Octorok

Octoroks are common enemies in the Legend of Zelda series, appearing in most games. To attack, they spit out rocks, which can usually be deflected by a shield, and sometimes even a sword swing.

The Legend of Zelda
Octoroks first appear in The Legend of Zelda where they are among the first enemies found in the game and come in red and blue variants. They walk around in one of the four cardinal directions at a time and occasionally stop to fire a rock in the direction they are facing, which damages Link on contact unless blocked by his shield. Red Octoroks have only one hit point, while blue Octoroks have two.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Octoroks reappear in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, where they again come in red and blue variants, with the blue ones being able to jump. In the Japanese version, there is a different behavior given to blue ones in dungeons, which are replaced by blue Āneru in Western releases.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Octoroks now appear in only red, but are much faster than previously. Some will also fire rapidly between cardinal directions. They appear primarily in the rocky area west of the Eastern Palace. Their Dark World counterpart is the Slarok, and there is additionally a unique floating version called the octoballoon, which is featured as part of a quest in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Octoroks appear again as early-game enemies. A winged version called Flying Octorok appears as well. In the game's remakes, they are all red. In the Nintendo Switch version, they now resemble their appearance in A Link Between Worlds, but with yellow undersides to their arms.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Octoroks are now water-based enemies, acting like Zoras did previously, with their previous role essentially going to Mad Scrub, and are purple with glum-looking glowing green eyes. In this game and all full-3D games following, Octoroks' rocks can not only b deflected with shields, but bounced all the way back to defeat the Octorok itself. A prototype screenshot showed them more like they appeared previously, in a variety of sizes, and all red. The final game also has a miniboss version called Big Octo. The 3DS remake changes a generic octopus in a tank in the lakeside laboratory into an Octorok.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Octoroks act exactly as they did in the previous game, though blue ones also appear in the town shooting gallery, and their arms are now the same color as their bodies. Big Octos reappear as generic enemies, and are much weaker.

In some places, Octoroks can be used as platforms after being frozen with Ice Arrows. In the 3DS remake, only some Octoroks can be frozen, being marked with a blue tint and several sparkles. These ones also now respawn like Chuchus (including the same sound effect) if defeated. Additionally, similar to Ocarina of Time, a textur with a generic Octopus was replaced with an Octorok design, this being over the door to Japas's room.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
In The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, Octoroks appear as they did in Link's Awakening, with blue ones appearing mostly in the winter. A golden one also appears as part of a sidequest.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
In The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, Octoroks appear as in Oracle of Seasons, though they often appear blue in the past. Link can also become one with a special ring. The Queen Fairy was transformed into an Octorok in the past, rendering her powerless. There is also an Octorok boss called Octogon.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Octoroks are among the randomly-generated enemies, and among the most simple. They only appear in red.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Octoroks appear water-based again, with one type appearing in areas where Link is on foot, and others in the Great Sea. They are larger in this game than previous appearances. Big Octos reappear, now as many-eyed squid-shaped minibosses found on the Great Sea.

