Design a Boss | ZU Connection

Est. 2004
The First and Original Legend of Zelda Boss Concept and Contest Thread

Hello and Welcome to Design a Boss! This is the place where you share your great ideas by designing a boss or boss battle. Five years of brain-storming, sharing, participating, and having fun.

Welcome to the ZU Connection. Design a Boss was thread that began at the official Nintendo Forums, Nsider. Now that the site has been shut down and replaced with a Technical Forums for an indefinite time, the contest has returned to Nsider 2. The opportunity has been given to have both Nsider 2 and Zelda Universe members participate and have a chance to take part of this fun contest and win great prizes.

To visit the Nsider 2 thread, click HERE.



Design a Boss

This thread has spanned to a real storm of great ideas and bizarre concepts of what Legend of Zelda bosses really should be. The thread simply started as time killer and a way to see what others had in mind for future bosses. The thread became hot immediately, and I began a contest to make it a more exciting thread in which more people would participate and add more detail to their concepts. At first intended to see what others wanted in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (back then referred to as LoZ'05,) the thread now has a new meaning: We contemplate the meaning of BOSS and the Zelda universe to design dynamic battles and present a possible challenge concept for Legend of Zelda enthusiasts.



Concept

Fighting a Boss is essential in the Legend of Zelda. It is an art and a great accomplishment to slay what lies deep in the dungeon or temple. Once slain, love is spread and virtue is granted. But what makes the fight such a great art? Can you design such a challenge for the hero? And how can the hero succeed?



Rules
-You may submit no more than 2 entries. Your best boss design may be selected.
-Entries are posted on the thread. If you are a Zelda Universe member but not an Nsider 2 member, your entry MUST be submitted here. Do NOT join Nsider 2 for the sake of submitting there. Submission of two different entries by the same person in both Nsider 2 and Zelda Universe forums will result in disqualification.
-Please do not flame or spam on this thread. Spam makes it hard to find certain posts.
-Avoid in-depth criticism or harsh comments towards submitted concepts.
-Have fun



Judges

Judicium (Zelda Universe)/ POE-GUY (Nsider 2)
ROCKERFOX (Nsider 2)
Holly (Zelda Universe)


How we judge

-Originality: If the boss is quite original, its chances of winning are higher. Do NOT compare your concept to other things that are already out there such as villains from a movie, a boss from another game, etc.

-Detail and description: The boss battle needs to be clear. If we can get an good picture in our mind on how you are fighting or seeing a boss, then it gets a high score on detail. Try to make your entry a neat one, too.

-Effort: We’ve been basing ourselves on “effort” for the past contests. Effort involves presentation, detail, and other things. It does NOT mean you need to submit a concept that ...took hours to make.

-Grammar: We try to disregard grammatical mistakes here and there, but if it gets overwhelming, the chances of winning may be low.



Prizes

1st Place: Best Buy, game of choice (Limited to PS3, Wii, Xbox360)¹. Detailed boss concept illustration. Custom signature.
2nd Place: Wii Virtual Console, game of choice. Custom signature.
3rd Place: Wii Virtual Console, game of choice. Custom signature.

Other prizes TBA

Deadline for entries WAS May 20, 2009.

________________________________________________

1. The Best Buy game of choice may be easily shipped to members who live in US or Canada. If you are not from US or Canada, don't panic! Your game of choice will be shipped to you! Also, there may be issues with Region-locked games, especially when dealing with the Nintendo Wii. If the 1st place winner has this issue, the problem may surely be resolved as well.

The List of Entries remains HERE

Hello, everyone! Today is June 16, 2009, and the results are finally here. Due to the amount of entries, we had to delay this announcement. We apologize.
In any case, Design a Boss has been around for a while, and this one stands out from all the others. Besides the fact that fifty-eight participants contributed to this great contest, it expanded a bit further by offering contestants to participate via Nsider 2 or Zelda Universe. I am very happy with the feedback Design a Boss has acquired. I think that, above all, Design a Boss NSii Debut | ZU Connection showcased some of the best Legend of Zelda boss concepts ever, making this a highly competitive environment. With this in hand, let's proceed to the leading concepts:

honorable mentions:







5. Arabixander: Mobile Gerudo Fortress by DarkChocolateMetroid

One of the stronger concepts achieving Originality. Arabixander: Mobile Gerudo Fortress stands out as a boss challenge with attitude. As this gargantuan structure ascends above the ground and threatens Hyrule Castle Town, Link has to catch up with this moving fortress and manage to invade its interior to stop this danger from causing any damage to the home front. (One of the Judge's favorite*)

4. Cursed Puppetmaster: STALREX by Double A

This Cursed Puppetmaster would be the offering of a bizarre challenge, embellished with doomed spirits. Starlex, whose background is one of the most intriguing stories, needs to be dealt with in a very methodical fashion. Using the magic lantern to dispel any shrouding or illusion, Link fights this tricky boss in a series of phases that increase the difficulty of the challenge as the Cursed Puppetmaster is weakened. One of the stronger concepts achieving Effort. (One of Judge's favorite*)





winners of design a boss nsii debut | ZU connection:





3. Spectral Organist: Discordia by Crab Helmet

This particular boss stands out as a viable challenge for a Legend of Zelda game. While many of the entries suffered from a highly complicated description, this boss achieved a high score in Detail and Description, providing the Judges with a very pleasant read. The bizarre events of a once-pleasant island lead to the emerging of a suffering spirit that may collide euphony and cacophony at will with the power of steam. Congratulations to this participant for submitting this strong and enjoyable concept. (One of Judge's favorite*)


2. B.A.W.C.: Big, Angry, Wayward Cucco by Sakume

After reading highly complicated and unbelievable concepts, we came upon this entry which gave us a very nice impression. This boss concept takes a simplistic approach and presents a very bold and highly creative challenge. If this boss were to ever exist, it would surely be the most iconic and fun boss battle of the Legend of Zelda series. Next time you slash a cucco, think of the scheme they can develop to get even with you.



1. Father of the Voodoo: Vudurah by man_with_thooo

By far, the most bizarre concept submitted to Design a Boss. This concept stresses the procedures of the various phases of this strong foe and the use of the Wiimote. In order to complete this imaginative challenge, the Hero must stand up to this sinister boss and outdo its powerful mind. Tightly scored among the other strong concepts, this entry managed to stand at the top, and we congratulate this user for providing this highly elaborate idea and exceptional effort .

You will receive the recognition you deserve with this banner displayed besides your user-name:




CONGRATULATIONS to the leading participants! Believe us: this was a very competitive contest, and your places stand above many other great concepts. I'd like to thank all the participants as well. I hope you all enjoyed Design a Boss and explored your imagination a bit with your participation. Also a HUGE thanks to Gold (ZU) and Rocker Fox (NS2) for helping out with the arduous task of judging-- we took a bit long, but we did it!
Design a Boss had been absent since the original Nintendo Nsider forums closed, and I think we've done a great job with its return. With this strong response received by Nsider 2 and Zelda Universe, it would be disappointing to not launch another Design a Boss contest in the near future. I hope you all look forward to another great moment like this one.









Nsider 2 TOP 5:

5th Place: Arabixander: Mobile Gerudo Fortress by DarkChocolateMetroid (To be awarded 300 rupees and Achievement Points)
7th Place: Molgohra: Sand Goddess by Farbeitfromme (To be awarded 200 rupees and Achievement Points)
8th Place: Toporskat: Armored Predator by General Luigi (To be awarded 100 rupees and Achievement Points)
9th Place: Xllander: Keeper of Twelve by SongOfShadows
10th Place: Scelero Umbramagist: Evil God of Shadows by ACNUTI

Zelda Universe TOP 5:

1st Place: Father of the Voodoo: Vudurah by man_with_thooo
2nd Place: B.A.W.C.: Big, Angry, Wayward Cucco by Sakume
3rd Place: Spectral Organist: Discordia by Crab Helmet
4th Place: Cursed Puppetmaster: STALREX byDouble A
6th Place: Animosity of Reflection: Cursed Mirror of Opposition by dark-hero

-Example and FAQ-


Design a Boss Concept Example
The following is an analyzed example of a Design a Boss concept entry by KARATELINK, 1st place winner of Design a Boss, Contest X, thread ii (Nintendo Nsider Forums). Comments are marked in red bold font. (NOTE: The following entry was reduced in font size.)




~{Sindrake}~


The Scourge of Death Mountain


During the Imprisoning War, there was a great Hylian Knight known as Sundrake.


He was valiant and powerful, but he was prone to terrible lust.


When he saw the King's Wife, he immediately wished to court her. He eventually lost interest in her however, which angered the Queen so much so lied to the King that Sir Sundrake had molested her.


When the King heard the lie, he cunningly sent the Knight to infiltrate the highest of all the Gerudo Bases: the Dragmire Chasm.


(A nice and brief background of the boss is supplied here. Providing background is a very good choice. Notice decoration by the font and brakes.)


Upon reaching the Base, he was ambushed, captured, and tortured by none other than Ganondorf himself. The King of Hyrule had known that nobody could successfully infiltrate the Dragmire Chasm, and sent Sundrake there in revenge for a crime he didn't commit.


When Sundrake learned of this, he pledged eternal vengeance against the King.


Ganondorf heard his ravings, and saw the secret power hidden within the Knight. He seemed to continue torturing him: but was secretly bombarding Sundrake with black magic, which made him bitterer, and more powerful.


Then he locked him away inside a tomb, buried fifty feet below the Desert of Illusions.


( Continuation of brief plot.)


Many years later, during Link's travels in the Desert of Illusions, Sundrake, who had renamed himself Sindrake, sensed Link nearing his tomb.


He summoned a Poe with his dark magic to ask Link questions. When Link said he was on a journey to defeat the King, he assumed he meant the original King, not King Ganondorf.


His Poe than helped Link in his adventures across the dunes, slowly feeding off of his energy, and giving Sindrake power.


Many months later, Sindrake gained enough power to break from his tomb. But when he looked for the King, he was nowhere to be found. He ventured onto Death Mountain, and there began a massacre of horror against all of Hyrule.


Sindrake wore lava-red armor, and a swirling black cape. His skull-like helmet had a thick horn in the front, and his gauntlets had spiked knuckles.


(It is always a good idea to give a full description of the boss. One or two sentences can do the job. Making brakes or successfully separating specifications of the boss such as background, appearance or boss attacks, is a major plus to Detail and Description.)


He was a dangerous foe when fought: he wielded a broadsword expertly, and with great speed. He would leap around the walls, now pausing to shoot lightning from his palm, now breaking into a ferocious charge, horn-first.


When he lost his sword, he used hand-to-hand combat, and summoned a giant Poe to strike his enemy.


If his helmet was destroyed, he would move faster, become angry, and shoot rays of light out of his eyes that stunned his opponent.


With his last breath, he would utter a curse, which destroyed his lair with an explosion of magma.


(This brake or paragraph specifies the boss's actions or attacks. Another good idea to specify such descriptions would be something like:


"Attacks:


Fire: -description-


Lance/ Spear: -description-


..." )


To defeat this ghastly knight of darkness, one would have to first disarm him, by using counter attacks and long-range weapons.


After that, they would wait until he charges them. When he got near, the hero would leap aside and grab him from behind, then slice his helmet off.


Finally, Sindrake would shoot rays from his black eyes, which would have to be reflected back at him using the four mirror stones located around the room. Then the hero would rush in and slash at him with their weapon, and continue this phase until his dying breath.


He would summon an explosion that cracked Death Mountain, and the hero would have to escape, before everything was covered in molten lava.


(This is probably the most important part of the boss concept. The strategy on how to defeat the boss is described above. You may want to try using your own style on this one. You could try sounding like a strategy guide on how to defeat the boss or describe a step-by-step procedure. You can also mention a special item and how to use it to defeat the boss. Make it sound like its a real Legend of Zelda boss. )


The room was Sindrake's hall, where a mighty throne was placed, and three massive mirror stones stood along the walls. Two rivers of lava ran through the hall, and as the battle raged on, they bubbled more furiously, and cracked the floor, making deep chasms of magma.


When the battle ended, the throne would blow away, shooting out a stream of magma, which would begin to flood the whole volcano.


(Describing the battle arena is also important to visualize the concept. This description can be included on "How to Defeat the Boss." Entries may also briefly describe the dungeon/temple in which the boss lies. If you supply a short description of the dungeon/temple, let it be somewhere before the description of the boss or its battle. I.e, "Where -Insert name here- lies.")


Before Sindrake was submerged in molten magma, he uttered; "I dare you to take me, death. Life itself, is a curse."

(Kill that mean boss!)


Depiction:
(Picture inserted here)




(A depiction is NOT required. A depiction does NOT count for the contest either. You are more than welcome to include one. The depiction could be anything, too-- let it be your own drawing, a known piece of art, etc.)

(Design a Boss is also based on creating a possible cocept for a future Zelda title. Why not mention and describe some of the aspects of Nintedo Wii or DS dynamics and see how they can be incorporated to your entry? Try to think of how a boss battle could work using some of the unique controls of the Wiimote, for example. Also, ZU members can take advantage of the Official Ideas for Future Bosses thread to see how other ZU members have come up with their own boss concepts. If you have already posted your boss idea on the thread, you may NOT copy and paste it directly as an entry. You are absolutely welcome to base yourself on an idea you've already posted, but it has to be altered significantly. Think of it as an improved version that may be submitted.)


-End of Example-

FAQ


(Most of these questions were only intended to be asked.)


Q: The longer, the better, right?


A: NO. No, no, and no. We really don't want a Harry Potter Book to be submitted. This thread and contest is to come up with new ideas and have fun while competing. Of coarse, if you really MUST or want to submit a long written concept, you are more than welcome. Shortening sentences and paragraphs is never a bad idea, though


Q: When's the deadline?


A: The deadline is May 20, 2009. Judging and announcement takes a week.

Q: How many concepts can I submit?


A: I've decided on a limit of 2. Best one may make it.



Q: How are the winners announced?


