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.

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 directiond 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
They 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.

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.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
They 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
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.

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

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
They appear as in Oracle of Ages, with blue ones appearing mostly in the winter. A "golden" one also appears as part of a sidequest.

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

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
They 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.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
They appear in red, blue, and purple.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
They appear in red and blue. They are found in many locations, such as Hyrule Field, Minish Woods, and Trilby Plain. There is also a special golden type that appears after a Kinstone fusion that drops many Rupees. A boss called Big Octorok appears as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
They 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. 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
They 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
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 bounc back the rocks Link most perform a Shield Bash.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
They 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
They visually appear as they did in A Link Between Worlds, but act more akin to how thy 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.

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 thy 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
They appear in this game and are somewhat large with short arms, resembling their Zelda II artwork. The rocks they spit fall at a slight arc. When they spit them, their mantles contract.

Zelda: Wand of Gamelon
They appear in this game the same as in The Faces of Evil. Link also uses the idea of eating one to express his hunger in the intro.

Zelda's Adventure
They appear and 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. Giant Squid act similar to them, and both are found in the Shrine of Water.

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

Super Smash Bros. games
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.