Thunderbird

Thunderbird (ボルバ, Boruba^?) is the penultimate boss of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It is a giant, winged creature that resides within the Great Palace. Link fights Thunderbird just prior to the final boss, Dark Link. Notably, Thunderbird is the only boss battle in the game fought without the specific battle music playing, as the Great Palace dungeon theme keeps playing throughout the battle. It is also the only mini-boss in the game, not being fought at the end of the dungeon (or in this game, palace) it resides in, instead the real boss being Link's own shadow.

Battle

Thunderbird starts off red and without a weakness, but when Link uses the Thunder Spell, it becomes blue, and its head, which is its weakness, appears. It also throws many fireballs across the room, which deal massive damage to Link. The more damage Thunderbird takes, the more quickly it shoots fireballs; near the end of the battle, it fires them in a continuous stream. The fireballs can be blocked with the use of the Reflect Spell.

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Etymology

Thunderbird is possibly named after the Thunderbird of Native American mythology.