Zora (Enemy)

The River Zora (also known as Zola, see below) are an evil and mischievious aquatic race first introduced in The Legend of Zelda. They mainly serve as overworld enemies throughout the The Legend of Zelda series. River Zoras hide under the water's surface (typically within rivers) in order to surprise attack passers-by. While still within deeper waters, they occasionally will stick their heads beyond the surface and shoot fireballs at people, while in more shallow waters they are known to emerge fully and give chase on foot after their foes. Their skin is usually scaly and green, while their maw has developed sharp fangs and whiskers akin to a catfish. They have yet to appear in a 3D game, with Phantom Hourglass being the closest they have come.

Not much is known about the origins of the River Zora or why they attack people for seemingly no reason. Zelda.com describes the River Zora (under the name Zola) as female Zora who turned against the Hylians and chose a life of violence. This would mean that the River Zoras are merely a mutated group of evil Sea Zoras and as such, are not a race on their own. A few issues arise with this description though. First of all, Zelda.com uses the terms Zora and Zola interchangeably, as is evidenced by the lists concerning in which games the two "species" appeared. This makes it unclear what a Zora is and what a Zola is, or what Zelda.com considers them to be. Secondly, at least the statement of them being only female seems incorrect. There was a King Zora (not Queen) in A Link to the Past who was a River Zora. In their most recent appearance in Phantom Hourglass, the River Zoras' body appears male and not female. Most likely, the description is based on the manual of The Legend of Zelda", which is also the cause that some even today call the Moblins Molblins. Unlike the Moblin issue, Nintendo never mentioned anything about the status of the River Zora again, making the canonicity of this statement, due to the earlier mentioned arguments, questionable.

Zola or Zora?
There is some confusion about what the name of this aquatic race is. When they first appeared in The Legend of Zelda, the manual called them "Zola" .The term "Zora" first appeared in A Link to the Past, and the creatures that name belonged to were identical to the Zola from The Legend of Zelda. The name Zora has been used since to describe these creatures and when The Legend of Zelda was re-released on the Gameboy Advance, the manual referred to them as Zora as well. Considering even the Japanese manual of The Legend of Zelda called them Zola at first, it is likely a translation mistake made by the people responsible for the Japanese manual, since the "L" and the "R" are the same letter in Japanese. Regardless, the name Zola has officially been abandoned, but the gamer community still uses the name Zola to refer to the hostile aquatic race as opposed to the peaceful aquatic race.

Because both Zora races did not appear in the same games for a very long time, there was no need to distinguish the two races by giving them more specific names until Oracle of Ages. It was in that game that the two races were dubbed River Zora and Sea Zora respectively.

The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda introduced the River Zora and established their most common attack patterns. At that time, they were the only aquatic enemies around.

Adventure of Link
In The Adventure of Link River Zoras behave differently than in any other game. They are both quadrapedal and bipedal. When on their hind legs, they still fire the traditional fireballs. However, River Zoras can occasionally be found in deserts (far from their natural habitat) and can only be damaged through the use of the Fire Spell.

A Link To The Past
River Zoras are common enemies that you will see around just about any body of water. Like usual, they shoot a small red fireball in Link's direction. The only friendly Zora in the game is the Great Zora, leader of the Zoras. He sold Link the Zora's Flippers for five hundred rupees. What could be another (friendly) Zora dwells in the Dark World. If a rock is thrown into the circle of stones at the river head, he will give Link one of the Medallions. After that though, disturbing him will result in bombs being thrown at Link.

Interestingly, the official artwork of A Link to the Past depicts the River Zoras with a caudal fin instead of legs. In all other instances, both in the games (this includes A Link to the Past itself) and in other official artwork, they are shown as having two legs.

Link's Awakening
The River Zora use their regular tactics to thwart Link's quest. Like in A Link to the Past, one friendly River Zora appears. Since Link's Awakening was merely a dream, the meaning of his/her presence to the whole of the River Zora race is unclear. If Link acquires the Magnifying Glass and talks to the friendly River Zora, the photographer will come to make a picture of the two together.

Oracle of Ages/Seasons
While they were no more than regular overworld enemies like they have always been, the River Zoras' appearance in Oracle of Ages is special because it was the first and as of yet, only time both Zora species appeared in the same game. As such, this was the first game in which there was a need to distinguish the two species and give them each their own name. The friendly Zoras were dubbed Sea Zoras and the hostile kind River Zoras. It was also made clear that the two Zora species were not exactly fond of each other.

Four Swords Adventures
Using recycled sprites from A Link to the Past, the River Zoras in Four Swords Adventures looked and behaved exactly the same as they did in the former game. In the castle of Hyrule, Link met a friendly River Zora who begged him to bring her to her counterpart who was locked up in another part of the castle. When Link reunited the two, they fused, revealing to be in fact the Fairy Queen who had been split and both her parts changed into River Zoras.

Phantom Hourglass
River Zoras return in Phantom Hourglass, but this time around they always come out of the water and are armed with swords and shields. They still have their well-known spitting attack, but will attack with a sword as well and block Link's attacks with a shield, similar to the Darknuts in earlier games. The proper way of dealing with them is by hitting them in the back with the boomerang, which stuns them and gives Link enough time to attack with his sword. Unlike in the earlier games, they are not average enemies. They are mainly found guarding something and in order for Link to continue his quest, they have to be defeated. Otherwise, they can also be found attacking ships.