A: For the past 10 contests, I decide to go by the elimination process. If there are, say, 30 entries, we eliminate ten and announce the TOP 20. We then eliminate another ten and thus TOP 10, and finally TOP 5 which include honorable mentions (5th-4th place) and Design a Boss Winners (3rd-1st). This may all be subject to change due to the ZU Connection.


Q: How do I higher my chances of winning?


A: There are many ways. A really good one is by EDITING your entries before they are judged.

Q: I've already posted a very nice boss concept on the Official ideas for Future Bosses thread. May I just copy and paste to submit?

A: NO. As stated above, you may only base yourself on an idea you may have already posted, and it has to be altered/improved significantly to qualify.

Q: What if I have more questions?


A: Don't hesitate to ask more. Post your concerns on the thread or send me a PM if you want to avoid possible spam-- there's a lot more space for the FAQ

Blazabra: Hylian Cobra


Attacks: Bite: 1 heart, Contact with you: 1 herat, Flamethrower: 1 heart, and a bind: 1/2 a heart.

The battle fied would be somewhat like King Dodongos in Ocariana of Time. You can only walk the outside path.

My Boss would be named Blazabra. He would be the boss of the Death Mountain temple. He looks like a huge Cobra and has spiny ptones around its neck. It also has razor sharp teath. The stratagy to defeat this monster is to use the clawshot and destroy all of the little spikes around its neck to stun it. After that is done, shoot an arrow at its mouth to drop it. then run up and attack its tounge.

Arachnia Gohma

The spider boss often returns to the series. Then next time she does i hope the fight will be more original then "hit her eye with a range weapon".

For starters, she will be located at the very top of the dungeon (prefferably a gigant tree ) instead of at the bottom.

Intro
Link is climbing the dark inside of the tree when he finally spots sunlight from above. He climbs up and finds a big boss door, with light beaming in through the keyhole. After opening it he steps out onto a branch (which is big enogh for him to stand on, I'm talking about a freking huge tree ), the sun shines through the treetop. And there within sight, is the *insert generic zelda medallion, stone, whatever here*. As Link joyfully runs towards it the branch suddenly shakes violently and Link fall off. It looks as if it's the end of him, but after a few seconds of falling he plunges down straight into a giant spider web. Then the boss comes lurking out of the darkness (it's not as sunny down at the web as on the branch).

Stage
The stage is a giant web stretching between several branches. The web is not flat as you would suspect, it's a random messy web with strings going diagonal, horizontal and in every way imagiable. However it's not praticulary thick, so Link can't just walk anywhere, he has to avoid falling through the gaps of the net during the fight. Link will be able both to move around like normal and climb up and down the web, however he schould not be able to reach any of the branches. The web is sticky so even if Link is falling he will be able to grap onto a thread mid-fall if neccessary.

Boss Design
I'm imagining a tarantulaish creature, sorta like the one from TP, but more furry and in darker colors. Instead of one big eye this boss will have real spider eyes. Overall a more realistic spider design, must look very creepy.

Boss Attacks
1: Bash Link with it's spider legs. Don't deal much damage but usually knocks him down, could instantly kill Link by knocking him off the web.
2: Grabs Link with it's mouth, hurts alot but only occurs if Link is standing to close. After grabbing it throws him, again it could kill him instantly if unlucky.
3: Spawn small spiders. The small spiders works like homing rockets, running straight towards Link. These bastards are great at climbing, so you can't run from them.
4: Repair the web, will be explained in the next section.

How to kill
The great thing about this boss is that it can't be killed by ANY weapon or power that you posses. Instead you must use the stage to kill it. The web is not thick and you can easily destroy the threads with your sword and boomerang. But you can't just slash away anywhere, becouse you constantly risk falling of yourself. If you go berzerk and destroy most of it, you will have no place to escape. It requires both timing and strategy, to cut the right thread at the right time in order to get the boss to fall out of the web. For example, you cut the threads at a certain part of the web, and then try to lure the boss over there. The best part is that the outcome of the battle will be different every time. The battle could take a few minutes to hours, both you and the boss risk dying instantly all the time and nowhere on the stage is "safe".

~Spectral Organist~
Discordia



Background

Once, Lethe Manor was a peaceful, serene place. Situated on Eris Island, it overlooked the beauties of Eris Beach and the wonderful seas beyond. It had once been home to the flood refugees, around four hundred years ago, for Eris Island had once been Eris Mountain, and they had fled there in order to seek high ground, later building Lethe Manor there. Their descendants made the island a true home in every sense of the word, cultivating beautiful gardens and tidy houses. The place became a resting point for every weary traveller, situated as it was to the northern bounds of the Great Sea. Hylian and Human, Rito and Goron alike would stay here for a few nights before moving on with their respective journies.

In particular, Lethe Manor had two traditions it was proud of above all else. The rose gardens, and the vast steam organ known as the Siren, near on twenty five foot high. The position of organist was a high one indeed. Fifty years before present date, the Organist was a young woman named Harmony. She loved the music, and devoted herself to it, lost in the notes and rhythms, bringing serene music to the island whenever a festival was held.

One day, it came to pass that a group of travellers passed by the island. They were strange people, garbed in all-encompassing blue and white clothes that covered all but their eyes, and emblazoned on their front was the symbol of a weeping eye, in red. They did not give their names. However, at Lethe Island, everyone was accepted, no matter how strange, and they were taken in for a few nights.

What a mistake that was.

During the night, there were screams, anguished cries of pain, the sound of burning wood. The strangers were attacking, turning on their hosts, putting them to the blade, killing them all. Ablaze with fierce flames, the manor was burnt horribly. Harmony watched, silent tears falling from her eyes, then went to the great hall, and began to play the Siren. The heavenly music began to play one last time, before it was abruptly cut short, blood spattered across its keys.

The Sheikah then hid their legacy, the fragment of the Book of Mudora, in the remains of the manor, and constructed elborate traps for intruders. Someone watched them, though, with unearthly malice and hate, that had stretched beyond the grave. The Sheikah, having completed their foul task, attempted to leave. None ever made it out.

At the present date, Link arrives at Eris Island, on his search to complete the Book of Mudora. He enters the Manor into the great hall, and sees a ravaged steam organ before him, all five of the majestic pipes blocked. As he explores the manor, he must find rooms above each one of the pipes, and clear/fix the pipes, in order to let the steam flow through them once more. Every time he fixes one pipe, he can return to the grand hall, and go to the organ platform, in order to play some more notes of a tune from the music sheet on the organ, named the Melody of Discord, which will open some mysteriously unlocked doors, allowing him to progress. The controls are simple – simply walk to the seat at the organ platform, and Link will sit down to play the organ. The notes are mapped to the analogue stick and the B button, and from lowest note to highest note go ←, ↓, B, ↑, →. This is made obvious by the fact the middle set of keys on the organ have pictures of the directions / buttons which play them. Pressing A will let Link get off from the organ seat.

Eventually, he clears the pipes, and heads into the final unlocked room. The marks of the Sheikah are everywhere, and a huge chest with the Sheikah emblem emblazoned upon it is in the centre. However, when he opens it, he finds not a Mudora Fragment, but rather, a single, perfectly preserved, rose. Link's sidekick suggests he return to the main hall, and try playing the Melody of Discord once more.

Except, upon arriving there, he finds someone else is already there. A young woman, playing the Melody of Discord perfectly. She seems insubstantial, and he looks closer. With shock, Link realises that she is made from steam, composed of the jets that come out of the steam organ. Very suddenly, the music stops. Everything is silent. She turns to face him, her face filled with hatred.

“I knew that one day, your kind would return. I knew you would return for your petty treasures. You shan't succeed, foolish boy. You shall suffer the same fate as the rest, at the hands of Discordia!”

Then, she draws a conductor's baton, that grows to sword-like size, and attacks.

The Arena

The battle field is staged in the great hall, a huge manor house hall. Various doors lead to other parts of the mansion, during the fight, these are locked. The walls are scorched and burnt, ash and other debris litter the floor. At the northern end, is a small flight of stairs leading to the organ platform of the Siren. From here, five pipes go around the room – one straight up from the Siren, and the other around the walls to each of the four corners. Above the Siren, behind one of the pipes (the B note pipe) is a magnificent set of glass painted windows.

The Fight

This fight is all about the music. The Melody of Discord begins playing, at a fast pace and much deeper than normal – a boss theme. The Melody of Discord must be an incredibly impressive piece of music, that sounds incredibly terrifying. I had in mind a remix of Bach's Toccata and Fugue, somewhat similar to the start of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1EzymX0ok, except with the organ playing a more prominent part.

The first stage of the fight is brutal. Link is standing at the entrance to the grand hall, and Discordia wildly attacks him, using her baton as a sword. Discordia is incredibly powerful and fast while the Siren is playing, as she made from its steam. However, whenever the Melody of Discord stops using the Siren for other intruments, she weakens and slow down, allowing Link to attack. She will completely block the stairway to the organ platform until Link has managed to deal enough damage.

Stage 1 Discordia attacks:

Fury Baton: Discordia incredibly quickly swoops at Link, slashing away at great speed. Link can stop this with the shield or his Spin Attack, but if he tries the Back Roll or the back flip to get away, he'll get badly damaged, depending on how many hits Discordia manages to connect (8 hits, 1/4 hearts per hit). If Discordia is currently weakened, the spin attack will damage her, or if he used the shield to stop it, she'll be slow enough he can swipe or thrust to deal damage.

Dual Swipe: Discordia swings the baton powerfully to the left, then back to the right. If Link is using his shield, the first blow will catch him off-guard, then the second blow knock him to the ground, causing damage. If he is using the spin attack, both hits connect. If he uses the Back Roll, the first hit will connect, knocking him back, and the second misses. The back flip will get him a safe distance away. (First hit 1 heart, second hit 2 hearts). If Discordia is currently weakened, Link can use the Back Slice out of the Back Roll to deal damage, or a jump attack directly after a back flip.

Potent Stab: Discordia thrusts forward with the baton. The shield will stop it, but knock Link off-guard. The back flip won't get Link far enough away, and he'll still get hit. The spin attack similarly won't work, and he'll get hit. The Back Roll allows Link to dodge this entirely. (1 ½ hearts damage). If Discordia is currently weakened, Link can Shield Attack out of a Shield, then go on to perform a Helmsplitter, or if he used a Back Roll, he can continue into a Back Slice.

Rose Sphere: Discordia becomes surrounded by a sphere of roses, which then suddenly shoot away from her in all directions. If they make contact, they suddenly burst into fire. The Shield will stop those (unless it is wooden, in which case it will burn), and the spin attack will as well. The back flip will get hit once for minor damage (½ heart), and the Back Roll will receive the full brunt of the force. (2 hearts). If Discordia is currently weakened, then the sphere will fail, and Link can simply attack.

When Discordia has been damaged enough, she'll seemingly disappear. Then, the Melody of Discord will begin to increase with pace, and gain a quick drum backing, heightening the tension. Stage 2 begins, with the Siren suddenly playing, steam shooting out of the pipes, and Discordia forming from the steam, and will shoot things at Link, while staying well out of distance of any of his attacks (the bow and other ranged weapons simply pass through her).

Nothing seems to be happening, until Link's sidekick suggest he plays the organ. Now, here comes the tricky bit. Link must play the Melody of Discord, in time with the Melody of Discord boss theme that is playing in the background, which, as mentioned, is a fast and threatening piece of music. This will call for some difficult analogue stick and B button control. As long as Link manages to keep up with the background music, Discordia's attacks will be interrupted, as she is moved from pipe to pipe to pipe with the new steam as notes are played. Eventually, she will tire, and collapse. Cue Link to get up and attack.

Stage 2 Discordia attacks:

Rose Rage: Discordia will fire a long stream of the fire roses at Link if he does not manage to disrupt her quickly enough (ie, by playing a wrong note). They will burn a wooden shield, and cause decent damage (2 hearts).

Steam Stream: Discordia blasts a stream of incredibly hot steam at Link, scalding him badly. This attacks requires three wrong notes to pull off, as it requires considerable start-up, but does large amounts of damage. (4 hearts).

Baton Spear: Discordia throws her baton in a flash of light. Once it hits something, it disappears, returning to her hand. This has moderate start up lag, so requires two wrong notes for Discordia to use. (3 hearts).

Finally, Discordia gives a horrible scream, and brief cutscene plays, with the Melody of Discord speeding up, faster and faster, and raising higher and higher in pitch, as Discordia flies madly around the room, crashing into the walls and into the organ. Soon, the Melody of Discord reaches an unbearably high, painful point, and then stops. Discordia then crashes into the steam organ, seemingly gone.

Of course, things are never that easy. The Siren suddenly shakes and judders, steam pouring from all five pipes, and then, in a Baba Yaga-esque moment, rips itself from the ground, standing upright on two mechanical legs, a mechanical titan, and for one last time, the Melody of Discord plays. The pipes become almost tentacle like, striking at Link, and the organ will charge at him, crushing him beneath its feet. Unlike Stages 1 and 2, Link cannot hope to take this thing on with a mere sword, it is far, far larger than he.

Stage 3 Discordia Attacks

Titanic Rush: The Siren charges towards Link at high speed. Link cannot stop this, he must simply run for safety. If it connects, he will be trampled. (3 hearts).

Pipe Thrash: The pipes will whip out at Link, knocking him to the ground, and dealing damage. The shield will stop this, but Link will get knocked off guard. Otherwise, Link must dodge this. If it connects, he takes moderate damage. (2 hearts).

Ultimate Rose Sphere: Similar to Discordia Stage 1, a massive sphere composed of roses surrounds the Siren, then shoot out everywhere. The Shield can stop this (although the wooden will get set on fire), and the Spin Attack will repel it. Otherwise, Link till take damage. (½ heart per rose that hits him).

Quake: The Siren will jump up and down, sending three shock waves rippling through the hall. Link must back flip or jump attack in rhythm with the shock in order to avoid them, otherwise he will get hit. (1 heart per wave that connects).

