Tektite

A Tektite as seen in Ocarina of Time.
Tektite
Type	Spider
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

The Tektite is an insect-like creature that has acted as a basic type of recurring enemy within the The Legend of Zelda series.

Information

The Tektite is a large, four-legged insect that is usually depicted with a single red glowing eye. It primarily moves by leaping around in an often erratic manner. They use their jumps both to attack and to avoid enemies, and one tactic involves leaping to safety atop a nearby boulder Tektites found on land are more active, and they are most commonly found in mountainous areas. A Tektite's jumping can make it difficult to hit, but they are still weak creatures that can usually be defeated with ease. The primary exception is the six-legged version from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, which can fire beams and is only vulnerable to the Fire spell.

This species is primarily divided into red and blue varieties from its first appearance onwards. Originally, the primary difference was that the red Tektites were faster. The 3-D games eventually established Blue Tektites as Tektites that usually move along water to attack, and they were somewhat similar to Water Tektites except they were capable of attacking on land. Later 2-D games would instead show the Blue Tektite as being the stronger or faster of the Tektites, although Phantom Hourglass restored the red one to being more powerful. In Spirit Tracks, Tektites only appeared as enemies within tunnels, where they would crawl along the walls and attempt to attack the Spirit Train. This game also featured a boss version known as the Rocktite.

Link's Awakening introduced another variety known as the Water Tektite which only appeared afterwards in the Oracle games. As suggested in their name, Water Tektites were only found skimming on water at all times. They were commonly found in water-filled dungeons, on lakes, or in marshlands, but they were also typically weaker than land Tektites.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Tektite appeared as a Novice-rank Primary Spirit that had the added effect of enhancing one's jumping ability. When fought in a Spirit battle, the Tektite's Spirit would possess Ivysaur and focus on jumping around.
• In Nintendo Land, Tektites appeared as enemies within the game called "The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest". These versions had shells that were resistant to most attacks, so they could only be harmed by attacking the gaps in their shells. A Tektite could also be won as a collectible prize.
• Several varieties of Tektites appear as enemies in Cadence of Hyrule.

Other Media

• In the Zelda cartoons, Tektites appeared in several episodes among the minions of Ganon, where they had more spider-like appearances and were capable of shooting webs.

Trivia

• In The Legend of Zelda, Blue Tektites seemed to drop rupees more often than other enemies.
• Tektites can be flipped onto their back using the Megaton Hammer in Ocarina of Time or Goron Link's pound attack in Majora's Mask.