- "The remains of Bokoblins appear in the dark of the night. While they're fragile enough to crumble from a single blow, as long as a skull remains intact, they'll continue to pull themselves back together and go on fighting. Sometimes the body will pick up the wrong skull, but this doesn't seem to be a problem..."
- — Hyrule Compendium
Stalkoblins are enemies from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. They are reanimated Bokoblin skeletons that appear at night. They can wield a variety of weapons depending on where they are found such as Traveler's Swords or Traveler's Spears, "Boko" series weaponry, and can also throw stones found on the ground like their living counterparts. They can also lift and throw rocks, barrels, and Bomb Barrels as improvised weapons.
Their behavior is similar to Stalchildren from Ocarina of Time and Stalhound from Twilight Princess, as they emerge from the ground at night as do Stalmoblin and Stalizalfos. However they do not spawn continuously and most have specific locations where they rise from the ground. Unlike Cursed Bokoblins from this game or those from Skyward Sword, Stalkoblins are completely skeletonized and lack any vestiges of their former life such as clothing or flesh, though they do retain vestiges of their personality, intelligence, and behavior while Cursed Bokoblin in Breath of the Wild have a pitiful form of life-and-death that robs them of their original personality and any intelligence they once possessed. They also lack the Skyward Sword Cursed Bokoblins' ability to jinx. Some Stalkoblin appear as bone piles that reanimate at night such as those found in the unnamed ruins in Hyrule Field south of the Outpost Ruins and Satori Mountain (unless the Lord of the Mountain is present). As Stalkoblin are nocturnal this trait allows their living counterparts to sleep at night (unless disturbed) while their undead counterparts takeover thus they serve as the nightshift among Ganon's forces along with Keese, Stalmoblin, Stalizalfos, and Stalnox as well as monsters that do not sleep such as ChuChus, Lizalfos, Lynels, Molduga, Octoroks, Pebblits, Talus, and Wizzrobes.
A Stalkoblin can have its various body parts knocked off. Once this has happened, the Stalkoblin run around, trying to find things to replace the lost limbs. Link can take a lost Bokoblin Arm and use it as a weapon though they are brittle and break easily. With proper timing, Bokoblin Arms can be used to deflect small stones thrown by unarmed Stalkoblins and Bokoblins. At times, a Stalkoblin can take other Stalkoblins' body parts, such as a head or an arm, and attach it to itself. A Stalkoblin head can be picked up and kicked or thrown around to deal damage. Throwing their heads in water, Bottomless Bogs, or Lava will kill them and like their living counterparts perish if the end up in deep water. Headshots with Arrows can kill their skulls instantly. However Stalkoblin bodies will continue to reanimate as long as there is a single Stalkoblin skull around and all Stalkoblin automatically perish at sunrise (5:00 a.m.). However Stalkoblin can maintain their bone structure during the day in certain locations such as the Lost Woods and Thyphlo Ruins due to those areas protecting them from sunlight (the Lost Woods is covered in fog while the ruins are pitch-black blocking any sunlight) similar to the Stalnox in the Lockup. Like their living counterparts, slain Stalkoblin are resurrected by Ganon at midnight during a Blood Moon albeit in their undead reanimated state which is also apparently the result of Ganon's power .
- "Only Stalkoblins have reason to be up this late, traveler."
- — Cecili
The Swallow's Roost innkeeper Cecili notes that only Stalkoblin have reason to be up at such a late hour when spoken to at night before suggesting Link stay at her Inn for the night.
Link may encounter Stalkoblin riding Stalhorses in areas such as East Akkala Plains, Ranch Ruins, Rutile Lake, or N. Tabantha Snowfield. Link can knock them off their Stalhorse and steal it, though he is unable to register Stalhorses at Stables as it is considered a monster as Stalhorse are undead horses reanimated by Ganon's power and presumably are the reanimated skeletons of Bokoblin tamed wild horses that presumably perished with their riders and were reanimated as undead along with their riders who became Stalkoblin. If Link wears a fully upgraded Radiant Mask, Radiant Shirt, and Radiant Tights at night it will disguise Link as a "Stal" and increases the attack power Link causes while wielding Bokoblin Arms. Stalkoblins will also be effected by the Bokoblin Mask like their living counterparts while Majora's Mask effects them, their living counterparts, Moblins, Lizalfos, and their "Stal" variants. The Phantom Ganon Skull, Phantom Ganon Armor, and Phantom Ganon Greaves grants the same set bonuses as the Radiant Armor set but does not require any upgrades.
Theory[]
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
Cursed Bokoblins[]
Given the fact that they are both undead Bokoblins, it is possible that Cursed Bokoblins in Breath of the Wild are skulls coming from Stalkoblins. Since Cursed Bokoblins are depicted as bodiless Stalkoblin skulls possessed by Malice. However their description implies these malice corrupted skulls have a far more pitiful form of life-and-death than Stalkoblin as the Malice robs them of any intelligence they once had turning them into mindless skulls that attack anything non-monster that gets too close and the Compendium makes a point of referring to their skulls as Bokoblin skulls. Presumably their similarities could be due to Ganon's role in both being reanimated as undead.
Theory warning: Theories end here.
See also[]
- Blin
- Bokoblin
- Cursed Bokoblin
- Stalchild
- Stalhorse
- Stalhound
- Stalizalfos
- Stalmoblin
- Stalnox
- Technoblin