However, the powerful steam engine which powered this musical machine, now possessed by a malicious ghost, is wide open. Link must get behind the Siren, and shoot the attatched engine with an arrow from the bow. However, this easier said than done – the Siren moves at rapid speeds, and the steam pipes will viciously attack Link. Once the steam engine is shot, however, the Siren will collapse to the ground briefly, dazed. However, Link's sword still won't do much. In order to finally put an end to this, he must place a bomb, in each of the five pipes, by shooting the engine five times. The bomb will explode and jam the pipe. Eventually, when all the pipes are jammed, the steam can no longer go anywhere, and the Siren's engine explodes, the organ itself collapsing to the ground.

However, the sound of the organ can still be heard, but no longer is it still the Melody of Discord, but now, a beautiful, serene tune – the Melody of Harmony. The young woman walks foward from within the organ, no longer twisted with hatred, but smiling.

“You are not like the others. I sense courage in you. My hate consumed me, eating me from the inside. I can only beg forgiveness. From Harmony, I became Discord, and now, I return to Harmony. I thank you, boy.”

Then, she disappears, and roses began falling from the ceiling, landing on the remains of the Siren, burning it to cinders, until naught remains. There is a brief glow of light, and then, a Mudora Fragment appears.

Notes of Interest

I wanted to explore what video gaming has to offer in this fight. Your television can offer two stimuli – visual, and auditory. The vast majority of bosses in the Legend of Zelda series, are visual bosses – ie, you see what you have to do, and respond to visual input. Almost no bosses rely on the concept of sound, or more specifically, music, which I feel is a shame – after all, Zelda as a series has an excellent repertoire of tunes. So, I decided to base my boss on the theme of music.

Originally, I wasn't sure about how to do this. I briefly entertained the notion of an Elite Beat Agents style battle, but then... well, yeah. You can see where that train of thought went. So, I looked at how Zelda has used music before – usually with portable instruments such as the Ocarina or the Recorder. However, I knew this wasn't the way to go. Using an item which would have to be found in this dungeon to defeat the boss would be a huge cliche – pretty much every 3D Zelda boss revolves around the theme of finding a special item, then using it to kill the boss. It's fast becoming tiring. So, I discarded that theme, and looked at TP's Howling Stones, immovable instruments (or rather, the wolf is the instrument, but requires the Howling Stones).

I rather liked the idea of “unlocking” a tune, slowly playing more and more of it as you gain access to more notes, eventually building it into a full piece, so I looked for a static instrument that would allow you to do that. The one that immediately sprang to mind was the calliope, or steam organ. After all, all famous villains play an organ at least once . Ganondorf, Dracula, Davy Jones, the list goes on. It is also useful because then my dungeon could revolve around the theme of clearing the pipes.

Now my dungeon had a theme, I sought to incorporate a boss into that theme. I originally did do something akin to Ganondorf or Dracula – a slightly cheesy villain who could be found playing the steam organ, then engage in a sword fight. But then I realised that would be totally unoriginal. So, my second thought was: what if the boss WAS the organ? Then, the rest of this followed in quick succession – playing the organ could be a way of defeating it, and that way, the music would be a hugely important part of the boss fight, perhaps even more important than visuals – after all, Stage 2 could be done with your eyes closed if you really wanted to, as long as you could pick out the beat of the music, and knew the Melody of Discord (which you really should, after having used parts of it several times to get this far in the dungeon).

I wanted to incorporate a decent level of difficulty, so Discordia's attacks do a decent amount of damage, so she can easily kill careless people. I also included the final titanic form for a slight Shadow of the Colossus feel - the sense of acheivement you get when you take down something so much larger than yourself is huge, and I like that in a boss. It also has a fierce sword fight in Stage 1, simply because there aren't enough enemies Link can engage in sword to sword combat with - it's really limited to Darknuts and grounded Aerolfos in Twilight Princess, and they share a similar style of fighting.

The names I took from Greek literature, mostly. Discordia was the Latin name for Eris, the goddess of strife and pain, and is also a term used in music – discordant notes being bad ones. Harmony is based on Harmonia, who was the counterpart of Eris, a goddess of happiness, and is another slightly more obvious musical term. Lethe was the daughter of Eris, and the demi-goddess of forgetfulness and sleep, which seemed fitting for the manor, long since forgotten by the time Link arrives. And Eris Island should be obvious now.

Anyway, that's my submission, thanks for reading. Criticism is welcomed!

EDIT: Added details to the music.

this man has served the king for years slaying monsters faster and more efficiently than link even! but felt he was too underprivileged and left the king for ganon. there he learned the skill of blood music and practiced with arrows for backup. his layer is only a simple round room with a balcony and a piano were he practices just in case some one were to challenge him. after he kills a man he recites poetry for a little more finesse to his murders. with an i.q of 240 and a top speed to match he is often called "the light speed mastermind." in order to defeat him link must acquire the dungeon item "the time flute" with which he slows down time in order to get a clear shot with the bow. upon entrance londi states "ah another challenger. impeccible timing I just finished practicing a song. this shan't take long." londi wears a tuxedo instead of armour. his attack consist of jumping to his balcony and saying "die beautifully!" playing a classical song and 6 clones form a ring around link rotating around him with limp heads and arms then raising there heads unsheathing a sword and charging at link with said sword, running to the center of the room where he backflips onto the balcony and drawing his bow then with per-scission accuracy shooting link, finally running at top speed with sword drawn dashing around random parts of the room. when defeated he says "defeated. ah well there will be plenty of pianos in the sacred realm. and mark my words link I will get revenge."

Originally Posted by Crab Helmet

Anyway, that's my submission, thanks for reading. Criticism is welcomed!

Actually, it's be best to avoid criticism. Fellow ZU members are more than welcome to give you a critique via PM or on your profile wall, but in-depth criticism should be avoided on the thread. A positive comment or a thumbs-up is absolutely welcome here, though

Alright, then. The ZU Connection to Design a Boss is looking great on the first day. I see very nice entries showing up The competition may get tougher as more ZU and Nsider 2 members submit their concepts, so watch out! Also expect announcements soon regarding possible exclusive prizes for potential ZU winners or the introduction of new judges. If you have any questions, bring them up! I'd be more than glad to answer your concerns and add them to the FAQ as well. I hope you all are enjoying!

Well I just think to avoid confusion you should add something about game bundles to the FAQs, and what about Exitebots? you can get it with or w/o the Wiiwheel, so I think you should just put "A game $50 and under".


EDIT: Can we get a pre-order of a game (like The Conduit)?

EDIT2: you should also add "Is it a good idea to put something about the dungeon, or item used to beat the monster?"

EDIT3: I know you haven's put any of these in the FAQs yet but here's another one anyway:
If the game has a limited edition at another store (gamestop) can we get it there instead?

The concept is simple: Link versus evil versions of Din, Farore and Nayru. Maybe they were created when the Triforce was created, maybe they have been there as long as the goddesses themselves, maybe they are just phantom versions of the good ones. We don't know. All we know is that we have just gotten to the end of the temple and found the Triforce! It's ours for the taking! Only, hold on, it's glow is changing from golden to dark... very dark... what's that rumbling? Oh ****, this isn't the Triforce. And there are three beautiful women... they seemed to come out of nowhere. They look familiar...

The "anti-Triforce" has just split into three pieces and each one is going to a separate section of the room, and the three women are following individual pieces. This isn't going to be fun. They begin to introduce themselves as... Din, Farore and Nayru? These aren't the goddesses, are they? Laughter ensues as the trio realized that they have duped the hero into believing their little lie. As they laugh, their smiles stretch out and their eyes get slim, we are about to see their true faces. It's almost reptilian, and they each disappear, one by one.

The music starts, and the door behind you is locked. There is only one way to go, and that's straight ahead, and that boss music is just letting you know that this will be an unpleasant 10 or 15 minutes.

The first one is "anti-Din." Din used her flaming arms to create the red earth, and guess what "anti-Din" is using to destroy it? That's right, flaming arms. Literally, arms of fire. And she flies. Now, this is the first anti-goddess, and she is mostly offensive. She is coming at you, and you need to worry about defending yourself. She's on fire, so should you fight fire with fire? Or try and use water? Maybe arrows? All you know is, she is not stopping with these attacks, and it's hard to think about what to do when all you have time for is defending yourself. She just keeps coming at you, and the walls are covered in spikes, so there isn't much room to run. Wait, that's it! Spikes! When she comes at you, maybe try a last second side-jump, see what happens...

She's stunned! Confused, and on the ground, and the fire is down! You can get close enough to hit her! Rinse, lather, repeat, and expect a few wild cards.

Door opens, new room. Now is the "anti-Farore." Farore is known for her powers of wind, and it's pretty breezy in this room. What does this "anti-Farore" do? Run up to her, and, she disappears! Awesome, she can teleport. Better move before she lands on top of you. So how do you deal with this? She teleports, the wind is moving you all over the place in the room, and the directions are changing.

Start looking for a pattern. She is teleporting, wind is changing... it looks like the wind is going TOWARDS her though. When she teleports, the wind changes direction. All right, lets use this. Run at her, then throw something in the air. What will work best, bomb? No, she just teleports again... Boomerang? Nothing. Arrows won't work, will they? Omigod, they get stuck in the wind and go straight at her. And stun her. Knocks her to the ground and the wind stops, run up and use that sword. Once again, lets pick a method that works and stick with it.

Next room... "anti-Nayru." Where anti-Din was offensive, anti-Nayru is defensive. Time to get offensive, and see if it works. It looks like she doesn't attack much, but nothing seems to be working. It's like she has some kind of shield around her... kind of like Nayru's love from Ocarina of Time... Everybody and their mother has played Oot, so we all know how it works. Shield goes up, magic goes down, shield eventually ends. She doesn't attack much, but she spends a bunch of time going over to the sidelines... does she need something to replenish her magic? She has a glow... Start blowing **** up in the sidelines. It's pissing her off, and... her glow is getting weak, and... YES!! Attack, NOW!!!! And we're done.

And all that you can think about is how much of a cock tease that fake Triforce was in the beginning.

Okay, let me try this. I'm sorta making this up as I go along, so it might be a bit long (understatement, this is one of the longest entries ).

BTW, how many of you know the phrase: "Cloak and Dagger"? This is how I'll be referring to the phases of the battle, for dramatic effect.

Cursed Puppetmaster STALREX

Umm... Background, right?

Past:
In Kakariko village, they tell a story. A story of great sorrow. A story of great betrayal. A story of the four brothers that once protected Kakariko village.

A long time ago, there lived four brothers in Kakariko village. The first, Dalent, was courageous, and he fought with a greatsword. The second, Oures, was powerful and fought with a greataxe. The third, Aratos, full of wisdom, fought with many quick attacks with his twin swords (imagine two katanas), against the fighting philosophy of the first two. The fourth, the oldest, was a master of magical attacks, and easily the most knowledgable of the four, but he was born deformed, and thus was never given the same respect as his three brothers, because everybody feared his deformed face. But together, the brothers fought many evils, and protected Kakariko village. For this, everybody tolerated him and his reckless attitude, despite socially rejecting him. His name was Rex.

However, the fourth brother would not give up. He wanted a friend. His loneliness and his sorrow became his motivation. Before, he would use his great magic to try to achieve this, entertaining the children of Kakariko with magical puppet shows, with life-sized puppets that appeared to be pulled by invisible strings, moving completely fluidly, when in fact they were being controlled by Rex's magic. However, these children did not give Rex much relief from the extreme loneliness he felt. He wanted friends who were mature enough to understand his pain.

But one day, Rex's overwhelming, contained sorrow caused him to lose control of his magic. The puppets broke free of the magical constraints Rex had set, and attacked the children. The parents, defensive of their children (something Rex had not experienced as a child), immediately banished Rex from Kakariko.

Rex now gave up his pursuit of friendship and wanted vengeance. He no longer wanted to befriend the people of Kakariko. Now, he wanted to rule everyone who had shunned him. Rex began to use his great magical prowess to try to destroy Kakariko, but every time he was stopped by his three brothers, who spared his life every time. Eventually, Rex's failed attempts to destroy Kakariko and the three brothers' successful protection of Kakariko became so routine that Rex was just ignored.

He was not ignored by all, though, for a certain man of the desert was watching Rex’s every movement as he unwittingly dug deeper and deeper into the field of dark magic in his pursuit of greatness. Eventually, that desert man presented himself as a demonic deity to Rex, introducing himself as the Dark Lord, Ganondorf. This man promised greatness in return for complete and total allegiance. An extremely obscure deal was struck between Ganondorf and Rex deep within the house of the dead, the Shadow Temple. Freedom was exchanged for Power.

Little did Rex know, his three brothers were watching him the whole time, totally aware and fearful of Rex's overwhelming sorrow and what it would cause him to do. Dalent rose and ran towards Rex and Ganondorf, unsheathing his mighty Greatsword. Ganondorf struck him down with the power of a strange triangular mark on the back of his hand...

Oures rose and ran towards Rex and Ganondorf, swinging his Greataxe like a madman. But Ganondorf was too quick to be struck by the wide swings of the giant axe. Oures, too, was struck down by the Dark Lord.

But when Aratos rose, Ganondorf stepped backwards, put his hand on Rex's shoulder, and motioned towards Aratos. Rex, now empowered by Ganondorf's dark magic and bound to serve him because of it, stepped forward...

What happened after has been, and still is, obscured by time, as were the brothers. To this day, the remains, and the souls, of Dalent, Oures and Aratos lie in the Shadow Temple. The Kakariko storytellers say that the cursed spirit of Rex the puppeteer still inhabits the Shadow Temple, preventing the spirits of his brothers from ever seeing the light of day...

Present (The Shadow Temple):
Link, in pursuit of the Sacred Emblem of Light (a small golden statuette of the insignia of the Royal Family, one of the three Sacred Emblems required to restore the light of the Master Sword), is told to venture into the Shadow Temple by Zelda to find it. He is at a loss as to how to enter it, because its entrance has been obscured by time and nature, rock and rubble. A shadowy lady named Kanimpa offers to guide Link into the Shadow Temple, but he must do something in return. Kanimpa tells Link that she is the great grand-daughter of Aratos, one of the Brothers.

