Enemies in Skyward Sword

Bosses

At a late point in the game, the boss matches can be replayed through Lanayru's Lightning Round minigame to set records and score prizes. This includes all three battles against Ghirahim and The Imprisoned, but it excludes the battles with Levias and Biloclyte. The battle against the horde of monsters prior to the final Ghirahim match is also added here. Additionally, Demise can only be fought through this mode when playing on Hero Mode.

Recurring Bosses

• Ghirahim: Demon Lord
  • Ghirahim is the flamboyant demon lord that is battled three times over the course of the game, twice replacing expected dungeon bosses. Each match can be split into two faces. During the first phase, Ghirahim tries fighting Link with his bare hands while sometimes using a type of magic. Link has to avoid his blocking hand and the diamonds that he uses as shields to hit him. For the second phase of each battle, Ghirahim will summon a sword or two to fight Link with, and his movements are quick and precise. This phase depends on exploiting gaps in Ghirahim's defenses and destroying the crystals that he tries to attack Link with. During all phases of the battle, Ghirahim will use teleportation to his advantage. In the second battle in particular, he will teleport into the air and try to drop down on Link from above while stabbing down with his sword. Dodging this will cause Ghirahim's sword to be temporarily stuck in the ground, which leaves him vulnerable to attack. Ghirahim is the first boss who is faced at the Skyview Temple.
    • The second battle is at the Fire Sanctuary, which is the last battle in the quest for the Sacred Flames and the Master Sword. The third and final battle with Ghirahim is at the Sealed Grounds, and it is the second-to-last battle of the game. This battle has some deviations, as it starts off on a series of floating platforms in the air, and Ghirahim can only be hurt by striking the gems on his chest. Normal sword strikes will still hurt him, and the winning strategy involves repeatedly hitting him to knock him off the ledge and then getting his chest with a fatal blow while he is down. There is still room for Ghirahim to turn the tables through powerful kicks, and he will swiftly counterattack if Link fails to avoid hitting his diamonds with his strikes. Striking Ghirahim several times triggers the next part of the battle, where he wields swords on land. In this phase, his chest must be stabbed repeatedly through thrusts. He also eventually replaces his sword with one giant one, but it is one that can be quickly chipped away at through attacks to stun Ghirahim and leave him open until attack. This continues until he is finally defeated.
• The Imprisoned
  • This enemy is the shape taken by Demise while he was sealed at the bottom of the pit at the Sealed Grounds. The weakening seal on Demise causes The Imprisoned to break free a total of three times over the course of the game, at which point it will slowly start to ascend up the sloping path leading to the Sealed Temple, and if it reaches the temple it is an automatic game over. It is up to Link to restore the seal each time. Demise is a gigantic beast that is covered in black scales and has sharp teeth. For all battles, Link must cut all four of its toes (one on the back and three in front) for each foot to trip The Imprisoned over backwards, temporarily stunning it. Link then must drive the sealing spike back into its head with three strikes from the Goddess/Master Sword. The Imprisoned will push the spike back out, usually after a period where it temporarily turns red and slides further up the slope. The battle usually ends the third time that the spike is pushed in, at which point the monster will be returned to the seal, and Link must then follow a pattern with this sword strikes to finish the seal.
    • For the first battle, The Imprisoned's only appendages are its legs. The first battle occurs during Link's return to the Sealed Grounds after completing the Lanayru Mining Facility and meeting Zelda at the Temple of Time. It is formulaic compare dot the later battles, and the only direct danger aside from the possibility of being stepped on is that as its toes are destroyed, The Imprisoned's footsteps begin creating shockwaves. In later battles, the shockwaves always occur as long as The Imprisoned has toes. In most cases, before The Imprisoned rejects the sealing spike, it will turn red and temporarily slide along the ground before resuming its normal pattern as it regrows the sealing spike. The second battle starts when Link revisits the Sealed Grounds with the Master Sword. For this battle, The Imprisoned grows a pair of arms that it uses to try to scale the area. Groose helps in this battle as he can periodically fire giant bombs from his Groosenator that will stun The Imprisoned, although the device has limited mobility. Link will be forced into the third and final battle upon returniing to the Faron Province during the Song of the Hero sidequest. For this battle, the Imprisoned has a tail that swings back and forth, impeding any attacks from behind. After recovering from the sealing spike the first time, for the next two times it will grow some type of wings that it uses to drift to the top of the pit much faster. The first time, Groose must knock it out of the air with a bomb, at which point it will fall to the bottom and Link can drive the spike in again. The next time it ascends, Groose is cut off from his bombs so Link must instead make his way to the top before The Imprisoned. Link is instead fired as ammunition directly at the The Imprisoned's head, and must drive the spike in directly there to ensure victory.

