Bellum

The final battle against Bellum.
Bellum
Species	Unknown
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Bellum is an evil life-draining monster that is the main villain of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Background

Bellum's exact origins are unknown. It was a large plant-like creature with the ability to drain life force. It relished strong life force and would do anything to obtain potent life force. Eventually it set its sights on Oshus, the Ocean King, and attacked the Temple of the Ocean King. He eventually overpowered Oshus and sealed his life force away deep within the Temple of the Ocean King, where Bellum made its base. There it slowly drained away Oshus's life force. It also captured the spirits of Wisdom and Power, but it only captured part of Ciela, the Spirit of Wisdom, because she had split herself into two.

Bellum produced various monsters which spread throughout the ocean and guarded over the spirits Bellum had captured while seeking more life force for Bellum's insatiable hunger. The most powerful of these monsters were the Phantoms, who resembled heavily armored soldiers and patrolled the Temple of the Ocean King. The islands on the ocean were also rich with life force, so Bellum created the Ghost Ship to patrol the ocean and drain all of that life force. People with great life force, such as Tetra, were lured in by the Ghost Ship and had their life forces drained. However, this brought Bellum to the attention of the young hero Link.

Link was able to gather the three spirits and shut down the Ghost Ship. He also managed to forge a Phantom Sword, which was capable of damaging Bellum and his most powerful minions. Link eventually made his way to the bottom of the Temple of the Ocean King, where he battled Bellum. With Ciela's time-stopping abilities, Link successfully defeated Bellum. The seal on the Ocean King's power weakened, but Bellum was actually still alive. It burst in soon after Tetra was revived and captured her, then brought her to the Ghost Ship and possessed it.

Link and Linebeck worked together to take on and destroy the Ghost Ship. But Bellum still had one more trick up its sleeve. After Linebeck attempted to defend the unconscious Link, Bellum possessed Linebeck and transformed him into a large Phantom-like warrior. The fused creature vigorously attacked Link in the ruins of the Ghost Ship, but Link was once more able to use Ciela's time-stopping abilities in order to slash at Bellum's eye on the back of the creature. After being defeated, Bellum disintegrated and was presumably gone for good.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Bellum appears in the Phantom Hourglass manga adaptation, which reverses the order of its forms. It captures Linebeck at sea near the end and transforms him into the Phantom-like Link for his first fight with Link at the Temple of the Ocean King, but Linebeck takes control and tries to kill himself until Link defeats this form. Oshus than regains his true form and tussles with Bellum's true, squid-like form until Link gains the Phantom Sword and uses it to finish Bellum.

Trivia

• His name is taken from the Latin word for "war".
• The development team originally referred to him as "Grande Octo".