Kanimpa is worried about the spirit of Aratos, as she has been getting (symbolic) nightmares in which a figure wearing Aratos’ hat is being tortured by a mysterious skeletal figure robed in tattered black robes. Kanimpa has heard the story of the four brothers and knows that the soul of Aratos is trapped inside the Shadow Temple. She wants Link to enter the Shadow Temple and save the spirit of Aratos from this skeletal menace.

Kanimpa tells Link that many brave men have declined this request. After Link tells her that he will go on, she guides Link into the Shadow Temple, which is hidden by illusion and nature.

As Link ventures into the Shadow Temple, he is met by a flying skull with a shadowy aura. The skull is vaguely humanoid. The skull flees further into the temple in a way that almost beckons you to follow it.

As Link travels through the Shadow temple, passing the challenges in his way, he enters a room where a headless skeleton holding a Greatsword *hint hint* is slumped on the ground. The Skull possesses the skeleton, attaching itself to the base of the neck of the headless skeleton. Link fights this new enemy, who is fought roughly like a Darknut from "Zelda: Twilight Princess", except slightly faster.

After Link defeats the skeletal Darknut, the Skull detaches itself from the neck of the headless skeleton and flees further into the temple. The spirit of a muscular human figure appears and floats (flies?) over to the fallen headless skeleton, pointing to it and introducing it, and himself, as Dalent. The spirit of Dalent thanks Link for saving him from the "shadowy menace (the Skull)". However, he also tells Link that his three older brothers all possess greater fighting prowess than himself, implying that Link would find great difficulty attempting to save them all from the "shadowy menace", if the Skull were to possess any of them.

Dalent asks Link if he would still venture deeper into the Shadow Temple to save the souls of his brothers, with the knowledge that, the deeper you go, the more powerful the "shadowy menace" becomes. Link accepts, and the Spirit of Dalent disappears, unlocking the door forward. A chest appears, and from it Link gets the Magic Lantern. Throughout the Shadow Temple, there are decorated torches which, when lit with the Magic Lantern, reveal all hidden truths in the immediate area around the torch. Also, hidden truths may be revealed by the torch's light itself. Plus, it's also a good source of Light. Use it EXACTLY like the Lantern in "Zelda: Twilight Princess".

NOTE: The Magic Lantern does not use Lantern Oil. Instead, it runs on Link's Magic energy.

Later on in the temple, he enters a room, similar to the room where he fought Dalent’s Skeleton, and finds another fallen, headless skeleton, this time holding a Greataxe. The Skull once again possesses this skeleton, by attaching itself to the base of the neck, and another similar fight ensues, where this warrior is slightly slower but twice as strong (does twice as much damage) as the first one.

Link defeats this second skeletal Darknut, and the Skull once again detaches itself from the headless skeleton and flees yet again. The tough-looking Spirit of Oures appears, floating on top of the fallen, headless skeleton. He introduces himself as Oures, the owner of the aforementioned skeleton. Oures praises you for defeating the "shadowy menace (the Skull)" once again, but warns Link that if he were to possess Aratos (the greatest fighter of the four) or Rex (the most knowledgeable of the four, plus a master of magic), Link may not survive. Either Aratos or Rex could easily overpower Link. Part of the reason for this is that the skeletons of both Aratos and Rex lie far deeper in the Shadow Temple, where the Skull's power is at its greatest.

Oures asks Link if he is willing to go forward. After Link answers in the affirmative, Oures gives Link the key to the room where Aratos’ soul is being held captive (the boss key).

The Boss Room

Link eventually enters the room that Oures’ Key unlocks (the “boss room”). The Boss room is a simple circular-shaped room, with a diameter slightly longer than Link's Z-target range, which is pretty damn long by itself. There are spikes on the brown-stone walls. The floor is a very dull grey color, and the ceiling half of the arena is totally obscured by darkness. The entire room is relatively dark, though not completely. There is a lone torch in the middle of the room.

Here he finds the Shadowy skull in the middle of the room, hovering on top of an unlit, decorated torch. Here he finds, not one, but two fallen skeletons, one of which is wearing Aratos’ hat and holding Aratos' twin-katanas, both of which Kanimpa described to him before. The other skeleton is dressed in nothing but a long, tattered black robe. Link immediately runs between Aratos’ skeleton and the floating skull, flinging his arms out in a “keep out!” gesture.

It is then that Link realizes that Aratos’ skeleton has a head, while the other one doesn’t.

Instead of possessing the skeleton of Aratos, the Skull goes for the other, robed, headless skeleton, attaching itself to the base of the neck, as he had done with Dalent and Oures. The Skeleton, now with a head, rises from the ground and is shown to be holding a wooden cross not unlike a puppetmaster’s cross. He gently pulls the cross towards him, and Link, between the two skeletons, is tripped by some near-invisible strings… which are connected to the skeleton of Aratos.

The robed Skeleton rises and flies to the shadowy ceiling of the battlefield, completely obscured by the thick darkness in the top half of the arena. Two giant skeletal hands, each with one giant eye in the center of their skeletal palms, rise and hover above Link. Aratos’ skeleton rises as the robed skeleton’s puppetmaster’s-cross pulls him up, and the TV screen reads:

Cursed Puppetmaster STALREX

NOTE: The torch in the middle of the room can be lit by your Magic Lantern, Stalrex's Firebreath (it follows Link, so he can guide it to the torch) or the Fire Keese in Phase 2.

NOTE2: Whenever I say "Aratos" or "Aratos' Skeleton" during Phase 1 of the boss fight, I am referring to Aratos' skeleton being puppeteered by Stalrex. Wherever Stalrex moves, Aratos moves. Due to this, Aratos' skeleton moves deceptively slow, but be careful, because his attacks are fast.

NOTE3: I would like to add a new mechanic: the reflex-based Helm-Splitter. Whenever an enemy charges towards you, or is about to attack you with a horizontal attack (countering a vertical attack with a helmsplitter will get you hurt), hit the "A" button at the right time to initiate a Helm-Splitter.

NOTE4: Whenever you successfully shoot Stalrex out of the top half of the room (in both Phases of the battle), Aratos' twin-katanas will fly into his hands and he will initiate a swordfight (denoted by the bolded word: swordfight). To fight him in this part, just counter his sword attacks with back-slices, helm-splitters, well-timed jump attacks, and other hidden skills. After this, you must hit him with your sword as many times as you can before he retreats back into the air. His sword-fighting style is similar to the fighting style of Ganondorf in "Zelda: Wind Waker", but Stalrex has far more dynamic moves, and more of them.

Items needed for the entire battle:
Sword
Bow
Magic Lantern.

Stalrex Phase 1: Cloak (referring to the layer of darkness on the top half of the arena, a "Cloak of Shadow")
Enemies and attacks:
1. Floating Giant Skeletal Hand x2 (indestructible, but you can stun them)
• Punch you into the edge of the battlefield, which has spiked walls. 2HeartDamage
• Same as above, but in a slapping motion. More common. Hand can be rolled under to avoid attack. 1HeartDamage
• Two handed “clap”. Hands can be rolled under to avoid attack. 3HeartDamage
• Two handed “drumming the ground”. No damage, but disorienting, because the drumming shakes the whole room.
• Aforementioned drumming causes rocks to fall down on the arena 2HeartDamage
2. Aratos’ skeleton being controlled like a puppet by Stalrex
• Various swift slashes with twin katana-style swords. 1HeartDamage per strike.
3. Stalrex
• Stalrex charges a violet ball of energy (very slowly), holding it as if he were holding a big beachball in front of him, and ten seconds later he unleashes a massive flash of violet lightning at Link. However, he only unleashes this attack if the torch in the middle of the room is lit, as that is when he is visible due to the torch illuminating the top half of the room. 4HeartDamage.
• After you shoot Stalrex down later in this phase with arrows, Aratos' twin katanas will fly into his hands and he will fight Link in a swordfight. See NOTE4 above for information. Various swift sword strikes 1-2HeartDamage per strike.

First, disable the two giant skeletal hands with two arrows each, avoiding their attacks. But make sure you hit the eyes in the palms of the skeletal hands, because if you hit anything else on them, nothing will happen (for example, if they are in a fist shape). Also, note that if you are hit into the spike walls, you will sustain extra damage (0.25Heart per second) until you walk away from the walls.

The next thing you should do is fight the skeleton of Aratos. I say "should" because it's optional, but if you don't, Aratos will attack you while you're aiming for Stalrex later in the battle. Fight Aratos like you would fight a Darknut from "Zelda: Twilight Princess", with faster and more sudden sword attacks (he has TWO swords, remember). However, from the three brothers, he moves the slowest due to being puppeteered by Stalrex. After you beat Aratos' skeleton in a fight, his skeleton will temporarily fall apart, the individual bones still attached to the strings on Stalrex's puppetmaster's cross.

The point of all this is to give youself an opening to run to the middle of the room and light the torch with the Lantern obtained earlier in the dungeon, filling the room (and the ceiling) with light. The next part must be achieved before the torch's fire dims, at which point it must be re-lit.

The now-visible Stalrex will now move erratically around the top half of the room. If you haven't defeated Aratos' skeleton by now, Stalrex will pull Aratos' skeleton, still attached to the strings on Stalrex's puppetmaster cross, around with him during his erratic movements effectively making Aratos' skeleton faster.

After a while, if the torch is still lit, he will begin to charge his violet ball-lightning attack (see Stalrex's attack list), holding the ball of violet electricity in front of him like a large beachball. What you must do is shoot him as he is charging this attack, and the arrow will penetrate through the energy ball, and hit Stalrex, effectively hitting him with his own attack. Quickly hit him with another arrow while he's stunned.

This will be difficult, as Stalrex will be sure to stay out of Z-targeting range while he's charging the attack, and at every other time, he will just dodge the arrows. This means you will have to manually aim the bow. Also, if you aren't fast enough, Aratos (if you defeated him), and the hands, will be revived, and you will be forced to either aim for Stalrex with these enemies attacking you, or disable them again.

After shooting him twice in a row, he drops the puppetmaster’s cross (if Aratos hasn’t fallen yet, he will after the cross is dropped) and flies toward you, Aratos’ double-katanas flying into Stalrex’s hands to be used by him.

Now you must fight Stalrex in a swordfight on the ground. Counter his double-katanas with backslices, counterattacks and well-timed jump attacks and helmsplitters.

After you beat him in the swordfight, he will retreat back into the shadowy ceiling. The Hands and Aratos will rise again.

Repeat the entire phase until…

Stalrex Phase 2: Dagger (referring to the increased aggression by Stalrex )
Enemies and attacks:
1. Stalrex
• Firebreath 1HeartDamage initially, 0.25HeartDamage per second until Link rolls to put out the fire.
• Exploding Fireball. Aratos tilts his head back for a few seconds (vulnerable to arrows for that time), readying a fireball in his mouth. A few seconds later he swings his head forward, throwing the fireball at you. The fireball explodes when it touches you, the walls or the ground. 3HeartDamage
• Stalrex charges a violet ball of energy, holding it out in front of him like a big beach ball. Three seconds later he will unleash a bolt of violet lightning at Link. Stalrex is vulnerable to arrows while he is charging the attack. This attack is much faster than it was in Phase 1 of the boss battle. 4HeartDamage
• Wing attack (explained later) 2HeartDamage
• After you hit Stalrex with arrows, he will fight you on the ground in a swordfight, holding Aratos' twin katanas, like he did in Phase 1 (see NOTE4). Various Sword Attacks. 1-3HeartDamage per strike.
2. Stalrex clone (summoned later in Phase 2)
• Same aerial attacks as Stalrex (Firebreath, Fireball and Wing Attack). The Stalrex clones do not fight you on the ground in a sword fight.
3. Keese (those annoying bats, summoned later in Phase 2)
• Touch Link 0.25HeartDamage
If the aforementioned Keese come into contact with Stalrex's firebreath or the torch's flame, they will become Fire Keese, and they will deal double damage (0.5Heart as opposed to 0.25Heart)

The Giant Skeletal Hands will float higher and higher until they disappear in the shadows of the ceiling. Stalrex's vaguely human-shaped skull now visibly deforms even more, until it is shaped more like a lizard skull or a dragon skull than a human skull. Stalrex, still wielding Aratos' twin-katanas, will now sprout skeletal wings (the wings sprout suddenly with Stalrex letting out a painful cry) and fly around the battlefield.

Stalrex enchants the Puppetmaster's cross with dark magic, making it fly randomly around the battlefield. The lifeless skeleton of Aratos is still attached to the strings on the Puppermaster's cross. While you try to shoot Stalrex, the Skeleton will sometimes get in the way of your arrow shots while the Puppermaster's cross randomly flies around. However, Aratos inflicts no damage in this Phase, and is merely an obstacle.

Remember, you must keep the torch in the middle of the room lit, or else you will be hindered by limited visibility (the entire room will be darker, though only the top half of the room will be completely dark. Remember, Stalrex is flying quickly during the beginning of this phase, and if the torch isn't lit he may slip in and out of the completely dark layer of shadow in the ceiling half of the room).

While Stalrex is flying around, he will be bombarding you with firebreath and fireballs (fireballs being far less common, see attack list) from his skeletal jaws, while you attempt to shoot him with three arrows. For this phase, he will be flying in and out of Z-target range, so you can either aim manually (sitting-duck style) or wait for him to enter Z-target range. Or, you could wait until Stalrex's violet ball lightning attack (see attack list), as he will be open to arrows for three seconds. If you hit him while he was charging the violet ball lightning attack, he will merely be stunned. Hit him with another arrow straight away to make it count.

After he is shot thrice, he will fly towards Link in a "Wing Attack" (see Stalrex Phase 2 attack list. If he touches Link, Link takes 2Heart damage):
a. On a curve, with one of Stalrex’s wings creating sparks on the ground (think of how a plane turns). He is open to an attack on the side. This is Wing-attack "a".
b. Straight on, with his wings parallel to the ground. He is open to an attack from the top. This is Wing-attack "b".

To fight him, (according to which wing-attack he uses).
a. To counter Wing-attack "a", use a back-slice at the right time to hit Stalrex on the side before he hits you.
b. To counter Wing-attack "b", use a helm splitter (hit A at the right time) to hit Stalrex on the top before he hits you.

