Helmaroc King


 * This article is about the fourth boss in The Wind Waker''. You may be looking for Kargarok, a common bird-like enemy.

The Helmaroc King is an enormous bird seen wearing a hard metallic mask who has appeared in The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures. His appearance is similar to a Kargarok.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, The Helmaroc King is a servant of Ganondorf in the Forsaken Fortress, and is also the primary minion sent out to search for Princess Zelda. He appears early on in the game, being shot out of the sky by pirates while trying to capture their leader, Tetra. He drops Tetra and later captures Link's sister, Aryll, by mistake. It is later discovered that the Helmaroc King was bringing young and pointy-eared girls to Ganondorf in an effort to find Princess Zelda, as Ganondorf wished to find the princess so that he could steal her piece of the Triforce. When Link travels to the Forsaken Fortress to save his sister, the Helmaroc King throws him into the sea at Ganondorf's command.

Later in the game, Link returns to the Fortress in an attempt to save Aryll once again. He successfully frees his sister and the other kidnapped girls while Tetra and her pirate crew distracted the giant bird, and is attacked by the Helmaroc King after they have fled.

At the beginning of this fight, the Helmaroc King floods the tower containing the prison cells and follows Link as he runs along the wall to avoid the rising water. While he does so, Link does his best to avoid the bird and the enemies along the steps of the wall. He keeps running until he gets near the very top, where the bird will swoop down and stand right in his way. Link takes out the Skull Hammer and gives it a smack right in the face. The King screams and falls into the rising water, giving Link the chance to climb out of the flooding tower. At this point, the floor of the tower begins to close and the bird flies up out of the tower to challenge the young hero. This is where the battle truly begins.

The Helmaroc King performs three attacks. The first of these is where he lands on the ground, walks toward Link, and attempts to smash him with its beak. When he misses Link, the beak gets stuck in the floor. This gives Link the chance to get out the Hammer and smash the Helmaroc King on the helmet. This produces a large crack on the bird's helmet, evidence of the damage scored. Among the King's other moves are flying around the tower and trying to run over Link by scratching his claws on the floor, as well as floating in the air and flapping his wings in an attempt to blow the young hero into the spikes surrounding the arena.

After Link hits the King's helmet with the hammer several times, it will crack and fall off. Now the bird has his crest revealed, and he will become much more frantic. The strategy is still the same, though, as Link still waits until the bird tries to peck him with his beak. The main difference this time is that the Master Sword can be used to deal more damage. After repeating the pattern three times, the bird displays his death sequence by flying up into the air and exploding into black and purple smoke, leaving Link a Heart Container.

''Four Swords Adventures
The Helmaroc King appears once again in Four Swords Adventures. He is a boss yet again, and Link must face him on The Mountain Path on Death Mountain.

In this game, the Helmaroc King is designated to stop Link from entering the Tower of Flames. This monstrous bird starts the battle by swooping down upon Link two times, then attacking by dropping rocks upon him and his clones. After that, the King repeats the process. In order to defeat this boss, Link has to daze the bird with his bombs and then destroy the bird's mask. After the mask is destroyed, Link can complete the job easily.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Helmaroc King is featured as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Interestingly, the trophy description says that the Helmasaur King and the Helmaroc King are the same foe.

Trivia

 * The name of the Helmaroc King is most likely based off of the Helmasaur King, which also has a mask that must be destroyed before it can be defeated. The "Helma" portion of the word is probably derived from Helm or Helmet, while the Roc is a giant, elephant-eating bird of Persian mythology, and also the origin of "Kargaroc". Its Japanese name is "ジークロック, Jīkurokku" which could be romanized as "Siege Roc", which is also the Japanese name for the Helmasaur King.
 * The Helmaroc King, in the way that he kidnaps young girls with pointy ears, could be a reference to the mythical Thunderbird: a bird that is about the size of the Helmaroc King and who kidnaps children.