Bosses
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Asset Info favorite | |
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Name | Bosses |
Category | NES |
Game | The Legend of Zelda |
Section | Enemies & Bosses |
Submitted | A long, long time ago |
Uploaded By | MisterMike |
Size | 23.87 KB (494x296) |
Format | PNG (image/png) |
Hits | 87,131 |
Animated GIFs (0)
Comments (24)

Digdogger is supposed to be brownish like the Dodongo, isn't it?

@Dr. Bazinga
It's a triceratops my guy.
It's a triceratops my guy.

Dodongo more like rhino.

@zapcircuit Becuase Moldorms and Lanmolas have little in common with other boss type enemies; they don't guard a Triforce piece, they don't drop Heart Containers upon death, there can be multiple instances of them in one room, and they're trivial to take down. The only thing they really share in common with boss type enemies is the roaring sound effect, but even then it only plays when they're skulking around in the current room and not in immediately adjacent rooms, which is the case with most bosses. That's why they're not on here.

Digdogger should share the same palette as Dodongo. Also, good job on the Triforce item animation.

why aren't moldorms and lanmolas bosses im pretty sure they make boss noises and dont appear with other enemies

Sorry, I got confused since the "The Hyrule Fantasy" bosses were in Seasons. Anyways, that would still be an edit and as such is irrelevant to the discussion; I always found it FAR more comparable to Lanmola than Manhanda or even that weak Digdogger. Now, it WAS a boss in BS Zelda no Densetsu, but that game also had minibosses, which included Moldorm.

@Doc von Schmeltwick
But there's clearly a difference here between the less powerful monsters and the more powerful monsters, that's basically what this boils down to. Patra has more in common with enemies like Manhandla and Gleeok as opposed to enemies like Wizzrobes and Darknuts, so while it isn't a boss in the sense that it guards a Triforce Shard and drops a Heart Container upon defeat, it still fits in with them as a boss type enemy. Like, if I were to edit the game and make Patra the boss of one of the dungeons, Heart Container and all, it would fit just as well. Also, it wasn't in Seasons, it was in Ages. They changed it's name to Eyesoar for some reason, though.
But there's clearly a difference here between the less powerful monsters and the more powerful monsters, that's basically what this boils down to. Patra has more in common with enemies like Manhandla and Gleeok as opposed to enemies like Wizzrobes and Darknuts, so while it isn't a boss in the sense that it guards a Triforce Shard and drops a Heart Container upon defeat, it still fits in with them as a boss type enemy. Like, if I were to edit the game and make Patra the boss of one of the dungeons, Heart Container and all, it would fit just as well. Also, it wasn't in Seasons, it was in Ages. They changed it's name to Eyesoar for some reason, though.

Probably the manual translator was unaware of the change. Still, calling something a boss when the only REAL indicator is "guarding a Triforce shard" and it doesn't do that seems wrong. Even though it IS a boss in Oracle of Seasons, it's really not here.

@Deathbringer
Funny thing about Pols Voice in the NA versions: Even though the NES has no microphone, the microphone functionality still exists in the data. Personally, I always thought it weird that the Pols Voice are weak to arrows in the NA version. Seriously, why not the Recorder? It doesn't do anything in dungeons anyways, so it wouldn't cause any problems.
Funny thing about Pols Voice in the NA versions: Even though the NES has no microphone, the microphone functionality still exists in the data. Personally, I always thought it weird that the Pols Voice are weak to arrows in the NA version. Seriously, why not the Recorder? It doesn't do anything in dungeons anyways, so it wouldn't cause any problems.

The Pols Voice thing is only a mistake for the non-Famicom Disk System versions (not sure about the Famicom release after the NES or the Japanese versions after that).

@Doc von Schmeltwick
Yeah, and the manual also states that Pols Voice are weak to sound in the english version. I don't think a manual should be the end all be all when it comes to how we deliniate enemies and bosses today. I think the sheets are fine as they are.
Yeah, and the manual also states that Pols Voice are weak to sound in the english version. I don't think a manual should be the end all be all when it comes to how we deliniate enemies and bosses today. I think the sheets are fine as they are.

