Lynel

Lynels are recurring centaur-like enemies in.

The Legend of Zelda
In, Lynels appear in red and blue variations, with the blue one dealing twice as much damage. They can be found around Death Mountain. Lynels fire beam projectiles at Link, which cannot be blocked with the Wooden Shield, only with the Magical Shield. When defeated, red Lynels may drop either a Heart, a Fairy or one Rupee, while blue Lynels may drop either a Heart, one Rupee, four Bombs or a Clock.

A Link to the Past
In, Lynels also appear in Death Mountain. They shoot fireballs at Link, which can only be deflected with the Red and Mirror Shields. They can only be damaged with the Magic Hammer, Silver Arrows, a Spin Attack from the Master Sword, or an attack from any of its upgrades.

Oracle Series
In the, Lynels appear in red and blue variations. They also shoot fireballs at Link. In, a golden variation appears in the Tarm Ruins during winter after talking to the golden-robed Old Man. Defeating the Golden Lynel alongside the other golden monsters rewards Link with the Red Ring.

A Link Between Worlds
In, Lynels appear in two variations, a white-maned type found on Death Mountain and a black variant with an orange mane that is found in the Treacherous Tower. They attack by breathing a stream of fire, which can only be blocked with the Hylian Shield.

Breath of the Wild
In, Lynels appear in five different variations, including the standard red-maned Lynels, Blue-Maned Lynels, White-Maned Lynels, Silver Lynels, and the Master Mode exclusive Golden Lynels. With the exception of the Lynel on Ploymus Mountain, after spotting Link, a Lynel will often refrain from attacking for a short period of time and instead stare him down. This allows Link to escape before it initiates a battle. Depending on their location, Lynels can wield a Sword and Shield combo, a Spear, or a Crusher. They also wield a Bow that is equipped with either Regular Arrows (only at Gerudo Summit), Fire Arrows, Ice Arrows, Shock Arrows, or Bomb Arrows. Lynels have a variety of attacks, both ranged and melee, such as shooting fireballs, body slamming, and dashing. Link can perform a Perfect Dodge or a Perfect Guard on most of their attacks, leaving them vulnerable for counterattacks. He can also utilize the wind gusts created by their fire attacks to glide up and shoot an Arrow at their head, stunning them and inflicting double damage. Link can temporarily ride Lynels by mounting them either by sneaking, while they are stunned, using the Paraglider to drop onto them from above, or immediately after they perform a dashing Sword swipe or charge at Link. While mounted, Link can repeatedly attack the Lynel without his weapon losing any durability. Lynels also have the ability to teleport, doing so to either briefly flee from battle or to give chase after Link. When defeated, Lynels drop their Hooves, Horns, and Guts, along with their Weapons and a bundle of their Arrows. Silver and Golden Lynels occasionally drop Gems and Star Fragments as well. A total of 22 Lynels can be found throughout Hyrule. An additional Lynel also appears on the Great Plateau in Master Mode. Two Lynels also appear in the Trial of the Sword.

Link can mount a Lynel, but cannot tame it. He can however attack the Lynel up to five times with any weapon, after which he will jump off. If Link's Stamina runs out however, he will be thrown off and lose a quarter of a Heart. If Link dies as a result of this, then the Lynel taunts and roars at Link after his death.

Link can buy a Lynel Mask for 999 Mon from Kilton's Fang and Bone shop after completing three Divine Beasts. It can be used to temporarily avoid being attacked by Lynels. Majora's Mask can also be worn to deceive Lynels, as well as Bokoblins, Moblins, Lizalfos, and Stal creatures.

The Legend of Zelda TV Series
Two Lynels appear in the "Sing for the Unicorn" episode of. Before Link, Princess Zelda and Sing made their way to Ganon's lair, where Link must fight a pair of Lynels, one blue and one red. The hero blocks their attacks and then proceeds to zap both of them, with one of them dropping a Recorder that allows them to escape the Underworld later on in the episode.

The Legend of Zelda (Valiant Comics)
In the, Lynels appear in the "Day of the Triforce" story. These foes, along with other of Ganon's minions, go to the Water Town of Saria to set fire to the village, as well as capturing and injuring many of its people. When Cassiopia goes to the North Palace to inform Princess Zelda of what has happened, Zelda decides to go to Saria to aid Cassiopia and the rest of the citizens. Upon arrival, Zelda encourages the townsfolk to fight back, and together, the princess along with the Saria people, successfully defeat the Lynels and the rest of the monsters.

Trivia

 * In the, Lynels are incorrectly identified as "Fire Cats".
 * Even though only three Lynels appear in A Link to the Past, five of them appear in the new ending added to the Game Boy Advance version.
 * In Breath of the Wild, it is possible to get trampled (and take damage) by Lynels by positioning Link to be in front of them when they are moving forward fast enough.
 * In Breath of the Wild, Lynels are capable of wielding a spear and a crusher (when not swinging) with the single hand, thus making them the only non-boss enemies being able to do so.