Gohma

Gohma (ゴーマ, Gōma) is usually depicted as a large insectoid, spider- or scorpion-like creature. She often serves as a boss for Link and is seen in several Zelda games.


 * See also: Gohma Larva

The Legend of Zelda
Gohma makes her first appearance in The Legend of Zelda. She is the overworld boss of the Dragon Labyrinth. The easiest way to eliminate the Tektite Queen is to shoot an arrow into her eye; one hit will destroy the boss. However, the eye needs to be open in order to hit it. Gohma will also send fireballs as a form of attack. The sixth piece of the Triforce of Wisdom is the reward for her defeat.

Gohma makes more appearances in several dungeons after her first defeat. Use the same strategy to take care of her in these next encounters.

Though Gohma may take an arrow for it to defeat her, there are two different varieties of the Gohma. She comes in red and blue. The red Gohma takes merely one arrow for victory while the blue one takes three.

Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, two Gohmas appear as the main mini-bosses of the fifth dungeon, Catfish's Maw. They would move back and forth sideways with their eyes constantly closed, and would occasionally try to ram into Link. Only the Gohma closest to Link would try to attack. They would also sometimes open their eyes to release a fireball, which also makes them vulnerable to the Hookshot.

Additionally, Link could also use a bow and fire arrows into their eyes, which appears to deal more damage than the Hookshot.

Ocarina of Time
Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Queen Gohma (甲殻寄生獣ゴーマ, Shell Parasite Beast: Gōma) debuts as the first boss enemy Link will encounter in his adventures in Ocarina of Time.

After the Great Deku Tree refused to place the Spiritual Stone of Forest into Ganondorf's hands, the Gerudo warlock cursed the ancient tree with a monstrous, Tektite-like creature, Queen Gohma, titled as a Parasitic Armored Arachnid. Ravaging the inner body of the Deku Tree, spreading her offspring, scattering her web, and leeching on the Tree's life, the Great Deku Tree had no choice but to request for Link's help with the aid of Navi the fairy. Queen Gohma was found on the deepest floor inside the Great Deku Tree, resting atop the ceiling. When Link confronted her, he discovered she had one weakness: her eye was vulnerable when it turned red. Even with her armor, her sheer bulk of strength and her Gohma Larva's intervention, Queen Gohma was defeated. The curse was broken, and Gohma was consumed in magic and reduced to ashes. Following her defeat, Link gains a Heart Container. Also, the Great Deku Tree gifts him the Spiritual Stone of Forest, the Kokiri Emerald, before passing away.

On earlier versions, the game can allegedly be frozen by casting a Deku Nut at Gohma's eye. This glitch has been repaired in further distributions, including the GameCube re-releases.

It should be noted that in the manga version of Ocarina of Time, Gohma can talk, and her true form was little more than a cockroach, her form fought apparently the cause of dark magic.

Oracle of Seasons
Gohma also makes an appearance inside the Dancing Dragon Dungeon in Oracle of Seasons. However this time around, the beast has an extra appendage, a very deadly claw. If Link runs in front of her, she will charge and grab him, then throw him to the ground causing damage. The claw can be removed by slashing with the sword. Also, to avoid the claw the Roc's Feather can be used to jump over it. Once the claw is destroyed, the Slingshot can be fired at its open eye, while avoiding the larvae it summons. Defeating Gohma yields the fourth Essence of Nature, the Soothing Rain.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, Gohma was placed by Ganondorf below the resting spot of the Spirit of the Sky, Valoo, high on Dragon Roost Island's peak, without the Sky Spirit knowing about it. Doing so tormented Valoo and thus angered him enough so that he would become violent and unpredictable and cause trouble, confusion, and panic among the Rito, the protectors of Din's Pearl. Link offers to help the Rito, and when he reaches the boss room inside Dragon Roost Cavern, he finds an impressive, lava-resistant, Magtail-like monster as his foe. Despite its menacing figure, Link manages to crack open Gohma's armor and delivers many lethal strikes to its eye with his sword, then finally kills her.

For defeating Gohma, Link's prize is a Heart Container, and an apology as well as Din's Pearl from the Chieftain's son, Prince Komali. During the course of the game Gohma must be defeated twice, once in Dragon Roost Cavern, and once in Ganon's Tower to complete the game.

Four Swords Adventures
In Four Swords Adventures, Gohma appears in two variations. The first type is a large, one-eyed arachnid that aimlessly wanders about the fields of Hyrule. The second type also appears as a large, one-eyed arachnid, but it acts as mini-boss that shoots fireballs at Link. Both types of Gohma could be harmed only by shooting arrows at its open eye.

Twilight Princess


In Twilight Princess, a more spider-like incarnation of Gohma appears, called Twilit Arachnid: Armogohma (Her name is a portmanteau of "Armos", as in Armos Statue, and Gohma). Like all previous incarnations, its eye is the weak spot.

Like some of its previous iterations, the dungeon in which Armogohma is featured includes many spiders and spider-like creatures as enemies; namely the slow moving four-legged Gohma Larvae and tiny, bloated Baby Gohma. Also similarly to its previous incarnations, Armogohma drops eggs whilst hanging from the ceiling at certain points during the boss battle. They quickly hatch into Baby Gohma, which Link must defeat before continuing with the main boss battle.