Stalfos
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Stalfos' are classic enemies from The Legend of Zelda series of video games. They have appeared in every Zelda game to date, and always take the form of undead skeletons. Depending on the game, they are sometimes referred to as "Stalfos Knights".
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[edit] In The Legend of Zelda
Stalfoses first appeared in The Legend of Zelda as dungeon-dwelling enemies. They usually attacked Link by trying to touch him. They were depicted as holding a pair of swords, but they did not seem to have any use. However in the Second Quest, they can shoot sword beams.
[edit] In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Stalfoses are found in the various palaces of the side-scrolling Zelda II. Still a skeleton carrying a sword and shield, Stalfoses gained a more proportionate appearance that fit the game's new perspective. There were four variations of Stalfos in this game, the first was red, and carried a sword and shield, he would swing at the top level, but never defended his legs, Blue stalfos used the downward sword slice, but was exactly the same as the red ones, in the same styles, they would wear helmets once and a while, this would protect them from your downward sword slices.
[edit] In A Link to the Past
Stalfoses then returned in A Link to the Past and behaved much the same as before, except that they could jump around to avoid Link and would occasionally throw bones. In some places, their skulls would detach from their bodies and spin around and make a rush at Link.
A larger form known as the Skeleton Warrior appeared in the Ice Palace dungeon. These Stalfoses were much larger and tougher, and carried large swords. Link would have to attack them repeatedly, and when they crumbled to bones, he would have to destroy the skull with bombs before the whole Stalfos regenerated.
[edit] In Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening Stalfoses were practically unchanged from their A Link to the Past counterparts, except that a hooded kind that wielded a sword appeared in some places, and attacked Link in a manner similar to a Moblin. The Skeleton Warrior also reappeared as a mini-boss in the Catfish's Maw.
[edit] In Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the Stalfos, as stated by the Kokiri girl Fado, are Hylians who have wandered in the Lost Woods too long. They mainly appeared in mini-boss form. These Stalfoses carried swords and shields and could parry many of Link's attacks. They often fought in pairs, and occasionally, Link would have to kill the other Stalfoses quickly before the first one regenerated. A total of 16 Stalfoses appeared in the game: five in the Forest Temple, four in the Shadow Temple, two in the Gerudo Training Ground, one in the Spirit Temple, and four in Ganon's Tower.
There is also a smaller form of Stalfos called a Stalchild that appeared in large groups at night in Hyrule Field. These Stalchildren were unarmed and attacked only with their claws. If decapitated they would continue to fight without trouble. They would harass Link until the sun rose, in which case they would disappear. If Link keeps killing Stalchildren, after a while even bigger versions will attack, and will leave behind bigger Rupee rewards when defeated, up to 50 if one is fast enough. Incidentally, in the original Japanese, these smaller Stalfos are called "Stalbaby" while the seemingly unrelated Skull Kid is called Stalchild. This suggests that this scarecrow-like wooden creature is in the transition phase between Hylian/Kokiri and Stalfos, after becoming lost in the Lost Woods.
[edit] In Oracle of Ages and Seasons
In both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Stalfoses came in two variants: cloaked Stalfoses that shoots arrows, and more regular Stalfoses which jump around. In Oracle of Seasons, Link meets a pirate Captain who is a friendly Stalfos. It is revealed in the linked game that the Stalfos Captain was once the King of Labrynna and husband to Queen Ambi who was transformed into a Stalfos somehow while lost at sea.
[edit] In Majora's Mask
Stalfoses were rare in Majora's Mask, and the ones that fought like the ones in Ocarina of Time were Igos du Ikana and his guards. When Link travels to Ikana, he eventually travels into the depths of Ikana Castle, where the skeletal ghost of the King of Ikana sits. He first sends his two guards after Link, who fight like normal Stalfoses except that they will continually regenerate after being struck to the ground. To truly vanquish them, Link must burn away the curtains with Fire Arrows to allow light to enter the room again and reflect it on to the fallen corpses with the Mirror Shield. An interesting feature of the guards is that they will dance after link when he played the ocarina through the Bremen mask. After the two guards are defeated, the king himself attacks. The king is larger and more powerful than the other Stalfoses, and he can breathe poison breath onto Link and even detach his head (in which case it will fly around the room and try to bite Link) and make his body invulnerable to attack. Defeating him will free his soul and he teaches Link the Elegy of Emptiness.