If you use a helm-splitter on wing-attack "a", you will get hit by Stalrex's wings, and if you use a back-slice on wing-attack "b", you will also get hit by Stalrex's wings. You need to use the right counterattack for the right wingattack.

Then, after you counter his wingattack with one of the above counters, he will fall and fight you normally, like in the second part of Phase 1, in a swordfight on the ground. Counter his sword attacks, hit him a couple, then he will start flying and begin the entire phase again.

This time, after he his struck thrice with arrows, he will repeat the Wing Attack part (for example, if you counter his Wing attack “a”, he might come in with another one from the other side, counter that one, he might come in with Wing attack “b”, etc. The sequence and amount of Wing-attacks he will use will be random, so be prepared to use the right counterattack). Counter them to initiate another swordfight.

After you counter his strikes and slash him repeatedly in this swordfight, he’ll summon 3 Stalrex clones, who all have the same aerial attacks as Stalrex (firebreath, fireballs and wingattack), but they all get killed after two arrows or one sword strike (while they're wingattacking towards you).

Repeat the phase, but this time, after you have hit the real Stalrex thrice with arrows (and possibly some of the clones), real Stalrex and the remaining clones will be Wingattacking towards you (like earlier in phase 2). You need reflexes to be able to counter the clones' wingattacks (the clones will disappear after a single backslice or helmsplitter, depending on which wingattacks they use) until you hit the real Stalrex with a backslice/helmsplitter, at which point the remaining clones will all disappear.

Counter some more of Stalrex's Wingattacks (repeated and random) and, after, fight Stalrex in a swordfight on the ground as before.

After you defeat him in this swordfight, Stalrex lets out a massive roar, summons his three clones once again, and repeats the phase. The catch? Stalrex, as well as his 3 clones, will now all unleash one fireball every four seconds (the same fireballs that cause 3 Hearts of Damage!!!). Effectively, every four seconds you must dodge four explosive fireballs, while the rest of the time will have Link dodging a continuous stream of fire from all of their skeletal mouths. In essence, this part is exactly the same as the rest of phase 2, but fireballs are now far more common.

Also, he summons a whole lot of Keese. These Keese will become Fire Keese if they touch Stalrex's firebreath or the lit torch in the middle of the room (assuming that it IS lit, of course).

Hit the real Stalrex with four arrows (remember, when you hit one of the clones with two arrows, it disappears). Once this is achieved, real Stalrex and the remaining clones will all fly towards you in wingattacks, all in a random order. If you hit one of the clones mid-wingattack with the appropriate counterattack, it will disappear.

After you have hit the real Stalrex mid-wingattack with the proper counterattack, the remaining clones will all disappear and he will repeat the "wingattack phase." The catch is that sometimes he might attack you with one, well-defined wingattack, and sometimes he may fake one wing attack only to switch to the other at the last moment. For example, he might fly at Link in a curve (like a turning plane), as if to do wingattack "a", but then at the last moment he may change his flight direction so that he will be flying towards Link with his wings parallel to the ground, in wingattack "b". This sudden changing of wingattacks forces you to keep changing which counterattack (backslice/helmsplitter) you use, and keeps you on your toes. The number and sequence of wingattacks Stalrex uses will be random, so be prepared to use the right counterattack (Backslice/Wingattack "a", Helm Splitter/Wingattack "b").

After countering all of his flying wingattacks, fight him on the ground, in one last swordfight.

For this final swordfight, however, Stalrex will mix some Explosive Fireballs (3HeartDamage) in with his sword attacks. Counter his sword attacks and leave him vulnerable one last time and finish him off with a Finishing Blow to his Skull.

Boss fight ends here

The spirit of Aratos, tall and strong, appears and thanks Link for freeing his spirit. He gives Link his hat to give back to Kanimpa, as proof that he had done what Kanimpa asked him to do (she asked Link to "save the soul of Aratos"). Link takes a close look at the hat, and sees the Emblem of Light attached to the front of the hat, like a sort of badge. Aratos nods to allow Link to take Emblem of Light after noticing Link's interest in it.

Before the spirit of Aratos disappears, he tells Link how the story of the four brothers ends...
When Aratos rose to oppose Ganondorf, Ganondorf stepped back and motioned to Rex to kill him. Rex, now empowered by Ganondorf's dark magic, and bound to serve him because of it, stepped forward...

But Rex could not do it. He remembered every time that his brothers showed him compassion. He remembered that they were the only ones who treated him like an equal. Even whenever he tried to destroy Kakariko, and was forcibly stopped by his brothers, they spared his life.

Rex turned on Ganondorf, unleashing the fullest of his new power at him. However, Ganondorf was not affected by Rex's new magic, for it was his own.

Ganondorf fatally struck Aratos himself and turned to face Rex, as if he had cornered his prey. Rex was bound by the strongest of dark magic to serve Ganondorf until either Rex or Ganondorf died, and since he had broke this evil agreement, the dark magic forced Rex to serve the Dark Lord beyond death.

Aratos, dying, watched as Rex, his brother, was totally consumed by a shadowy aura...

"Stalrex was the spirit of Rex, cursed by Ganondorf to serve him beyond death..."

Link hears a sound like someone crying behind him and turns around. There, in the edge of the arena, another, weak-looking spirit is sitting with his head in his knees. The shattered remains of Stalrex lie around this new spirit. This new spirit is holding the skull of Stalrex as if it were some kind of useless treasure to him. The spirit raises his head, looks at the skull, and throws it away in some kind of rage.

The spirit of Aratos walks up to this new spirit and puts a hand on his shoulder, reassuringly. The crying spirit looks up, and Link sees his deformed face. Aratos embraces the Spirit as if he had known him his whole life...

Like a brother...

Link now knows that this spirit belongs to Rex, now freed from the dark curse placed on him by Ganondorf.

Together, the spirits of Aratos and Rex vanish into nothingness, replaced by a Heart Container. The remains of Stalrex disappear also.

EDIT: Regarding the music, I pictured an epic, shadowy orchestration. Whenever you draw Stalrex into a swordfight, a choir would be seamlessly included into the music, like when fighting Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy. The choir would fade after Stalrex retreats into the ceiling (every time you defeat him in a swordfight) and it would reappear during another swordfight. The orchestration will speed up slightly when Phase 2 begins.


Heh, I know it was long, but it was fun to type. I had to edit this SO MANY times, lol

I just wrote up and submitted a boss called the puppet master.... THEN I read the post that was above mine.... somebody beat me to it!!! lol.

Im submitting MY puppet master even though theres one already, just because they are pretty different. Also it took me a long time to write up so I dont want all that hard work to go to waste.





Background:

In the Desert of Dementia, long before the great war, There was a powerful empire. The King of this empire had a great and powerful wizard in his court, but used him only for entertainment. For this the wizard felt his potential being wasted, and made an attempt on the life of the king. (Note: this is NOT the Gerudo valley) The wizard was successful in mortally wounding the king, but the king had suspected treachery from the wizard, and his personal guard stormed the throne room and fell upon the wizard, slaying his body. His soul however, lived on....

Present:

The once great palace in the desert lies mostly in ruins, but a powerful artifact known as the Cane of Camora is rumored to lie within its dungeons. The cane is empowered with a sort of telekinesis spell. It can be used to lift large objects out of the way, immobilize and move enemies away, or even lift them into the air, and release them over a cliffs edge.

The Dungeon:

Link will have to fight his way through hordes of Stalfos, and Keese., and of course Leevers. Many pathways will be blocked by fallen rubble, which Link will need the Cane of Camora to remove.

The Fight:

Link descends to the deepest dungeon, where a single shaft of light from a high (VERY HIGH) window is the only light in the room. It is dark but there is just enough light to see there are four torches, one at each compass direction of the circular pit/dungeon. There are also 4 stone coffins at the edges of the room, between the torches.

After he lights the four torches in the room, he sees a single Stalfos in the middle of the room, crumpled. It rises up and Link makes short work of it. Link hears menacing laughter from all around, and the coffin lids rise and fall off of the four coffins. Link hears familiar voices, as four of his friends from his home. His friends are all crying "no! please don't make me hurt him!" and the like, as they slowly advance towards him. two of them unsheathe swords, one readies a bow, and the other ( a big tough goron) advances with his fists raised.

His friends start to attack him. Sword swings taking a whole heart, fists and arrows taking half a heart each. They are relatively slow so they can be avoided, but there are four of them so they can also mob Link pretty easily. When (if) you try to swing your sword at one, your Fairy (or your partner or mentor or whever) says, "Link! No! these are your friends! you have to find some way to free them, dont hurt them!"

So here Link can use the cane to keep them from getting too close, until he sees that single shaft of sunlight reflecting off of the strings attached to his friends. Link should use the cane on one of the friends holding the sword, and fly him around above the rest to cut the strings. To free HIM, just use the OTHER friend with a sword. After each friend is freed, they run and hide by one of the torches.

Now an Iron Knuckle drops from the ceiling, and stands up to face Link. Its armor is huge and thick, with Huge Spikes and horns extruding from it that it uses to try and Impale Link if he gets too close. After trying unsuccessfully to knock his armor off, the Goron yells for Link to get out of the way, and runs at the Iron Knuckle, holding one of the giant stone slabs that was the lid to the coffin. The slab smashes against the iron knuckle and cracks his armor, but he knocks the goron away, who hits the wall and falls to the floor unconscious.

Now Link Knows to use the Cane of Camora to smash the remaining three slabs against the iron knuckle, so that he can dispatch it with his sword.

FINALLY the Puppet Master himself descends from the ceiling in a rage. The room starts to shake and huge pieces of debris fall into the room, which Link has to avoid.

Final Fight:

The Puppet Master will hurl draw fire from the torches and then hurl the fire at Link. Back flip or dodge roll to avoid them. Fire balls will take one heart initially, and a quarter heart continually after that until Link Rolls to put out the fire.
He will start to entangle Link in his strings, which can be stopped by a quick spin attack, but if the spin is too late, Link will be lifted into the air, and then smashed against the ground, taking TWO hearts.
He will also try to Entangle Links friends again, and if successful, the friend will start to attack Link again.

While the Puppet Master draws fire from the torches and is distracted, Link should use the cane to lift the larger bits of rubble in the room and hurl them at the Puppet Master. This will drop him to the ground momentarily So Link can Slash away at him with the sword. This should happen three times.

After the final time the Puppet Master screams with rage, and tries to rush Link, but The Goron has woken up, and grabs him. One of the puppet Masters arms comes free and he tries to hurl fire at Link, but the friend with a bow shoots an arrow through his hand, Now Link can deliver the Coup de grace, and dispatch the Puppet Master once and for all.

The Cane of Camora IS a new Item, and could easily be used through out the rest of the game to get objects that are out of reach, to help fight enemies, and to free up paths that were once blocked.


Hope you like it!!!

In the Beggining

Background info:

A long time ago, the tribe of the Korkiri worshiped a God of the forest, Serpus, but ever since the creatures of twilight started to invade the forest he has begun to mutate and every few hours he would have tantrums which cause tremors around the forest area. His head is almost like an octopus's but without the beak and it's really huge (about the same height as Fyrus), His head is a foresty (yes a made up word) color but he can also camouflage himself with his surroundings. He has snake like tendrils coming from his body hence the name Serpus. He seems to like the Lost Woods song being played on the organ, it also seems it calms him down during his tantrums. For some reason the more he mutates the more vulnerable to light he is.

Boss Room:

Serpus is located at the very top and center of the temple in a circular cave like room with an organ to the right of the entrance, the temple emblem on the floor, six windows around the room with worn up drapes in front of them and five lit torches around him. Serpus lies right in the middle of the room.

Intro:

When Link enters the room, Saria is playing the organ for Serpus, unfortunately, Serpus has another one of his tantrums but this time one of his tendrils grabs saria and throws her across the room, and this is when the fight starts.

Twilit Forest God - Serpus

Attacks:

Whip - Half Heart - He whips you with one of his tendrils
Consecutive Whip - Half Heart for each tendril (up to 7)- He whips you with all 14 of his tendrils one by one
Smash - One Heart - He'll smash one of his tendrils right on top of you
Shriek - Stuns you for a few seconds, One Heart - When he shrieks it will either stun you for a few seconds or it will make boulders fall from the ceiling
Throw - One Heart - He uses one of his tendrils to throw you across the room

How to Defeat:

Remember when I said the more he mutates the more he is vulnerable to light? This is exactly how you defeat him. I would suggest a fairy in a bottle or two. In this fight you will need to use the windows to defeat this boss but since there are drapes in front of each one it will be harder to reveal the light. While avoiding his attacks you have to shoot the arrows through the lanterns while aiming at the drapes to burn them away and letting in more light. You have to burn all drapes. After the first three drapes have been burnt down the torches will start to rotate to make it harder to aim and after five drapes Serpus will destroy all but one torch. After all drapes have been burned down Serpus will be defeated, he will give a small speech to aid you on your quest then he'll die for good.

Movement - Stationary
Speed of Attacks - Medium/Fast
My rating of Difficulty - 6/10
Kind of music playing - A more sinister/darker of Lost Woods

Hope you enjoyed reading it.
Leon

Originally Posted by Odin, on Nsider

I just want to say that IF I do win, I'd be happy with a VC game instead of a game from best buy, because I do NOt have a best buy near me at all.

Also while I'm at it. ZU being involved will most likely be a great disadvantage to any of us, due to the fact these guys live and breathe Zelda. Two different contests may have been slightly better. Just my two cents, sorry.

Just like to point out this isn't exactly true. I haven't particularly liked the series' most recent outings, and I certainly don't live and breathe Zelda. Many people on these forums joined mostly for the amazing community - I know I did.

={Cursed Spiral}=

The Anchor of Chaos

Years ago, Din, Nayru, and Farore created the world and lands of Hyrule, a world destined to prosper for those who lived within it.

However, one Goddess's prowess had not been celebrated, as had the other gods' in the divine Triforce. The Goddess of Time. Her name...

Naiome.

For yet unknown reasons, Nayru took Naiome's power, thus the Aura of Time became blue instead of golden; as Nayru was deemed the wisest to possess it, and as her first action, banished Naiome to a, then unknown, time and place: The Gerudo Desert.

