Wall Master

A Wall Master as seen in The Legend of Zelda.
Wall Master
Type	Living Hand
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

The Wall Master (sometimes spelled Wallmaster) is a living hand that has appeared as a recurring enemy throughout the The Legend of Zelda series and is known for its role in carrying Link back to a dungeon's entrance.

Information

The Wall Master is usually shown as a giant, grotesque looking hand of apparent supernatural origin. They primarily dwell within dungeons and pass through walls in search of intruders. A Wall Master will usually try to drop down from above to grab a victim, and in later games their presence is indicated by their shadow. A Wall Master is vulnerable to attack after being dodged, but it is durable enough to take multiple hits before being destroyed. Even so, in many cases a Wall Master will be replaced soon after its destruction.

In A Link Between Worlds, Link could take shelter beneath overhanging platforms to avoid getting hit by a Wall Master. They are also unintentionally helpful in this game, as Link can trick them into hitting switches or destroying some platforms. This game also marks the only appearance of a Wall Master-based boss, the Knucklemaster, which is a giant armored Wall Master with a single eye on its palm.

Wall Masters did appear with a helpful role in Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, where Tingle could give some Hand Potion to certain statues to willingly be taken back to the beginning of a dungeon by a Wall Master.

Floor Master

The Floor Master of The Wind Waker.

The Floor Master is a variation that was introduced in Ocarina of Time with characteristics that vary depending on the game, although in all cases it is essentially an earthbound version of the Wall Master. In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, it resembles the Wall Master but tries to fight Link more directly by punching at him in the form of a fist, being invulnerable when it turns green to do this. After being hit, it will split into three smaller versions of itself, which must be destroyed to permanently kill it. Otherwise, it will reform, or one could grab onto Link's throat and drain his magic power to restore its original size. Floor Masters appeared in several dungeons of Ocarina of Time, and in some cases there were invisible ones which only were seen through the Lens of Truth. Only one Floor Master appeared in Majora's Mask, within the Ancient Castle of Ikana, and this one could be destroyed by sunlight. In the Oracle games and The Minish Cap, they behave similarly to the original depiction of Wall Masters except that they come from the floors instead of walls or the ceiling.

The version seen in The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures takes on the form of a whole arm that appears appears to be made out of some purple-hued dark energy which emerges from a portal on the floor. If Link gets too close to one, it will pull him into the portal which will take him elsewhere. In The Wind Waker, they will only take him to an earlier room or the beginning of the current room rather than the dungeon's entrance, and they will also attack from a distance by throwing pots. In Four Swords Adventures, they appear in the Lost Woods and will pull Link into the Dark World or make him drop his Moon Pearl if he is wielding one. They do not directly attacked and can only be stunned.

Although most Wall Masters and Floor Masters have been mostly known to attack individually, there have been groups of Floor Masters in both The Wind Waker and The Minish Cap.

Other Types

A few other creatures have been shown which are nearly identical to the Wall Masters in some ways. In Twilight Princess, a creature called Zant's Hand appears at the Palace of Twilight. It will come to life after Link grabs a Sol sphere, at which point it begins a slow yet intent pursuit of Link. It creates portals to pass through walls as it does so. If it grabs him, Link will be taken back to the beginning of the Palace, and the Sol would be returned to its keeping place. Zant's Hand could not be destroyed and could only be stunned with the sword or with strikes from the Clawshot or arrows.

Similarly, there is the Key Master in Spirit Tracks, which will try to grab Link when he is bringing a Boss Key to the boss door. They emerge from dark portals in the floor and walk on their fingers in pursuit of Link. The Key Master is shown to have a single eye on its palm.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Cadence of Hyrule, Wall Masters appeared in some dungeons, where they jumped out from certain walls and attempted to grab the player character. If successful, they would bring the character back to the beginning of the current area.

Other Media

• Wall Masters made several appearances throughout the Legend of Zelda comic, and in one case Link pushed Zelda into one so that she would be taken to safety.

Trivia

• In the Japanese games, the Wall Master is referred to as the "Fallmaster" in most games after the first. This seems to reflect how The Legend of Zelda was the only game where it appeared from walls, while in later games they were given the tactic of dropping down from the ceiling.
• A Wall Master will usually leave a decent amount of Rupees behind when destroyed.