Phantom Hourglass Bosses

Blaaz, Master of Fire
Blazz, Master of Fire

Upon entering the boss room of the Temple of Fire, Blaaz will immediately split into three, almost identical, sub-beings which will begin to rotate around Link. The movements of these beings as well as the main form of Blaaz is echoed on the top screen of the Nintendo DS, as well, from a birds-eye view; usage of the top screen during the battle is vital to Link’s success. After some time, the three beings will begin to charge fire and shoot balls of flame at Link; this attack can be evaded or repelled using the Boomerang. Using the top screen of the DS, the three sub-beings of Blaaz are revealed to be different as to their horns: each being has either one, two, or three horns, respectively. Link must, in order from one to three horns, connect the beings with the Boomerang by drawing a line that touches all three beings with the stylus on the lower screen. Upon joining the three beings, Blaaz will revert to it’s main form, and will be vulnerable to melee attacks. While Blaaz does have the ability to teleport around the arena, and can continually split into its sub-beings, usage of the above strategy a total of three times will be sufficient to render this boss defeated.

Cyclos, Stirrer of Winds

Once Link reaches the apex of the Temple of Wind, he comes in contact with the Octorok-like Cyclok, Stirrer of Winds. Though it may seem daunting, the technique to dispel this boss is fairly straightforward, incorporating Bombs as the boss’ primary weakness. Three wind generation points exist on the floor, from which Cyclok raises wind vortexes; when Cyclok is in close proximity to one of the vortexes, Link must toss a Bomb into the spiraling wind. The wind will raise the Bomb to Cyclok’s level only to explode, knocking the boss from the air to the ground below. This is the time that Link must go in to strike with the sword, capitalizing on Cyclok’s dizziness. Repeating this technique twice more will have this boss done in.

Crayk, Bane of Courage

Crayk, Bane of Courage
The battle with Crayk not only comes in two parts, but is perhaps the strangest boss encounter in Phantom Hourglass. During the first portion of the fight, Crayk is invisible, and Link must use both screens of the Nintendo DS to locate it. The top screen shows the perspective of the boss itself as it moves about the room, while the bottom shows things as normal through Link’s third person perspective. Using the conjunction of these two perspectives, Link must fire an arrow in the direction of Crayk, specifically using the top screen to aim, seemingly in the direction of the player. In the event Link misses Crayk, the boss will grasp the young hero, requiring the player to quickly shake the stylus onto the lower screen to release him. Once hit by an arrow, Crayk will reveal itself as a hermit crab-like being and retreat into its shell,  popping out purple bead-like objects all around the shell’s rim. Using the sword or Bombs to break these purple balls will initiate stage two of the battle in which Crayk denounces its shell in favor of motility and agility, appearing more scorpion-like. Without the shell, Crayk’s blue tail is vulnerable to melee attacks. Crayk will be defeated after enough damage has been done to its fragile tail.

Diabolical Cubus Sisters

phantom hourglass bosses
Atop the Ghost Ship, the four Cubus Siters, the allegedly scared victims of the ship itself, will align themselves across the top screen of the Nintendo DS, while Link occupies the bottom screen. Three of the sisters will fire continuous beams of light down below while one tosses a ball of energy, instigating a tennis-like back-and-forth “Dead Man’s Volley” of sorts with Link. Using the sword, Link must repel the ball of energy back at the sister that generated it, all the while avoiding the beams created by the other three. Eventually, the energy ball will rebound on the one sister and destroy her. Three remain: two continue to generate lasers while the third resorts to yet another round of Dead Man’s Volley with Link. The same technique is used against the next round, which consists of two sisters. When only one sister remains, she will create many balls of energy, however, only the green variety can be deflected by the sword, back at the lone Cubus Sister. By using the same technique during this final Dead Man’s Volley, Link shall earn himself a Heart Container in no time.

Dongorongo, Armored Lizard


The battle with this massive ankylosaur-like boss is waged in two stages, one of which prevents Link from personally attacking the beast. The secret to the first stage of this battle is the friendly Goron, Gongoron, who Link meets and aids in the preceding Goron Temple. Gongoron can be controlled by the player on the main floor, while Link waits, separated from the battle by a thin expanse of quicksand near the room’s entrance. Dongorongo will attempt to fire balls of flame at Link from afar, however, by using Gongoron as a distraction, the boss will turn on the young Goron and charge him. In the event that Gongoron evades the charge, the boss will strike the wall and fall into a temporary stunned state in which the young Goron can attempt to stun him for longer by striking his weak underbelly. Once Dongorongo is out cold, Link must fire a Bombchu from his location towards the boss’ gaping mouth. Using this technique twice more will begin phase two of the battle, in which Dongorongo will shed his armor to reveal a fragile, blue crystal on it’s backside. The boss will attempt to suck Link into its mouth; Link must fire a Bomb into the boss’ oral cavity to stun him once more. Once stunned, Link must wail on the crystal with the sword. After two more rounds of this, the mammoth lizard shall take its last breath.

