Helmaroc King


 * ''This article is about the fourth boss in The Wind Waker. You may be looking for Kargarok, a common bird-like enemy.

The Helmaroc King is an enormous bird clad in a steel helm who has appeared in The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures. His appearance is similar to a Kargarok.

The Wind Waker
In The Wind Waker, the Helmaroc King resides in the Forsaken Fortress, and is a servant of Ganondorf. He is also the primary minion sent out by Ganondorf to search for Princess Zelda. He appears early on in the game, being shot out of the sky by pirates while trying to capture their leader, Tetra. He drops Tetra and captures Link's sister, Aryll, mistaking her for the young Pirate Captain. It is later discovered that the Helmaroc King was bringing young girls with pointed ears to Ganondorf in an effort to find Princess Zelda, as Ganondorf wished to find the princess so that he could steal her piece of the Triforce. When Link travels to the Forsaken Fortress to save his sister, the Helmaroc King throws him into the sea at Ganondorf's command.

Later in the game, Link returns to the Fortress in an attempt to save Aryll once again. He successfully frees his sister and the other kidnapped girls while Tetra and her pirate crew distracts the giant bird. Link is then is attacked by the Helmaroc King once they have fled.

At the beginning of the battle, the tower containing the prison cells is flooded. The Helmaroc King follows Link as he runs along the wall to avoid the rising water. While he does so, Link does his best to avoid the bird and the enemies along the steps of the wall. He keeps running until he gets near the very top, where the bird will swoop down and stand right in his way. Link brandishes the Skull Hammer and pummels his helm. The King screams and falls into the rising water, giving Link the chance to climb out of the flooding tower. At this point, the floor of the tower begins to close and the bird flies up out of the tower to challenge the young hero. This is where the battle truly begins.

The Helmaroc King performs three attacks. The first of these is where he lands on the ground, walks toward Link, and attempts to impale the young hero with his beak. When he misses Link, his beak gets jammed in the floorboards. This gives Link the chance to wield the Hammer and drive it into the Helmaroc King's helm. This produces a large crack on the bird's helmet, evidence of the damage scored. Among the King's other moves are flying around the tower and trying to run over Link by scratching his claws on the floor, as well as floating in the air and flapping his wings in an attempt to blow the young hero into the spikes surrounding the arena.

After Link pounds the King's helm with the hammer several times, it will crack and fall off. Now that the bird's crest is exposed, he will become more frantic. The strategy is still the same, though, as Link still waits until the bird tries to peck him with his beak. The main difference this time is that the Master Sword can be used to deal more damage. After repeating the pattern three times, the bird displays his death sequence by flying up into the air and exploding into black and purple smoke, leaving Link a Heart Container.

''Four Swords Adventures
The Helmaroc King appears once again in Four Swords Adventures. He is a boss yet again, and Link must face him on The Mountain Path on Death Mountain.

In this game, the Helmaroc King is designated to stop Link from entering the Tower of Flames. This monstrous bird starts the battle by swooping down upon Link two times, then attacking by dropping rocks upon him and his clones. After that, the King repeats the process. In order to defeat this boss, Link is required to daze the bird with his bombs and then destroy the bird's mask. After the mask is destroyed, Link can complete the job easily using his sword.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Helmaroc King is featured as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Interestingly, the trophy description says that the Helmasaur King and the Helmaroc King are the same foe.

Trivia

 * The name of the Helmaroc King is most likely based off of the Helmasaur King, which also has a mask that must be destroyed before it can be defeated. The "Helma" portion of the word is probably derived from Helm or Helmet, while the Roc is a giant, elephant-eating bird of Persian mythology, and also the origin of "Kargaroc". His Japanese name is "ジークロック, Jīkurokku" which could be romanized as "Siege Roc", which is also the Japanese name for the Helmasaur King.
 * The Helmaroc King, in the way that he kidnaps young girls with pointed ears, could be a reference to the mythical Thunderbird: a bird that is about the size of the Helmaroc King and who kidnaps children.
 * The Helmaroc Plume Treasure in Phantom Hourglass is a reference to the Helmaroc King; the bird itself does not appear in this game.
 * When climbing the staircase before the battle with the Helmaroc King, Link may fall off onto a lower platform. The only way to get back across the gaps the Helmaroc King created would be to use the Grappling Hook on the torches over the pits.
 * The Helmaroc King, being a sizable Kargarok-like bird, may have inspired Argorok from Twilight Princess. Both boss fights take place atop tower-like structures and involve Link removing armor to expose a weak point.