Moblin

The Moblin is the primary muscle of Ganon's army. Common as foot soldiers and quite unintelligent, they've been around since the very first Zelda game where they started as anthropomorphic bulldogs. By Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, they were combined with Butablins, and took on a more piggish appearance. Other related species include the smaller but more intelligent Bokoblin, the tiny Miniblin, and the more militaristic Bulblin. Moblins have appeared in most games in The Legend of Zelda series, except for Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda
Moblins first appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda. They keep to the wooded areas, such as the Lost Woods, and throw spears. Like most enemies from this game, they come in two colors - red and blue; blue being the stronger of the two. They are vulnerable to most weapons except fire.

Not all Moblins are enemies, however. Some hide in secret caves across Hyrule and give Link Rupees.

The Adventure of Link
In The Adventure of Link, Moblins appear leaner and more muscular in this game, as opposed to the short, squat appearance previously. They still serve Ganon, though he is deceased in this game. They still use spears, either holding or throwing, and live in wooded areas, although some can be found on bridges or caves. They appear in orange, red, and blue (from easiest to hardest, respectively).

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, Moblins only appear in the Dark World. They walk around quite quickly, and throw pitchforks at Link from any distance within the screen. Moblin projectiles can be easily blocked with the shield.

Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, Moblins appear in two forms: 'Pig' Moblin (ブタブリン, Butaburin) and common Moblin. They only appear in the Mysterious Woods and the Moblin Hideout. These Moblins home in on Link, like the guards in A Link to the Past, while some simply wander and fire arrows.

There is also a Boss named Great Moblin, who kidnaps Madam MeowMeow's Bow-Wow and resides in the Moblin Hideout.

Link's Awakening marks the transition in appearance of Moblins. These enemies move and attack exactly like their Moblin counterparts (both with swords and shields and bows) and can be found in Tal Tal Heights, near the Wind Fish's Egg.

Ocarina of Time
Moblins only appear in the Sacred Forest Meadow when Link is an adult. Normal-sized Moblins patrol the hedge maze with spears and proceed to charge if they see Link. A bigger and stronger variation of the Moblin, the Great Moblin, guards the entrance of the Forest Temple with a giant club. If he sees Link, he begin to slam it on the ground, causing a shock wave which can prevent forward progress. In the Master Quest version, one more club-wielding Moblin is in the Spirit Temple. They can be killed by the hookshot or arrows, but are generally best avoided by stealth. With good timing, death by sword is also a possibility. Also, it takes three bombs to kill the Great Moblin, which gives Link a random amount of Rupees.

Interestingly, Moblins are not able to be Z-targeted in Ocarina of Time.

Oracle series
In Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Moblins are one of the most common enemies. They act exactly as they did in Link's Awakening, still coming in red and blue variants; the blue ones are usually harder to find and to defeat. In Oracle of Ages, blue Moblins often appear in the past where red ones are placed in the exact same place in the present. Similarly, blue Moblins tend to appear during winter in Oracle of Seasons. A rare, one of a kind Golden Moblin can appear in a certain region of Holodrum. There is also the character known as the Great Moblin. Link is able to transform into a green Moblin with the Moblin Ring.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, Moblins are again Ganon's primary soldiers. They appear to have a keen sense of smell, as they appear to be sniffing out Link when he is sneaking through Forsaken Fortress. They are often seen patrolling Ganon's territory (such as reefs or submarines) or temples. Bokoblins and Miniblins often accompany them, and one Moblin on particular serves as the mini-boss of Dragon Roost Cavern.

Moblins are the least intelligent known of the goblin race. They typically carry polearms (which can be picked up and wielded by Link), and also carry lanterns that they can throw. Moblins are adept at handling a frontal assault by defending with their spears, so attacking from the sides or back is recommended. Moblins have immense reach with their spears, but their wide swings mean that two or more Moblins in proximity are likely to injure or even kill each other. If disarmed, a Moblin proceeds to unleash mighty, lightning-fast punches until it gets its spear back. Valuable Skull Necklaces can be stolen or gained from defeating them or by using the grapping hook, which can be sold to a sailor near the bomb shop, Beedle, or the man in the Auction House after the second Forsaken Fortress mission.

If Link does a thrust attack with his sword that hits a Moblin's rear-end, it starts to cry and walk on its tiptoes, due to the pain inflicted in a delicate place. If Link takes out a bomb while engaged with a Moblin, the Moblin then flees in terror, returning to the fight after the bomb explodes.

