Soldier (Enemy)

Soldiers, also sometimes known as Troopers, recurring enemies in the Zelda series. They are guards and knights of Hyrule that have been corrupted by the powers of darkness. They are either controlled by dark magic, or are merely empty suits of armor animated by evil forces. They wield a variety of weapons, and are similar to Darknuts. They first appeared in A Link to the Past.

Characteristics
Soldiers resemble normal Hyrulean Castle Guards, but their face, if they still have one, is always obscured by their distinctive helmets that give no indication of what sort of man lies beneath. The only thing visible from under their armor are two glowing eyes. They weild a variety of weapons, and their armor has subtle variations between each type of Soldier. Usually the color of the armor denotes their defensive strength, the green variety being the most common. Most soldiers wield a shield along with their main weapon. Unlike Darknuts, they are often defensively weak, and protect their front with their sword or spear instead of their shield. They make up for this weakness by usually attacking in large squads. In A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures, Soldiers are controlled by Agahnim and Vaati respectively.

Soldier
The basic Soldier behaves differently to most other varieties. Rather than actively hunting out Link, its behavior is much like a Darknut from The Legend of Zelda. They will not react to sound, but will merely patrol around the interior of Hyrule Castle. In A Link to the Past, they weild a small dagger-like blade and will charge directly at Link when they see him, but will not react if he moves. They are notable for wearing capes, unlike other soldiers.

In Four Swords Adventures, they behave like Sword Soldiers, but are considerably weaker. They usually appear in very large packs, often following a Chief Soldier. They come in Blue, Green and Red varieties in this game, with Red being the stronger. Green varieties only appear in dungeons, and are the same strength as the normal blue types.

Sword Soldier
Sword Soldiers are the most distinctive and common type of soldier in A Link to the Past. They are by far one of the most intelligent enemies in the game, following patrol routes and reacting to Link upon sight or sound. When they notice him, they will charge and attack with their blades, and must be fought off one by one. Often if Link gets in a battle with one soldier, the sound of the fight will cause more to join in. If Link has a chance, he should attack them from behind, as while their shields do not stop his attacks, they can parry Link's swipes with their swords. They are succeptable to being knocked down pits when not aware of Link's presence, so stealth is advised. They come in three varieties, the common Green, the stronger Blue, and the aggressive variety. The blue assault type appears only in Hyrule Castle Tower, wear differently shaped armor, and hold their blades above their heads, attacking immediately as soon as Link enters a room.

In Four Swords Adventures, they come in Green and Grey varieties and behave largely the same as they did in A Link to the Past. The grey ones are the strongest type of basic soldier in the game.

Spear Soldier
Spear Soldiers appear in A Link to the Past and use trident-like spears. The basic type only appears when people in Kakariko assume Link to be a villain and call for guards. The music will change, and these Soldiers will hound Link across town relentlessly until defeated. They are otherwise like normal Sword Soldiers, but can cause twice as much damage with their spears. There are three other types, the Assault variety being the most common. These wear red armor, can take many hits, and appear in Hyrule Castle Tower and commonly around the Overworld once Agahnim has been defeated for the first time. The variety have red horned armor, and are commonly found around the Cemetery and Hyrule Castle prior to Agahnim's defeat. Instead of charging at him, they will throw their spears when they see Link. Finally, the type are essentially the same as the javelin soldiers, but wear normal red armor and hide in the tall grass around Hyrule Castle, throwing their spears at Link when he comes near.

Bow Soldier
Bow Soldiers appear in A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures. These archers wear blue or green armor, and will unleash a hail of arrows upon Link when they spot him. Their arrows can be blocked by the most basic shield, so adopting a defensive charge before attacking aggressively when close is the best tactic to deal with them. The ones that wear green armor are also known as the Tussock variety, and these will hide in the tall grass and launch arrows at him when Link is near.

In Four Swords Adventure, if Link cuts the grass around the soldier, they will be unable to hide again and become a regular Bow Soldier, but in A Link to the Past, they will remain in the grass no matter what happens.