Normal Bosses

• Scaldera: Pyroclastic Fiend
  • The boss of the Earth Temple, Scaldera is a monster that is summoned by Ghirahim. Its had a round body that is shielded by a rocky shell, and it has a set of spindly legs that it uses to run up the room's slope. It has a single eye that roams freely throughout its body and acts as its weakness. Scaldera will run up the slope in pursuit of Link until it is hit with a bomb, either thrown by Link or stepped on by Scaldera. It will then roll down for a bit until it regains its footing. Scaldera then will inhale and several large fireballs at Link before resuming the pattern. Link can toss a bomb into Scaldera's mouth while it is inhaling to cause an explosion that breaks part of the rocky armor which makes the eye easier to attack. This also temporarily stuns Scaldera, at which point Link can attack its eye with his word. Scaldera loses more of its armor with each internal explosion, and as it recovers it temporarily turns itself on fire while trying to pursue Link. After being damaged enough, Scaldera changes its attack pattern by trying to run ahead of Link (making sure to stretch its legs to run over him), hit a bomb and then as it falls down the slope it tries to intentionally roll over Link while on fire. After enough hits to the eye, Scaldera is destroyed.
• Moldarach: Thousand-Year Arachnid
  • Moldarach is an Archa that survived its thousand year long larval stage and most closely resembles a scorpion, particularly with its stinger-tipped tail. It is the boss of the Lanayru Mining Facility, and another one makes a surprise appearance at the Shipping Yard. Moldarach's armor is impenetrable, but it has several eyes that are vulnerable. One eye is on its head and usually remains closed, while the other two eyes are on its pincers. During the first phase of the battle, the Moldarach will try to grab Link with its pincers, but Link can use his sword to attack each pincer's eye until the pincer is destroyed. Moldarach will be forced to open its eye at this point, which leaves it open to being stabbed. It primarily attacks with its tail at this point and attempts to take cover under the sand, but it can be uncovered using the Gust Bellows. Linkc an then continue to attack Moldarach's central eye until it is destroyed.
• Koloktos: Ancient Automaton
  • This is the automaton defending the Ancient Cistern. It is supposed to be benevolent, but Ghirahim corrupts it with cursed energy which turns it against Link. It has six arms and a red heart-like core in its chest that acts as its weakness. Each arm also has a core that leaves it vulnerable; when the arm misses an attack and is stuck in the ground, there is a brief moment when Link can use the whip to dismantle the arm. Throughout the battle, Koloktos will recover from attacks on its chest core by surging with dark energy which re-attaches all of the broken arms. During the first phase of the battle, two arms attack with large chakrams while two other arms attack normally, and the last set of arms covers the core. Pulling off the two unarmed arms when they attack will cause Koloktos to eventually do an attack where it temporarily uncovers its chest, at which point the chest core can be attacked. Koloktos will soon recover from this and initiate the second phase, where it produces legs and one sword for each of the six arms, as well as a grille which protects the chest core. Koloktos will then attempt to pursue Link and attack him with the swords, and it also summons Cursed Bokoblins. Link will also only have one chance to pull off multiple arms from attacks during this phase. Link can pick up the sword from one of the broken arms. The large sword can cut off Koloktos's arms and legs, and then through the chest grille. The chest core can then be attacked again. Koloktos will repair itself several times while becoming faster and more dangerous until it finally breaks down for good.
• Tentalus: Abyssal Leviathan
  • This monster is said to have been a tyrant of the ancient seas and attacks the Sandship while it is in the past. It is a giant one-eyed creature that has a head full of tentacles acting as hair, as well as two large tentacle-like arms. Unlike most bosses, Tentalus is an outside force attacking the Sandship, and Link must escape to the deck of the ship before facing it, and it is at first battled indirectly. Tentalus's tentacles tear through the ship, and Link can repel them with sword strikes or sever them with Skyward Strikes. After enough tentacles are severed, Tentalus will finally surface to try and attack Link with its arms. Link can then stun Tentalus by shooting an arrow into its eyes and damage it with sword strikes to the eye. Tentalus will then pull back and attack indirectly with tentacles again. After being damaged enough, Tentalus begins to tear the ship apart in frustration, which forces Link to ascend to a higher deck. There, Tentalus attacks more directly and even has its tentacles transform to have nipping mouths as they attack Link, but they are still vulnerable to the sword. Link can continue to use the bow and sword to stun and slice at Tentalus's eye until the monster is destroyed.
• Levias: Great Spirit of the Skies, and Biloclyte: Ocular Parasite
  • This battle occurs when Link enters the Thunderhead with a pumpkin soup delivery after completing the Master Sword quest and beginning the quest for the Triforce. Levias is the only aerial boss. He will try to elude Link's attacks, and it is easy to get hurt by his massive bulk. The true enemies and targets are Bilocyte's eye-stalks which protrude from Levias, and they produce smaller aerial enemies to attack Link. Link must use the aerial spin maneauver with precise aiming to destroy each of the eye-stalks. Link then can board Levia's back to battle the true boss, Bilolyte, on foot. Bilocyte is another eye on a stalk that attacks by spitting out large green balls which resemble some type of mucus or bile. Link can stun it by knocking the projectile into its eye, but first the projectiles must be knocked into its protective fins. Bilocyte's eye is then open for attacks and eventually can be destroyed.
• Demise: Demon King
  • The Demon King is the final boss of the game who is faced in a swordfight. The only way to hurt him is by repeatedly striking him with the Master Sword from multiple angles. There are also very few points at which he has an opening. At several points, he will raise his sword skyward to charge it with electrical energy. He is vulnerable to attack at this moment. Alternately, as Link is cut off from Skyward Strikes in this battlefield, he can raise his sword when Demise is to attract the lightning instead. Once Demise is knocked onto his back, he can be finished off with a simple fatal blow that is charged with electricity. However, Demise will usually dodge it the first one or two times. Once one fatal blow gets in, Demise is destroyed.

