Morpheel

Not to be confused with Morpha, the Boss of the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time.

Morpheel is the Boss of the Lakebed Temple in Twilight Princess.^[1] Morpheel contains the third piece of the Fused Shadow.

Characteristics

Physical Appearance

Morpheel is a large, eel-like monster that lives underwater. It has a slender body that is covered in red and green scales. Its body is segmented into vertebrae-like sections that are largest near the head and taper towards the tail. Each of these sections have a set of longer fins that come out of its back and underbelly. The tail has a large fan-like fin. Two other similar fins are located on opposite sides of the head. On its head, Morpheel has a mouth-like opening with twelve sharp, white barbs. This protects a smaller, sphincter-like mouth that has finer barbs on its surface. This inner mouth can produce Bombfish. Morpheel has eight long, iridescent tentacles around its head. A ring-like light occasionally flows through them, but the tentacles are not electrified. Morpheel has a single eyeball that is free to move throughout each tentacle. This eyeball can rest in a socket on Morpheel's back near its head, too.

Morpheel is one of the largest known members of the Octorok family^[2].

Mannerisms and Weaknesses

Morpheel is not as aggressive in its battle with Link, in contrast to Diababa and Fyrus. Morpheel is defensive and protective of its eyeball. Morpheel shields its eyeball inside its tentacles and tries to repel Link with Bombfish while its body is buried in the sand. When swimming freely in the chamber, Morpheel puts its eyeball into the socket on its back. The tentacles on the top side of the head drag behind and cover the eyeball as it swims. The tentacles may occasionally reach out at Link to grab him, but only if he is close. If they do, the tentacle brings Link to Morpheel's mouth. Morpheel swallows and damages him, and spits him back out after a moment.

Encounter

Hey! Don't get too close to those tentacles!
If you get careless and get tangled up in its tentacles, you're in for a nasty fate...

When asked again

Looks like that eyeball is pretty important to him... See if you can't -target it and yank it right out of the tentacle!
Get too close and it'll attack you, so make sure to leave yourself some room!

When asked a third time

So, it's^[sic] eyeball really is the key? Good! Keep aiming for that eye!

Once it emerges

Don't let its size scare you!
Even if it's huge, it should still have a weak spot!

When asked a second time after it emerges

Did you see its back? It's got an eyeball there, too!
Just like you did last time... Target its eye with , get close, and attack using your sword!

When asked a third time after it emerges

Keep it up! Get it!
If you get in front of it, it'll suck you in, so you've got to swim up alongside it.

Link enters from the top of Morpheel's water chamber and sinks to the bottom, where he finds a single tentacle waving back and forth in the water. When Link touches the sand, an eyeball rises up through the tentacle, looks at him, and returns below the sand. The ground shakes and seven other tentacles emerge from the sand. Between them, Morpheel's mouth appears.

To defeat Morpheel's first form, Link equips the Iron Boots and avoids Bombfish that are released from its mouth. The eyeball moves between the different tentacles. Link uses the Clawshot to grab and bring the eyeball close for Sword attacks. After enough damage is dealt, the eye returns to the mouth.

After two rounds of close attacks, Morpheel swallows the eyeball and rises into the chamber. The eyeball now sits in a small socket near the head on its backside.^[3] Link latches onto the eyeball using the Clawshot^[4]. This queues a Critical Point and Link attacks the eyeball with his sword while standing on Morpheel's back. After some time, Morpheel shakes Link off, and he repeats this process until Morpheel is defeated. In its last moments, Morpheel wails, swims around the chamber, and levels several pillars. Morpheel eventually crashes into and punctures the outer wall, which drains the water in the chamber.

Upon defeating Morpheel, Link receives the third and final Fused Shadow and a Heart Container.

Nomenclature

Morpheel's name is a combination of morph- and eel, sharing the prefix with Morpha, a similar boss in Ocarina of Time.

Names in Other Regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	覚醒多触類オクタイール (Kakusei Tashoku Rui Okutaīru)	Awoken Many-Tentacled Creature: Octaeel
	French^CA	Octolacanthe
	French^EU	Octolacanthe, poisson fossile du Crépuscule	Octolacanthe, fish fossil of Twilight
	German	Urzeitfisch: Oktapesco	Prehistoric Fish: Oktapesco
	Italian	Octoguilla, l'acquatico del crepuscolo	Octoguilla, the Aquatic of the Twilight Octoguilla is a portmanteau of the English term octopus and the Italian term anguilla (eel).
	Korean	각성다촉류 옥타일 (Gakseong Dachokryu Oktail)	Awakened Multiple-Tentacled Species: Octaeel
	Spanish^EU	Octópulo, Branquiosaurio de las Sombras	Octópulo, Brachisaurus of the Shadows

Gallery

Link grabbing Morpheel's eye with the Clawshot
Link attacking Morpheel during its Critical Point
Morpheel's eye turning into a Heart Container

Trivia

There are several notable similarities between Morpheel and Morpha.

Both are the boss of the Water dungeon in their respective games.
Both have an eye-like weakness that is protected by and removed from a membrane-like object during the fight.
Both are defeated using a retractable device (i.e. Hookshot or Clawshot).

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 194
↑ Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 104
↑ "Did you see its back? It's got an eyeball there, too!" — Midna (Twilight Princess)
↑ "So, it's eyeball really is the key! Good! Keep aiming for that eye!" — Midna (Twilight Princess)