Moldorm

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Moldorm

Game(s)	The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past Link's Awakening The Wind Waker Four Swords Adventures The Minish Cap Twilight Princess Phantom Hourglass
Dungeon(s)	The Tower of Hera Tail Cave
Weakness(es)	Sword Magic Hammer

Moldorm (モルドアーム, Morudoaamu) was originally an uncommon worm-like dungeon enemy in The Legend of Zelda, but later gained fame when large members of the species featured as bosses in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Four Swords Adventures, with the normal-sized members making further appearances in games such as The Minish Cap and Twilight Princess. The more common, smaller versions of this enemy are Mini-Moldorms.

Characteristics

The Moldorm is a large, segmented annelid known to inhabit dungeons, and otherwise large, enclosed rooms where they can roam about freely, unobstructed. While most Moldorms generally look alike (a large head, with many body segments), the iterations in Four Swords and Phantom Hourglass appear to embody a more centipede-like look, while the ones from Twilight Princess tend to look more like Lanmolas and/or Baby Dodongos. Appearing originally in The Legend of Zelda, they have grown in strength from their simple, social form seen witihin the labyrinths of The Legend fo Zelda,^[1] to gargantuan, speedy dungeon protectors as in A Link to the Past and several titles afterwards. It is this transformation that forced a change in its weak spot between titles: originally, wherever Link struck the foe, it would loose a segment of its body, however, once a boss, its vulnerability changed to that of its final bodily segment.

All Moldorms are ground-dwelling, however, the iterations from Twilight Princess literally live in the ground, jumping from the quicksand in the Arbiter's Grounds to attack Link. To seek them out, he must Clawshot their sandy shadows, pulling them from the earth and towards him, where he can subsequently attack them.

Description from The Minish Cap's Moldorm figurine

Appears in various areas. These guys move quickly and randomly. Trap them in a corner and take them out quickly.

Weaknesses

When not a boss, Molodrms can be defeated with any conventional weapon, and often at one hit. In A Link to the Past, the first title to feature the Moldorm as a boss, it took six strikes of the sword to render the creature defeated, yet the entire battle was made more difficult with the addition of a "floating battlefield", one that would drop Link to lower floors if Link is unluckily thrown from the edge by the foe. After each strike, the creature would accelerate in speed until almost untouchable. This boss takes the same shape and behavior in Link's Awakening, yet only four hits is required to oust the beast. Four Swords Adventures throws the Moldorm boss battle for a spin: once hit, its tail would glow one of the respective colors of the four Links, and only the Link embodying the color of Molodrm's tail would be able to injure it. The final form of Puppet Ganon in The Windwaker uses the same mechanics, however, only the Light Arrows can inflict damage on Puppet Ganon's shiny blue tail segment.

Trivia

The Moldorm featured in A Link to the Past is known as デグテール Degu Tail in the Japanese game, as well as in Link's Awakening. On a different note, this particultar Moldorm makes a reappearance in Ganon's Tower, however, only the battlefield is shaped differently this time. The Golden Sword will kill Moldorm in two hits.
Nightmare, the final boss of Link's Awakening, takes on the Moldorm shape as one of his six forms. However, this battle is surrounded by walls, making the battle somewhat easier.
In Twilight Princess, after defeating enough of the standard Moldorm in the Arbiter's Grounds, a larger Moldorm will rise from the sand, in the same vein as the Stalchildren from Ocarina of Time. This grand variation can be struck down with two hits, instead of one.

Gallery

A Moldorm sprite as seen in The Legend of Zelda	A Link to the Past version of the Moldorm	In-game appearance of Moldorm from Link's Awakening	The Four Swords Adventures version of the Moldorm
The Moldorm form of Puppet Ganon in The Wind Waker	The standard Moldorm from Phantom Hourglass