Morpha

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Morpha

Title	Giant Aquatic Amoeba
Game(s)	Ocarina of Time
Dungeon(s)	Water Temple
Weakness(es)	Its organic nucleus; Hookshot/Longshot
Reward(s)	Heart Container, Water Medallion

Giant Aquatic Amoeba: Morpha is the boss of the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time. Created by Ganondorf once he acquired the Triforce of Power, it has complete control over the water in the room in which it resides, moving swiftly through it and creating long amoeba-like "limbs".^[1] This monster is responsible for the receded state of Lake Hylia as well as the frozen condition of Zora's Domain.^[2]

Morpha itself is not the transparent muscle-like tentacle as its Ocarina of Time official artwork suggests, but the vulnerable red nucleus often safeguarded under the muck of the thick liquid. This nucleus can manipulate the water in any way it likes, creating one (and eventually two) large water tentacles as the battle goes on.

Navi's Comment

Strategy

As Link enters the boss room, Princess Ruto warns him that the water in the room "isn't normal."^[3] As he jumps onto one of the four pillars standing in the pool of water, a cutscene shows the view of a creature lurking in the water. It slowly makes its way to Link and comes out of the water behind him. The hero looks back at a tentacle of the Giant Aquatic Amoeba: Morpha before it vanishes, and the battle commences.

Morpha is a very mobile boss, meaning Link must keep moving during this battle, especially towards the end, if he is to survive. The nucleus churns the water below and rises within the center of one of its created tentacles. While the amoebic liquid is impossible to penetrate when in large concentrations in the pool, whenever a single arm rises and latches upon the land, the liquid becomes thin enough to pierce with the spike of the Hookshot. Link must hook the nucleus, and slash at it while it is on land during its Critical Point, the time in which it is entirely vulnerable and clear of any amoebic fluid. Morpha eventually adapts to the battle and grows a second tentacle, using it to distract Link from latching on to itself again. Just like with the single tentacle, the second one can grab Link, swing him about, then chuck him at the spikes at the edge of the arena, causing surplus damage. It is also notable that if one stays in the corner of the arena, between the spike panels, Morpha will be unable to successfully grab Link. Though the battle becomes a bit more urgent as the second tentacle grows, the technique used to defeat Morpha remains the same: Link must continue to hook the nucleus and smash it, continuously, while it is bouncing about on land. After injuring Morpha's nucleus several times, the core bursts in a spray of water. The tentacle clings to life as long as it can by using up all the water in the central pool, and by attempting to drain and escape through the ceiling. Once it sucks up all the water in the pool, the tentacle culminates in a single water droplet on the ceiling and drops to the floor, splattering in all directions.

Link's rewards for his victory are a Heart Container and the Water Medallion from Ruto.^[4]

Trivia

Din's Fire is capable of evaporating Morpha's tentacles.
Morpheel, from Twilight Princess, is a reference to Morpha, both in the way its first stage is defeated and in name.
Morpha can be very easily defeated by using the Longshot to pull it, and keep doing so when approaching the corners of the room to avoid it escaping. Link must repeatedly slash at it while trapped in the corner to defeat the boss quickly, and often injury-free.
After Morpha is defeated, Lake Hylia is restored. However, Zora's Domain remains frozen.
Contrary to popular belief, it is interesting to note that Princess Ruto warns Link about the strange water in Morpha's room and not Navi. The Japanese version makes this a little bit more obvious as the speech patterns of Ruto and Navi differ. Especially since Ruto tends to end her sentences with the word ゾラ sometimes. ^[5] However, there is one hint left in the English version which helps to indentify that the speaker is not Navi. Navi's text is generally colored in blue, but the text when Link enters the room is completely white.

Video

References

↑ "Morpha Master of the Water Temple. It has absolute control of water. Pull out its nucleus and attack it!" — Navi (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "This ice is created by an evil curse... The monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse." — Sheik (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "Link! Look out! That isn't normal water over there!" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "You received the Water Medallion! Ruto awakens as a Sage and adds her power to yours!" — N/A (Ocarina of Time)
↑ "リンク！気をつけるゾラ！！それは　ただの水ではない！" — Princess Ruto (Ocarina of Time)

Names in Other Regions
Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	水棲核細胞モーファ (Suisei Kaku Saibou Mōfa)	Aquatic Cell Nucleus: Morpha
Spanish	Ameba acuática gigante: Morpha	Giant aquatic amoeba: Morpha
Spanish	Ameba acuática gigante: Morpha	Giant aquatic amoeba: Morpha
French	Amibe Aquatique Géante: Morpha
French	Morpha: Amibe aquatique géante
German	Morpha