Gohma is a fictional monster and a recurring boss character in The Legend of Zelda series of video games, where the player fights it as the protagonist, Link. Although Gohma's appearance is different in every game, it is always a giant cyclopic arthropod and its eye is always its weak point. In the non-canon CD-i titles it bore a strong resemblance to an Alaskan King Crab.
Appearances[ | ]
The Legend of Zelda[ | ]
In the The Legend of Zelda, the first game of the series, Gohma is a boss creature, appearing as a large, one-eyed arthropod that shoots fireballs at Link. It has a wide shell on its back making it look somewhat like a crab. Gohma could be harmed only by shooting arrows at its eye when it opens. Gohma has two variations. One is orange and takes a single shot by a normal arrow to defeat it. The other is the same size and shape, but is blue and takes three shots from a normal arrow to defeat it. Since one rupee is required to shoot an arrow, it is possible that the player could run out of rupees during the battle with Gohma, and if this is the case they must leave the room to collect more. Most other boss battle rooms in this game do not have this feature, the only other being the smoke-hating Dodongo. In the first quest, the red Gohma is the boss of level six and blue Gohma makes an appearance in level eight. In the second Quest, the blue Gohma appears in levels five, six, and seven, and acts as the boss of level six as well.
Link's Awakening[ | ]
In Link's Awakening, multiple Gohmas appeared as a sub-boss in the Catfish's Maw. They would jump back and forth with their eyes closed, and would only be vulnerable to the Hookshot when they were open. They can either lunge forward or diagonally, and when they open their eyes, a projectile will soon follow, but if attacked soon enough the effect is canceled.
Ocarina of Time[ | ]
In Ocarina of Time, Gohma is the first boss Link battles. In this game it is referred to as Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Gohma, and is a giant crab-like enemy used by Ganondorf to curse the Great Deku Tree when he was denied the Kokiri Emerald. Link is requested by the Great Deku Tree to rid him of Gohma. Inside, there are several Deku Scrubs who swear allegiance to the Queen Gohma until they are defeated by Link, at which point they reveal the creature's weakness to him.
Eventually Link reaches Gohma's lair deep inside the Great Deku Tree. The battle does not commence until Link spots her glowing red eye high on the ceiling, at which point it manipulates its legs to look like a mutated hand with an eye ball in the center; upon further inspection, however, it does still have its arthropod appearance. After attack, it will retreat to the ceiling to spawn eggs that drop and quickly hatch into Gohma Larvae, small Gohmas that were encountered as enemies earlier in the dungeon.
Link battles and destroys Gohma, but the Great Deku Tree reveals that Gohma had done too much damage to him already, and soon dies.
Gohma Larva[ | ]
Gohma Larvae are the offspring of the Queen Gohma. They only have two legs (no arms or additional legs), one eye, and appear to be sprouting something atop of their head. They attack by lunging at Link.
Oracle of Seasons[ | ]
In this game, Gohma is a giant, cyclopean fiddler crab that guards Soothing Rain in the Dancing Dragon Dungeon. It attacks by swinging its claw at Link and by birthing larvae that will stick to Link and slow him down.
The Wind Waker[ | ]
Gohma in The Wind Waker
Gohma serves as the boss of Dragon Roost Cavern in The Wind Waker, where it had been harassing the dragon Valoo, disturbing the order on Dragon Roost Island. This version of Gohma is the most unusual of its kind, since this Gohma appears more like a cross between a centipede and scorpion, with a hard carapace. This version of Gohma is a larger and more powerful version of an enemy from the game, the Magtail, a species of scorpion/centipede hybrids that reside in lava and also have one eye. Gohma attacks by trying to crush Link with its body, or breathing fire at him. Link fights back by using his Grappling Hook on Valoo's tail, which in turn makes a part of the rocky ceiling fall down on Gohma, crushing some of its carapace. It is later fought again (in black and white) in Ganon's Tower.
Four Sword Adventures[ | ]
In the Four Sword Adventures Gohma appears in two variations. The first type is a large, one-eyed arachnid that aimlessly wanders about the fields of Hyrule. The second type also appears as a large, one-eyed arachnid, but acts as a mini-boss that shoots fireballs at Link.
Twilight Princess[ | ]
Armogohma in Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, Gohma goes by the name of Twilit Arachnid: Armogohma, and appears as a giant spider with an eyeball located in its back. Its name is most likely a mix of "armor" and "Gohma", as it seems the creature is wearing some kind of armor on its main body around its eye. Such an assumption gains strength after the first form of Armogohma is defeated. It is found in the Temple of Time, the sixth dungeon in the game. This version of Gohma is hairy and has eight legs, heavily resembling a huntsman spider or tarantula. Its single eye can shoot a fiery laser. Armogohma can also lay dozens of eggs, which hatch to reveal small spider-like enemies, known as Baby Gohma. Upon getting its body destroyed, Armogohma's eyeball reveals itself to be a small spider of its own, and tries to escape along with some of its spawn. Link then kills it, and it releases the third shard of the Mirror of Twilight.
Young Gohma[ | ]
Young Gohmas are presumably the offspring of Armogohma, and are common enemies in the Temple of Time. They are roughly human-sized, one-eyed spiders (resembling tarantulas, like their adult counterpart) with four legs. They attack by ramming Link.
Baby Gohma[ | ]
Baby Gohma are the offspring of Armogohma. They are incredibly weak, easily being killed with even the Slingshot. Although they all look the same, they act differently depending on where they are fought. When they are fought as normal enemies, they will run away from Link when he faces them, but will attack him from behind. When Armogohma spawns Baby Gohmas after taking damage, this litter will attack Link aggressively, whether or not he is facing them. The last variation is formed when Armogohma's body is destroyed, leaving only Armogohma's eye. They crowd around their parent, running away from Link with the eye. Interestingly, Baby Gohmas greatly resemble Mitites from Pikmin 2.
TV series[ | ]
Gohma made at least one minor appearance on the television series adaptation of The Legend of Zelda series. On the TV show, however, Gohma was a large, blue crab-like creature, very similar to the Tektites. Like its other incarnations, its eye was its main weakness. In the episode "Cold Spells" Ganon attempts to feed Zelda and Link to Gohma, which behaves a lot like a tamed pet, but Link manages to trick Ganon into destroying Gohma by dodging a fire attack meant for him and causing it to hit Gohma in the eye, destroying it. In another episode, "Stinging a Stinger", Ganon attempts to feed Zelda, Link, and another character named Sleeze Nose to Gohma, but Link and Zelda manages to defeat this one. In the final episode, "The Moblins are Revolting", two Gohmas made a small appearance carrying the Evil Jar.