Years of wars and chaotic events occurred in the centuries following. Heroes arose and fell, unknowing that their efforts fueled the greater power: Naiome, using the energies of the dead to power herself from her Desert throne, where Ganondorf eagerly works at her command.

The Cursed Spiral is the anchor of Ganondorf, Naiome's power manifested in a dimension outside time and space, and keeps Chaos alive within the lands of Hyrule.

Ganondorf's soul could not return without the Cursed Spiral, therefore, it is why he is reincarnated constantly.

*=The Chaotic Dimension=*

The Dungeon to the Chaotic Spiral is accessed only through a Rift in Time, where a significant event happens to rip into the fabric of time and space.

The Hero of Time returned to the present Hyrule, to find it under attack by Naiome (the same one who sent him to that time period). He, along with five other heroes, must combat the evil--that is how the game works, by switching between the six characters.

Unfortunately, Naiome gets the Master Sword, and using it she slams it through the heart of the Hero of Time, when they confront her. The Hero of Time almost dies, and is only revived through the Triforce, which sends him through time and space... however, when this occurs, Naiome breaks (yes, breaks) the Triforce, letting it fall to pieces at her feet.

The Rift of Time opens, and the party is thrown into the dark corridors of forbidden time...

*=The Boss Battle (Finally)=*

After the party has gone through the immense dungeon, using their combined powers to solve the puzzles within, they finally find themselves at the large keyhole of the Boss room, set into an immense pillar. When the key is inserted ,the pillar separates, revealing a dark hole where the party is sucked into...

To find themselves in a massive cylindrical room. It appears this was once underwater, as there are large tiles and the symbols of a Zora Temple (Hint, hint--wonder what happened to the Lakebed Temple?). The hole, however, closes above them. In the center of the room is a large pillar... and that seems to be all it is. A normal stone pillar, smooth, boring.

Link, Kafei, the Hero of Time, Malon, Zelda, and Sheik all stand in a half circle, the newest Link (separate from the Hero of Time) leading them. He approaches the pillar, and the room starts to shake as the pillar glows a blood-red, and splits apart. In the center, an immense vertical eye.

The Lakebed Rift is now lit, revealing the wreckage of a huge, ancient ship across from the room--which the party climbs onto, as the eye makes the room shudder, water starting to flood it seemingly by the Eye's will.

The Chaotic Spiral is revealed, a multicolored portal between the arcs of stone that create the frame of the magic, the center of those two arcs is where the eye is. The pupil is an endless black, while the iris and surrounding 'eyeball' are a transparent, multicolor shade of various reds, blacks, oranges, and yellows. The eye's energy spreads, creating large arcs of energy, and on the ends of them are four symbols.

Unbeknownst to the heroes, these are the symbols of the Four Elements, which the Chaotic Spiral uses as its 'phases' interchangeably.

-Strategy-

There are two ways to defeat the Chaotic Spiral: The Easy way, and the Hard way.

I'll begin with the Easy way, which heavily, heavily depends on keeping the ship intact. The Chaotic Spiral goes through four phases of the Elements, and will launch a counter attack if you're not careful, or don't attack it in time. Each phase gets more difficult the more times that the cycle circulates.

The difficulty becomes:
The currents of Water become more powerful.

The Fire Attacks get quicker.

The Air Summons increase in number (aside from the Spiral Dragon).

The Earth Spiral's forms change more frequently.

(Note: I'll be using a * to indicate which Attacks can destroy the ship.)

First Phase: Water
Attacks:

Tendril: The Spiral will use a Morpha-like attack, where tendrils wrap around the ship, and shake it violently--this can be avoided if Zelda uses a Freeze spell on the Tendrils. Can wrap around around individual characters and cause about 4 hearts' worth of damage.

Tidal Wave*: The first counterattack he'll launch. If any member of the party uses a ranged attack against the eye, not only will it not be effective, but the Spiral will cause a shock wave through the water which slams you and your party against the wall, breaking the ship. 6 hearts for this counterattack.

Whirlpool*: This is used only during the third (and up) circulation of the Elements, creating a whirlpool with a tendril in the middle, again, wrapping against the ship to keep it from escaping. Zelda's Freeze spell works well here, also. Put her on attack briefly, and keep Kafei steering the ship away from the center. Will cause about 2-6 hearts of damage.

As soon as the Spiral's credits are over, the room will flood, and the hole in the ceiling will disappear (which sucks for any players prone to wetting themselves). The ship will rise, intact enough to be guided through the currents. Note that as the phases go on, the current gets rougher, so being quick is essential in all phases.

Make sure you play as Kafei, make Zelda your secondary, and keep the HoT (Hero of Time) ready if you need him. On the Options menu, put Zelda on 'Protect -- Don't Attack' mode. If Zelda tries to cast any spell at the Spiral, he'll launch Tidal Wave, an attack that will cause heavy damage to the entire party.

Kafei, having the quickest reflexes, should be at the wheel. The objective for the Water Phase, with the ship, is to steer the sharp tip of the ship and slam it into the eye. The HoT is only a backup, in case the ship is destroyed at any point (which, if this occurs, head to the Hard section).

If a Tendril ends up attacking the ship, switch to Zelda and cast Freeze on the tendril to avoid too much damage to the party. If Kafei is killed, switch to Sheik. Do NOT switch to Malon--you'll need her for the next Phase, and at this point her defense will be low. There are hearts in the pots of the second deck of the ship if you absolutely need them.

Steer the ship through the current, and slam the bow into the eye. When you do so, the eye's energy will surge, and the water will start to boil, bringing us to the second Phase.

Second Phase: Fire
Attacks:

Flame Whip*: The surges of energy that the Spiral lets out will try to attack your party members. Avoid these at all costs, and remember that it CAN destroy the ship. 1 1/2 hearts per whip.

Flame Spiral*: Six discs of flame will spin around the Spiral, and will be thrown at party members. Again, this can catch the ship on fire, so keeping your eye on the Spiral is a must. 3 hearts per disc.

Inferno*: Attempting to attack the Spiral at all during the Fire Phase will result in this counterattack, which is a wave of lava that will circulate around the room, effectively destroying the ship and a good portion of your characters' health. (About 8 hearts total).

Meteor*: This attack only appears during the 3rd go of the Fire Phase, which, as the name implies, shoots a meteor at a certain character. I'll be going into more detail in the strategy, suffice to say this HURTS. 6 hearts + knockdown.

After the bow of the ship has been effectively hit into the center of the eye, the water will start to boil and dissolve in immense heat, which is visible when the ship slams down onto the slope of a volcano-like terrain. Large crevices of lava are here, and the dragon like Dodongodons, the lava-dwelling serpent cousins of the Dodongos, will constantly pop up from them.

As soon as you slam down, GET OFF THE SHIP. The Fire Phase is nothing but attacks from the Spiral, and almost all of them can catch your ship on fire. Now, when you're all nice and safe (so to speak), quickly switch to Malon, secondary being Sheik and the HoT. Malon's job is to heal, heal, heal. If you didn't bring Magic potions with you (which I highly suggest doing), magic pots can be found scattered across the room. Now, avoid the lava crevices as much as you can, and KEEP MALON HEALING.

She's essential to this phase, as this is the only phase you can heal safely without sacrificing a chance to attack. Sheik is here only because if Malon is killed (which I highly suggest avoiding) you can switch to her and run. Fast.

Staying away from the ship is your only real objective here, and if both Sheik and Malon die, switch to the Hero of Time and don the Goron Mask. You have to roll, roll, roll your way to dodge these attacks. As for the Dodongodons, ignore them. They cause 1/4 a heart each attack if you've upgraded armor significantly, and should be no problem by the time you get to the...

Third Phase: Air
Attacks:

Summons: Throughout the battle, the Spiral will summon five different types of enemy groups, and it circulates as thus: Keese, Dynalfos, Aeromanta, Darknut, and one Spiral Dragon*. Damage depends one enemy.

Gust: Simple gusts, trying to push you into the endless sky below the discs (explain in a bit). Can be avoided easily by the Iron Boots. 2 hearts if you fall.

Thunder*: Perhaps the easiest counterattack there is. If you attempt to attack the eye with any ranged attack or spell before the strategy allows, a clap of thunder will slam down onto the party, blasting them back and probably off the cliff. 4 hearts alone, 6 if you fall.

After the Fire Phase has worn the Spiral out, a non-intrusive text bubble from your secondary character will suggest that we get back to the ship--pronto. You have about thirty seconds to haul your bee-hinds back to the ship.

If this doesn't occur, pray to Nayru that you land on one of the Discs. What discs, you ask? Well, when the Spiral is done with the Fire phase, the floor will crack and blast apart, revealing an endless sky underneath you. The ceiling and walls are still intact, however, and the curse is still held together by the pillars leading up and down, down, down into that abyss.

There are six large discs that appear under you, and the ship lands on one of them. Unfortunately, in the Air phase, the ship makes it more difficult. If you look carefully at the disks, you'll notice they have the Clock Symbol of Time on their surfaces. Remember the Time Rod you got earlier in the dungeon? This is where its true value comes out.

So, first thing's first. Primary character, to start, should be Zelda. Secondaries should be Link and Sheik. Looking up at the ceiling, you'll notice hook-like magnets that keep the disks afloat. Keep these in mind for later phases.

In terms of attacks, the Air Phase is the easiest, where gusts of wind are in a set pattern, and only one can destroy the ship entirely. During the course of the battle, you'll notice that the disks light up at each point, forcing you to use the hook-like magnets to swing across the abyss and land on the lit disc, where you can use the time wand.

But the Spiral is so far away! How do you attack it? Unfortunately, this means going through the Summons. Equip Zelda with the new Thunder spell you found in the Dungeon Library, as well as any area attack spells you may need (Blast and Icicle Shard work very well). Use thunder on the Keese flocks, so they don't absorb any other element you cast at them. When you get to the later groups (there are six or seven of each, whereas the Keese number in the 'teens), blast away at them with any spells you find effective.

When you get to the Spiral Dragon, however, it's time to switch to Sheik. Equip her whips and use them to swing across the magnetic hooks, as the Spiral Dragon circles around the arena. The Spiral Dragon will occasionally strike down on a platform, hitting a party member for anything from 2-4 hearts depending on their defense. Keep Zelda onto Guard function for the time being, and keep Link a' running.

When the Spiral dragon is about to strike, he'll let out a roar to let you know that he's about to do a heavy-duty attack. If you're on the ship when you hear that roar, you need to swing onto another disc, PRONTO. Otherwise, he'll end up landing on it, picking it up, and throwing it... which isn't very good, considering the endless abyss below. This is the only way the ship can be destroyed in the Air Phase.

When the Dragon lands on one of the discs, you have to be quick. He'll bend forward, spreading his wings as he gets ready for a Charge Swoop around the discs, hitting all your party members and perhaps knocking them off for a good 6 hearts. When a Disc is glowing, swing to it. If the disc is the disc the ship is on, you cannot use it, however the ship can be used as a shelter for the Charge Swoop.

When on the glowing Clock Disc, switch to Link, and use the wand of time. The surroundings will turn to black and white, and all but the party members will be slowed. Switch to Sheik, swing to the Dragon, and switch back to Link. Climb up the bent-over dragon's back, and leap off his head, to attack the Spiral with a jump attack.

The Spiral will react by blasting your party back onto a disc, unharmed as it glows in heavy pain. The Summon cycle will revert back to Keese on up. Repeat this three times, to get to the...

Fourth Phase: Earth
Attacks:

Lich Form: The Spiral will morph into a Lich-like figure, who will turn invisible and stalk your characters through the trees. He can strike, or cast Dead Hand, which will squeeze your character out of 6 hearts unless you button mash yourself out of it.

Ikana Stalform: A warrior-like form, he wields two katanas with a hat that is bent down, to shield the skeletal face underneath. His sword swipes are that of Link, and can range from 2-5 hearts per attack.

Soul Snatcher: A "doppelganger" of Kafei and Sheik, he'll leap from tree to tree to attack with weak (1/4 to 3/4 hearts) but quick and frequent knife attacks.

Dark Aura: Spiral's final counterattack is fairly devastating. Not only will it poison your characters, it will slow them down and jinx them (resulting in inability to use weapons and switch characters) for 10 precious seconds. This only occurs if Zelda casts a Light spell and does not use it while his guard's down. Malon's Dispel will get rid of the effects quickly, however.

The final, and most confusing of all the phases is the Earth Phase. Not only will the Spiral be able to shape change, it's mobile, making it dangerous and hard to hit--however the strategy for hitting him is much more straightforward. Make your first character Zelda, as Earth Spiral's first form is always the Lich, and Secondaries should be Link and Malon.

When the fire disappears, you find yourself in a grassy, dark forest, where there are huge trees stretching up to an invisible canopy. Unfortunately, this is still the arena, as the party will find as they approach the wall. The Ship is completely useless in this phase, as it's caught in the canopy above, and unable to be brought down.

The Spiral is nowhere to be found, which confuses the party until the Dark Lich, a dark, robed skeleton which floats above the ground (with horns to boot) has the symbols of the elements carved onto the forehead of the skull. Revealing this to be the Spiral.

With Zelda, cast Moonshine, one of the most useless-seeming spells until this part of the game (and on), as it creates a silver light, revealing the Lich if he's within about 15 feet of the party. Equip this, as well as Light Spark, the weakest but only real Light attack element spell Zelda has at this point. Using a Fire spell is recommended.

With Moonshine cast, avoid the Dark Strikes, small serpent-like rivets of dark energy that will hit your party for 1/2 heart each. Find the source of those Strikes, and you'll reach the lich, who lets out a roar as he's revealed. Dead Hands will start to rise from the ground, oversized skeletal hands that will grab your characters and cause bad, bad damage.

With Link and Malon set to attack, Link with his sword, Malon with her arrows, the Dark Lich will become infuriated and distracted. He'll start to cast his Counterattack, his robes parting to reveal a dark heart inside his ribcage. Have Zelda target this and cast Light Spark. He'll fall down, and will roar in terror before transforming.

