Bongo Bongo

"Link.... A terrible thing has happened! The evil shadow spirit has been released! Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village, had sealed the evil shadow spirit in the bottom of the well.... But the force of the evil spirit got so strong, the seal of the well broke, and it escaped into the world!!"

- Sheik

Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo is a boss of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, appearing in the Shadow Temple as the seventh or eighth boss, depending on player choice. It is an enormous shadowy spirit with one giant red eye in place of a head, floating severed hands, the ability to turn invisible, and seemingly a fondness for music. It was formerly sealed at the bottom of the Well and is implied to have some sort of connection with the previous owner of the Lens of Truth, though it does not appear in the well in the past and in fact is not seen until it breaks out of the well. This can occur once Link collects the Forest, Fire, and Water Medallions and enters Kakariko Village through the front, where he will find several fires burning. An explosion causes the frame over the well to fly off as Bongo Bongo emerges in shadow form, with Link and Sheik unsuccessfully attempting to fight it. Link is knocked out, and once he comes to, Sheik explains what it is.

Bongo Bongo is found deep in the Shadow Temple, appearing to be hanging from its "leg" on the ceiling while keeping its eye closed behind the petal-like lids. The floor is made of an enormous drum and surrounded by poison. To see Bongo Bongo, Link needs the Lens of Truth, though regardless it always keeps on the opposite side of the drum from Link. To attack, the spirit beats the drum with his floating hands while humming along to the beat. The beating on the drum can knock Link around, though the Hover Boots help him to keep balance. Bongo Bongo also may use his hands to punch, smack, swipe, slam, or grab Link, either doing this with one or both hands at once. If it grabs Link, he may throw him or repeatedly damage him by clenching its fist, which must be escaped by repeatedly pressing the A button.

To fight Bongo Bongo, Link needs to attack the hands. Attacking a hand causes it to be briefly stunned, and if he uses an Ice Arrow, it becomes frozen and the other hand will repeatedly punch it to break it free; this is true even if the non-frozen hand was previously stunned. Once both hands are incapacitated, Bongo Bongo opens its eye, lowers down, and prepares to charge at Link across the drum. Attacking the eye with the sword or a ranged weapon causes it to be stunned and briefly turn visible, allowing Link to attack the eye repeatedly. Eventually, it gets back up and the process starts over. Once enough damage has been dealt, Bongo Bongo beats one last song on the drum before falling onto it and melting into shadows, defeated.