Vires appear as entities made up of Keese. They tend to be encountered in areas of darkness and often split into several Keese when defeated.
The Legend of Zelda
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The Legend of Zelda instruction booklet
Vire & Keese
Vire is a devil that controls the Keeses. When Link cuts it with his sword, it turns into two Keeses. Keeses have little attacking power, but Vire is a little stronger.
First encountered in The Legend of Zelda, Vires are large, blue devils,[4] encountered only in labyrinths. When harmed, they split into two red-colored Keeses,[5] which float around the room like regular Keese. After dispatching the red Keeses, if Link exits and immediately returns to a room, the Vires will all be back, since they haven't truly been killed. If it is hurt by an Arrow, the Magical Sword, or any weapon which does at least four damage, it will be defeated without splitting up into Keeses. When defeated, Vires may drop either a Heart, one Rupee, four Bombs or a Clock.[note 1]
Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, these rare and fast flying creatures appear in only the Turtle Rock, swooping down at random to try and harm Link. They fly around shooting Fireballs, which can be blocked with a Sword swipe. After having several projectiles blocked, the Vire will swoop down at Link. Three blows will take it out, and cause it to explode into two Big Keese. The easiest way to defeat these monsters is to use Link's Hookshot. A zap from the Magic Rod kills it without causing it to split.
Oracle of Seasons
Vire is the Sub-Boss of the Ancient Ruins. Vire introduces itself as the loyal henchman of Onox, who was sent to put a stop to Link's quest. Vire retains its appearance from Link's Awakening DX and battles Link in a similar manner, flying around him and swooping in to strike, retreating when Link swings his Sword, and shooting various fireballs. Blue fireballs appear in pairs and travel in a straight path toward Link; yellow fireballs split into six faster fireballs; and red fireballs continually follow Link until they hit him or are dispelled by the Sword or the Boomerang. Additionally, the room's perimeter is lined with Floor Spikes.
Vire can be damaged by timely Sword strikes or Bombs. As it takes damage, it becomes more angry, increasing its movement speed and reflexes. After enough hits, it splits into two Keese-like bats that will attack by swooping at Link, but can easily be dispatched with the Sword. Once defeated, Vire admits that it was overconfident in facing Link but vows that its master will stop him. In a Linked Game, Vire expresses disbelief that Link could defeat it twice, and apologizes to both Onox and Veran before disappearing.
In a Linked Game, Vire is encountered earlier, in between the third and fourth Dungeons. Vire emerges from a Treasure Chest in an underground area of Sunken City. It hopes to hinder Link's progress by placing the Pyramid Jewel high on a nearby cliff, requiring Link to backtrack in order to obtain it.
Oracle of Ages
Vire is the Sub-Boss of the Mermaid's Cave. Vire introduces itself as the loyal henchman of Veran, who was sent to put a stop to Link's quest.[7] Vire retains its appearance from Link's Awakening DX and battles Link in a similar manner, flying around him and swooping in to strike, retreating when Link swings his Sword, and shooting various fireballs. Blue fireballs appear in pairs and travel in a straight path toward Link; yellow fireballs split into six faster fireballs; and red fireballs continually follow Link until they hit him or are dispelled by the Sword or the Boomerang.
Vire can be damaged by timely Sword strikes or Bombs. As it takes damage, it becomes more angry, increasing its movement speed and reflexes. After enough hits, it splits into two Keese-like bats that will attack by swooping at Link, but can easily be dispatched with the Sword. Once defeated, Vire admits that it was overconfident in facing Link but vows that its master will stop him.[8] In a Linked Game, Vire expresses disbelief that Link could defeat it twice, and apologizes to both Veran and Onox before disappearing.
In a Linked Game, Vire is encountered earlier, in between the third and fourth Dungeons. It kidnaps Princess Zelda when she arrives in Lynna City, taking her captive in the Black Tower. Link rescues her by ascending the Tower while avoiding Vire's fireballs.
The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.
