Gibdo

A Gibdo as seen in A Link to the Past.
Gibdo
Type	Undead
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

Gibdo are mummy-like monsters that have appeared as recurring enemies in the The Legend of Zelda series. They are commonly found in dungeons and crypts.

Traits

As undead creatures, Gibdos are strong enemies found mainly in dark places. They are extremely resilient to damage, perhaps as a virtue of their preservation). In general they have little variation in their attack pattern, but are often shown to have a weakness to fire, which is often enough to kill them in one hit.

Gibdo are closely associated with the Stalfos and ReDead, and in some games they are simply stronger versions of the ReDead. Burning off a Gibdo's bandages will, depending on the game, reveal either a Stalfos or a ReDead underneath.

Game Information

Gibdo made their debut appearance in The Legend of Zelda. They could first be seen in the fifth dungeon as recurring enemies that usually appeared in large groups. Though they (like most enemies in this installment) did not try to directly attack Link, they were capable of taking several hits and were among the strongest of the enemies in the game.

In A Link to the Past', Gibdos appeared in the Skull Dungeon in the Dark World. They were even stronger than in their previous appearance and would pursue Link as well. Despite being strong enough to take over 10 hits to defeat with the Master Sword, they could be killed instantly with the Fire Rod or Bombos Medallion. Gibdo also appeared in Link's Awakening where they remained powerful enemies, and in this version they were even more dangerous in that attacking them did not cause them to repel backwards. They would later appear Oracle of Ages and Seasons behaving in the same manner, but in these games hitting them with an Ember Seed will turn them into a Stalfos.

For Ocarina of Time Gibdos were presented as stronger versions of the ReDead. They appeared in the Spirit Temple and the Bottom of the Well. They could use their ability to screech to freeze the opponent, then they latch onto them to begin gnawing on their foe. They could be paralyzed by the Sun's Song. They remained unchanged in Majora's Mask, but they played a more significant role in the story. Pamela's Father came up with a special song known as Farewell to Gibdos that drove the Gibdos away from his home. It was a result of his long research into their kind, which ultimately led to him becoming a half-formed Gibdo that his daughter kept in containment.

While he was mummified, his house was surrounded by the Gibdos who were desperate to get him to come out and join them, until Link got the watermill going and the song going again, which successfully repelled them. As for Pamela's Father, he had to be cured by the Song of Healing. This earned Link a Gibdo Mask. While wearing it, he could talk to the Gibdo without them trying to attack him. In the Ikana well, Link had to give Gibdos a variety of items in order to pass through the doors they were guarding. According to the research conducted by Pamela's father, the Gibdos were greedy people who entered the well looking for the treasure hidden inside.

Gibdos reappeared in Four Swords, The Minish Cap, A Link Between World and Tri Force Heroes. In these games, they were similar to the classic depiction and, as in the Oracles games, using fire on them would turn them into a Stalfos. In The Minish Cap, they showed up in the Palace of the Wind and would aggressively attack Link.

In Twilight Princess, only ReDead Knights appeared, but they were mummified enemies and known as Gibdos in Japan. These enemies attacked with paralyzing shrieks, swords and shields at the Arbiter's Grounds. They also were featured in one level of Link's Crossbow Training.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, a Gibdo appeared as the first boss faced in the game. He was based in the abandoned church of Sakado and was raising the dead to enslave the living populace. He was also shown to play the organ.
• ReDead Knights appeared in Hyrule Warriors as enemy captains. This time, they were referred to as Gibdos in the English localization, and only the fire-based variants were called ReDead Knights.

Other Media

• The Gibdo appeared in several episodes of the Zelda cartoon, and one episode featured one disguised as a maiden trying to seduce Link. Once they kissed, it turned Link into a frog while revealing its own true form, but Zelda was able to intervene and quickly defeated it.

Trivia

• In the instruction manual for A Link to the Past, it was referred to Gibdos (with other enemies not being referred to in a plural). This was likely an oversight due to the similarity to Stalfos, another undead enemy.
• According to an item description for the Gibdo Bandage from Tri Force Heroes, Gibdos like to clean like themselves like cats.