Chuchu

Chuchus, known as ChuChus in, and , and simply as Chus in , are recurring enemies in.

Characteristics
Chuchus are gelatinous monsters that come in a wide variety of colors and types, including Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple/Dark, Helmet, Rock, Spiny, Ice and Rare. As an enemy, they are relatively simple to defeat; a simple slash with the Sword usually being all that is required to take down most varieties.

Though they have a standard appearance in every applicable title except for, the general behavior and physicality remains quite consistent despite differences in their appearance.

In Majora's Mask, Chuchus appear as bottom-heavy blobs of transparent jelly in either red, green, yellow, or blue, with a large, grinning mouth full of crooked teeth and round eyes on stalks. They move around normally by slowly oozing along the ground, but once they see Link, they attack by hopping towards him in an attempt to knock him down. However, they can be easily defeated with one or two hits with a sword. Dependening on their color, they contain various items within their bodies, such as a Heart (red), Magic Jar (green), or Arrows (yellow). Blue Chuchus have no items inside their bodies, and are used only as stepping stones when frozen in a block of ice via an Ice Arrow.

In, and several other titles afterwards, they take on a much different appearance: they are top-heavy blobs of opaque jelly with larger eyes that are no longer on stalks, and move about either with the pseudopod-like roots at their base, or by hopping around. They also come in a new color; purple. When left alone, they can shrink down into a tiny, slow-moving puddle. In this appearance, they are reminiscent of Buzz Blobs, which the two are often confused for. Also similar to Buzz Blobs, certain types of ChuChus from The Wind Waker and onward, specifically the blue and yellow varieties, have electrified bodies that will electrocute Link when attacked directly.

As the later titles progressed, different types of Chuchus emerged with simplistic, yet highly varied personalities including the incorporation of electricity, rock-like helmets, and ice powers into their battle strategies. Nevertheless, the Chuchus kept to their Majora's Mask roots for the most part, by using color to denote behavior, power capability, and in-game frequency. Of the Chuchus in the Zelda universe, the red variety is the most common, but the green, yellow, and purple versions have also been common.

In Twilight Princess, the Chuchus are simply called Chus, and are little more than large, amoeba-like blobs of opaque slime. While they behave similarly to other Chuchus in that they denote characteristics and type by color, move slowly, and tend to jump on Link when threatened, these Chus also have the ability to split and merge. A large Chu will split into two smaller Chus when attacked, much like a Zol dividing into Gels, and will keep splitting until they are too small to do so. When two Chus of different colors collide, they will merge and grow, retaining the color of the more common Chu (from least to most common: Rare, Blue, Red, Yellow, Purple).

In SS undefined, ChuChus are similar to both their The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess incarnations. When struck, Chuchus will split into two smaller Chuchus, much like in Twilight Princess, and must be dealt with accordingly - if struck horizontally with the sword, a Chuchu will split horizontally, only for one of the smaller Chuchus to fall right on top of the other, causing them to merge back into their larger size. As such, they must be attacked with a vertical slash to split them and distance them from each other to prevent them from merging. Bombs are also very effective, as they are absorbed into any Chuchu that touches them and will destroy any size of Chuchu upon exploding. If two Chuchus merge, they will merge into a Chuchu one size larger than the bigger of the two, regardless of the size of the smaller. Four variations of Chuchus exist in Skyward Sword. Green and Blue Chuchus do not have any particular abilities, although the green ones are found on land and the blue ones are found underwater. Red Chuchus are usually found in the Eldin Volcano area and can ignite Link on contact with their extremely high body temperature. Yellow Chuchus are native to the Lanayru Desert region and are capable of releasing an electric discharge, a defense which they tend to use just after being split.

In a few titles, such as The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, ChuChus leave behind Chu Jelly, a vital ingredient used to synthesize Potions in places such as the Chu Jelly Juice Shop. A certain number of Chu Jelly ingredients are required to help Doc Bandam make a specific Potion. The color of the ChuChu denotes the type of Potion its Chu Jelly can be made into. A Green ChuChu, for example, will yield Green Chu Jelly good for making a Magic Potion, once the required quantity of such Chu Jelly is acquired. Doc Bandam studies the ChuChu varieties at Pawprint Isle, an island famous for its ChuChu population. In Twilight Princess however, Chu Jelly can merely be scooped into an empty Bottle and be used on the spot.