Vires from the animated series
Vires appear in three episodes of The Legend of Zelda TV series. In "Sing for the Unicorn", when Link confronts Ganon and demands that he let King Harkinian free, the Vires that were accompanying the evil wizard begin to attack the young hero. Link Zaps a few with the Crissword until three of them grab him and lift him into the air, allowing Ganon to escape on a Unicorn with the king. Link eventually manages to free himself from the Vires and goes after Ganon by grabbing onto the Unicorn's tail, but the evil wizard zaps Link, causing him to lose his grip and begins to fall to his death. However, Link manages to survive the fall partially due to him grabbing onto the feet of Vires that were on his way down.
In "Underworld Connections", three Vires fly towards the chamber where the Triforce of Wisdom is being kept and place a bomb near the sacred relic.[9] Zelda realizes that they plan to blow up the Triforce with a bomb so that they will be able to carry it back to the Underworld.[10] Although Link rushes over to stop the monsters,[11] he is knocked over by the explosion of the bomb and is rescued just in time by Zelda. The young duo make it in time to zap one of the Vires carrying a shard of the Triforce, but the other two manage to get away into the Underworld.[12] Thinking quickly, Zelda remembers that, since all of the pieces of the Triforce are magically linked, if Link shoots a sword beam into the shard that they currently have, it will go through the two others and zap the Vires.[13] The two Vires are effectively defeated, but due to the foes taking separate ways to the Underworld, one of the pieces falls into the Black Falls and another one into a lava area.[14]
The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.
Vires reappear as enemies in Cadence of Hyrule's Symphony of the Mask mode. They resemble their original The Legend of Zelda design, and fight the same way as well. They also spilt into Keese when defeated, though only into 4 Keese instead of 2. One also appears in the intro of the DLC story attacking a Deku Scrub alongside a Skull Moblin, Skull Red Bokoblin, and a Blue Goriya.
Trivia
Gomess is another entity made up of bat-like creatures called Bad Bats.
Nomenclature
Vire may be a contraction of vampire.
Names in Other Regions
Language
Names
Meanings
Japanese
バイア (Baia)(TLoZThe Legend of Zelda | CoHCadence of Hyrule)[18][19]
Concept artwork of Vire from Link's Awakening for Nintendo Switch
Vire from BS The Legend of Zelda
Vire from The Wand of Gamelon
Vire from Zelda's Adventure
A Vire from Cadence of Hyrule
Notes
↑If Link defeats 10 Enemies without getting hit or teleporting with the Recorder, then the 10th Enemy defeated will drop five Rupees. However, if the 10th Enemy is defeated with a Bomb, then it will drop four Bombs. If Link defeats 16 Enemies without getting hit or teleporting, then the 16th Enemy will drop a Fairy. After the 16th Enemy, Link must get hit and reset the counter to zero in order to achieve this effect again. Defeating Armos, Like Likes, Keese, or Gels will not be counted.[6]
References
↑Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 211 (TLoZThe Legend of Zelda | LALink's Awakening | LADXLink's Awakening DX | OoSOracle of Seasons | OoAOracle of Ages)
↑Zelda krijgt een sleutel als ze de Vire doodt. (Zelda gets a key when she kills the Vire.) (CD Interactief, HUB Uitgevers, January/February/March 1999, pg. 6)
↑When Link cuts it with his sword, it turns into two Keeses. (The Legend of Zelda manual, pg. 35)
↑ n.a., Forced Drops , redcandle.us, published n.d., retrieved August 17, 2017.
↑I am Vire, Veran's loyal henchman! I heard someone was trying to stop Veran, so I came here. But it's just some kid! Fine! I can handle you! — Vire (Oracle of Ages)
↑OUCH..! I paid for my overconfidence, but I'll report this to Veran! Gar har har! — Vire (Oracle of Ages)
↑"Link, look! Those Vires, they're after the Triforce!" — Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Episode 8)
↑"Not if they blow it apart. That one's got a bomb!" — Zelda (The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Episode 8)
↑"They're getting away! Stop them!" — Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Episode 8)
↑"I got it! Since all of the pieces of the Triforce are magically linked, if you shoot a zap into this one, it'll go through to the others and zap the Vires!" — Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Episode 8)
↑"I hope so. Yes, I think so. Oh, see? This side feels wet and this side--ow!--feels hot. So that means one piece must have fallen somewhere wet, and the other piece is somewhere hot." — Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda TV Series, Episode 8)
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