If he's transformed into his Ikana Stalform, he looks like a Stalfos with purple flame in his eyes. What occurs now is Poes will float around the arena, unfortunately distracting your Secondaries. Switch to Link and take out your sword (if anyone's low on magic or health, roll against the trees to knock down supplies). When the Poes are killed, he'll leap down to confront Link himself. Nothing but Link's sword will knock him down at this point, so use that Hylian swordsmanship to strike down the Earth Spiral.

With the Soul Snatcher, keep Malon healing, and have her dispel any counterattacks he'll use, if there is a missed strike. He'll simply leap around the trees and occasionally toss Dark Swipes at the characters before leaping again, so this is probably the easiest form he has. When he stalls for a moment, use either Link's Bow and Arrow or Light Spark to knock him down. Once all the forms have been defeated once, the Phase will end, the trees will be destroyed, and the Elemental cycle will repeat itself.

The Hard way
(As if it wasn't difficult enough?)

These are used in the event of your ship being destroyed!

The Fire Phase and Earth Phase are not significantly affected by the loss of the ship, as the Earth phase focuses more on teamwork and the Fire phase focuses more on evasion. However, the Air phase and Water phase are changed in such ways:

The Air Phase's sixth disc will be unblocked, resulting in all discs being available for use, but no shelter for the Swoop.

The Water Phase, on the other hand, becomes much more difficult...

With the ship gone, make the Hero of Time your primary character. I suggest Sheik and Link as your secondaries. Have the HoT don the Zora Mask, and dive under the water. Sheik and Link will keep the Dead Sea Snakes at bay, as much as they can, while you dive down to the very, very bottom of the arena. You'll notice that this is the base of the Spiral's pillar, eh? Yes, you will. Because I said so.

Swim forward to the pillar, and while it seems solid, active the Barrier. The pillar will glow red in pain--revealing that it is truly alive, along with the rest of the pillar. The Morpha-like tentacles will rise, and do everything they can to stop the Hero. The best thing to do is to dive forward, barrier, then surface. Instead of the tentacles simply squeezing you half to death, you'll be pulled under the water for a time before the tentacles give up. Unfortunately, it's a large arena, and that won't be easy.

Repeat this three times, and avoid the Sea Serpents. They hurt. A lot. The most difficult thing about this underwater battle, however, is the currents; you have to move with them as you approach the spiral's pillar.

When the Water phase is done, DIVE. Else you'll find yourself falling a couple hundred feet to a harmful end as you enter the Fire phase.

Am... Am I done? Can... Can I stop throwing the controller in frustration, screaming, and pulling my hair out?
Sadly, the answer is no. This is halfway through the game.

However, this is one of the more lengthy of bosses, and when you're done, you get an awesome explosion as the pillars collapse, and the eye wavers and pulsates... and then dies, the pupil falling out as a black orb, and turning into your heart container! The bent pillar is still in the shape of a vertical eye, however, it is your new Portal Through Time, and you can return to the Rift in Time if you didn't get the optional Thunder Spell from the rest of the Dungeon.

Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun making this!

P.S. PLEASE PM/post criticism! I wish to improve this as much as I can. ^^

-Evil Count-
DARKLORE

*Background*
In the Lost Woods there lived a small family, hidden from the outside world to stay away from the possible dangers of war, greed, and ignorance. The father went out one day to get some wood for his family. Everything was all and well until he came back home to see his family slaughtered in his very own home. He fell to his knees and cried. Nobody knew what happened to him afterward, some say he got murdered as well, some say he killed himself, and others just said that he had an accident while gathering the wood. But that's not important, ever since he died, he has been haunting the Lost Woods, protecting his mansion from anyone who dares to try to get in, he is Darklore. Darklore looks like a beaten down demon with glowing red eyes. He has a huge scythe and long sharp nails. He often like to smile and intimidate you. His skin is pale like a zombie and he has a black robe with rips all over it. He is smothered in blood and always looks angry.

*Stage and Intro*
Link fights Darklore a dark small room full of dead plants. He first walks into a room with a single candle lit and after Link takes a few steps forward and the candle light goes out. The game prompts you to use a lantern and as soon as you take it out you see Darklore right in front of Link. He swings his arm at Link and he flies back dropping the lantern. The lantern starts a ring of fire around Link and Darklore and the battle starts.

*Attacks*
Scythe - 2 Hearts - Easy to dodge, Darklore raises up scythe above his head for about 3 seconds before he swings.
Soul Swarm - 1/2 Heart per soul - You don't HAVE to kill any of them, you just have to avoid them for about 15 seconds until they all go away. The souls are from the people he previously killed.
Backslash - 5 Hearts - Only uses this attack after you hit him. The only way to dodge is to do a back flip immediately after hitting him.
Grab - 3 Hearts - Darklore will try to grab you and if he does, he will choke you until you lose 2 hearts and then he will throw you to the fire taking away 1 heart. To avoid this all you have to do is a spin attack as he reaches his arm for you.
Flaming Soul Swarm - 1 Heart per soul - You don't HAVE to kill any of them, you just have to avoid them for about 15 seconds until they all go away.

*How the Battle Works*
This is a tougher battle than usual. You need to think quick and be sure to get your targeting down. First off, when you start the battle he will summon souls (they look like people's heads with blue magic-like stuff all around them) all around you, they will stay there for about 15 seconds and then go right back to him. Get a little closer to him and he will raise up his scythe for 3 seconds. Shoot his scythe with a bomb arrow and it will fall out of his hands. He will immediately turn around to get it, when he is off guard, attack him with your sword but be careful because right after you attack him he grabs the scythe and swings it at your feet, if you get hit, it takes away a whopping 5 hearts. To dodge this attack all you have to do is do a back flip right after you hit him with your sword. This process will repeat 3 times and then a short cut scene will play where he throws his scythe out of the arena. Right after the cut scene he will run towards you and try to grab you. Do a spin attack to hit him away. He will again summon flaming souls at you this time and they do double that damage (They are flaming because Darklore is angrier and wants them to be like that), they will stay for 15 seconds like the other times and then go away. Hit him with the spin attack 2 more times and he will fall to his death. The fire around you will fade away and lights will come on. Hurray! You beat Darklore!

I hope you guys enjoy!

Clockwork Golem
Animated Maestro of Time
The underground city
(Throughout the dungeon there are 6 stones each with one of the following verses inscribed upon them)

I am one of many long forgotten things that should not have been forgotten.
A prodigious creature with control over time.
I was Defeated, Crushed, and Locked away somewhere in the sky

I sat there for centuries, watching, waiting, plotting my revenge.
Then one day I fell, crashing into the depths of the earth.
There I sat building my minions, building my city, and building my power.

Until one day, an outcast stumbled upon me, and I felt mercy, compassion, and pity.
There that man stayed teaching me everything about the upper world.
Then one day, he left, and I did not see him in the underground city for a long time.

And then one day, he came back.
Bringing with him a marvelous sword.
The only thing he told me was.

"The world above, is falling in ruin, crashing to the ground, falling to pieces.
Evil has conquered good, and left it there to die.
And die it did, for I am probably the last breath of life in it."

"But someday someone will come that will destroy you.
But not for evil, nor renown, nor glory; but for love.
For the lives of others, he will endure enough pain to last anyone a millennium."


The Dungeon:
The dungeon would be a sandy/rocky city with the rooms being houses, and occasionally you'd have to go through the streets, you'd have to slowly work your way to a sphere-ish shaped building (the boss chamber) in the center of the city.

Item:
The Dragon's breath is a long whip like thing, it consists of many small still big enough to tell what they are) side-view dragon heads, each connected by a small (but strong) rope, they also each turn 90 degrees to the side (so that every other one would rotate 180 degrees), and the last one is larger and has sharp ridges sticking out of the top and bottom of its head. It may be used like the grappling hook or as a whip (has long range and can hook enemies, but you can't dodge well using it). You'd swing the Wii remote to whip. While you had the dragon's breath out certain things will have a circle around them when aimed at with the Wii remote, and in that case press and hold A while aiming at it and swing the Wii remote to hook it, and then depending on the object multiple things can be done to it.

Stage:
The stage is a cavern with many spires hanging from the ceiling and sticking out of the ground, and some crystals sticking out of the wall.

The boss:
The boss is a 18-ish Ft. (About three times the height of Link) tall golem made of clockwork (a big mess of gears, kind of the same basic shape of the Bryyo war golems in MP:3), it is rusted and dented with age, has three spike-ish shaped clocks sticking out of each shoulder, and one clockface on its chest, and if seen at the right angle you can see through the gears a heart container inside his chest

How to beat him:
During the first stage of the fight the clockwork golem will use one of five attacks.
For the first one if you get to close it will swipe at you with its arms, fairly simple to dodge, just don't get to close and it can't hit you. However if you do get hit you will loose 2 hearts, so be especially careful.
The second one he crushes his hands together, and then magically has a piece of junk he throws at you. This one again is simple to dodge, but requires quick decision making. It will either throw a big piece of junk or a small one, the big pieces of junk can be dodged by rolling out of the way, but the small ones travel must faster (making you unable to roll out of the way) and require you to hold up your shield (so decide on which to do fast). The small pieces of junk do 1/2 a heart and the pieces of junk do 1 heart.
When he uses the third attack all the clockfaces on him start spinning and you must shoot one before he disappears, or else he'll appear behind you and hit you doing 2 hearts in damage.
The fourth attack consists of it charging across the cavern and trying to smash you. Dodging it is simple, seeing as you can just roll out of the way. The hard part is that the only way to hurt it is to stand in its path, hook it with the dragon's breath, and pull it to the left or right so that it runs into a spire sticking out of the ground, then whack one of the clocks on its shoulder with your sword to destroy one. However if it hits you with his charge you loose 2 hearts.

After all six clocks are destroyed the big clock on its chest will start winding backwards, and slowly its gears and parts will start to un-rust, and its dents will pop back to normal, until it looks brand new. This time as well as not using the third attack, it will throw in three new attacks to its arsenal
The first new attack is the most devastating, but will probably only be used once or twice in the fight. First of all, gold lines that shine light [straight] upward will appear on the ground, the most important thing to remember is where the lines are, which can be done by remembering the time on the golems chest clock. The lines will appear at the same angle as the arms on that clockface, with the door to the boss fight being 12:00. then what you have to do, is avoid walking where those lines were while the golem uses anyone of its attacks (besides the three below). After it uses one attack the lines will reappear and the clock on its chest will wind backwards, and just like the clock, Link will retrace his steps backward, and for each time
Link walks over one of the lines he will loose 2 hearts (of course, it moves very fast, so that
1.5 min. passes by in 15 sec.).
For the second attack the golem will jump to the center of the room, the clockface on its chest will light up, and a beam will shoot out of it. Simply angle the mirror shield correctly so that when the beam hits Link it will reflect into one of the crystals on the wall, after going through one crystal it will break up and hit other crystals until all of the beam goes back to the center of the room and hits the golem. if hit by the beam Link will loose 2 hearts.
If you successfully hit him with all beam, he will use his third attack. This time to vent out all that energy he will shoot an energy-orb out of his mouth, simply hit it back and forth (each time it gets hit it speeds up) until it hits the golem. If hit with the orb Link will be stunned and unable to move to avoid the third attack.
Always (and only) after the third attack he will charge you, just do the same thing as in the first stage to hurt him, except instead of hitting the clocks on his shoulders you will be hitting the clackface on his chest. If hit by the charge you will loose 2 hearts.
One thing to note however, is that the golem will not use the third or fourth attacks unless you hit him with the beam in the second attack. So this time, instead of just having to pull him over, you have to successfully hit him back with the first two.

After 16 hits the golem’s gears will stop turning, it will fall over, the clock on his chest will explode, and the heart container in his chest will fly out.



(The following would be at the base of the master sword)

Fighting with sword, whip, brains and strength.
The Hero of time conquered the clock.
And after hundreds of years its gears slowed to a stop.


NOTES:
The poem I came up while thinking about how none of the bosses in TP have any background. The words about enduring pain I came up with while thinking about how Link almost never suffers and almost never shows emotion in a single Zelda game, which I really think is something they need to change in the next Zelda game, I want to see Link get angry and force someone into a wall (like choking them or something), and I want to see Link beat down, ripped apart, and put to shame. The weapon is just a random idea of why can't they make the grappling hook cooler. The boss I came with after I thought they should have a machine-like boss. The way to beat the boss I came up with after thinking "why isn't there a boss where coming with how to beat it is actually something non-obvious, so that it makes Link look smart". The thing about the hero of time conquering the clock I came up with after thinking about it's a "clock"-work golem and he's the hero of "time" (get it). This boss is fairly late in the game. The reason the poem is there is becuase I think it would be nice to have hidden parts of a dungeon where you could find the bosses history. And my last note is that the notes are not part of my entry.

PLEASE, if you direct any criticism or comments whether by PM or posting on my page, compare my entry to the other entries as oppose to nothing. I would love to know if I did well at explaining things and if other people see my entry as better or worse than the others.

I feel that they could have done more with the snowboarding mechanic in Twilight Princess. And so, for in-game context, my game takes place in place of the regular snowboarding scenario. In this version, items can be used while snowboarding since a boss fight would be boring without them.



Name:
Rokkiz
(No descriptive title, since non-dungeon bosses never get them.)

Description:
A giant predatory bird, seemingly made of ice. No part of Rokkiz looks soft or even organic.
Individual feathers are long, flat, smooth, triangular sheets of ice; they look almost like scales. The feathers on its underside are frosted white, the rest are shiny and translucent. Two longer and thinner feathers form its owl-like eyebrows.
Eye whites appear to be frosted white, while the pupils are merely darker than the rest of it. The beak is not immediately discernible from its head, except for the lack of feathers. Its beak is shaped like an eagle's but bigger around and more angular.
The legs and talons are lightly grooved like the side of an icicle. The talons have no separate claws but just naturally narrow to a sharpened point.
The wings and tail are broad and flat.
Whenever it moves its head or wings the feathers clink against each other like cheap glass wind chimes.
Movements are stiff and mechanical except for the feathers. As you see it mostly in constant descent it does not often flap its wings.
Size is about 3 Link-heights from beak-tip to tail-tip. 7 Link-height wingspan.

