Moa

From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia

Moa
Game(s)	The Adventure of Link
Non-canon Appearances	Captain N: The Game Master Link: The Faces of Evil Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Habitat(s)	Graveyards Old Kasuto Valley of Death Palaces
Effective Weapons	Magical Sword Sword Beam
EXP Points	100

The Moa is a flaming eyeball ghost that appears in The Adventure of Link.

Their movement pattern is similar to that of other ghost enemies such as Ghini and Poes, floating from left to right and swooping erratically to close in on Link. Every time a Moa collides with Link, he loses not only a moderately large amount of health, but also a few experience points.^[1] Moas attempt to swarm Link in large numbers. The best way to defeat these flying spirits is to use either the Up or Down Thrust.

The red Moa found in Western Hyrule is slightly weaker and can be seen by anybody, but the blue Moa found in Eastern Hyrule is stronger and invisible to Link unless he has the Cross.^[2] These invisible Moa also appear in Old Kasuto with a purple coloration, but are the same strength as the standard blue variety.

Fiery Moa

Fiery Moa^[3] only appear in the Palaces, and act quite differently to their overworld relatives. Instead of swooping at Link, they will fly overhead and usually out of reach and float straight above Link's path, dropping flames from behind it as it does. The flames will drop to the ground and burn for awhile before disappearing, blocking Link's path and causing a lot of trouble if other enemies are nearby. Fiery Moa can usually only be reached and destroyed by using the Jump Spell.

Non-canon Appearances

Non-Canon Information

hideshow

Trivia

• Moa are based on the concept of a Hitodama, a ghostly ball of flame that represents a deceased human soul in Japanese folklore.
• The Girubokku enemies from the same game greatly resemble Moas in being giant floating eyeballs. However, they fight rather differently, traveling around the screen for a short distance before opening their single great eye, which is Link's only opening to attack, and do not appear to be ghosts.
• The Graveyard found in the Death Mountain Area, which was home to Ghini in The Legend of Zelda, is instead home to red Moa by the time of The Adventure of Link.
• In the Famicom Disk System version of the game, Moa do not steal experience points.

Gallery

• 

  Red Moa

• 

  Purple Moa, which only appear in Old Kasuto

• 

  Moas in Captain N: The Game Master

• 

  A Moa in The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon

References

1. ↑ "Moa are large disconnected eyeballs who are mysteriously able to fly through the air. They have no mouths or claws, but the lubrication which coats their external membranes is toxic to the touch." — The Great Hyrule Encyclopedia,
2. ↑ "A ghost that flies over the graveyard. You can't see all of them unless you have a cross." (Adventure of Link manual, pg. 29)
3. ↑ "Inside Link encounters the Fiery Moa, and though later he will battle this creature, for now he decides to leave it alone." (Nintendo Power Volume 5 (Nintendo of America Inc.), pg. 10)
4. ↑ "Hurry! The tunnel entrance is right around here someplace!" — Link (Captain N: The Game Master, Episode 16 )

Names in Other Regions
Language		Name
Japanese		モア, ファイアモア
German		Moa

v · d · eGhost Enemies General Babusu · Boo Buddy · Camo Goblin · Composer Brothers · Fiery Moa · Ghini · Ghost  · Giant Ghini · Ghoul Rat · Hyu · Moa · Nocturn · Pols Voice · Rupee Wraith Poe Poe · Big Poe · Imp Poe · Poe Sisters (Joelle, Beth, Amy, and Meg) Bosses Big Poe · Cubus Sisters · Death Sword · Jalhalla · Phantom Ganon · Phantom Zant · Pumpkin Head · Shadow Hag Enemies

v · d · eEye Enemies Enemies Chasupa · Eyeball Monster · Eyeroc · Fire Eye · Girubokku · Laser Eye · Moa · Phantom Eye Bosses Arrghus · DethI · Digdogger · Eyesoar · Morpheel · Patra · Slime Eye · Vaati  · Vitreous · Wart Enemies