Hardhat Beetle

Hardhat Beetle
A blue and a red Hardhat Beetle from A Link to the Past
First appearance	A Link to the Past (1992)
Appearances	A Link to the Past Link's Awakening Oracle of Ages Oracle of Seasons Four Swords Adventures Phantom Hourglass Tri Force Heroes
Effective weapon(s)	Sword Bow-Wow Bombs

Hardhat Beetles (ポーン, Pôn^?, Pawn) are recurring enemies in the The Legend of Zelda series. They possess tentacle like appendages that resemble jellyfishes, but has their name implies, they also resemble beetle like creatures that have some sort of hard shell on top of their head that is impervious to most attacks. When struck, both Link and themselves recoil a short distance. They can be defeated by utilizing the recoil to push them into pits.

Appearances

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Hardhat Beetles are found inside the many dungeons of Hyrule and the Dark World. They first appear in the Tower of Hera, and appear in almost every dungeon after that. They come in two colors, red and blue, with the red ones being faster moving and much more durable, taking up sixteen hits from the normal sword. Both types of Hardhat Beetles are able to be stunned by the Hookshot. Unlike Hardhat Beetles in most other games, they can be defeated with a sword, though striking them will still cause Link to recoil.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Hardhat Beetles can be defeated by being knocked into pits, being eaten by Bow-Wow, or blown up with a bomb. They can be stunned temporarily with the boomerang, however.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons

Hardhat Beetles in the Oracle series are identical in appearance to those in Link's Awakening. They are now invulnerable to bombs, and are knocked back instead of stunned by the boomerang. They can be blown away by Gale Seeds, although they will immediately respawn if Link leaves the room. They have an additional vulnerability in Oracle of Seasons, though, as the iron balls that Link can move with the Magnetic Gloves kill them if they're struck by it as Link drags or pushes it.

In Oracle of Ages, the Restoration Guru, Patch, has a special ceremony that he performs whenever someone asks him to repair an object. The ritual is a mini-game of sorts where Link must defeat Hardhat Beetles within a time limit, all the while stopping the mine cart encircling the battle arena from hitting the object that is subject to the ritual. The Hardhat Beetles in Patch's mini-game cannot damage Link, but they can still push him around and make it harder for him to stay on the button keeping the mine cart from hitting the ritual object.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Hardhat Beetles can be defeated either by knocking them into pits, stunning them with the Boomerang and subsequently slashing them several times while stunned, or using the Roc's Feather to jump over them and perform the Downthrust.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Hardhat Beetles are only found in the Temple of Courage. They are found near the area with invisible floors. They are invulnerable to the sword and can only be defeated by pushing them into pits or hitting them with the Hammer.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The blue Hardhat Beetles can be found in the Tower of Hera, while the red Hardhat Beetles can be found in the Ice Ruins. Unlike the Hardhat Beetles in A Link to the Past, the red versions take less hits to defeat. However, both will push Link further this time.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Hardhat Beetles appear similar to their A Link Between Worlds design. The red ones however, are engulfed in flames, and will harm Link if he attempts to slash it with his sword. Link must use the Gust Jar to cool the red versions off before attacking them.