Moldorm


 * This article is about the common enemy also known as a Mini-Moldorm. If you are looking for the boss Moldorm, visit Moldorm (Boss).

Moldorm, also known as Mini-Moldorm is an uncommon worm-like dungeon enemy in The Legend of Zelda that gained fame when large members of the species featured as bosses in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Four Swords Adventures. Regular Moldorms commonly appear in various caves and dungeons throughout the series, and in some games have an affinity for sand and behavior similar to Lanmola.

Characteristics
The Moldorm is a large, segmented annelid known to inhabit dungeons, and otherwise large, enclosed rooms where they can roam about freely, unobstructed. While most Moldorms generally look alike (a large head, with many body segments), the iterations in Phantom Hourglass and Skyward Sword appear to embody a more centipede-like look, while the ones from Twilight Princess tend to look more like Lanmolas or Swamolas. Appearing originally in The Legend of Zelda as simply gigantic worms seen within the labyrinths, they later appear as speedy dungeon protectors known as Mini-Moldorms in A Link to the Past and several titles afterwards.

All Moldorms are ground-dwelling, however, the iterations from Twilight Princess literally live in the ground, jumping from the sand in the Gerudo Desert and Arbiter's Grounds to attack Link. To seek them out, he must Clawshot their sandy shadows, pulling them from the earth and towards him, where he can subsequently attack them. The Moldorms appearing in Skyward Sword reside out of sight underground. They are encountered only when Link enters an underground tunnel with the Mogma Mitts. One is fought as a mini-boss in the Fire Sanctuary.

Appearances and Weaknesses
Moldorms can be defeated with any conventional weapon, usually in one or two hits, although those that appear in Four Swords can take a vast number of strikes to finally succumb to Link's blade.

The Moldorms in Twilight Princess are best defeated by using Link's Clawshot to pull them out of the ground, then kill them with his sword.

In Skyward Sword, striking their tail segment with the Mogma Mitts will destroy the rear segments and increase their movement speed, with three strikes required to defeat them. The best method to deal with the monsters in this game is to lure them into crashing into a wall, after which Link will have a chance to strike.

Trivia

 * Moldorms featured in most games are known as in Japanese. This explains the name of the Tail Cave in Link's Awakening.
 * The Swamola is known as in Japan, just like the Moldorms of The Legend of Zelda. Swamolas behave similar to the Moldorms of Twilight Princess.
 * In Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword Moldorms are known as Moldworms in Japan, which explains their unique burrowing behavior.
 * The Moldorm from The Legend of Zelda looks similar to the Moldola enemies appearing later in the Zelda series.
 * In Holodrum, outside of Horon Village there is a mysterious skeleton, said to be of a legendary terror. By using a Mystery Seed on the skeleton, Link finds out that the legendary beast is simply a Mini-Moldorm.
 * Mini-Moldorms are one of the few normal creatures of the Oracle series to be completely immune to Gale Seeds.
 * In Twilight Princess, after defeating enough of the standard Moldorm in the Gerudo Desert, a larger Moldorm will leap from the sand, in the same vein as the Stalchildren from Ocarina of Time. This grand variation can be struck down with two hits instead of one.