Summary
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomcontains many dangerous foes for players venturing into uncharted territories around Hyrule, the Depths, and the Sky Islands to encounter. One of the most fearsome foes players may stumble upon is the Gleeok, a giant three-headed dragon with elemental abilities that can spell certain doom for unprepared players. While these dragons can lead to some of the best fights in the game, what makes them special is the fact that they only ever appeared in the originalLegend of Zeldabefore their presence inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Gleeoks appear as bosses throughoutThe Legend of Zeldaon NES taking on the role for the fourth and eighth dungeons, as well as appearing as a mini-boss in the sixth dungeon. InTears of the Kingdom, Gleeoks can be found in three different elemental variations throughout Hyrule, with a few King Gleeoks appearing with heads representing all three elements. The inclusion ofGleeoks inTears of the Kingdomfor the first time since the original NES title opens the door for futureZeldagames to include other forgotten enemies from past titles as new incarnations of their classic selves.
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Forgotten Zelda Enemies that Could Return as Bosses
AsThe Legend of Zeldaserieshas established its identity over the years, several enemies from the first two games were largely shelved, only appearing in a couple of early entries. Many of these foes could have untapped potential if implemented in a modernZeldatitle where they could shine outside the limitations of more archaic hardware like the NES. These enemies could make for great blast-from-the-past bosses with reworked designs and mechanics similar to how Gleeoks were treated inTears of the Kingdom.
The Original Zelda Has More Underutilized Enemies
The Patra enemy is a perfect candidate to receive the Gleeok treatment in a futureZeldatitle since it has only ever appeared in theoriginalLegend of Zelda. This enemy is depicted as a giant eyeball with several smaller eyes that circle it and attack Link, a mechanic that could be improved upon with the affordances of modernZeldatitles. Similarly to Gleeoks, Aquamentus is a dragon-like boss from the originalZeldathat never appeared in the series outside this entry and could make an imposing winged foe in a futureZeldagame.
Zelda 2’s Black Sheep Status Means it is Full of Forgotten Foes
Given its strange status as the black sheep of the series,Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkis filled with several one-and-done enemies that only ever appeared in this title and could warrant returning in a future game. One such enemy is the Acheman, a humanoid bat-like creature capable of flying and breathing fire that can be found throughoutDeath MountaininThe Adventure of Link. This foe would be perfect for a boss fight in which once defeated, it could transform into a swarm of Aches or Keese as a twist on its ability to transform into a standard bat-like Ache in its original game.
Zelda 2also has enemies like the Daira, Fokka, Fokkeru, and Guma who are high-level enemies that wield various weapons and are typically only found in dangerous areas like Death Mountain or the Great Palace. These enemies could function similarly toLynels inTears of the Kingdomand be rare but powerful humanoid foes that challenge the player’s grasp of the game’s combat mechanics. Rebonak is another boss fromThe Adventure of Linkwho appears as an Iron Knuckle mounted on the back of a floating horse, which could be a great way to incorporate modernZelda’s horse mechanics into a boss fight.