In the original version, their figurine proclaims it "Winner of the Perfect Attendance Award". However, due to their absence in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, this was altered to "Series: Exemplary enemy" in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Octoroks appear in red, blue, and purple, and only appear at Lake Hylia, the Coast, and the Swamp.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Octoroks appear in red and blue. They are found in many locations, such as Hyrule Field, Minish Woods, Trilby Highlands, and Lake Hylia. Their rocks can be stopped with a shield or a sword swing, although unlike the nuts of Business Scrubs, they do not bounce back as a projectile. There is also a special Golden Octorok that appears after a Kinstone fusion that drops many Rupees. A boss called Big Octorok appears as well in the Temple of Droplets, though it is actually a normal-sized Octorok with a plant on its back being encountered by a shrunk Link. When Link first meets Ezlo, he is being harassed by a group of Octoroks. At the end of the game, after Zelda makes her wish with Ezlo's magic cap, the Octoroks are shown vanishing one by one from Minish Woods.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Octoroks appear in two variants, a red one resembling their original appearance in both design and behavior, and a pink and yellow one resembling their appearance in The Wind Waker. The former first appears on the Isle of Ember, specifically in a group of six in Astrid's basement acting as a miniboss. There is also an explosive species called Octomines in the crane minigame. A tornado-using boss Octorok called Cyclok appears as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
In The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Octoroks appear in the same varieties as the previous game, though the water-based one now appears underwater instead and is orange. Red ones also appear inside Mini Freezards. Octomines return as targets underwater, and there are now dungeon-based aquatic ones called Octives, along with sand-dwelling ones called Ergtoroks.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, pink ones with propellers appear as enemies in the sky, while red ones appear as enemies on the surface. The surface ones all act comparable to Mad Scrubs in this game, with some hiding under plants and others under rocks. In order to bounce back the rocks, Link most perform a Shield Bash.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Octoroks appear along with Slaroks as they did in A Link to the Past. Octo, a friendly one wearing a baseball cap also shoots baseballs in a minigame in the Dark World.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Water Octoroks appear in The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, visually appearing as they do in A Link Between Worlds, but acting more akin to how they do in Ocarina of Time. Due to a lack of shield, they must be defeated with projectiles or being stunned and brought up with the Water Rod. In the Den of Trials, a few land-based ones appear, though, alongside Slaroks (which can now run on water as if it was land and shoot fire) and dark Octoroks, which can also run on water and shoot item-preventing curses. The dark type occasionally also appears on dark-colored Totem Armos.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
They have numerous varieties in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, based off their various past behaviors. All Octoroks have a very long range that they can spit their rocks, which they do in a large arc. Once again, Shield Bashing is necessary to bounce the rocks back to the Octorok. They typically hide under some type of object with the aide of a sucker over their mantles, and will poke their heads out into the open if the object is destroyed or disturbed. Some have similar behavior to the ground-based ones in Skyward Sword, with plant-hiding ones called Forest Octoroks being green and rock-hiding ones called Rock Octoroks being gray, with the latter type being able to use their mouths as a powerful vacuum. This vacuuming sucks up rocks for them to spit in a fiery blast, but can also suck up equipment, which can actually be used to replace rusty weapons with better ones or blow the Octorok up with a bomb. A blue variant of the grass-hiding type called Snow Octorok lives in snow and is able to tunnel through it to approach Link. Blue grass-hiding ones can also be found in the water, where they are called Water Octoroks. Water Octoroks cannot move through the water, and will inflate and float above the surface if it rains, resembling the octoballoon from A Link to the Past. There is also a rare golden type called a Treasure Octorok that disguises itself as a buried treasure chest, and dashes around erratically if approached. They can be told apart from real buried treasure chests in that theirs do not react to Magnesis. When defeated, Octoroks typically give a fish (regardless of location) along with body parts that include eyes, arms (erroneously called tentacles), or their inflatable sac, itself called an Octo Balloon. Treasure Octoroks give varying amounts of Rupees, being among the few enemies in the game to do so.

In the first DLC pack, The Master Trials, mauve Sky Octoroks are added, resembling a cross between the octoballoon and the sky-based Octoroks in Skyward Sword. They do not carry anything on their heads, although they have a sucker to. They cannot attack nor do they give recoverable materials, but instead have platforms tied to the arms of groups of around three or four Sky Octoroks. These platforms can contain enemies and treasure chests. They typically float around Sheikah Towers, and can respawn without the aide of the Blood Moon.

The Legend of Zelda animated series
They are large and resemble realistic octopuses, aside from their cartoonish faces and rock-like mantles.

Link: The Faces of Evil
In Link: The Faces of Evil, Octoroks are somewhat large with short arms, resembling their Zelda II: The Adventure of Link artwork. The rocks they spit fall at a slight arc. When they spit them, their mantles contract.

Zelda: Wand of Gamelon
In Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, Octoroks look and act exactly the same as in Link: The Faces of Evil. Link also uses the idea of eating one to express his hunger in the intro.

Zelda's Adventure
In Zelda's Adventure Octoroks have proportions like a typical realistic octopus, but with only six arms. They are among the largest generic enemies due to the length of their splayed arms. They always face downwards and occasionally make small screeching noises, but never shoot rocks. Giant Squid act similar to them, and both are found in the Shrine of Water.

BS Zelda no Densetsu Inishie no Sekiban
In BS Zelda no Densetsu Inishie no Sekiban, Octoroks appear as they do in A Link to the Past, first appearing early on in the area outside the Eastern Palace. The Golden Bee can defeat them in one hit.

Hyrule Warriors
In the original Hyrule Warriors, they only appear in the loading screens, using their original sprite while fighting Link. Big Octos also appear as map features in Hyrule Warriors Legends.

Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros. Melee they appear using their Majora's Mask design despite being land-based, and appear in the Underground Maze stage, or rarely from containers. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, they appear in their Skyward Sword design in Smash Run mode.

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda
In Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda, Ocroroks appear in several colors. They remain in one spot and pop up from underground when the player character in within range, spitting a rock that travels a space with each beat. The rock can be deflected via shielding, which can hit the Octorok if it is above ground. The player can also defeat it by approaching it before it hides underground. This is the same attack pattern used by Deku Scrubs, except the player can occupy the same space if it is underground.

Manual comment
"A type of octopus that lives above ground. There are two types, red and blue. Watch out for the blue ones. They're mean. They spit out rocks at Link."

Manual comment
"A type of octopus that lives above ground. They bounce and attack by spitting out rocks."