But once again, with the various bosses making appearances an generic enemies in later dungeons and the manual making no distinction between "normal" underworld enemies and bosses, it might be best to have them all on the same sheet anyway.

@Doc von Schmeltwick
The roaring is a trait that applies to most boss monsters. In fact, there are two different types of roar sounds depending on the kind of boss you're fighting. The roars also play in adjacent rooms, but interestingly, this isn't tied to the bosses per se, rather it's tied to the room itself; If you use a Zelda dungeon editor, you can set the roar to play in any room regardless of boss proximity.
@Deathbringer
I disagree. While Patra doesn't appear at the end of a dungeon and give you a Heart Container/Triforce Shard upon defeating it, a trait shared by many of the boss monsters in the game, Patra has plenty of other traits that it shares with the boss monsters that I believe it counts.
- Only appears in a room by itself without any other enemies, sans other versions of itself in the case of Dodongo.
- Is significantly hardier than any one standard enemy; With the Magical Sword, it takes 19 hits to kill it, as opposed to the 2 required for Blue Darknuts or the 3 for Blue Wizzrobes.
- Makes a distinct roaring noise when you strike it, and often has the roaring noise play outside of it's room. (Okay, Patra doesn't have the roars outside of it's room, but still.)
- Often requires more sprites to make up it's physical form compared to most standard enemies, which are typically limited to 2, not counting any projectiles they fire. While Patra's central sprite only requires 2, it's orbitars, which are intrinsically linked to it, make up the other 8.
- Upon defeat, it never respawns in the room you slayed it in unless you start a new game.
The roaring is a trait that applies to most boss monsters. In fact, there are two different types of roar sounds depending on the kind of boss you're fighting. The roars also play in adjacent rooms, but interestingly, this isn't tied to the bosses per se, rather it's tied to the room itself; If you use a Zelda dungeon editor, you can set the roar to play in any room regardless of boss proximity.
@Deathbringer
I disagree. While Patra doesn't appear at the end of a dungeon and give you a Heart Container/Triforce Shard upon defeating it, a trait shared by many of the boss monsters in the game, Patra has plenty of other traits that it shares with the boss monsters that I believe it counts.
- Only appears in a room by itself without any other enemies, sans other versions of itself in the case of Dodongo.
- Is significantly hardier than any one standard enemy; With the Magical Sword, it takes 19 hits to kill it, as opposed to the 2 required for Blue Darknuts or the 3 for Blue Wizzrobes.
- Makes a distinct roaring noise when you strike it, and often has the roaring noise play outside of it's room. (Okay, Patra doesn't have the roars outside of it's room, but still.)
- Often requires more sprites to make up it's physical form compared to most standard enemies, which are typically limited to 2, not counting any projectiles they fire. While Patra's central sprite only requires 2, it's orbitars, which are intrinsically linked to it, make up the other 8.
- Upon defeat, it never respawns in the room you slayed it in unless you start a new game.

I think for the sake of the argument, boss monsters should only apply to those who drop Heart Containers, which I'm pretty sure Patra doesn't as you should have all the hearts before Death Mountain anyways.

@MM I know about the graphical limits involved, I just really don't think Patra qualifies, as again, creatures that start as bosses in this game are regarded simply as enemies when not at the very end of the dungeon. Think of all the times Manhandla and Gleeok return, they don't act as bosses in the middle of a dungeon, and the game has no concept of a "miniboss." Also I had always thought that roaring came from Ganon, who iirc was in a close location map-wise, just not accessibility-wise.

