Stalmaster

Stalmaster is a four-armed, well-armored Stalfos that can be found as a mini-boss in the Ancient Cistern in SS undefined. It is fought again in Sky Keep on the way to collect the Triforce of Courage, along with Cursed Bokoblins.

Strategy
Initially, the Stalmaster only uses two of its arms in combat, wielding two swords much in the fashion of a regular Stalfos in Skyward Sword. After taking a certain amount of damage, it unfolds its two other arms, which also hold weapons. The full arsenal of the Stalmaster is three swords and an axe. In this four-armed phase, the Stalmaster will generally position its swords so that it can only be struck from one direction at a time. The Stalmaster is very aggressive while in its four-armed phase, often striking with all four arms in quick succession. It has a very damaging charging attack where it first guards itself with all four weapons and then lunges forward swinging them outward. Like the regular Stalfos, the Stalmaster gradually loses portions of its ribcage as it takes damage. When it is close to death, its helmet falls off and spawns Hearts.

Hyrule Warriors Series
Stalmasters appear in as elite enemies rather than as a mini-boss. Their attack patterns are similar to that of Darknuts, as their eyes will glow red before lunging forward to strike with their swords. Doing so also leaves them vulnerable and exposes their Weak Point Gauge. As with Darknuts, they are also weak to the Boomerang when charging their attack.

In only, Dark Stalmasters appear as Sealed Troops on the final mission of the Scenario, "Liberation of the Triforce". They are summoned by Ganon once Zelda gives the power of the Light Arrow to her allies, and are used to attempt to weaken the Light Arrows' power.

Trivia

 * When the Stalmaster's helmet falls off, it can be seen that it has a third eye. This feature, in addition to its four arms, may be a reference to Hindu deities such as and . The Ancient Cistern in which the Stalmaster first appears makes many references to  themes.
 * The Stalmaster is similar to and is even known by the name Master Stalfos in some countries. Master Stalfos is another Stalfos mini-boss that appeared in.