Red ChuChu
The Red Chuchu is the most common of all versions, and thus is the face of the Chuchu in terms of standard behavior and appearance. Their greatest example is seen in The Wind Waker; they are the lowest form of ChuChu and the easiest to slay. Their attack deals little damage, although they can be tricky in groups (though rarely forming any more then three at a time). In Majora's Mask, the Red Chuchu releases a Heart when killed, but in later titles such as The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, the creature yields Red Chu Jelly. In The Wind Waker, Red Chu Jelly can be sold to the Chu Jelly Juice Shop on Windfall Island to synthesize Red Potion. In Twilight Princess, drinking Red Chu Jelly refills eight Hearts.

Green ChuChu
The Green Chuchu appears in four titles, and has a drastically different appearance and behavior in each appearance. In Majora's Mask, the Green Chuchu contains a Magic Jar which will be dropped once defeated, otherwise it behaves like and is often common in the same area as its relative, the Red Chuchu. In The Wind Waker, they will drop Green Chu Jelly when defeated, which can be made into Green Potions. They also appear in and in, the latter of which they only appear in the Temple of Courage. They have the ability to shrink into a puddle to evade Link's attacks. Other than that, they can still be easily defeated with a swipe of the sword.

Green Chus do not occur normally in Twilight Princess, only being produced in the rare event that a Yellow and a Blue Chu are present in the same environment and merge before merging with any other color of Chu. Additionally, the Chu Jelly they provide has no effect on Link whatsoever. This leads to some fans to believe this Chu was created for the sole purpose of replenishing Link's Magic Meter, which was removed before the game's release.

Blue ChuChu
Blue Chuchus are one of the rarest types, found in small, always significant quantities in the titles they appear in. In Majora's Mask, the Blue Chuchu holds no items, and is described by Tatl as "basically just a blob of water". Only a single individual of this color is found in Majora's Mask, in the Great Bay Temple, where it must be frozen using an Ice Arrow in order for Link to reach a particular area. Blue Chuchus are also the only type of Chuchu that can be frozen in Majora's Mask.

Blue ChuChus in The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, and Phantom Hourglass are highly electrified. They also drop the rarest type of Chu Jelly, Blue Chu Jelly. The Blue Chu Jelly fully replenishes both Magic Power and Hearts, once made into a Blue Potion by Doc Bandam, or when drunken immediately from the Bottle after defeating it in Twilight Princess. To emphasize their scarcity, there are only twenty-three Blue ChuChus on various islands in The Wind Waker, only dropping their rare Chu Jelly once.

Yellow ChuChu
Yellow Chuchus are electrified in most of their incarnations, the exceptions being their appearances in Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess. In Majora's Mask, Yellow Chuchus hold items, usually Arrows, and appear in only a few locations (usually within dungeons). Yellow ChuChus are even rarer in The Wind Waker than the already-uncommon Blue ChuChus. These foes can only be struck with the sword in close combat when their protective electricity field is inactive. Link must either wait for their electricity to fade or stun them with an item such as the Boomerang or the Deku Leaf in order to inflict damage. Bombs are also effective to use to stun a Yellow Chuchu, or even to penetrate their electric defense.

Yellow Chuchus do not drop an individual Chu Jelly in The Wind Waker, instead rewarding Link with either Red or Green Chu Jelly upon defeat. The Chu Jelly received from Yellow Chus in Twilight Princess can be used in the same vein as Lantern Oil.

Purple ChuChu
In, Purple ChuChus give off a constant electric field, but unlike Yellow ChuChus, they do not interrupt their electric field when stunned with the Whirlwind, and they are also unaffected by the Boomerang and Whip. The most creative way to defeat them is to strike them with a sharp object attached to the Whip, such as the helmet of a Helmet ChuChu. A Phantom's blade, Arrows or Bombs can also defeat these. When the Chu Jelly of the Purple Chu is drunk in Twilight Princess, it will yield a random effect similar to the Nasty Soup, sometimes positive (ex. replenishing 8 hearts) or negative (ex. taking away hearts).

