Ball and Chain Trooper

The Ball & Chain Trooper is an extremely powerful enemy encountered infrequently in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, the Oracle titles, Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, and Twilight Princess.

Characteristics
The Ball & Chain Trooper is, as its name suggests, a fully armored knight wielding a massive spiked ball on a chain. First appearing in A Link to the Past, these foes, also called gray and gold Mace Knights, were originally possessed Hyrulean knights that could toss their mace long distances and inflict heavy amounts of damage whenever Link was within range of their steel weapon. While they could be stunned by the Boomerang, the Troopers could recover quite quickly, not to mention their stringent stamina when it comes down to close combat, as seen in The Minish Cap, as well. These enemies go on to appear in Link's Awakening, sapping one whole heart from Link's life meter upon striking him.

Four Swords Adventures adds a new twist to the foe, providing a fiery mace to swing at Link, under certain circumstances in various stages. Some incarnations whirl the ball and chain around their body instead of shooting it straight at Link, and as these variations are injured, the speed at which they twirl the ball about their heads increases. Ball & Chain Troopers from Four Swords Adventures are often seen alone, or in a small group, acting only to impede Link's progress through a dungeon.

Varieties
While the incarnations from A Link to the Past to The Minish Cap differ little in terms of physical appearance and attack behavior, the Darkhammer mini-boss, seen in the Snowpeak Ruins in Twilight Princess, inherits many of the armored, ball-wielding traits of the standard Trooper, but instead with reptilian characteristics (tail and body shape). By defeating the Darkhammer, Link obtains the very weapon used against him by the foe, the Ball and Chain.

Weaknesses
In all titles save for Twilight Princess, which requires use of the Clawshot and the Back Slice technique to defeat such foes, Ball & Chain Troopers can be easily disparaged through the use of Bombs. Using the Boomerang to stun, and using the Bow and Arrows come quite handy in Link's Awakening and The Minish Cap, the latter of which incorporates the use of the Roc's Cape to inflict damage from above with the sword, all the while evading the lateral toss of the ball and chain. If Link is low on health, adapting an evasive, strategic approach may be his best bet against these foes, and is a good technique to use in general to avoid heavy damage.

With the Master Sword and the Red Ring equipped in Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, the Ball & Chain Trooper can be defeated in one fell swoop.

A Link to the Past comic
Ball and Chain Troopers appear briefly in Chapters 2 and 5 in the A Link to the Past comic. In Chapter 2, Link encounters one of these foes after visiting Sahasrahla's Wife in Kakariko Village. However, after the Ball and Chain Trooper swings his weapon at the young hero, Link falls into a bush, and the Trooper misses sight of him. Later in Chapter 5, after Link retrieves the Master Sword from the Lost Woods, he is ambushed by three Ball and Chain Troopers that the young hero quickly defeats with a single Spin Attack.

Trivia

 * The Ball and Chain Trooper is one of the enemies in both Oracle titles that are immune to the effect of Gale Seeds.
 * Onox, the boss of Oracle of Seasons, attacks much like a Ball and Chain Trooper in his normal form, but also uses other attacks unique to his character.