Mazura

Mazura, also known as Horsehead, is the first boss in, and is encountered in the penultimate chamber of the Parapa Palace, protecting the temple's statue. Upon his defeat, like all bosses in the game, a key drops from above that allows Link to pass through into the final room that contains the Stone Statue to set the Crystal into.

In the Famicom Disk System version, a second Mazura appears as a miniboss in the Palace on the Sea, prior to a false wall. Defeating him gives Link a key, much like fighting him in Parapa Palace. In the NES version, he was replaced with a Blue Iron Knuckle, and the locked door after the false wall was removed.

Strategy
Mazura wields a mighty, spiked club and sports heavy armor around its entire body, except for the head. In this battle, Link must perform continuous jump slashes with his sword at the boss' weak skull; it is the only way to inflict damage. The boss' club is the most detrimental weapon Link encounters in the game thus far - in only a few blows, Link's health may be completely depleted. As such, Link is knocked back significantly harder and further when struck by Mazura's club, compared to distance Link is pushed away by other enemies' attacks. Mazura also attempts to slowly herd Link towards one side of the screen, giving Link little opportunity to escape while the boss bludgeons him with persistent blows. After a significant amount of hits, Mazura explodes and Link is provided 50 experience points.

Although it is not necessary to battle Mazura with anything other than the sword, use of the Shield magic will greatly reduce the damage dealt by Mazura's blows.

Captain N: The Game Master
Horsehead appears in Captain N: The Game Master in the episode "Quest for the Potion of Power", under the name of Horsehead. He appears after Link takes the Golden Key in the Parapa Palace, revealing himself to be the guardian of the key. Link decides to fight Horsehead alone, but he is easily bested by the monster and loses his sword after one of the monster's attacks, leaving the young hero defenseless. Just as Horsehead is about to deliver a deadly blow to Link, Kevin rescues Link and defeats Horsehead instead by remembering his weakness: his head. Knowing so, Kevin shoots at the ceiling using his Zapper, causing the ceiling to collapse on top of Horsehead and thus dispose of the foe.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of the game, Mazura roars during battle, similar to the bosses from.