Stalfos

Stalfos are recurring enemies in. They are skeletal knights that attack with their bones or Swords.

Characteristics and Weaknesses
Stalfos are undead, skeleton warriors who can be found mostly in dungeons as mini-bosses. They tend to attack with either one or two Swords. Some of them also wield Shields to protect themselfs, although they can also use their Swords to block attacks. Stalfos from wield clubs instead. Some Stalfos can also attack by throwing bones or their skull, or by jumping and then dropping above Link.

When defeating a Stalfos in, it becomes a pile of bones. If Link does not get rid of the bones, the Stalfos will eventually regenerate. Link can drop a Bomb on the pile of bones to completely destroy the Stalfos. He can also throw the Ball and Chain to destroy the Stalfos, and then its bones when the ball comes back at him, or shoot a Bomb Arrow to defeat it with a single hit. In the Forest Temple from, Link fights a pair of Stalfos which must be defeated in quick succession. By not doing so, the first Stalfos that is defeated will eventually regenerate. When enough damage is dealt to a Stalfos in The Wind Waker, its body explodes, leaving its skull bouncing around the room. Link must then destroy the skull before its full body regenerates. Link can use a Bomb to quickly destroy the Stalfos body, and the Skull Hammer to destroy the skull in a single hit.

Coloration
In, Stalfos come in three varieties: white, red, and blue. White Stalfos are considerably weaker than their red and blue counterparts, both of which possess jumping and thrusting attacks. In, there are two types of Stalfos: blue and orange. The blue variety is a standard Stalfos that simply walks around. The orange variety tends to jump away from Link's Sword slashes, and have the ability to toss bones. In, the blue variety only jumps, while the red one uses bones as their primary weapon. Furthermore, a special kind of Stalfos known as the Blue Stalfos is the mini-boss of the Ancient Tomb. In, both the blue and orange Stalfos also appear, with red and green varieties appearing as well. Each of them have their own unique abilities.

Parutamu
In The Adventure of Link, Parutamu are armored Stalfos with horned helmets. They behave like their red and blue counterparts, but are more durable and deal more damage.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, Stalfos come in four colors: Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green. The blue one in the weakest, and its only reaction to Link is dodging his attacks by jumping back. the red Stalfos do the same thing, but afterwords throw a bone at Link. The yellow ones drop down, detach their heads that fly directly at link, then go away. they can be prevented from detaching their heads by hitting them before they do so. the green ones are just the heads.

Stalfos Knight


In, a larger variety known as the Stalfos Knight appear in the Ice Palace. These Stalfos are much larger, tougher, and carry large Swords. Link cannot defeat them with his Sword alone, as he must use a Bomb to destroy ther remains. Stalfos from The Adventure of Link are known by the Japanese name of Stalfos Knights, Stalfon.

Shrouded Stalfos
and the include Shrouded Stalfos alongside normal Stalfos. Shrouded Stalfos throw spears at Link, while Sword Stalfos fight with Sword and Shields in a similar manner to Darknuts.

Master Stalfos


In Link's Awakening, the Master Stalfos is a large Stalfos that appears several times in the Catfish's Maw, where he steals the Hookshot from a Treasure Chest. His appearance and behavior is similar to the Stalfos Knights from A Link to the Past.

Ikana Stalfos
In, Stalfos are the long-dead skeleton knights of the Ikana Kingdom, Igos du Ikana and his. To defeat both lackeys before they regenerate, Link must reflect light with his Mirror Shield onto their remains. Igos du Ikana is the largest and most powerful Stalfos in Majora's Mask. He can exhale a poisonous breath, detach his head which flies around the room trying to bite Link, and make his body invulnerable to attacks.

Skull Keeta, the captain of the Stalchildren, served under the King, Igos du Ikana.

Big Dark Stalfos


includes two new types of Stalfos: the Dark Stalfos and the Big Dark Stalfos. Dark Stalfos appear in the Temple of Darkness as invincible dark shadows wielding Swords. Only by entering the Dark World, their true form can be seen and fought. They fight like Chief Soldiers, with heavy lunging swings. Big Dark Stalfos are Knights of Hyrule who have been transformed into monsters and sent to the Dark World by Ganon. They hold the Royal Jewels needed to access the Tower of Winds, where Princess Zelda is held. They appear as boss enemies at the end of certain stages.

Game & Watch Zelda
In the, Stalfos hide themselves below the platform Link is on and attack upwards. However, their attacks are slow and in a sweeping motion, making them easy to dodge. Between one and four Stalfos appear on each floor. They cannot be attacked by Link.

Link's Crossbow Training
In, Stalfos appear in various Defender-type stages. Several of them hold Shields much like their Twilight Princess counterparts. Their Shields can be shot several times to be destroyed, allowing the Stalfos to be hit. The Shield can also be destroyed with a single Bomb Arrow.



Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
In, the boss known as Captain Stalfos is the leader of a troupe of skeleton pirates. Although he shares his name with Stalfos, his crew members are not Stalfos, and are generally friendly.