Gleeok, Two-Headed Dragon
gleeok

After completing the Temple of Ice, Link encounters this double-headed dragon, Gleeok. The main weapon used to defeat these beasts is the Grappling Hook, which is hinted at by the incorporation of four usable pegs into the floor of the boss room. The dragons will fire balls of flame and ice at Link, who must connect two opposing pegs with the Grappling Hook before the energy reaches him. Using his weight as tension, Link must direct the specific ball of energy to hit the hook-line and ricochet towards the dragon of opposite elemental type, i.e. the fire energy ball will injure the ice dragon, and vice versa. Every time the opposite energy ball hits the respective dragon, the boss’ face masks will crack, until they break off entirely. Phase two will commence and instead of shooting energy, the dragons will lunge forward, attempting to crunch Link with their jaws, removing two grappling pegs in the process. The dragons will also begin to charge energy, at the same time, revealing their folly: their Grappling Hook-accessible tongues. All Link must do is connect the pull-tab on the tongue of one of the dragons to one of the graplling pegs to anchor it to the floor. When attached, Link must go in with the sword to deal the devastating damage to the head necessary to finally defeat these foes.

Eox, Ancient Stone Soldier

In Link’s third dual-screen boss battle in Phantom Hourglass, Link must first dodge the mecca’s punching and arrow-flinging, in an effort to make it to one of the four spring-laden posts across the floor. Using these posts, Link must launch himself into the air, and use the Hammer while airborne to pummel the many red knobs scattered about Eox’s stone extremities. Each strike of the hammer upon one of these red posts releases a portion of rock from Eox’s body, revealing a thin, woody structure beneath that serves to hold up the mammoth. After Link smashes all of the red spokes, Eox’s exoskeleton will boast four flashing posts; the same technique must be used to dispell these knobs as was used for the red posts previously. Delivering the final smash to the last flashing spoke will cripple Eox down to only a head, revealing a weak, central core protruding from it’s apex. Dodging arrows and Eox’s jerky movements, Link must propel himself atop the head using the springy pedastals on the floor. Using repeated strikes of the sword, or continuing to use the Hammer on the fragile core will turn this foe quickly into more Sands of Hours.

Bellum, Evil Spirit from Beyond

Within the Temple of the Ocean King

The final battle of the game has two main parts, though within those sections the battle is broken down even further. Upon entering the room, Bellum dips beneath the purple muck at the center of the room only to reappear, floating on the surface, with small, purple spots all over its body. Link must use the Grappling Hook to relieve the beast of these purple specks, all the while avoiding the dark, globby beings he sends after Link. After all of the purple spots are pulled off, Link can reel Bellum in with the Grappling Hook and deliver sword strikes of his own. If Link deals enough damage, Bellum will retreat to the second floor and attach itself to the pillars of the arena with its tentacles.

Link must meet the beast upstairs may climbing the staircase at the side of the arena. Using the eyes on Bellum’s tentacles as targets, Link must fire arrows until all tentacles have been stunned (stunning will turn the eyes a purple color). Link must keep moving as he does this because sometimes one of Bellum’s tentacles, often the closest, will rise up in an attempt to smash him. Bellum will collapse into the small muck pond below after all of his tentacles are stunned. Bellum will repeat this battle segment again, this time, the eyes on his tentacles will intermittently open and close. After Link stuns them all again, Bellum will rise to the third floor, and repeat his previous habits, attaching himself to the room’s pillars via his tentacles. Link must be wary of the increased presence of purple, globby beings while stunning Bellum’s tentacles this time. During the second stage of the battle within the Temple of the Ocean King, Bellum will be circling the lower floor, incessantly until Link arrives from the third floor. Ciela will create a Phantom Sphere with the power of the Phantom Hourglass, which enables Link to stop time, stopping Bellum’s raging behavior long enough to attack him. As with most bosses in the Zelda series, upon stopping time with the Phantom Sphere (draw a a figure eight on the lower screen of the Nintendo DS), Link must hone in to Bellum’s large eye, wailing on it with his sword to inflict damage. The Phantom Sphere will fade and Bellum will resume his rampant behavior about the arena. Repeating this technique twice more will force Bellum’s temporary retreat, causing the entire arena to shake and crumble.

Chasing the Ghost Ship and the Final Fight

Upon the S.S. Linebeck, Link must fire the cannon at the many purple-eyed globs covering the fleeting Ghost Ship. As Link shoots cannonballs at the vessel, the eye globs will send pink damage-inflicting orbs his way; however, they are easy to evade. If Link is too slow in removing all purple globs from the ship, more will surface, lengthening the battle and decreasing Link’s chances of survival.

Once the Ghost Ship begins to sink into the sea, Link will be able to board it for the final portion of the battle. Bellum possesses Linebeck and transforms into a large Darknut-like knight; while the form resembles a great Phantom, the figure still retains the part of Bellum’s body that is the most vulnerable: it’s eye. The knight even takes ahold of Ciela when she attempts to reveal the phantom’s backside to Link; however, she is still able to release Phantom Spheres. By timing his use of Phantom Spheres and the opening and closing of Bellum’s eye at the back of the Phantom, Link will quickly put this beast to rest once and for all, using the Phantom Sword to inflict heavy damage on Bellum’s eyeball, just as he had back in the Temple of the Ocean King.