Bomber
The Bomber or Bomb Soldier is a specific type that generally appears on the walls of Hyrule Castle, throwing Bombs at intruders. They do not move, so if Link can get close, they can be defeated quite easily. It is also sometimes possible to throw the bombs back at them to cause damage. In Four Swords Adventures, there is the normal Blue variety and a stronger Green Bomber that appears in the Realm of the Heavens.

In Link's Awakening, there is an enemy known as a Mad Bomber. It will appear from holes within the Kanalet Castle grounds and throw bombs at Link, chosing a hole at random each time. It can take a number of hits to defeat, but it needs to be defeated to get one of the Golden Leaves.

Ball & Chain Soldier
The Ball & Chain Soldier, also known as a Ball & Chain Trooper is one of the strongest types of Soldier, and often appears independently as a Mini-Boss in certain games.

Chief Soldier
The Chief Soldier is a powerful enemy in Four Swords Adventures who usually appears commanding a number of regular soldiers. It is considerably larger than most soldiers, and commonly appears as a Mini-Boss.

Gold Soldier
The Gold Soldiers that appear in A Link to the Past are not enemies, and are instead the soldiers of Hyrule that have not yet been taken over by Agahnim's magic. They wield no weapons, but carry huge shields. They are generally friendly despite their imposing armor, and will offer advice to Link if he speaks to them. One Soldier within the castle walls speaks about how it is only a matter of time before he too would become like those consumed by Agahnim's powers.

Gold Soldiers also appear in Four Swords Adventures. They will occassionally appear following the orders of a Chief Soldier, performing drills. If Link interrupts the drill, they will turn into a normal Blue or Red Soldier.

Cannon Soldier
Cannon Soldiers are Beta enemies that did not appear in the final version of A Link to the Past.

Relation to Darknuts
While many enemies from the original The Legend of Zelda returned in A Link to the Past, Darknuts did not, instead the Soldiers took on this role. For all intents and purposes, they are extremely similar to Darknuts, but are more varied and are generally weaker, having a focus on numbers rather than overwhelming strength. The Darknuts of Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were originally referred to simply as Soldiers in English guides and have extremely similar behavior to the Soldiers of A Link to the Past, while the Soldiers of Four Swords Adventures are briefly referred to as Darknuts in the Official Nintendo Player's Guide for the game.

A Link to the Past comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, Link fights against soldiers several times throughout his adventure. He first encounters one shortly after receiving the sword and shield from his uncle, although the young hero easily defeats it and discovers that the Soldiers are not actually human and are just creations by Agahnim. He then shortly finds that Princess Zelda is being taken away by two guards, with Link distracting the soldiers to rescue the princess and eventually lose sight of the pursuers. After Agahnim kidnaps Zelda in the Sanctuary, Agahnim orders all of his Soldiers to search for Link, who they end up finding in Kakariko Village outside of Sahasrahla's house. Despite their attempts to apprehend Link, the young hero manages to escape.

The Soldiers later appear after Link obtains the Pendant of Courage from Sahasrahla in the Eastern Palace. Just as Sahasrahla hands the pendant to Link, the Soldiers pursuing Link find him. Empowered by the pendant, he easily dispatches their leader and sends the rest fleeing.

Spear Soldiers are briefly seen in Chapter 5. After Link lands on Hyrule Castle's highest tower via an air balloon, he is greeted by three Spear Soldiers, although he easily defeats them with the newly-obtained Master Sword.

Trivia

 * In the GBA version of A Link to the Past, blue Spear Soldiers are shown in the introduction, but they do not appear in the game itself.
 * It is possible to knock a Spear or Bow Soldier hiding in the tall grass of A Link to the Past onto land that has no grass using certain weapons, although his behavior will not change.
 * If a Chief Soldier is defeated while normal soldiers remain, they will either simply be destroyed, or they will run wild with no orders, and eventually explode.