Gohma

Gohma (ゴーマ, Gōma) is usually depicted as a large insectoid, spider- or scorpion-like creature. She often serves as a boss for Link and is seen in several Zelda games.


 * See also: Gohma Larva

The Legend of Zelda
Gohma makes her first appearance in The Legend of Zelda. She is the overworld boss of the Dragon Labyrinth. The easiest way to eliminate the Tektite Queen is to shoot an arrow into her eye; one hit will destroy the boss. However, the eye needs to be open for you to hit it. Gohma will also send fireballs as a form of attack. The sixth piece of the Triforce of Wisdom is your reward for her defeat.

Gohma makes more appearances in several dungeons after her first defeat. Use the same strategy to take care of her in these next encounters.

Though Gohma may take an arrow for it to defeat her, there are two different varieties of the Gohma. She comes in red and blue. The red Gohma takes merely one arrow for victory while the blue one takes three.

Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, multiple Gohmas appeared as a sub-boss in the Catfish's Maw. They would jump back and forth with their eyes closed, and would only be vulnerable to the Hookshot when their eyes were open. They can either lunge forward or diagonally, and when they open their eyes, a projectile will follow; however, if attacked soon enough this effect is canceled.

Ocarina of Time
Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Queen Gohma (甲殻寄生獣ゴーマ, Shell Parasite Beast: Gōma) debuts as the first boss enemy Link will encounter in his adventures in Ocarina of Time.

After the Great Deku Tree refused to place the Spiritual Stone of Forest into Ganondorf's hands, the Gerudo warlock cursed the ancient tree with a monstrous, Tektite-like creature, Queen Gohma, titled as a Parasitic Armored Arachnid. Ravaging the inner body of the Deku Tree, spreading her offspring, scattering her web, and leeching on the Tree's life, the Great Deku Tree had no choice but to request for Link's help with the aid of Navi the fairy. Queen Gohma was found on the deepest floor inside the Great Deku Tree, resting atop the ceiling. When Link confronted her, he discovered she had one weakness: her eye was vulnerable when it turned red. Even with her armor, her sheer bulk of strength and her Gohma Larva's intervention, Queen Gohma was defeated. The curse was broken, and Gohma was consumed in magic and reduced to ashes. Strategy: Queen Gohma's only weakness is her eye when it turns red. Attacking anywhere else (even her normal eye) will result in no damage being done. She has just two ways of attacking you; one is the very first thing she does when the fight begins. Queen Gohma will climb into the ceiling, and from there lay some eggs into the ground (just before laying the eggs her eye will turn red). The eggs will hatch into Gohma Larva if you're not fast enough to destroy them. The Gohma Larvae attack when their eye turns red by jumping towards you. The second way Gohma attacks is by walking menacingly towards you and hitting you with her pincers (again, just before she does this, she will "stand up", scream, and turn her eye red).

As soon as you enter the room, whip out your Slingshot and L/Z-Target her eye. When it turns red, shoot it and she will be stunned for a few moments. This gives you the opportunity to hack away with your Kokiri Sword or perform a jumpstrike with a Deku Stick, However the greatest damage is done by doing rapid strikes from behind your shield without targeting her, as this will sometimes kill her before her first trip to the ceiling if you're fast. If you don't defeat her the first time, L/Z-target her again as soon as she gets up and wait until she climbs onto the ceiling. She will try to lay her eggs on top of you; when her eye turns red, unload with your slingshot. However, if the babies still come, L/Z-Target them and defeat them quickly. When Queen Gohma comes back down, continue with the same pattern as before until you defeat her and earn your prize: a Heart Container and the Spiritual Stone of Forest, the Kokiri Emerald, which the Great Deku Tree will give to you, before passing away.

On earlier versions, the game can allegedly be frozen by casting a Deku Nut at Gohma's eye. This glitch has been repaired in further distributions, including the GameCube re-releases.

It should be noted that in the manga version of Ocarina of Time, Gohma can talk, and her true form was little more than a cockroach, her form fought apparently the cause of dark magic.

Oracle of Seasons
Gohma also makes an appearance inside the Dancing Dragon Dungeon in Oracle of Seasons. This time around, though, the beast has an extra appendage, a very deadly claw. If you run in front of her, she will charge at you and grab you. Then she will slam you in to the ground. She'll then let you go. Getting rid of the claw is the first order of business, so slash at it with your sword. However, to avoid the claw, you should use the Roc's Feather to jump over it. Once the claw is destroyed, use the Slingshot to fire at its open eye while avoiding the larvae it summons. Once it is defeated, the fourth Essence of Nature, the Soothing Rain, is yours.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, Gohma was placed by Ganondorf below the resting spot of the Spirit of the Sky, Valoo, high on Dragon Roost Island's peak, without the Sky Spirit knowing about it. Doing so tormented Valoo and thus angered him enough so that he would become violent and unpredictable and cause trouble, confusion, and panic among the Rito, the protectors of Din's Pearl. Link offers to help the Rito, and when he reaches the boss room inside Dragon Roost Cavern, he finds an impressive, lava-resistant, Magtail-like monster as his foe. Despite its menacing figure, Link manages to crack open Gohma's armor and delivers many lethal strikes to its eye with his sword, then finally kills her.

Strategy: The first obstacle to inflict any significant damage is to get rid of Gohma's hard shell. First, use your Grappling Hook on Valoo's tail (sticking out of the ceiling); do a good swing and let go when you can land on a safe spot (it's better if you can land on one of the wooden platforms along the stone wall) and watch the ceiling cave in over Gohma. Do this again twice and Gohma's shell will be destroyed, leaving its weak spot, its eye, vulnerable. Use the grappling hook on the eye to bring it down to your level and attack with your sword to defeat it. Once you achieve this, you'll receive your prize: a Heart Container and an apology as well as Din's Pearl from the Chieftain's son, Prince Komali.

You must defeat Gohma twice, once in Dragon Roost Cavern and once in Ganon's Tower to complete the game.

Four Swords Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures, Gohma appears in two variations. The first type is a large, one-eyed arachnid that aimlessly wanders about the fields of Hyrule. The second type also appears as a large, one-eyed arachnid, but it acts as mini-boss that shoots fireballs at Link. Both types of Gohma could be harmed only by shooting arrows at its open eye.

Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, a more spider-like reincarnation of Gohma appears, called Twilit Arachnid: Armogohma (Her name is a portmanteau of "Armos", as in Armos Statue, and Gohma). Like all previous incarnations, its eye is the weak spot. Fire an arrow in its eye, and it will fall to the ground. There are four statues in each corner of the room. Use the Dominion Rod to awaken the statue and hit the spider with its weapon. This will damage the spider and it will return to the ceiling. Once this is done three times, Armogohma will explode, but revealing the eye to be one spider. A sword slash or three arrows will kill it off. Alternately, Link can squash it with the colossi in the corners.

Like some of its previous incarnations, the dungeon in which Armogohma is featured includes many spiders and spider-like creatures as enemies. Also similar to its previous incarnations, Armogohma drops eggs whilst hanging from the ceiling at certain points during the boss battle. They quickly hatch into the spider creatures from the dungeon, which the player must defeat before continuing with the main boss battle.