Lizalfos

Lizalfos (リザルフォス, Rizarufosu) are lizard-like creatures that are found in several Zelda games. Lizalfos wield quite strong swords. It is usual that they confront Link in pairs, but he will only have to actually fight with them one at a time. When one gets injured, it steps back and the less-injured one takes charge. They are very agile in combat and tend to swing for Link at a certain time, but there will always be small opportunities to attack when they drop their guard. They tend to circle Link first and then approach on the counter attack. A few slashes of the sword should easily thwart these foes. In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, they are a little more difficult than later games, as they act very similar to Iron Knuckles. They wield maces and lances, and carry shields on their original NES debut. The Lizalfos from Adventure of Link are known as Geeru (ゲール) in the Japanese version of the game.

Varieties of Lizalfos in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

In Twilight Princess, they have a more dinosaur-like appearance, and have ax blades roped to their tails, presumably as a secondary weapon. They come in three variations: normal, with helmets, and in full armor. The first two are fairly easy to kill with bomb arrows or swordplay. However, the larger armored type known as Dynalfos, which appear first in the Temple of Time, are dangerous opponents capable of frequently dodging the Ending Blow and blocking other hidden skills. Lizalfos appear in parts of Hyrule Field, as well as numerous dungeons, including the Lakebed Temple, Hyrule Castle, the City in the Sky, the Cave of Ordeals, and the Temple of Time.

The Mini-Boss Darkhammer is a large Lizalfos covered with armor found in the Snowpeak Ruins. It wields the Ball and Chain, a weapon Link needs to progress through the game. Darkhammer wore very heavy armor covering its entire body save for its tail, which was its only vulnerable point. It attacked by swinging the Ball and Chain wildly in circles, knocking Link backwards if he was hit. However, its main attack flaw is that as long as it was swinging its weapon it had little in the way of a close range attack.

See also: Dinolfos, Dynalfos, Aeralfos