Navi comment
Octorok "Bounce back the rocks they spit at you!"

Tatl comment
"You know about the Octorok, right? All you have to do is deflect that rock it spits out."

Trophy Description
Octorok The Legend of Zelda 07/87 "These common enemies made their debut in the very first Legend of Zelda game and have been a staple of every game in the series since. They shoot rocks from their mouths at high velocity, but the projectiles are simple to block and do very little damage. Octoroks have low stamina, so they don't pose much of a threat to good fighters."

Original
Habitat: The Forest Haven, Great Sea Winner of the Perfect Attendance Award "When approached, these creatures tend to hide in the water. They can easily be defeated by reflecting the rocks they shoot with a sword or shield."

HD
Habitat: The Forest Haven, Great Sea Series: Exemplary enemy "When approached, these creatures tend to hide in the water. They can easily be defeated by reflecting the rocks they shoot with a sword or shield."

Freshwater
"Oh! An Octorok! Use your shield to reflect its rock barrage back at it!"

Sea (before obtaining boomerang)
"An Octorok! It'll shoot bombs! I think you should run!"

Sea (after obtaining boomerang)
"An Octorok! It'll fire bombs at you! Fire back with projectiles!"

Figurine description
"Appears in various areas. There are red and blue ones. They've appeared in every Zelda game to date. They spit rocks, so careful!"

Grass
Octorok (Grass) "This monster descended from oceanic mollusks. It has developed the unsightly ability to spit rocks. The creature prefers to sleep with tufts of grass on its head, so it has learned to take on the appearance of grass in order to fool and defeat its prey. You can use a shield to bounce the rocks this monster spits back at it."

Rock
Octorok (Rock) "This monster descended from oceanic mollusks. It has developed the unsightly ability to spit rocks. Inexplicably, this beast prefers to sleep with rocks on its head. It camouflages itself to surprise and defeat its prey. You can use a shield to bounce the rocks this monster spits back at it."

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Octorok Skyward Sword "This monster looks kinda like an octopus, but it shoots rocks out of its mouth. They've been around since the very first Legend of Zelda game, and the Octorok from Skyward Sword appears in this version of Smash Bros. They'll hide underground, emerging to fire at nearby fighters. If you're quick, you can run forward and pluck them out."

PRIMA guide description
WATER OCTOROK "Water Octoroks are an awful lot like Totem Dekus, but instead of being tall and plant-like, they're short and live in the water. You can use a Water Rod to pull them out of the water at any point, but if you don't have one handy, you'll need to stun them with another Sub-Weapon when they pop their heads up out of the water. Just watch out for the rocks they like to spit at their enemies."

Water Octorok (092)
"Although they spend most of their time in water, the drop in barometric pressure that occurs when it rains causes an air sac within these octopus-like monsters to inflate and lift them into the air. The rocks they spit out can be bounced back with a shield."

Common Locations
West Necluda Hyrule Field

Recoverable Materials
Octorok Tentacle Octo Balloon Octorok Eyeball

Forest Octorok (093)
"Although originally an aquatic species, this type has adapted to life in the forest. They hide among the trees, disguising themselves as grass or unassuming shrubbery, and then attack when someone wanders by."

Common Locations
Hyrule Ridge Deep Akkala

Recoverable Materials
Octorok Tentacle Octo Balloon Octorok Eyeball

Rock Octorok (094)
"This octopus-like species of monster lives in volcanic regions. When they inhale, they're preparing to spit out flaming rocks but have been known to suck up weapons or bombs in the same breath."

Common Locations
Eldin Canyon Gerudo Highlands

Recoverable Materials
Octorok Tentacle Octo Balloon Octorok Eyeball

Snow Octorok (095)
"These octopus-like monsters live in snowy fields and disguise themselves as grass. When someone wanders by, they spring into action and attack by spitting snowballs."

Common Locations
Gerudo Highlands Tabantha Frontier

Recoverable Materials
Octorok Tentacle Octo Balloon Octorok Eyeball

Treasure Octorok (096)
"These particularly clever monsters bury themselves in deep sand or snow and disguise themselves as treasure chests. Anyone who approaches the chests is attacked. The treasure chests are not magnetic, which proves that they are actually a part of these monsters' bodies."

Common Locations
Gerudo Highlands Gerudo Desert

Recoverable Materials
Octorok Tentacle Octo Balloon Octorok Eyeball Green Rupee Blue Rupee Red Rupee Purple Rupee Silver Rupee

Sky Octorok (097 (Master Mode))
"These low-level, octopus-like monsters used to be aquatic, but their inflatable air sacs evolved so that they are able to float around in the air. Other monsters are known to take advantage of this ability, using them to make floating fortresses. They are trained to ascend when they hear a whistle but they will not attack."

Common Locations
Greater Hyrule

Recoverable Materials
None