Leever

Leever
Artwork of a Leever from Ocarina of Time
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda (1987)
Appearances	The Legend of Zelda The Adventure of Link A Link to the Past Link's Awakening Ocarina of Time Majora's Mask Oracle of Ages Oracle of Seasons Four Swords Four Swords Adventures The Minish Cap Twilight Princess A Link Between Worlds
Location(s)	Deserts Beaches
Effective weapon(s)	Sword

"Watch its movements closely, and let it go by!"

— Navi

Leevers (リーバー, Rībā^?) are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. They are living cactus-like monsters that burrow beneath the ground of beaches, deserts, and other sandy ecosystems. When a Leever senses vibrations from prey on the surface, it digs its way up from the ground to attack its unwary target. Leevers come in many colors, from bright red, to blue, to mottled green. They generally try to attack Link in packs.

Appearances

The Legend of Zelda

Leevers appear mainly in the Desert and along the beaches of Hyrule. Red Leevers burrow out of the sand and aim directly for Link, while blue Leevers tunnel in and out of the ground, wandering aimlessly. Blue Leevers are roughly twice as strong as red Leevers, and deal twice the damage that red ones do.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

All Leevers are colored blue. They follow the same attack pattern of the red Leever from The Legend of Zelda, which is to burrow up from the sand and charge at Link. They occasionally pop up directly beneath Link.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Leevers are found exclusively inside the Desert Palace. They come in two different colors, with purple Leevers being faster than green ones. Leevers make more deliberate efforts to surface directly beneath Link in this game.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Leevers in Link's Awakening come in only red, and aimlessly rove across the ground in the same fashion as blue Leevers from The Legend of Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Leevers are encountered near the Desert Colossus. Green in color, they attack in packs, spinning as they fling themselves at Link. Strangely, when Z-targeting regular Leevers, Navi turns green instead of the yellow typically associated with enemies. Defeating a number of Leevers in a row will cause a larger, purple-hued one to appear, which is more agile and durable. Upon defeat, they yield generous sums of Rupees; another side-effect of defeating a purple Leever is the temporary cessation of Leever attacks.

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest, Leevers appear within the Spirit Temple itself.

Navi's Note

“Watch its movements closely, and let it go by!”

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Leevers are similar to those from Ocarina of Time. However, they will only rise from predetermined spots, and will not stray far from them. No large purple Leever will appear as in Ocarina of Time, though some Leevers are bigger than the others, require more damage to defeat, and grow slightly larger when hit. Leevers are found on the beaches of Great Bay and in the adjacent sandy area of Termina Field. A sign calls Leevers "dangerous deep-sea life-forms", though they are never seen underwater.

Oddly, if Link rolls into a Leever, he will not take damage, and merely slides back a little.

Tatl's Note

“It actually moves pretty fast. That's not exactly good news, is it?”

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

Leevers can be found in many different locales and come in three colored varieties: red, blue, and yellow. Red Leevers and blue Leevers behave the same as their counterparts in the original Legend of Zelda. Yellow Leevers appear only in the Samasa Desert in Oracle of Seasons. They act similarly to Leevers from Ocarina of Time, burrowing up from the sand and charging at Link in curving patterns.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Leevers appear in the Desert of Doubt. There are two types of Leevers: red and green. The only difference between the two is that red Leevers can withstand more damage.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Leevers appear in various places throughout Hyrule and mostly act as they did in previous games, albeit with a more mechanical appearance. They appear in the Wind Ruins and Veil Falls. Both red Leevers and blue Leevers cause a quarter heart of damage. Blue Leevers take four, three, and two hits to defeat with the Smith's Sword, White Sword, and Four Sword, respectively. Red Leevers take two hits to defeat with both the White Sword and the Four Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Leevers appear in the Gerudo Desert, in Hyrule Field, and in the Cave of Ordeals. They usually attack in groups of three and are somewhat effortless to defeat, dying after only one hit from the sword. A well-placed Spin Attack works well, as Leevers typically circle around Link in an effort to surround and attack him from all sides.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Once again, Leevers only appear within the Desert Palace. However, only the red variety exists in this game. Generally, Leevers to not appear to make an effort to appear directly beneath Link, and instead appear close enough to be able to aggressively move toward him.

Other Appearances

Subseries warning: This article or section contains information on a subseries within the Legend of Zelda series and should be considered part of its own separate canon.

Link's Crossbow Training

Leevers appear alongside Moldorms in the second of the game's two stages that are set in the Gerudo Desert. After Link has defeated all of a batch of Moldorms, he finds himself surrounded by a pack of Leevers, which circle him in counter-clockwise formation.

Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.

Gallery

Artwork of a red Leever from The Legend of Zelda