Moldorm

Moldorm
Artwork of a Moldorm from The Legend of Zelda
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda (1987)
Appearances	The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past Four Swords The Wind Waker Four Swords Adventures The Minish Cap Twilight Princess Phantom Hourglass Skyward Sword A Link Between Worlds Tri Force Heroes
Effective weapon(s)	Sword Hammer

"Appears in various areas. These guys move quickly and randomly. Trap them in a corner and take them out quickly."

— Figurine

Moldorms (モルドアーム, Morudoāmu^?, Moldarm) are recurring enemies in the Legend of Zelda series. They are giant worms whose weak points vary according to what game they appear in. Generally, if Link hits a Moldorm anywhere but its weak point, he is pushed backwards, often making Link fall down a hole in the floor.

Appearances

The Legend of Zelda

Moldorms are orange worms with five body segments. They are found in dungeons, usually, but not always, in rooms with sandy floors. Each body segment must be killed individually. Moldorms have some traits of bosses, despite never appearing as a level boss; they snarl when Link stabs them and never reappear once defeated.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Moldorm is the boss of Tower of Hera, the third dungeon in the Light World. It is still a segmented worm, but most of its body is invulnerable, and if Link strikes it with his sword, he is thrown backwards. Only the tip of its tail is vulnerable. Moldorm appears in a room with openings in the floor that can drop Link down to the floor below. It crawls about the floor trying to push Link around and moving faster as it takes damage. A second Moldorm appears in Ganon's Tower. Smaller Moldorms, called Mini-Moldorms, inhabit some caves and dungeons. They can be damaged by striking them in any section of their body.

In Japan, the Moldorm of the "vulnerable tail" variety has been consistently named Degu Tail. The enemy called Swamola in the English localization of the game was called Moldorm in the Japanese.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Moldorm appears as a Nightmare and boss in the Tail Cave. It is very similar to the Moldorm in A Link to the Past. It crawls around the room, tries to push Link into holes in the floor, and is only vulnerable on its tail. Also, the final boss assumes the form of a Moldorm.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

Moldorms in this game are not very common. They attack in a similar fashion as Moldorms from other games (although they can be attacked in any direction) and they take several hits to be defeated. They may yield huge Rupees after being defeated.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Puppet Ganon transforms into a form resembling Moldorm in the last segment of his fight with Link. It is also possible that Molgera is somehow related to Moldorms.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Moldorms appear in the Desert Temple. They are quite big, and bear a resemblance with the Moldorm boss from A Link to the Past. As in other games, they move randomly in every directions, and take a few hits before being defeated.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

Moldorms are similar in appearance to the A Link to the Past boss, but are much smaller and require less damage to defeat. They are found mainly in the Fortress of Winds in small spaces enclosed by dirt that must be dug away with the Mole Mitts. They move quite quickly, but have no armor, making them vulnerable to sword attacks.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Moldorms make their first 3D appearance in Twilight Princess as enemies found swimming in the sands of the Gerudo Desert. They attack by popping out of the ground and ramming Link. They can be defeated if Link slashes them with his sword while they are in mid-air, or by using the Clawshot to pull them out of the ground and attacking them with the sword. Larger, stronger Moldorms can be found in the Arbiter's Grounds. These require two hits with the Master Sword to defeat them. A Moldorm that is like the latter will appear in the Gerudo Desert if enough of the smaller Moldorms are killed. A Moldorm will furrow up the sand behind it, making a roaring noise while chasing Link before leaping at him with a screech. The larger form of Moldorm makes a return appearance in Link's Crossbow Training.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Moldorms appear as minor enemies in the Temple of Courage. Like in the other games, they can only be defeated by three hits on their tails, or in one hit if an arrow is shot into their tail.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Moldorms appear underground only; they resemble giant centipedes in this incarnation rather than worms. They have a sole weak spot at their rear, which must be attacked three times before they are defeated. If they spot Link, they will charge at him until he is out of their line of sight. This behavior can be used to trick the Moldorms into charging directly into a wall, briefly stunning them.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Link fighting a Moldorm in A Link Between Worlds

A Moldorm appears as the boss of the Tower of Hera. It is very similar to its A Link to the Past incarnation, and similarly appears as a mini-boss in the final dungeon, Lorule Castle. Moldorm also appears in the Treacherous Tower mini-game. Unlike its appearance in A Link to the Past, it can be temporarily stunned with the Hammer.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Moldorm appears as a boss in Tri Force Heroes. Unlike in previous games, its movement is controlled rather than erratic for most of the battle. It targets the player whose color matches the current color of its eyes.

Related Enemies

In addition to Moldorms there is a Mini-Moldorm variant which are smaller weaker Moldorms. In certain games where Moldorms do not appear there are similar enemies/bosses with "Mold" in their name and may have characteristics similar to Moldorms such as being worm-like enemies such as Twinmold, Molgera, Dagtail, and Tailpasaran. However some like Moldarach and Molduga lack the Moldorms worm-like appearance and only share similarities in name, living in a desert habitats, and the Twilight Princess Moldorms habit of moving through and attacking from under sand.

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

Moldorms, along with Leevers, appear in the second of the two stages of the game which take place in the Gerudo Desert. They circle around Link, who must shoot them when they jump out of the sand.

Subseries warning: Subseries information ends here.

See also

• Dagtail
• Mini-Moldorm
• Moldarach
• Molduga
• Molgera
• Tailpasaran
• Twinmold