Keese

A Keese from The Legend of Zelda.
Keese
Type	Bat
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

The Keese is a bat-like creature that has appeared throughout the The Legend of Zelda series as a common and basic foe.

Information

Keeses are types of bats that are attracted to dark places. Because of this, they are most commonly found within caves and types of dungeons. They have been known to sleep during the day and become active at night, although they will still attack anyone who awakens them during the day. Keeses often gather in colonies, and when they attack in numbers they verge closer to becoming an actual threat. In the end, the Keese are still simplistic beings that can be destroyed through nearly any method.

Although it has made only a handful of appearances, the Vire has been said to be the master of the Keese. They will usually split into a pair of red Keeses (sometimes stronger than a normal Keese) when defeated.

Variations

• Big Keese - These are larger and stronger versions of the normal Keese that are usually only summoned during certain miniboss battles. They appear in Link's Awakening as minions of the Grim Creeper and in the Oracle games.
• Dark Keese - This is a type of Keese that is infected with cursed energy. They will temporarily "curse" Link if they hit him, which temporarily cuts him off from his weapons. They are only found in Skyward Sword within later portions of the game.
• Fire Keese - The Fire Keese is a flaming Keese found in volcanic habitats. This enemy is the effect of a Keese flying through fire. The Keese itself will still be normal, but it is surrounded by a flaming aura that it will pass off to whatever it bumps into. Link will be set on fire if one bumps into him, and the Fire Keese will then become a normal Keese again. In some games (Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks), a Fire Keese's flame could only be put out through special means such as wind-based weapons, while in the Oracle games their flame was perpetual, and they were harder to defeat due to only being in Link's range when about to attack. They appear in Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, Tri Force Heroes and Breath of the Wild.
• Ice Keese - The flipside of a Fire Keese, the Ice Keese is a Keese that has an icy aura that usually results from flying through a Blue Fire. It will freeze anything it touches, including Link if it flies into it, but it will only revert into a normal Keese afterwards in Majora's Mask and Spirit Tracks. In their other appearances, they perpetually remain in the Ice Keese state. The Ice Keese appears in Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Tri Force Heroes and Breath of the Wild.
• Shadow Keese - This is the Twilight Realm counterpart to the Keese appearing in Twilight Princess. It has a more bizarre physical appearance.
• Thunder/Electric Keese - This Keese, known as the Thunder Keese in Skyward Sword and Electric Keese in Breath of the Wild, has internal organs which generate electricity to help in capturing prey. This makes them more dangerous, but they are still vulnerable whenever their electric sparks are not flickering. These Keese are primarily known to inhabit desert habitats, although they are found in several other areas in Breath of the Wild. Its only appearances are in Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild.

There is another unnamed variation appearing in Four Swords Adventures. This is a swarm of purple-colored Keeses lined up that fly around enemies in a perfect circle, and they decrease in size the further along the line. They emerge from certain destroyed pots or bushes and will doggedly pursue a Link until the swarm's leader is destroyed. The slightly larger leader of the Keese swarm bears a more reddish coloration, which has raised comparisons to the Vire.

Trivia

• The Keese appear in all of the main Zelda games except for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
• In Twilight Princess, Link can touch a resting Keese without being harmed.
• The Keese are nearly identical in most depictions, although the version from Twilight Princess notably has a type of hook attached to its tail.
• There are several other bat-like enemies in the Zelda series. While the Ache replaced the Keese for Zelda II, the Bad Bat is notable as being nearly identical to the Keese and appearing in the same game (Majora's Mask) as them.

See Also

• Ache