There are two kinds of Moblins in The Wind Waker: brown and blue. The brown Moblins can take more hits and carry lanterns along with their spears that they throw at Link when he gets close to them, acting as a smokescreen of sorts as well as to hurt him with fire. The blue Moblins can't take as many hits and do not have lanterns.

Maggie from Windfall Island maintains a long-distance relationship with a Moblin named Moe who lives in the Forsaken Fortress. They communicate through letters, and Moe indicates a disturbing "hunger" to see Maggie. Maggie takes this to mean that he wants to marry her. It is apparent through Maggie's actions that she is in love with him, much to her father's disapproval.

The Minish Cap
In The Minish Cap, the Moblins don't literally serve anybody, but aid Vaati in stopping Link from rescuing Princess Zelda in Dark Hyrule Castle. The pink ones appear in Western Wood and the black ones appear in Dark Hyrule Castle.

The Crystal Trap
In The Crystal Trap, Moblins continue to serve under Ganon's orders and try to eliminate Princess Zelda on her quest to obtain the three items necessary to free Link from the Crystal. They always appear in groups, right behind Ganon, willing to attack as soon as the evil wizard commands them. At one point in the book, if Zelda enters Madame Grusha's fortune-telling hut, she will discover that the fortune-teller is actually a Wizzrobe in disguise who commands the Moblins to attack and kill the princess. However, Zelda easily defeats both the Moblin and the Wizzrobe with the use of her bow.

Once Link and Zelda find the Spear stuck in one of the trees of the forest, Ganon and his gang of Moblin begin to quickly approach the heroes, but with the help of Zelda's friend Greenbeard, they are able to obtain the Spear and stop the Moblin right on their path. With the defeat of Ganon at the hands of Link, the Moblin disappear as well.

The Shadow Prince

 * See also: Moblin Chief and Nilbom the Tailor

The Moblins in The Shadow Prince not only serve Ganon, but also a Great Moblin who commands them to destroy Link in order to satisfy their master. These creatures play a much bigger role in this book, being capable of disguising themselves as humans and thus trick Link into thinking that they are there to help him. Both Princess Zelda and Link are first attacked by a gang of Moblins as they are walking through the woods. Although they defeat the first few monsters quite easily, Zelda runs out of arrows for her bow and ultimately gets knocked out by a rock thrown at her by one of the Moblins. Link goes after her but trips and tumbles to the ground, and just as he is about to be killed by a Moblin, a tall, dark man known as Charles saves him by commanding the Moblin to leave.

Later on in the book, if Link chooses to go through the Midoro Swamp on his way to the Town of Ruto, he will once again get ambushed by a group of Moblins; however, with the help of the Golden Whistle, he is able to weaken them with its high-piercing sound. One of the Moblin then offers Link a Magic Potion in exchange that the young hero stops whistling.

Once Charles of Moria runs away to the Midoro Swamp with the Triforce of Wisdom in hand, Link will follow him there only to find that Charles, who is actually Ganon in disguise, has an army of Moblin that quickly surround Link. Just as the Moblin are drawing in to attack the young hero, Link uses his sword to slash Charles's necklace in two, thus defeating the false Morian knight. The Moblins, now with their leader gone, all suddenly scatter away into the clearing.

Other Appearances

 * In A Link to the Past, the related Butablins replace the Hylian soldiers in the Dark World. In its Satellaview direct sequel, BS The Legend of Zelda: The Ancient Stone Tablets, there are no Moblins, on account of the fact that the Dark World is not present.
 * In Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons, Link can acquire a magical ring that transforms him into a Moblin. He cannot use any attacks in this form, but he is ignored by any Moblins (except the Great Moblin), and cannot be eaten by Like Likes. It can only be found in the possession of Maple or inside of a Gasha Nut.
 * Moblins do not appear in Twilight Princess, but in their place are Bulblins. A Moblin can be briefly seen in an early trailer for the game. It is unknown why Nintendo decided to not include them.
 * Moblins also do not appear in Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, but in their place are Oinkers.
 * Moblins appear in the television series, serving Ganon and ambushing Hyrule Castle to obtain the Triforce of Wisdom.

Trivia
In Japan, Moblins are called Moriburin, which is a combination of "Mori" (meaning forest) and "goblin". This explains why they were called "Molblins" in the first game. In Japanese, a vowel isn't always pronounced and the "L" and the "R" are the same letter, thus "Molblin" is a possible romanization of "Moriburin".