Animated Series
In The Legend of Zelda animated series, Stalfos appear as one of Ganon's most common soldiers. For the most part, Ganon uses the Stalfos to carry him around on a platform since his teleportation powers are limited in the overworld. In "The Ringer," Ganon disguises several Stalfos in cloaks so that they may transport him to the Magician's Contest, and in "The Missing Link," Ganon arrives to North Castle with Stalfos carrying him once again. Unlike the games, Stalfos can be seen wielding a variety of weapons such as, , , , , and the usual , out of which they can shoot Sword Beams from. Stalfos seem to be able to withdraw Bombs from their chest any time they please, as seen in "The Ringer" and in "The Missing Link." They usually attack in groups, although Link easily defeats them with just one Zap from his Crissword.

Like all of Ganon's minions, Stalfos are capable of speaking and have a rough, raspy voice. They appear in seven episodes out of the thirteen total: "The Ringer," "Sing for the Unicorn," "Doppelganger," "Stinging a Stinger," "Hitch in the Works," "The Missing Link," and "The Moblins are Revolting."

Captain N: The Game Master
Stalfos appear in two episodes of Captain N: The Game Master. Like in the Zelda animated series, they are capable of speaking, although they are only heard in one episode. In "Quest for the Potion of Power," Link fights and defeats two Stalfos as he, Princess Zelda, and Kevin are making their way through the Parapa Palace. Stalfos also appear in "Having a Ball," where they confront Link, Zelda, Kevin, and Princess Lana while they are in the desert. However, they pose no real threat to the heroes since Kevin and Link easily dispose of them using the Zapper and the Sword, respectively.

The Legend of Zelda Comic
Stalfos make several appearances throughout the issues of The Legend of Zelda comic published by Valiant Comics. They first appear in "To the First Power" as one of the enemies that capture Link under the orders of a Wizzrobe. They appear again in "Queen of Hearts," where they battle against Link and Queen Seline to keep them from breaking the magic container that will give the queen her magical powers back. Stalfos are last seen as one of the monsters ambushing Princess Zelda after she fails in defeating Ganon in "Day of the Triforce."

The Shadow Prince
In The Shadow Prince, Princess Zelda, Link, and Charles of Moria encounter Stalfos when they accidentally fall into the Underground Tunnel, which is a maze infested with these skeletal warriors. After the fall, Link notices a piece of paper sticking out of a rock and tells Zelda and Charles he has found a map, hoping that it is not fake.

If Link thinks the map is fake, he will throw it away and tell Zelda and Charles to follow him. With the Stalfos pursuing them, Link tries to get the group out of the tunnel, but he trips on a Stalfos since the tunnel is so dark. The page ends with a Game Over as Zelda cries to Link saying that he picked the wrong path, claiming that they will die at the hands of the Stalfos.

However, if Link decides that the map is real, he will tell the Zelda and Charles to follow him after examining the routes just as the Stalfos begin to approach them. Eventually, they safely exit back out to the woods, leaving the Stalfos howling at the end of the tunnel.

Philips CD-i Games
Stalfos appear as enemies in, , and. In The Faces of Evil, a stronger variant called Fire Stalfos also appears, which has the ability to shoot fireballs from their swords.

In The Faces of Evil, Goronu raises these skeletal warriors from the dead and sends them to find and kill the living. He calls one "Sleepy Bones", a term that normally refers to someone lazy. Their cutscene shows them being given armor and swords to fight with as they reanimate.



A Link to the Past Comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, two Stalfos appear in the Ice Palace. When Link asks Kholdstare that he let him see the map of the Dark World, Kholdstare refuses and unleashes two Stalfos to attack Link. When the young hero sees that they keep re-spawning even after defeating them, he begins  to focus his power on the Master Sword, whose power causes for the Stalfos to be permanently defeated.

Ocarina of Time Manga
In the Ocarina of Time manga, one Stalfos (or, rather, the floating disembodied head of one) returns to Ganondorf to report an encounter with Link. Strangely, Ganon calls this Stalfos by the name of the Twilight Princess boss, Stallord.

Hyrule Warriors
In, Stalfos appear as Captains. They are incorrectly referred to in-game as Stalchildren, which they lead in the battles they appear.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U
In, Stalfos in their Ocarina of Time incarnation appear as enemies. In the Nintendo 3DS version of the game, they appear in the mode. In the Wii U version, shadowy Stalfos appear inside the. They are powerful enemies who can parry most attacks with their Shields and deal heavy damage with Sword slashes. They are vulnerable to attacks from above, below, and behind them. Stalfos can be grabbed in the Wii U version, but not in the 3DS version.

Stalfos also appear as a Trophy in the Nintendo 3DS version of the game.

Etymology
Stalfos is both singular and plural. Their name is a of "stal-" and "fos," meaning "skeletal humanoid."

Trivia

 * According to Fado, a Stalfos is the result of someone getting lost in the Lost Woods in Ocarina of Time.