Dark ChuChu
A Dark ChuChu is a dark purple-colored variety of ChuChu that appears in The Wind Waker. Dark ChuChus, unlike other ChuChu types that appear in the game, cannot be harmed by ordinary weapons; attempting to do so results in the creature simply breaking up and regenerating. In order to defeat a Dark ChuChu, one must be either lured under a source of light or else have light hit it; doing so will turn a Dark ChuChu to stone. Picking up and throwing a Dark ChuChu will shatter the stone and defeat the Dark ChuChu, or alternately can be smashed with the Skull Hammer. Dark ChuChus turned to stone can also be used as temporary weights in certain puzzles. For this reason, they often respawn after being defeated.

Big Chuchu
A Big Green Chuchu is the boss in the first dungeon, Deepwood Shrine, in The Minish Cap. It is actually just a normal Chuchu, but appears enormous because Link is Minish-sized at the time. A Big Blue ChuChu is the mini-boss in the Temple of Droplets, which is Minish-only as well. Unlike Big Green Chuchu, Big Blue Chuchu can electrocute Link. To defeat these creatures, Link must use the Gust Jar to suck chu jelly from them, causing them to lose balance and topple over, giving Link a chance to strike. Jelly cannot be sucked from the Big Blue ChuChu while it is electrified.

Rock, Spiny and Helmet Chuchu
These three Chuchu varieties are very similar as they all involve the encasement of the Chuchu's head with a hard surface, whether it be rock or spikes. The Rock Chuchu in The Minish Cap reverts to a Red Chuchu after its hard helmet is destroyed with a sharp blow to the head. In Phantom Hourglass, it can be destroyed with a Bomb, pulled off with the Grappling Hook, or smashed with the Hammer. In the latter game, this ChuChu variety likes to hide beneath large rocks, busting out whenever Link draws near. The Spiny Chuchu is another Chuchu variety in The Minish Cap that has an excellent defense mechanism, puffing out spikes all over its body when approached. To defeat them, Link must wait for them to retract their spikes, or use a Bomb to destroy the creature immediately.

Helmet ChuChus, as they are called in Spirit Tracks, pay tribute to their name with a spiky helmet covering their entire heads. The helmet must be pulled off using the Whip, at which point the helmet can either be thrown back at the ChuChu to defeat it or thrown away to finish it off with the sword.



Rare Chu
In Twilight Princess, Rare Chus are pearl-colored and sparkle. Rare Chus can be found in any area Chus are normally found, but the chances of finding them are incredibly slim. The Cave of Ordeals and three Secret Grottos, under a tree at Snowpeak and in the Gerudo Desert, are the only certain places to find them. A Rare Chu can also be found within a Secret Grotto beneath Ordon Ranch, accessed via a dig spot within the barn.

Rare Chu Jelly acts the same as Great Fairy's Tears. However, scooping up Rare Chu Jelly is difficult, as not only are they hard to find, but the Rare Chu is the first to be targeted by Purple Chus to merge. If a Rare Chu and any other Chu merge, the Chu will become the other color, canceling out the Rare Chu. Additionally, if Link gets Rare Chu Jelly, any Rare Chus set to appear will be replaced with Yellow Chus.

Ice ChuChu
The white Ice ChuChus of the Snow Realm in Spirit Tracks are ChuChus that produce an icy mist. These need to be stunned using the Whirlwind or the Boomerang before attacking. Otherwise, they freeze Link, requiring the screen to be rubbed with the stylus to thaw out the hero.

Etymology
Chu is the Japanese for the sound one makes when giving a kiss, hence the Fishman's hint at Pawprint Isle, which otherwise makes little sense in English: "Do you know what a ChuChu is, small fry? No, I'm not talking about the sound you make when you kiss someone!" Chu can also be Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of squeaking, especially by small animals such as mice.

Trivia

 * ChuChus in The Wind Waker bear somewhat of a resemblance to the Pokémon Wobbuffet from the Pokémon series.
 * ChuChus in The Wind Waker make a fast chatty sound, which, if slowed down to 40% speed, sounds like overlaying clips of a Japanese man talking.