Kholdstare

Kholdstare is a large, organic entity encased in ice. It is the boss of the Ice Palace, the fifth dungeon of the Dark World in.

Strategy
Link must use caution while battling the creature, due to the low friction of the floor. The young hero can use either the Fire Rod or the Bombos Medallion to break its ice shield. The latter is faster, as it destroys the ice shield in only one hit. Once the shield melts, Kholdstare splits into three identical parts that can be hit with the Fire Rod or the Sword. Occasionally, ice chunks will fall down from the ceiling, breaking up into multiple pieces and dropping magic power when the Magic Bar is empty. They can damage Link if they hit him. Upon defeating Kholdstare, Link receives another Heart Container and the Crystal containing the fifth imprisoned Maiden.

A Link to the Past comic
Kholdstare appears in Chapter 10 of the A Link to the Past comic, although under the name of Kholdstone. During Link's search for a map of the Dark World, the young hero travels to the Ice Tower, where he is confronted by Kholdstone. Link states that all he wants is to see the map of the Dark World, but Kholdstone tells him that the map is its greatest treasure and it will not let anyone see it. The monster unleashes two Stalfos to attack Link, but when the young hero sees that they keep respawning even after defeating them, he begins to focus his power on the Master Sword, which causes the tower to begin to collapse. Kholdstone warns Link that if he destroys the tower, then he will destroy the map as well, making Link realize that the map is etched on the tower's floor. However, the tower collapses shortly after, presumably killing Kholdstone.

Nomenclature
Kholdstare is a portmanteau of cold and stare.

Trivia

 * In the SNES version of A Link to the Past, Kholdstare's ice shell was supposed to melt after it was defeated by a fire-based weapon, rather than simply disappearing. However, this did not occur in the game due to a bug. This glitch is no longer present in the GBA version of the game.
 * Frostare and Dharkstare from and, respectively, bear a strong resemblance to Kholdstare (in its original frozen form), both in name and appearance.