Phytops

Phytops is the third boss in Spirit Tracks. . It appears to be a cross between an Octorok and a thorned plant. The beast resides on a pillar of grey stone that has a large pool of water at the top. The Whip is necessary to climb to the top of the pillar, as there are several pegs sticking out of the wall that are necessary to traverse. The beast will not let you reach it easily, however, as the thorned tentacles of the beast will attempt to attack Link, though a Whip blow to them will force them to retract. Once the adventurer attains access to the top of the pillar, the monster, which looks at the time to be a pulsating, pinkish-red organ, will race its tentacles about, trying to kill him. Unfortunately for Link, although he keeps his life, the beast's blnd raging destroys the way up the pillar and makes it sink- now there is no escape. The plantoid menace surfaces and roars in anger as the battle begins.

The Battle
Phytops will start attacking with his tentacles as soon as the fight begns. A smack with the Whip will send a tentacle reeling back to its master, though. Link's main objective in this fight is to find and attack the beast's Weak Point, its eye, though it is currently closed. The bubble-like headdress of the beast is concealing two minor eyes, however, and so Link can whip the thorns off of the monster's vines and hurl them through the air.These eyes are situated just above the base of the beast, and if both of them are hit, the central eye opens, exposing the creature's weak point. However, the creature begins to strike back more violently, firing globs of acid from concealed funnels in its head. Link must first avoid these projectile blobs, but the biggest threat is what happens when the jets impact- a small acid spill is created, and if Link steps on these when he is running from the beast's tentacles, he will take some nasty damage. Thankfully, a quick whip and thorn combo to the central eye will negate the creature's attack and expose the beast's vulnerable eye. Link must slash this repeatedly before the monster moves away. Now the creature is livid. It attacks Link with all four tentacles, two giving him a small range of movement and two actively attacking him. After a while, the beast calms down and the fight resumes. After the second hit, however, Phytops will revert to attacking insanely with four tentacles as the norm, making the final three whip blows very hard to land. The beast ultimately falls, though, giving up its Force Gem to Link.

Trivia

 * In the PAL version of Spirit Tracks, Phytops is named Cactops. The name is likely derived from "cactus" and "cyclops," as the boss has many thorn-covered tentacles and one eye.
 * Phytop's name may be derived from "phytoplankton," a microscopic kind of marine creature that can photosynthesize like a plant, hence Phytop's plant-like body, and, as in the PAL version, "cyclops," denoting its single eye.