Keese

Keese (pronounced, ) are a recurring enemy in.

Characteristics
Keese are bat-like creatures that make their homes in dank, shadowy dungeons or in pitch-black caves similar to their real-life counterparts, and have become a staple of the Zelda series. The Keese is known to inhabit various forms, some adapted from fire and ice, some from the surrounding environment, however, the technique and strategy used to defeat all of their variations stays mostly the same.

Keese often appear in every dungeon in the vast majority of Zelda titles, and often exist in clusters within these dungeons. These creatures fly around the screen, not heading towards anything in particular, and stop for a short amount of time on a neighboring wall, or rock face. However, in games such as and, but not exclusively, Keese are easy to startle, and move about the screen only when Link is within close proximity, otherwise they remain still on the wall. Unlike the commonplace behavior of the Keese, introduces a variety that can be seen and fought in pure daylight, upon the overworld of Hyrule, as well as in their natural dungeon habitats.

The Keese incarnations seen in and on through  have a slightly different attack strategy in comparison to the random flight seen in the early titles. Instead of flying straight into Link, these bats will hover and pause above him when nearby before hitting him, giving Link a chance to notice and defeat them before they seize the opportunity to cause injury. On another note, the Keese from Twilight Princess, in the same vein with the graphical style of the game, have a much more realistic appearance, and now have a hook-like tail in comparison to the almost non-existent tails of previous incarnations.

Because Keese are standard and often commonplace enemies, they can be dispelled with any variety of weaponry, from Swords, Boomerangs, Arrows to Bombs. It is however often recommended to use ranged weapons to annihilate these foes from a distance, especially in the 3D console games where the Keese may fly too high for other weapons to reach.

In Twilight Princess, whenever Link uses the Hidden Skill Shield Attack on a Keese, it will be forced to the ground, hopping and vulnerable to attack.

Variations
There are several variations on the regular Keese:

Vire
Vires are large humanoid bat devils, who fly and hop around the area, sometimes shooting fireballs. They split into two Red Keese when significantly injured. Vires are one of the more intelligent minions in the series, showing the ability to talk.

Fire Keese
When Keese are exposed to an open flame, they can transform into Fire Keese. In and, Keese can be transformed by Fire Arrows or torches. They will light Link on fire, simultaneously putting themselves out. In games with wooden shields, such as Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess, Fire Keese can also burn away these shields. In Twilight Princess, they are almost identical to Keese. The only difference between the two is that Link does not take damage if he touches a regular Keese when it is not attacking, whereas he will if he touches a Fire Keese. They can be put out with the Gale Boomerang, or any type of Boomerang for that matter, but they do not go out when attacking Link, a trend carried through to and.

Ice Keese
Ice Keese are Keese exposed to cold, such as an Ice Arrow or Blue Fire. In Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess, Ice Keese cannot be changed into regular Keese, nor can regular Keese be transformed into Ice Keese. In Spirit Tracks, they act as a mini-boss group before Link obtains the Boomerang.

Ring Keese
In, Ring Keese lay hidden in bushes in The Swamp and the Lost Woods. They consist of a large red Keese followed by a trail of purple, shadowy Keese it leaves in its wake. If the Links disturb its hiding spot, the Keese will rush out and begin circling the Links. Trapped within the ring of Keese, the only way to escape is by killing the red Keese, who will try to keep a certain distance between itself and the Links. Therefore, the heroes must assume the Long or Wide formation, putting the outermost Link within reach of the leader. Once the red Keese is defeated, the trail of bats is destroyed along with it, leaving a ring of Green Force Gems, while the Ring Keese will drop a Blue Force Gem.

Shadow Keese
Shadow Keese are only found in the Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess. They have draconian-like bodies and strange, funnel shaped heads. Their faces are featureless save for red symbols. They appear to be nearly identical to Shadow Kargaroks except for the fact that they are smaller, weaker and lack the ring of grey plumage around their faces. As with many Twilight Monsters, Shadow Keese have a distinctive cry; rather than the squeaking of the other Keese variations, Shadow Keese make a noise reminiscent of a hammer clashing on metal.

Thunder Keese
Thunder Keese are found in several locations in SS undefined. They are electrified Keese that follow similar attack patterns of all other Keese and can be killed in the same manner. However, like all electrified enemies in the game, Link be stunned and take damage if he strikes while they are shrouded in electricity.

Dark Keese
The Dark Keese is a skeletal, dark variant of the regular form in Skyward Sword. Like other cursed monsters, contact with them will result in a Curse, where Link cannot use his items, including his Sword and Shield. The variant is found in the Fire Sanctuary, Eldin Volcano and Volcano Summit, which will drop Evil Crystals every so often. Dark Keese appear to reprise the role of Blue Bubbles, who are absent from the game. They also appear as flying, reanimated skeletons, possessing traits reminiscent of the Stalfos family of enemies.

The Legend of Zelda Game Watch
Keese appear in, and are referred to as Bats. They can only be defeated with the Sword. They appear from the second dungeon onward, and only once all of the Iron Balls have been defeated. Once all of the Bats in a room are defeated, a Key appears which Link can use to proceed to the next room.

Battle Quest
Keese appear in in Nintendo Land for the Wii U. They appear in later stages within caves and dungeons, usually in large swarms on the ceiling. When the player gets near, they drop down and fly directly at them, one by one, and must be defended against or defeated before they strike. After attacking, they will pass by and not strike again. They are also summoned by Wizzrobes when playing as an Archer, appearing as pairs or groups of three. They are best shot down with charged shots as they appear.

Keese also appear as one of the 200 Prizes that can be won using the Coins in the main Plaza. Upon touching the Keese Prize in the Plaza using the touch screen or simply jumping against it, the Keese will become animated temporarily and Monita will comment on it.

Trivia

 * In the Kirby series, there is a monster similar to Fire Keese known as Batafire.