Goriya

Goriya (ゴーリア, Gōriya) are to be found as enemy in most early games of The Legend of Zelda series, first appearing in the original The Legend of Zelda. They are a race of creatures which have mastered the Boomerang as a tool of war, making them deadly in both short and long range combat.

The Legend of Zelda
As with many enemies of the first Zelda, Goriya come in red and blue varieties, and only appear in dungeons. Blue versions can survive more punishment and supposedly are more adept at attacking. It is best to focus on defending their boomerangs first with Link's shield, then attacking them while they wait for their weapon to return to them. They seem to not directly attack Link, but instead walk around randomly before shooting their Boomerang in one of the four cardinal directions. Goriya generally attack in groups of three or more.

Link can first obtain the Boomerang from defeating a red Goriya in Eagle Labyrinth, and later obtains the Magical Boomerang from killing a blue Goriya in the Moon Labyrinth.

In certain dungeons, a Goriya will be blocking passage to the next room, and only grumble at Link's presence. To please the monster and obtain entry, Link must offer it Bait purchased from a shop.

The Adventure of Link
The side-scrolling angle of The Adventure of Link managed to skew the typical Goriya's attack pattern. Instead of tossing their projectiles in random directions, they specifically target Link, and can have multiple boomerangs in the air at one time, unlike their past incarnations. They can throw boomerangs on either the "bottom" or "top" level, in the same way most bipedal enemies attack. Link must duck and stand to block the accommodating attacks with his shield. If a boomerang is thrown at the bottom level, it will return to the Goriya on the top level, and vice versa.

Goriya now tend to appear in caves more than dungeons, and generally only appear alone or with a single partner instead of larger groups, perhaps due to the fact that they're now more challenging.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, Goriyas appear in the Palace of Darkness, and their typical means of attack has been switched up. They no longer use Boomerangs, but instead copy Link's movement pattern similar to Arm-Mimics and Mask-Mimics. There is a green version, which several sword swipes will dispatch, and a red kind, which spits fireballs and must be killed with arrows. They mirror Link's movement.

Link's Awakening
Though only one appears in Link's Awakening, this Goriya is not an enemy, and even offers Link powerful support. He can only be spoken with at the end of the trading sequence, at which point he will offer Link a Boomerang, one of the most useful weapons in the game.