@Doc von Schmeltwick
Blue Wizzrobes and Blue Darknuts are only more difficult due to numbers. A single Blue Darknut could be dispatched very easily with only 2 strikes from the Magical Sword, whereas Patra requires 3, but only after you've killed it's 8 orbitars, which each require 2 strikes from the Magical Sword to kill. And in terms of size? Well, a single Wizzrobe, and most enemies in the game by the way, requires 2 sprites to represent it, and by sprites I'm refering to an 8x16 graphic present on the sprite layer. While the central Patra creature also requires two sprites to represent itself, it's not the whole of the creature, as the 8 orbitars also count as being part of the larger monster, seeing as the need to kill them in order to fully slay the monster. This brings our total sprite count for Patra up to 10. For reference, Aquamentus uses 6, Dodongo uses 2 for it's upwards and downwards movements and 4 for it's left and right movements, Manhandla uses 10, Gleeok uses 6 for it's main body, 1 for each head (limit 4), and 2-3 for the neck pieces, Digdogger uses 9 with it's smaller entities using 2 each, Gohma uses 6, and Ganon uses 8. In terms of number of sprites required, Patra has more in common with the boss creatures than the standards mooks.
Blue Wizzrobes and Blue Darknuts are only more difficult due to numbers. A single Blue Darknut could be dispatched very easily with only 2 strikes from the Magical Sword, whereas Patra requires 3, but only after you've killed it's 8 orbitars, which each require 2 strikes from the Magical Sword to kill. And in terms of size? Well, a single Wizzrobe, and most enemies in the game by the way, requires 2 sprites to represent it, and by sprites I'm refering to an 8x16 graphic present on the sprite layer. While the central Patra creature also requires two sprites to represent itself, it's not the whole of the creature, as the 8 orbitars also count as being part of the larger monster, seeing as the need to kill them in order to fully slay the monster. This brings our total sprite count for Patra up to 10. For reference, Aquamentus uses 6, Dodongo uses 2 for it's upwards and downwards movements and 4 for it's left and right movements, Manhandla uses 10, Gleeok uses 6 for it's main body, 1 for each head (limit 4), and 2-3 for the neck pieces, Digdogger uses 9 with it's smaller entities using 2 each, Gohma uses 6, and Ganon uses 8. In terms of number of sprites required, Patra has more in common with the boss creatures than the standards mooks.

@MisterMike Exactly my point. They aren't bosses in those cases. Just large-sized, sometimes-powerful enemies. Blue Darknuts and Wizzrobes are more powerful than a lot of these and appear alongside them, as fellow generic enemies. And Patra doesn't even have the "large size," it's just a clump of eyes.

@Doc von Schmeltwick
I've been recently playing through Zelda 1, both in the process of ripping this and casually, and I've never once seen more than one Patra in a room. In fact, given how the NES works with regards to sprite limitations, I find it rather unlikely that the developers would have ever considered doing such. I mean, the game is prone to lagging when you're only fighting one Patra, so imagine how laggy it would be if there were two. And yes, Dodongos have appeared in other dungeons whilst not being the main boss guarding the Triforce Shard, but so has literally every other boss monster in the game sans Ganon.
I've been recently playing through Zelda 1, both in the process of ripping this and casually, and I've never once seen more than one Patra in a room. In fact, given how the NES works with regards to sprite limitations, I find it rather unlikely that the developers would have ever considered doing such. I mean, the game is prone to lagging when you're only fighting one Patra, so imagine how laggy it would be if there were two. And yes, Dodongos have appeared in other dungeons whilst not being the main boss guarding the Triforce Shard, but so has literally every other boss monster in the game sans Ganon.

@MisterMike
I seem to recall two sets in one room in at least one part of Death Mountain.
Additionally, the game's manual does not make any distinction between enemies and bosses, just overworld and underworld enemies. Dodongos in later dungeons are undeniably treated as generic enemies, for example. "Boss" for this game really is just "enemy at end of dungeon."
I seem to recall two sets in one room in at least one part of Death Mountain.
Additionally, the game's manual does not make any distinction between enemies and bosses, just overworld and underworld enemies. Dodongos in later dungeons are undeniably treated as generic enemies, for example. "Boss" for this game really is just "enemy at end of dungeon."
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