Poe

A Poe from Ocarina of Time.
Poe
Type	Ghost
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

A 'Poe is a malevolent ghost of the deceased that appears as a recurring enemy in the The Legend of Zelda series. Poes have been described as "spirits of concentrated hatred" and said to "hate the world".

Information

Poes are most commonly found in graveyards, as well as some of the more haunted dungeons. They traditionally appear as floating cloaked creatures and wield lanterns. A Poe's face is usually hidden beneath either a hood or a mask, with only glowing eyes peeking out from darkness being visible underneath. Poes often use their lanterns as weapons, and some of them also display the ability to turn invisible or transparent. Some games have featured larger varieties known as Big Poes, and have also shown Poes combining together to form larger enemies.

Appearances

Poes were a minor enemy in A Link to the Past and only appeared at the graveyard. They appeared in large numbers and took a number of hits to defeat, similar to the Ghini enemy from the original The Legend of Zelda. In Ocarina of Time, Poes appeared in various locations around Hyrule, especially after the seven years of Ganondorf's rule. If Link attempted to target them, they became invisible and intangible. Big Poes, larger and deadlier incarnations of the Poes, were introduced. They usually appeared in the Kakariko Village graveyard or Hyrule Field. After being defeated, Poes could be caught in bottles and then sold to a Ghost Shop located outside the remains of Hyrule Castle Town. Normal Poes sold for 10 Rupees apiece, but the rarer Big Poes could be sold for 50 Rupees. This game also featured several Poe miniboss characters: Flat and Sharp, the Composer Brothers who Link could battle in the Kakariko graveyard, as well as the four Poe Sisters who appeared as minibosses of the Forest Temple. The eldest sister, Meg, could conjure illusions of herself to confuse Link.

Poes reappeared in Majora's Mask, where they were found at Ikana Canyon and in the Stone Tower Temple. Big Poes were additionally found in Ikana's graveyard and beneath the Ikana well. Bottled Poes could be sold at the Curiosity Shop. Link could choose to drink a bottled Poe, which would result in gaining or losing hearts at random. Both the Composer Brothers and Poe Sisters reappeared. The Composer Brothers could not be engaged in combat, but the Poe Sisters could be battled at the Ikana Ghost Hut. In The Wind Waker, Poes appeared in the Earth Temple and the Savage Labyrinth. In this game, they were completely intangible and could possess Link to mess up his movement. To defeat a Poe, Link must first shine a light on one. This would temporarily turn the Poe solid, at which point it would run around in a panic. When solidified, the Poe could be defeated with ease. The boss of the Earth Temple was Jalhalla, who was composed of many Poes combined together. In Four Swords Adventures, two Big Poes appeared as bosses in two levels in a row. The first Big Poe appeared to be Jalhalla, while the second looked more like a large version of a normal Poe.

Two different types of Poes appeared in Twilight Princess: the normal kind and a new kind referred to as Imp Poes. Both varieties were invisible, and they could only be seen and attacked by Link when he is in wolf form. When defeated, both varieties would leave behind Poe Souls that could be collected as items. Link needed to gather sixty Poe Souls, from the four normal Poes and fifty-six Imp Poes, to restore a cursed man named Jovani. The four normal Poes appeared at the Arbiter's Grounds, and they were shown to look much taller then the Poes in previous games as well as sporting visible faces. In a manner similar to the Poe Sisters from Ocarina of Time, they stole light from the torches which was needed to open the doorway leading further into the dungeon. So Link had to hunt down and defeat all four of them in order to re-light the torches. The last of the Poes used Meg's illusion-conjuring technique, and raising the possibility that those four Poes could have been the Poe Sisters. As for the Imp Poes, they could be found virtually everywhere throughout Hyrule, appearing outdoors only at night while also being found within dungeons and caves. True to their namesake, they resembled glowing imps and wielded scythes which they used to attack, in addition to carrying the standard lanterns.

Poes appeared in Phantom Hourglass with a more fish-like physical appearance. They appeared on the Ghost Ship, where they would teleport around and shoot fire at Link, only being vulnerable and visible. In A Link Between Worlds, Poes appeared as minor enemies similar to their appearance in A Link to the Past. A group of Poes also appeared at the Lost Woods to act as guides to the grove containing the Master Sword. They acted as trickters in that role, as Link had to keep track of which Poes to follow (or not to follow) in order to reach the correct path moving forward.

There were several different variations of Poes appearing in Tri Force Heroes. The standard versions of the Poes were found at the Ruins and came in four different color variations, but the only difference between them was which Links could damage them. White Poes could be attacked by any Link, while the other three variations (Green, Red and Blue) could only be hurt by Links with matching tunics. Poes sometimes floated high in the air and could only be beaten by the Links forming a totem. A Lantern Poe also appeared in one area of Palace Noir. It roamed around with a lantern and could only be defeated by lighting all the room's lanterns. This game also featured Prankster Poes, which were ghosts that took on forms resembling ghostly versions of Link and were known for their quick movements. They attempt to sneak up on Link and throw them. There was also another variation of this version called the Key Bandit Poes. They protected keys and would chase after any Link who took one of the keys. The Prankster Poes appeared at the Illusory Mansion, Grim Temple and Den of Trials, while Key Bandit Poes were found in the Palace Noir. A Poe boss known as the Grim Reapoe also appeared as the boss of Palace Noir.

In Tears of the Kingdom, Poes appeared purely as items and were depicted as fiery wisps that were found scattered through the Depths. They were several varieties that could be found, with normal Poes being the equivalent of one Poe, while Large Poes contained five Poes, and Grand Poes contained twenty. The Poes could be used as currency with the Bargainer Statues, who acted as impartial judges who sought to escort the Poes to the afterlife regardless of whether they were good or evil.

In Other Zelda Games

In Hyrule Warriors, Big Poes appeared as enemy captains. In the Legend Mode scenario "The Sheikah Tribeswoman", a specific Big Poe that had to be defeated was known as the Spirit of the Caves. Additionally, some fallen Hylian Captains could become Poe-like Hylian Ghosts and put curses on their former allies.

Poes appeared as enemies in Cadence of Hyrule. They followed the player character around while alternating between being tangible and intangible. They can only be attacked when fully tangible.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• A Poe made a brief appearance in the Ocarina of Time manga, in which it appeared before Link to mock him about Ganon's rise to power, which caused Link to attack it with his sword, only for Navi to tell him he was wasting his energy.

Trivia

• The Poe's name is derived from the surname of horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. It may also refer to "po", the Chinese word for "spirit".

See Also

• Ghini