Goriya

Goriya is an enemy appearing in most early games of The Legend of Zelda series, first appearing in the original The Legend of Zelda. They are a kind of devil 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 and fields 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 (called  in Japanese) 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 is found in a cave on southern portion of Toronbo Shores. Link can only see and speak with this Goriya at the end of the trading sequence when he has the Magnifying Lens, at which point he will offer Link to trade one of his item for the Boomerang, one of the most useful weapons in the game.

Oracle of Seasons
Although Goriya doesn't have an appearance in the Oracle series, their relatives, the Goriya Bros. do appear as a miniboss in the Gnarled Root Dungeon.

The Crystal Trap
In The Crystal Trap, Princess Zelda and Link are attacked by a blue Goriya after the young hero has been freed from the Crystal. Zelda shoots an arrow from her bow at the Goriya, injuring it, but then goes on to say that if the pair spares his life, he will show them a powerful weapon: a Battle Axe, which is the only thing that can defeat Ganon. If Link and Zelda agree to follow the Goriya, he will lead the pair into a massive room containing the Battle Axe. The Goriya will then disappear after Link grabs the axe.

After Princess Zelda and Link run into Ganon, the evil wizard will confess that he told the Goriya to lead the young heroes to the Battle Axe, since he knew that if they found the axe, Link and Zelda would stop searching for the real weapon that could defeat Ganon: the Spear.

The Shadow Prince
Goriyas are briefly mentioned in The Shadow Prince. When the King of Hyrule calls an urgent meeting to take the Triforce of Wisdom to the Fifth Castle of Ancient Hyrule, he mentions that a recent thunderstorm caused for Goriyas to fall from the sky, most likely due to the fact that Ganon's power is getting stronger.