Bubble

A Bubble as seen in Ocarina of Time.
Bubble
Type	Ghost
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

The Bubble (known as an Anti-Fairy or Whisp in some games) is a skull enemy surrounded by a flaming aura that has appeared as a recurring enemy within the The Legend of Zelda series. They have been described as being disembodied souls.

Information

These creatures are floating skulls surrounded by an aura of fire which is usually blue or red. Their pattern of attack and appearance tends to vary. The usual pattern consists of random movement, bouncing off walls, or circling objects. Although they all do damage, depending on the game and individual type of Bubble, some can drain magic, some prevent the person from using their sword, and some simply set the person on fire.

Appearances

In The Legend of Zelda, Bubbles appear in the Spark-like form of a white creature that can only rob the person of their power to use a sword. They are invulnerable to all attacks. In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Bubbles are round balls with skulls inside. They bounce on walls and ceilings, and they can steal magic. A giant Bubble also appears in the Great Palace and splits into smaller Bubbles when attacked. These Bubbles are not invulnerable, but have more health than any other enemy in the game. In A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, Bubbles are known as Anti-Fairies and bounce off walls. They steal magic and are generally invulnerable, but they can burned into fairies with Magic Powder. In the latter game, a Giant Bubble is found in the Face Shrine, but this one could not be defeated.

In Ocarina of Time, the 3-D version of the Bubbles appear with four different colors for their flames with different characteristics. Red and Blue ones move around normally. Green ones will occasionally let their flames die out, whereas White ones have no flame at all and just jump around. These Bubbles could be defeated with methods similar to those required of normal enemies. Their flames could also be extinguished through various means to make them more vulnerable, at which point they would temporarily become mere skulls jumping around frantically. In Majora's Mask, Bubbles only come in red and blue. Red ones could set Link on fire, whereas Blue ones would actually curse Link and prevent him from using his sword. In The Wind Waker, red Bubbles are easily defeated with most long-range attacks. Blue Bubbles are stronger and can only be beaten by putting out their flames first. If they attack, they are able to disable all of Link's attacks, including secondary weapons.

The Oracle games had two different varieties of Bubbles, one being known as an Anti-Fairy while the other one was called the Whisp. In Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, Bubbles (called Whisps) are enemies that can do damage, but are otherwise invulnerable to attacks. In The Minish Cap, Bubbles are again called Whisps, but now disable Link's ability to use his sword. Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass had Bubbles similar to the other 3-D games, except that they were divided into Fire and Ice Bubbles. The Ice Bubble is surrounded by a blue icy aura and will freeze its enemy upon contact. Both variations could be defeated by extinguishing the flame or stunning them and from projectiles. The normal Bubble also appears as merely a plain winged skull in Twilight Princess. In Spirit Tracks, Bubbles appeared only in the Forest Temple were they surrounded themselves with the purple noxious gas from the temple. This version also was vulnerable once its surrounding substance was blown away.

In A Link Between Worlds, Bubbles appeared and resembled their design from A Link to the Past, except that they actually had the properties of Fire or Ice Bubbles. The Fire Bubbles could have their flames extinguished by the Tornado Rod, while Ice Bubbles' blue flames could be undone by the Fire Rod. The Fire Bubbles primarily appeared at the House of Gales, where they functioned similarly to a mini-boss, while Ice Bubbles appeared at the Ice Ruins.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Bubbles appear as enemies in the Smash Run mode of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, with designs based on their Ocarina of Time appearance. Both red and blue variations appear, and the former burns players while the latter freezes players. They are also weak against the opposing element. Their appearance is accompanied by a trophy, which erroneously says that they appeared in Brawl.

Trivia

• The Spark enemy is actually based on the version of the Bubble seen in The Legend of Zelda.
• In Skyward Sword, there are still some enemies with "cursed" auras that can curse Link on contact to temporarily cut him off from items in a similar manner as the effects of some Bubbles.