Mau

Mau are a type of wolf-shaped Stone Statue that appears as an object, obstacle, and enemy in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, appearing in every palace to some capacity alongside the similar Rā. Most Mau are purely decorative gargoyle heads jutting from walls pointing west. Sometimes, attacking one with the sword causes it to drop a Magic Jar. In a few locations, however, they fire barrages of energy balls at Link when he approaches, which due to the angle can be difficult to block with the shield.

In the Island Palace and Maze Island Palace, free-flying red Mau appear in a few rooms. These Mau slowly move forward, fire a ball of energy straight ahead, then stop to move up or down before continuing and thus moving in a consistent square bracket-like waving pattern. This type always spawns endlessly from the edges of the screen, with each moving perfectly in tandem with one another. While normally the energy balls can be blocked easily due to the high and low positions usually respectively corresponding to Link's standing and crouching shield positions, they most often appear in rooms with a large amount of breakable blocks with items underneath, thus complicating Link's escape from it.