Stalfos

A Stalfos as seen in Twilight Princess.
Stalfos
Type	Undead
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

The Stalfos and its stronger counterparts, the Stalfos Knights, are undead skeletal warriors that have appeared as recurring enemies in nearly every incarnation of the Zelda Series, including spinoffs.

Information

As human-like warriors, they are capable of taking on a wide variety of weaponry. They generally arm themselves with a sword, a sword and shield, or two swords - though they have often been seen using maces and bows. Their skeletal form is typically that of a human, though this is not always the case. They are closely associated with Gibdo, and in some games, using a fire attack to burn away a Gibdo's bandages will turn it into a Stalfos. According to a Kokiri child, people who become lost in the Lost Woods will end up turning into Stalfos, although children apparently turn into a Skull Kids. In Skyward Sword, Fi instead stated that the Stalfos is the undead form of ordinary knights.

Not all Stalfos are evil, however. In Oracle of Seasons and Ages, Link meets up with a band of Stalfos Pirates led by The Captain, who was in life the lover of Queen Ambi. Likewise, in Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Tingle befriends a gang of Stalfos pirates led by Captain Stalfos who allow Tingle to join after he saves them from their greatest fear: a small dog who likes to chew their bones.

There exist multiple variations of Stalfos, including Stalchild, Stalhound, Stal, Stalkin, Staltroops and the Stalmaster. Breath of the Wild also features "Stal" versions of various enemies found in the game. A large monstrous Stallord also appears as a boss in Twilight Princess.

Appearances

Stalfos make their original appearance in The Legend of Zelda as simple skeletal warriors wielding twin swords. They are a common enemy that are encountered in the first dungeon and are easily defeated. A unique trait is that if a Stalfos was carrying a key, it could be seen inside of its ribcage, making it an easily identified target to attack. They also appear as simple enemies in Zelda Game & Watch.

Their second appearance in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link marked the first time Stalfos were distinguished from Stalfos Knights (though such a distinction is never made directly). They appear in both armor and without, though the attack pattern remains the same. They attack with sword and shield, but never protect their legs. They are also capable of jumping to pursue Link.

In A Link to the Past, normal Stalfos are found in dungeons completely unarmed. To avoid being attacked, they are capable of jumping over sword swings, though red versions will also throw bones in retaliation. A larger version, known as the Stalfos Warrior, first appears in the Ice Palace. These Stalfos drop from the ceiling and can be disabled by a sword swing, but they will reassemble unless they are destroyed by a bomb while still disabled.

In the Game Boy games Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages Stalfos appear in two variations. The first are an unarmed version similar to previous incarnations. The other are shrouded warriors armed with swords and shields that fight in a similar fashion to Darknuts. Some variations also used bows and arrows as well. In Link's Awakening, a sub-boss named Master Stalfos appears in Catfish's Maw. Likewise, in Oracle of Ages there is Blue Stalfos from the Ancient Tomb.

Stalfos Knights appear in Ocarina of Time. They fight with sword and shield and are among Link's most skilled opponents, due to their ability to fight with jump attacks and defend most blows. Though they do not appear as common enemies, in Majora's Mask Link fights Igos du Ikana and his two henchmen, who all are similar to the Ocarina Stalfos, though significantly more powerful.

Stalfos as they appear in The Wind Waker.

In Wind Waker Stalfos appear infrequently carrying heavy maces. This version's skull is more animal-like in shape. Once they have been damaged enough, they will shatter into pieces and the skull will bounce away (similarly to injured Bubbles) until assembling again. Only by destroying the head is the Stalfos destroyed. They have a similar appearance in Four Swords Adventures where they are unarmed and generally attack in swarms, save for Big Dark Stalfos, who is armed with a sword.

In Four Swords Stalfos appear in their normal form. They have a similar appearance in The Minish Cap where they bounce around when attacked, with the red versions throwing bones. They can be destroyed normally, but the Gust Jar can remove their head, leaving the decapitated body to wander around aimlessly until killed. Their appearance in Phantom Hourglass is similar to their Minish appearance, though there also exists a knight variation similar to the Big Dark Stalfos. Spirit Tracks has a normal version that throws bones while trying to hop out of Link's way (but can be easily defeated with a single bomb) as well as a Knight version that will try to slash wildly at Link with its sword. In this game, their head must be destroyed after destroying its body to fully destroy it, and Link can also use the whip item to grab and toss a Stalfos skull to potentially harm other enemies.

Their appearance in Twilight Princess is similar to that of their Ocarina appearance. Weaker versions use wooden shields which can be destroyed, thought the ones with metal shields cannot be disarmed in the same way. Once they are defeated, their shattered remains have to be bombed to finish them off. They appear in Link's Crossbow Training as well where they can only be destroyed by using a Bomb Arrow. In Skyward Sword, the Stalfos appeared in several dungeons, where they dual wielded swords. To defeat them, Link would have to strike the Stalfos from an angle crossing an opening in its defenses. This game also introduced the Stalmaster. which had two miniboss-like appearances throughout the game. This type of Stalfos had the difference of having four arms which all wielded swords, so it left less openings and attacked more fiercely. It would initially use only two arms for combat and pulls out the other two arms only after it is damaged enough.

Stalfos appeared in A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes, with normal and red variations similar to their appearance in A Link to the Past. In Tri Force Heroes, there was also a dark version of the Stalfos appearing in some areas of the Den of Trials, which could throw balls of dark energy that would curse Link in a way that temporarily restricts him from using his weapons, and there were also Stalfos that rode on Totem Armos. A giant Stalfos called the Stalchampion also appeared as the boss of the Desert Temple.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• They appear as enemies in the Smash Run mode of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, where their shields are effective at blocking player attacks. The Ocarina of Time design is used, and their appearance is accompanied by a trophy. In the Wii U version, a shadowy variant of the Stalfos can appear as one of the enemies in the Master Fortress.
• In Hyrule Warriors, Stalfos appeared as captains of Stalchildren forces. They were referred to as Stalchild Captains instead of Stalfos in this appearance.
• In Cadence of Hyrule, several varieties of Stalfos appeared as enemies. The default version of Stalfos donned shields and wore helmets in battle. There were also Stalfos Riders, which rode skeletal horses, but became normal Stalfos if the horse was destroyed. Stalfos Knights also appeared and crumbled temporarily upon being attacked while their heads floated around. Their crumbled forms could be attacked with any weapon in this incarnation. There were also Stalfos Mages and Stalfos Gel. There were also yellow and black stronger versions of all the different types except for the Stalfos Gel.

Trivia

• Prior to Twilight Princess, Octoroks were the only other enemy to appear in every game within the main series. Despite that, Octoroks still did not appear in Zelda Game & Watch, Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, or Link's Crossbow Training while the Stalfos did.
• Breath of the Wild is the first Zelda game in which Stalfos seem to be absent, unless one counts the various other "Stal" enemies appearing in the game.