varieties

Big Skulltula

Navi's Comment

Big Skulltula
Its soft belly is its weak point!

Big Skulltulas are large species of the Skulltula (similar to the Big Deku Baba). They are virtually the same as the normal variety, but are considerably larger and therefore have a wider range of attack. They are less common than their smaller varieties but can be defeated using the same tactics and can withstand and deal the same amount of damage. The primary difference between Big Skulltulas and regular Skulltulas is that the Big variant descends from the ceiling to attack, while the regular counterpart is constantly close to the ground.

Gold Skulltula

Main article: Gold Skulltula

A special type of Skulltula that appears in the Nintendo 64 installments is the Gold Skulltula, which appear in certain places and drop Gold Skulltula Tokens when defeated that can be traded for useful items. In Ocarina of Time, Link collects the 100 Tokens to free a family from a curse. Once freed, the family will reward Link if he visits them in the House of Skulltula in Kakariko Village. In Majora's Mask, they can be found in both the Swamp Spider House and the Oceanside Spider House, which Link can also defeat to collect their 30 Tokens for awards. They also appear in Hyrule Warriors, where they drop Illustration Pieces instead.

Walltula

Main article: Walltula

A smaller version of the Skulltula, the Walltula (originally named Skullwalltula), also exists. It usually clings to vines that Link must climb, and charges at him if it spots him, indicated by themselves flashing purple with the trademark lurking sound. To advance, Link can either sneak past while their back is turned, or defeat them with any ranged weapon. The Megaton Hammer can easily defeat them as well.

Other Appearances

Link's Crossbow Training

Ambiguously Canon Information

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In Link's Crossbow Training, Skulltula appear in the "Skulltula Forest: Ranger" Stage. They crawl on walls and hang on tree branches. Skulltula attempt to attack Link when close by and can be taken out with two shots of the Crossbow, or one shot with an Exploding Arrow.

Non-Canon Information

Ocarina of Time (Himekawa)

A Skulltula has a brief appearance in the Ocarina of Time manga, crawling on a wall of the Forest Temple while Link and Mido are exploring it.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Skulltula appear as Stickers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Sticker	Artwork from	Effect in The Subspace Emissary	Usable by
Skulltula	Ocarina of Time	[Arm] - Attack +7	All

Nintendo Land

Skulltulas appear as enemies in Battle Quest of Nintendo Land, first appearing in Level 4: Road to the Goron Mines. They act the same way as in Skyward Sword, and can be freely slain on their underbellies, since they do not have their crystal weak points. If they latch onto a player, that player will only have 6 seconds to shake them off until they take damage.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Skulltula appear as a Trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

#	Trophy		Appears in	Description	How to unlock
226		N/A	Ocarina of Time Ocarina of Time 3D	These spidery foes from The Legend of Zelda series have skull-like abdomens. In Ocarina of Time, there are 100 Gold Skulltulas to be found in Hyrule's towns and dungeons. Link can collect tokens by defeating them, and a man in Kakariko Village's House of Skulltula will happily trade rewards for the tokens.	Random
	Skulltula

Cadence of Hyrule

Ambiguously Canon Information

Skulltula appear as enemies in Cadence of Hyrule.

Trivia

• In the Japanese releases, the Skulltula is known as Staltula. This may be a reference due to their skulls resembling that of Stalfos.
• The Skulltula in Ocarina of Time was considered a rather frightening enemy among some fans, as when encountered, aside from having an angry-looking skull as their body, they make a growling sound and their evil red eyes begin flashing at Link (where its location makes them resemble a tongue). Not to mention, the ones first seen in the game Inside the Great Deku Tree are the Big variant.
• In Majora's Mask, when a Skulltula is spinning to attack Link, noticeably, the blue energy wave of a Magic Spin Attack is seen.
• In the N64 games, if Link attempts to strike characters that are cursed by the Gold Skulltula in the same manner as the actual Skulltulas, they will briefly become stunned before attacking the hero in retaliation.
• In Phantom Hourglass, the Cubus Sisters are deathly afraid of these spiders when walking with them on the Ghost Ship; their screams not only prevent them from progressing forward, but alert nearby Reaplings to Link's position.

Nomenclature

Skulltula is a portmanteau of "skull" and "tarantula."

Names in other regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	スタルチュラ (Sutaruchura) (OoT | SS)	Staltula
This table was generated using translation pages.

Gallery

• 
  A Skulltula from Twilight Princess
• 
  Skulltula in the Cave of Ordeals from Twilight Princess
• 
  Link striking the underbelly of a Skulltula from Skyward Sword
• 
  Skulltula from Link's Crossbow Training
• 
  A Skulltula from Nintendo Land
• 
  A Skulltula from the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Himekawa)

See also

• Big Skulltula
• Black Skulltula
• Brown Skulltula
• Crawltula
• Gold Skulltula
• Red Skulltula
• Strandtula
• Walltula