Deku Baba

Deku Babas are common, forest-based enemies found in Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword.

Characteristics
The Deku Baba is a species of carnivorous plant famous for their short temper, feisty attitude, and their production of Deku Sticks and Deku Nuts upon defeat. A Deku Nut is the bud of the Baba, while a Deku Stick is the stalk. Deku Babas thrive in forested areas where other Deku species, such as Deku Scrubs and Deku Trees, usually preside. As such, the best place to find one is in the Lost Woods (particularly Kokiri Forest, the Forest Temple, the inside of the Deku Tree), the swamp at Woodfall, and the Faron Woods (particularly its Forest Temple). Deku Babas rarely exist alone, and it is very common to find a thriving patch of them in heavily forested areas. While these plants flourish in forest regions, they have been known to grow in unlikely habitats such as the City in the Sky and the Stone Tower Temple.

Deku Babas are very vicious in nature and are relentless in attacking. A healthy Deku Baba will not hesitate to headbutt and spray toxic gas at animals entering its territory. Some, most notably those in the Faron Province (Twilight Princess), will also attempt to bite with sharp teeth. A weak or sick Deku Baba will stand upright, using its thorned stalk to protect itself by spinning. For reasons unknown, a weak Deku Baba tends to grow back while a healthy one will not.

Varieties
Similar to the other Deku species, Deku Babas have many close relatives. It may be derived from the Piranha Plant in relation or design. It is even believed by some that the Boko Baba and Kalle Demos plants are direct descendants of the Deku Baba and Big Deku Baba. A list of the Deku Baba species:


 * Deku Baba
 * Baba Serpent
 * Big Deku Baba
 * Bio Deku Baba
 * Boko Baba
 * Deku Like
 * Twilit Parasite Diababa
 * Fire Baba
 * Kalle Demos
 * Mini Baba

Shadow Deku Baba
Shadow Deku Babas, or simply Shadow  Babas, are Deku Babas transformed by the powers of the Twilight. They act and react exactly the same to their light world counterparts. The only difference between the two is that upon being killed, Shadow Deku Babas will not leave seed pods on the ground as do Deku Baba's. Instead, they will just explode in a similar fashion to other Twili enemies.

There are also Shadow Baba Serpents that act the same as Baba Serpents.

Weaknesses
For the average traveler, it is suggested to attack a Deku Baba when it lunges forward. Upon doing so, the Deku Baba will swerve into the air and stand upright for a few moments. If the traveler then chops the stalk, the Baba will die immediately and provide the traveler with a Deku Stick (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask only). If the traveler instead decides to only attack the head, he or she shall be rewarded with Deku Nuts (in Twilight Princess the head yields Pumpkin Seeds instead).

However, in Skyward Sword, a new twist is added to defeat Deku Babas: the only way to make Deku Babas perish is to slash Link's sword in the same direction that the foe's mouth is open. As such, slicing the sword vertically while the Deku Baba has its mouth open horizontally will not be effective in the defeat of these creatures.

Trivia

 * Deku Babas seem to bear resemblance to Piranha Plants from the Super Mario Bros. series.
 * They also bear resemblance to the venus fly trap.