Stalchildren appear in Ikana Graveyard at night. They are the fallen soldiers of the Kingdom of Ikana, and they still guard the gravestones. Their captain, Skull Keeta, can be awakened, in which case he will run up the trail of the graveyard to test Link. When Link attacks him, he starts to attack Link himself with either his claws or by jumping high in the air and attempting to land on Link. When Link defeats him, Skull Keeta asks him to bring peaceful rest to his undead soldiers, and Link obtains the Captain's Hat, which make the Stalchildren (and the king, though only for a brief moment; when he realizes Link is not Skull Keeta he says: "I was nearly fooled by what you have done.) harmless and will speak to you when prompted to.
They also appear in the second Golden Skulltula house, in the Great Bay. They are harmless here, and do not attack Link, and give useful information on puzzles if spoken to with the Captain's Hat.
[edit] In The Wind Waker
Stalfoses are rare in The Wind Waker, and their attacks are much different from previous forms. These Stalfoses are much larger than previous incarnations, and they hobble around on short stubby legs while swinging around spiked maces. They wield the maces inexpertly and will spin across the room while using them. When Link slashes them or uses bombs, their bodies will shatter and their heads will bounce away from him. Link must destroy the heads or else they will reassemble. Link can also cut them in half in which case their torso and legs will separate and walk around. Taking the Stalfos' mace when it's shattered and waiting until they reassemble will cause the Stalfos to pull off its arm and use it as a weapon. Dropping the mace, however, cancels this.
[edit] In The Minish Cap
There are two types of Stalfos in this game, blue Stalfos and red Stalfos. The blue ones will dash towards you to collide and attack. The red ones however, can throw bones at you. Sometimes a Stalfos may disguise itself as one of the breakable skulls. Strangely enough, you can actually suck in the Stalfos in skull form with the Gust Jar and destroy it. And when you use the Gust Jar on them while they're walking around in full body, it removes the head, and it will just wander around slowly, and it can't notice Link or even attack. But, touching it can still damage you.
[edit] In Tingle RPG
In Mogitate Chinkuru no Barairo Ruppīrando, more commonly known as Tingle RPG, the Stalfos Pirate Captain returns.
[edit] In Twilight Princess
There are several types of Stalfos in Twilight Princess. Stalfos like those in Ocarina of Time have returned, but with the characteristics of those from Link to the Past, as Link must drop a bomb (or use a bomb arrow or the ball and chain; both will instantly dispatch Stalfos) to totally defeat them. There are also smaller skeletons with spears, known as Stalkin, that often appear in large groups, but are extremely weak. Death Sword, the mini-boss of the Arbiter's Grounds has a ram's skull and a fighting pattern similar to the Wind Waker version of Phantom Ganon, but is otherwise more like a Poe, able to turn invisible. The boss of the same dungeon, Stallord, is a giant skeletal monster, resembling a ram-horned humanoid demon. It can summon Staltroops, armored undead who serve as walls to block your Spinner (these creatures, however, never attack the player). Skeletal dogs, called Stalhounds, also appear in Hyrule field at night. There is also an ice-type enemy called Chilfoses that roam the Snowpeak Ruins, but even though they also duel Link like Stalfoses do (save the fact that they use ice spears) and share the brittle weakness against the Ball and Chain, they are similar in name only. The Hero's Spirit (also known as the Hero's Shade) also somewhat resembles a Stalfos. He wears their style of armor and carries a similar shield, and has a skull-like face. However, no bones can be seen anywhere else on his body, only transparent ghostly limbs. He can be seen in his golden wolf form throughtout most of the game and he teaches Link 7 Hidden Skills for battle, making him one of the very few friendly Stalfoses in the Zelda series.
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