Mini-Bosses

• LD-002S Scervo
  • Scervo was a robot pirate who commandeered the Sandship to secure Nayure's Flame in the distant path. He cast the capatin, Skipper, out to sea, and the rest of Skipper's crew was imprisoned within the ship. There is not much to be said of his background except that he is "mutinous", which implies that he rebelled against the other robots for some reason. Link battles Scervo early in his campaign on the Sandship. The battle actually happens during the present, when the Sandship was in the middle of the desert, which causes Fi to admire Scervo's tenacity in staying alive and functional all those years. Link and Scervo battle in a narrow area along the front deck of the ship. Thrusting is the only reliable move in such close quarters, and Link's goal was to continually push Scervo back. As the battle progressed, Scervo turned his sword electric, and after it was destroyed he resorted to swinging his hook hand wildly. Link was still able to defeat Scervo by knocking him off the edge of the ship, from whence he fell to the dune below and exploded.
• LD-003D Dreadfuse
  • This robot is of a similar model as Scervo and acts as the guard for the Sky Keep. It battles Link on a narrow bride. Dreadfuse is basically a stronger version of Scervo with similar attacks and a similar strategy needed to defeat it. It must be defeated to reach the small key which is needed to reach the Triforce of Courage's room. Although Dreadfuse counts as a miniboss, it is the closest thing to a boss that the Sky Keep has.

Minor Enemies

• Aracha
• Ampilus
• Armos
• Beamos
• Bokoblin
  • Blue Bokoblin
  • Cursed Bokoblin
  • Green Bokoblin
  • Technoblin
  • Red Bokoblin
• ChuChu
  • Blue ChuChu
  • Green ChuChu
  • Red ChuChu
  • Yellow ChuChu
• Craniac
• Deku Baba
  • Quadro Baba
• Froak
• Furnix
• Guay
• Hrok
• Keese
  • Dark Keese
  • Fire Keese
  • Thunder Keese
• Lizalfos
  • Dark Lizalfos
• Magmanos
• Moblin
• Octorok (Grass, Rock)
• Peahat
• Pyrup
• Remlit
• Sentrobe
  • Sentrobe Bomb
• Skulltula
  • Walltula
• Staldra
• Spume
  • Cursed Spume
  • Electro Spume
  • Magma Spume
• Stalfos
  • Stalmaster