Mothula

A Mothula from The Wind Waker.
Mothula
Type	Moth
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Mothula is a moth-like monster that has acted as recurring boss and enemy within the The Legend of Zelda series.

Information

Mothula resembles a large moth with wings that are usually colorful. They are single-eyed creatures, although in its first appearance the Mothula was depicted with two eyes. Mothula's exact weaknesses and abilities vary from game to game. They have usually appeared as bosses, but The Wind Waker featured Mothula as a miniboss and then as a regular enemy. Mothula were shown to be capable of living and attacking without their wings. They also produced their larval forms known as Morths in large quantities. Morths are small barbed creatures with single eyes. They are harmless, but will cling to enemies to slow them down. Morths are also quite weak and can be destroyed with single sword strikes.

Appearances

Mothula first appeared in A Link to the Past as the boss of the Skull Woods dungeon and shot out fire rings. Its weakness was the Fire Rod, although it could be hurt by most weapons and was even the only boss that could be hurt by a stray bee. In the remake, Link had a rematch with Mothula within the Palace of the Four Sword. Mothula produced two extra duplicates that could fire laser beams and would turn into a group of bees when destroyed. In Oracle of Seasons, it appeared as the boss for the Poison Moth's Lair. It attacked by spitting out fireballs and smaller moths that were possibly smaller versions of itself. Link had to use Roc's Feather to dodge its moves and eventually attack it with his sword to defeat it. The Mothula was quite swift and was primarily vulnerable whenever it came to a top.

In The Wind Waker, a Mothula initially appeared as the miniboss for the Forbidden Woods. It later appeared as a common enemy in other islands of the great sea such as Outset Island, usually within forest areas. The Mothula was primarily vulnerable to projectile weapons and the Deku Leaf, which could both be used to strip the Mothula's wings. It could then be normally attacked with the sword until being destroyed, although it still moved swiftly along the ground and released Morths. In Spirit Tracks, a Mothula acted as the miniboss of the Forest Temple and attacked by launching Bubbles at Link. Link could stun the Mothula by using the Whirlwind to knock the Bubbles back at it, at which point it was vulnerable to sword attacks. A pair of Mothulas also appeared as enemies in the "Take 'Em All On!" minigame.

Trivia

• The creature seems to be reference to "Mothra", a popular moth-like monster that has appeared in the Godzilla film series.
• The patterns on their wings differ depending on the game. In A Link to the Past and Oracle of Seasons, their wings bear eyeball-like markings, while in The Wind Waker the wings have a more psychedelic design.