Moldorm

Moldorm
Type	Sand worm
Debut	The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Tail Moldorm)

Moldorm is the name that has been used to refer to two different worm-like creatures that have appeared in the The Legend of Zelda series. The original Moldorm primarily appeared in The Legend of Zelda. The more commonly-appearing Moldorm from A Link to the Past is known as the Tail in Japanese. These varieties shall be known as the original Moldorm and Tail Moldorm for sake of convenience.

Information

Original Moldorm

The original version of the Moldorm is a creature made up of a chain of five segments that resemble fireballs. The official art depicts it as resembling an earthworm. They make rare appearances in several dungeons, where each segment must be destroyed individually to destroy the creature.

The Japanese name for this creature is also used for an enemy in A Link to the Past and Link Between Worlds. It is a minor worm-like enemy that is found in the swamp and is called Swamola in the English release. There is also a Moldorm enemy appearing in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with a different appearance than any other Moldorm variation (but sporting the same Japanese name as the Skyward Sword appearance, which translates to "Moldworm" and is similar to the Japanese name for the original Moldorm). These ones leap out from the sand to attack Link in desert areas and have to be pulled out of the ground with the Clawshot. There are also larger and slightly stronger variations that sometimes appear.

Phantom Hourglass and Skyward Sword have featured a more centipede-like version of the Moldorm which has a differently-colored tail as its weakpoint. In Skyward Sword, the Moldorms appear only in underground areas where they will rove around and try to attack Link if spotting him. Link must attack the Moldorm's vulnerable tail with swipes from the Mogma Mitts. Each hit will destroy a portion of the Moldorm's many-segmented body, and the rearmost segment will be the tail's new host. It also becomes faster as it becomes shorter. The entire body is usually destroyed in three hits.

Tail Moldorm

The Tail Moldorm is a creature with a body that is usually composed of three segments that go smaller until ending at its tail. They also have a pair of large eyes. It is known for quickly sliding around in various, often unpredictable directions, which makes them hard to attack. The Tail Moldorm's only weakness is its tail. These small varities of Tail Moldorms appear in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, the Oracle games, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap and A Link Between Worlds. A Link Between Worlds also introduces a stronger purple variant.

In most cases, a giant Moldorm with a four-sectioned body appears as a boss. Its movements are usually slow as the battle begins, but it moves faster and more ferociously as the tail is attacked. Their boss rooms have holes which Link can fall through, and if he does, he will have to make his way back to the boss room and restart the boss fight. A Moldorm appears as the boss of the Tower of Hera and has a repeat fight at Ganon's Tower in A Link to the Past. In Link's Awakening, it is the first boss faced at Tail Cave, and the final Nightmare also takes on a form resembling one. In Four Swords Adventures, a variation of this Moldorm is the boss of the Pyramid area. It has a darker and more leathery-looking skin as well as a glowing tail that can only be hurt by the Link of the matching tunic. It splits into two identical Moldorms after being hit enough times, and each one must be destroyed individually.

In A Link Between Worlds, the giant Moldorm appears as the boss of the Tower of Hera again, and a giant purple Moldorm is one of the minibosses faced in Lorule Castle. The latter battle features contracting walls instead of holes to fall through. Both variations of the Moldorm also appear as bosses in the Treacherous Tower challenge, with the original Moldorm being the boss of the Beginner level and the purple one being the boss of the Advanced level. A giant Moldorm also appears in Tri Force Heroes as the boss of the Fire Temple and the overall boss of the Volcano area. This Moldorm was battled over a pool of lava, with pillars of lava periodically bursting from some grates in the area. It targeted one Link at a time, at which point its eyes would glow the color of the respective Link's tunic and would switch targets to attempt to prevent other Links from hitting it. Once again, it could be defeated by striking its tail. This Moldorm would raise its tail when hit enough times, requiring the Links to totem up to strike it. Later in the game, one of Lady Maud's Tri Furies took on a shape resembling Moldorm but with flames surrounding its face. It as defeated in the same manner.

Other

In Twilight Princess, one enemy is identified as a Moldorm in English promotional materials, but the original Japanese name is unknown. This version of the Moldorm is different in that it is small and does not have any type of segmented body. It only has three jaws that it tries to bite onto enemies with. These Moldorms live in quicksand and will leap out in an attempt to latch onto Link with their jaws. They could easily be destroyed, and the Clawshot could be used to reel them out of hiding in the sand. There is also a chance of a larger and stronger version appearing. The Moldorm appears in the Gerudo Desert and Arbiter's Grounds.

Trivia

• Moldorm's name is reflected in the names of several sand worm bosses that may or may not be related to the Moldorm; see Twinmold and Molgera.
• The Tail Moldorm's weak point was inspired by the honey ant.
• With the Tail version of the Moldorm, there is an inconsistency about which version is the normal size. In some games, the giant boss version is referred to as the Moldorm while the normal enemies are called Mini-Moldorms, which implies that the boss version is the fully mature one. Other games instead refer to normal Moldorms as just Moldorms while the boss versions are Big Moldorms, which would imply that their size is actually uncommon.
• In The Wind Waker, one of Puppet Ganon's forms (which is commonly associated with a snake) follows an attack pattern similar to that of the Moldorm.

See Also

• Lanmola
• Molduga