History:
No real story significance for this one, just a monster native to Snowpeak.

Arena:
The length of the Snowpeak mountain face, along a wide halfpipe-like groove. A blizzard is reducing visibility to only around ten yards in front of you.
There are obstacles scattered at long intervals about the track (rocks, drifts, trees, sudden turns, and ramps). Collisions do one heart's worth of damage.

Regular Attacks:
Rokkiz is looking to eat you, so it's mostly going to try and catch you with its talons. While entaloned (for lack of a better word) it squeezes you doing between 1 and 3 hearts of damage, depending on your button-mashing aptitude.
It can bite you for 1.5 hearts' worth of damage.
It will sometimes drop in front of you and scrape up snow with its talons to create a smokescreen so that it is harder for you to see obstacles.

Link's Methods:
Option 1 - slash its wings or feet. When doing this, Link is susceptible to strikes by the wing or slashes with the talons, each being able to do half a heart of damage. It can also easily grab Link in its talons from this position.

Option 2 - shoot it in the face. This is only a viable option if Link is in front of it, which can be achieved through expert maneuvering or flinging Link forward by attaching the Clawshot to its talons and retracting. While aiming a weapon at Rokkiz Link is unable to focus on the obstacles of the track.

Option 3 - get up on its back and slash like crazy. If a jump lands onto Rokkiz's back, Link can walk around on top of it and strike at its head or torso. While Link is atop Rokkiz, it'll try to scrape him off on the wall of the half-pipe, shake him off, or tilt him off. (After receiving one sword combo or bomb blast, Rokkiz will automatically shake Link off. Upon removing Link, Rokkiz will molt a feather to replace Link's frozen-leaf-snowboard.)

Option 4 - get up on its back and get a snazzy new snowboard. If Link uses the Iron Boots while atop Rokkiz it will be weighted down onto the track and prone to hitting obstacles. While Link is doing this, Rokkiz can flap its wings or swerve sharply to shake Link off. If Link steers it into an obstacle he will be thrown from the impact, but not take damage (unless he himself hits an obstacle in midair, which would cause 2 hearts due to his higher-than-normal speed).

Hit Points:
8 combos from the Master Sword, bomb hits, or obstacle hits.
16 combos from the Ordon Sword.
32 arrows to the face.

Intro:
Ominous music slowly builds while visibility slowly decreases with Link's advancement towards the blizzard. The light chime of the icy feathers rhythmically sounds off and the music begins to adhere to the beat of the chimes.
A few seconds of silence.
Rokkiz swoops down from above camera (which swivels around backwards for an establishing shot with Link tensed up in the foreground) and gives a characteristic TP boss screech, cuing the regular battle music (I'm thinking a rearrangement of the Minish Cap boss theme).
The camera swivels back behind Link and the actual battle kicks in.

Spectacular Death Scene:
Rokkiz crashes to the ground and begins tumbling.
The storm clears and reveals the Snowpeak Ruins below.
Rokkiz collides with the face of the mansion and shatters into shards of ice.




LAST-MINUTE-EDITED: Original size and HP were too big to make sense in Twilight Princess, which is where I claimed it goes. I added mention of the music going through my head when I wrote it, since the right music can make a boss 10x more memorable.

I have submitted two boss ideas from my game idea, The Legend of Zelda: Forgotten Phoenix. The boss background for the Wizzrobe Queen is quite extensive, so if it's too much, feel free to scroll down to the bottom.

~Burning Witch Monarch~
Wizzrobe Queen

The Game
This boss is from my game idea, The Legend of Zelda: Forgotten Phoenix. In order to understand the nature of the boss, you must also understand the unique gameplay concepts.

Forgotten Phoenix is a sequel to The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass. The main gameplay concept is that there is a constant co-operative aspect to it; Link is supported in this adventure by the pirate captain Tetra.

If playing by themself, a player may switch between Link and Tetra at any time. Link and Tetra can both exchange and switch items to use. The non-controlled character is controlled by the computer, but their AI is very high. In addition, the player can issue both simple and complex commands to the second character.

If a player wants to play with a friend, they may use a second player or draft someone from Wi-Fi to take control of the other character.

The game's other main gameplay concept is that there are six elemental spirits that are gained by completing temples that may be combined with the main weapons and items to give them completely new uses (for example, the Fire Element being combined with the Boomerang makes it the Fire Boomerang, capable of burning enemies and lighting torches, etc.)

In addition, there are enemies in the game called Elementals that float around and combine with other foes, giving enemies elemental properties (such as a Earth Elemental combining with a Darknut to make its armor stone and nearly impervious). However, these Elementals may also be captured in Empty Bottles to combine with your items. This is useful to combine elements before you gain the Elemental Spirit in each temple for permanent use.

This is all I feel that needs to be explained about the game itself to understand the boss in question.

Wizzrobe Queen's Background

When time began, it is well-known that the three golden goddesses descended upon the world and breathed life into it. Din created the realm, Nayru gave it order, and Farore created all life forms. When they left the realm, they also left behind a relic of their power, the golden Triforce.

However, that is only the legend that has been passed down in the royal family of Hyrule. There is a piece of the legend that has been long-forgotten, erased from history...

There was a fourth goddess, Dona, the golden goddess of desire. She breathed spirit into Farore's creatures, giving them life. When she departed from the realm with her sisters, she too left a piece of the Triforce: the Tetraforce of Desire.

However, the unsatiable desire within Dona led her to return to Hyrule and attempt to take the Tetraforce for herself, in order to seize the powers of her sisters and become the one goddess to rule them all. Fortunately, her sisters were privy to her plan, and ambushed her as she tried to take the Tetraforce. Din, Nayru, and Farore defeated Dona and sealed her away in Hyrule's neighboring country, Tiras...

Realizing that the Tetraforce of Desire could potentially cause the races of the world to make grabs for power. Realizing that the delicate balance of the Tetraforce was in jeopardy, they removed the Tetraforce of Desire and sealed it away with their wayward sister.

The goddesses appeared to the ancient King of Hyrule and ordered him to erase any evidence of Dona and the Tetraforce from the pages of history. The king did so without objection, and charged the eight ministers of Tiras with guarding the secret of the fourth piece of the Triforce.

Many years later, when the dark king, Ganon, took over Hyrule and the goddesses were forced to flood the realm, the country of Tiras continued existing along with its neighbor.

However, when King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule attained the Triforce, he specifically asked the goddesses that they wash away Hyrule. The land of Tiras remained.

When the land was flooded, the eight ministers of Tiras transfigured themselves into guardian spirits, in order to protect the six elemental spirits that the world was composed of: fire, water, earth, wind, light, and dark. These elementals were placed deep within the confines of ancient temples in Tiras, and each minister sealed themselves within the temples in order to protect the elementals.

Any one who collected these elementals would have the ability to travel below the waves of Tiras and potentially break the seal over Dona.

In particular, the Tiranian fire minister, Fiammetta, sealed herself within the Ignis Temple, deep within the Flamma Volcano on Flamma Island, where she transfigured herself into the fearsome Wizzrobe Queen.

The Temple

When Vaati, the dark wind mage, resurfaced on the Great Sea in order to transform it into a wasteland, Link and Tetra, under the guidance of the Gerudo pirate queen Regina, resolved to uncover the elementals and assemble the Tetraforce, in order to reseal Vaati and save the Great Sea.

The pair travels to the massive Flamma Island and into the Ignis Temple, the temple of fire. It is the first real dungeon in the game, making the Wizzrobe Queen the first full-blown boss.

The heat is intense in the Ignis Temple. You have a set time limit before Link or Tetra passes out. Both characters have a separate clock. However, there are several "safe zones" throughout the temple, as in rooms with springs where you can cool down. Your timer slowly restores itself while you're at a spring. You can also bottle water at these springs to douse many of the fires flaming around the dungeon.

There are several fire-based enemies here, such as a Torch Slug, Fire Bubbles, and Dodongos. However, there are also many Fire Elementals around, like Gor Leda said. They randomly generate from the lava and fire. They like to fuse with your enemies, so a Skulltulla might become a Fireskull. You can bottle these elementals yourself, though, and combine them with your items to solve several puzzles. Water Elementals also generate at some of the springs, so you use those to mow through pieces of the dungeon.

The most persistent enemy in this dungeon is the Wizzrobe, who dog Link and Tetra at every turn, blasting searing fire at every chance.

This dungeon also emphasizes teamwork, since it's the first co-op dungeon. You have to really work together to get through it. Some enemies are too tough for just one person (such as the Fire Lizalfos). And there are several puzzles that require teamwork (such as the ones in the Earth and Wind Temples from WW), as well as parts where one character needs to operate machinery while the other defends them.

The dungeon treasure is the Boomerang.

The Appearance

Link and Tetra walk into the room. The room is a cylindrical rock tower with several pools of lava scattered here and there. There are also several ledges, horizontal poles, and pegs around (for use with the Grappling Hook). The room is mysteriously quiet. Tetra tells Link to not let his guard down.

They step slowly into the room, and suddenly an ear-splitting screech sounds throughout the room. Link and Tetra both cover their ears...Suddenly, a twister of fire spins throughout the room, and when it fades, a MASSIVE Wizzrobe composed of fire appears. These words appear:

Burning Witch Monarch: Wizzrobe Queen

She spreads her arms and spins in a circle, and several Firerobes (Fire Wizzrobes) appear...

Link and Tetra look up, flabbergasted...

The Battle

The Wizzrobe Queen, being so massive, doesn't have room for too many attacks. She can summon an endless supply of Firerobes, which do most of her dirty work. They, of course, shoot fireballs at you, much like the Wizzrobes from Wind Waker. However, they are also capable of summoning other fire-based enemies, so it can quickly become quite hectic, especially if anything is caught on fire. The Wizzrobe Queen also has a few attacks of her own--she can swat at you with her wand depending on the tower level you're on, and she can also shoot fire twisters, as well as breathe fire.

There is a very specific strategy to beating her, and it requires the Grappling Hook, Boomerang, and a lot of teamwork. There are many ledges scattered around the room, all surrounded by some sort of peg or pole. One character must use the Grappling Hook to climb up the room, using both slingshots (ala Phantom Hourglass) and swinging from ledge to ledge. However, if they aren't careful, the queen will swat them out of the sky. That's why it's important for the other character to keep the queen busy with the Boomerang...While it won't damage her, it will definitely distract her.

Eventually, the character using the Grappling Hook will climb up into a hidden room above the boss room. In it, there is a large hot spring with water pouring in from above. There is a switch that, if you grapple onto it, your weight will pull it, causing the wooden ceiling to drop, and the entire spring will fall into the boss room and right onto the Wizzrobe Queen. This douses her shield of flames, transforming her into your everyday Wizzrobe (still gigantic though).

It's important to note that the temperature is still searing in the boss room, and both Link and Tetra still have a set time before they will succumb to heat exhaustion. The spring at the top of the room is a "safe zone" where they can cool off. That's why it's important for Link and Tetra to take turns traveling up to the spring, trading the Grappling Hook and Boomerang as they do so.

After the spring above the queen is dumped and the queen is doused, the other character can use a Boomerang to target both her eyeballs. When the Boomerang hits them, she will become temporarily blind, and start swinging her wand wildly. When the wand nears you, you must use a series of trigger commands (button sequences) to run up the wand and onto her shoulder, then somersault up and stab her in the head. She will then fall to the ground, and she'll be vulnerable--time for sword swinging! After a few slashes, she enshrouds herself in flames again.

You must repeat this process two or three more times before she goes down for the count. However, each time, she becomes more aggressive. When she's almost dead, she'll fill the lowest floor of the room with lava, so the character distracting her is in a lot of danger. After she's stunned for the final time, you get an extra trigger command that involves rapidly slashing her, destroying her headdress, and impaling her head.

She then rears up, screeching painfully. The fire around her flares up again, burning more brightly than ever. However, the queen continues to screech, as if in pain. Indeed, the fire has grown hot enough that is even burning her. Her flesh melts slowly, her bones clattering to the ground. Her screeching skeleton creaks rigidly, then finally explodes in a poof of dark smoke, leaving behind two Heart Containers...

Link and Tetra exchange glances, then exchange a high five.

------------

I would also like to submit a second boss from my game, the sub-boss of the Ignis Temple, the Flare Dancer from the Fire Temple in Ocarina of Time. However, make no mistake, the battle is much different than the one in Ocarina.

Flare Dancer

The temple's mid-boss is the Flare Dancer (the mid-boss from the Fire Temple in Ocarina of Time). The Flare Dancer is a misleading name in this game...Although it starts out as a being of fire with a central core (much like in OoT), there are several elemental spots around the room where Elementals will generate. They can them combine with the Flare Dancer for various effects (such as the Aqua Dancer, Gale Dancer, and Terra Dancer). It has different abilities in each form.

The dancer uses a set of daggers to attack in all its forms, and uses several dancing moves (such as twirls and spins to attack). The Flare Dancer leaves a trail of flames behind, which can prove to make things very hairy if you don't use the Water Elemental to put the flames out. The Aqua Dancer has the ability to trap you in its own body to try and suffocate you. The Gale Dancer can throw whirlwinds, and the Terra Dancer pounces at you, sending shockwaves outwards.

In order to beat the dancer, you have to find the Elemental that's the opposite of what the dancer is (e.g., if it's fire, use water, if it's earth, use wind, etc.), then combine it with the Grappling Hook and grapple onto its central core. It will then fly around the room, dragging you along with it through the air. It only takes a few moments before it will then slam you into the wall and regain its form. This is your oppurtunity to damage it. While one character is busy flying around, the other character can slash at the core when it flies near, since it doesn't have it's flames/water/earth/wind to protect it.

When it's getting ready to die, a trigger command will pop up. One character will run up a ledge and grapple onto the core again, then pull it to instead of letting it drag them along. The other character must then use a trigger command to jump at the core and stab it. Boom! Dead!

When it dies, a chest appears in the middle of the room (of course), and it contains the temple's treasure, the Boomerang!

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Thanks for considering my bosses.