Gohma

Gohma
File:Queen Gohma OoT artwork.jpg Queen Gohma and several Gohma Larvae from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda
Latest appearance	Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
Notable member(s) Armogohma Gohmaracas
Variant(s) Baby Gohma Gohma Larva
Relative(s) Magtail Rocktite Tektite
Comparable Moldarach

Gohmas are a recurring species of giant arthropods with one large eye, which is their weak spot. Generally, they have a mixture of traits from spiders and crabs, and are sometimes generically referenced as either. They often appear as bosses or mid-bosses.

History

The Legend of Zelda series

The Legend of Zelda

Gohmas first appear in The Legend of Zelda, appearing in both orange and blue. As such, they are the only boss in the game to have multiple color variations. Both types scuttle left and right across the room, occasionally opening their closed eye and firing projectiles. The orange ones can be defeated by hitting their eye with a single arrow while it is open. The blue version, however, takes three. An orange Gohma is the boss of the sixth labyrinth in the first quest, Dragon. Later, one appears as a minor encounter in the eighth labyrinth, Lion. In the Second Quest, orange Gohmas have minor encounters in Level-5 and Level-7, with the blue version being the boss of Level-6.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, a pair of Gohmas acts as the mid-boss of Catfish's Maw. They both scuttle back and forth across the width of a long room, occasionally charging forward slightly before returning to their original location, along with their original attack of shooting a fireball from their eyes when they open. In this case, they become vulnerable to the Hookshot. Along with Master Stalfos, they are absent from Turtle Rock, unlike other mid-bosses. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX tints them green, while the Nintendo Switch remake colors them red.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

A Gohma, subtitled "Parasitic Armored Arachnid" and called "Queen Gohma" by a Deku Scrub appears as the first boss of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, appearing inside the Deku Tree. Ganondorf placed it there to kill the Great Deku Tree due to his refusal to give Ganondorf the Kokiri Emerald. Gohma in this game has a more monstrous and visceral design, featuring a fleshy, nozzle-like abdomen to lay Gohma Eggs from, an eye capable of full spherical rotation, and a pair of lobster like claws coming from her back. She is first seen crawling on the ceiling of a web-filled room deep underneath the Deku Tree. Once Link enters the room, she starts rustling around. When the game's camera has her in view sufficiently (through first-person view, the Fairy Slingshot, targeting, or simple standing far enough away at the correct angle), Gohma will take notice of Link, rotate her eye around, and drop to the floor. She attacks mostly through her various claw-like appendages. When her eye becomes vulnerable, it changes to red. Hitting it with the slingshot will stun her, at which point she can be attacked with the Kokiri Sword or Deku Sticks. After she takes enough damage, she will climb to the ceiling and prepare to drop Gohma Eggs, at which point her eye becomes vulnerable again, allowing her to be knocked back to the floor, stunned. Attacking her enough more times will defeat her, causing her to disintegrate. Despite Link killing her, however, the Deku Tree still dies from the damage she caused, causing Mido to blame Link for his death.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

A Gohma is the boss of the Dancing Dragon Dungeon. It has a large fiddler crab-like claw with which to grab Link. If it dos so, it will slam him to the ground to damage him. The claw itself can be attacked, however, and eventually destroyed. After this is done, it will start acting like most previous Gohmas in 2D games, but also be able to summon parasitic Gohma Larvae. Like in Ocarina of Time, the weapon effective against its eye is a Slingshot.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

A lava-based Gohma appears in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, looking very little like previous versions. Instead, it is more centipede-like in body structure, resembling the Magtails found in the vicinity. It is placed in Dragon Roost Cavern under where Valoo rests by Ganondorf, and it angers Valoo by hurting his tail. Once Link encounters it, it attempts to us its pincers to attack him. He must use the Whip on Valoo's dangling tail to cause the ceiling of the volcano to cave in on Gohma, which stuns it, damages its armor visibly, and allows its eye to be attacked. After this process is repeated enough times, Gohma will explode. It is later found in a monochrome repeat of the encounter in Ganon's Castle.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Gohmas can be found using their original attack pattern as mid-bosses in certain locations, taking multiple arrows to defeat. They can also be found as simple enemies in the Field. Defeating all of them in this location grants access to a path to the Swamp. Aside from arrows, certain thrown objects can damage them.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Gohmas are absent from The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes as enemies. However, Gohma's Eyes appear as treasures.

CD-i games

Link: The Faces of Evil

Gohma can be found as enemies in Link: The Faces of Evil, initially appearing early in the game in Crater Cove. They spawn from thin air and sidestep to Link, attacking him with their claws when they get close enough. They can be defeated with several slashes to the eye or a single bomb. Additionally, one is fished up by a fisherman in the same area. When Link arrives, he correctly identifies the crab as a Gohma, and the fisherman rewards him with a sword that can shoot sword beams. A noticeable inconsistency is that the Gohma in the cutscene has two realistic crab eyes, while it appears with the single prominent one in the sprite.

Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

Gohma again appear as enemies in Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, acting as they do in The Faces of Evil. One initially appears in a small cave in Ahitaru, with more appearing in the desert section after the cave.

Hyrule Warriors

Subtitled as "Arthropod Cyclops Monster," a Gohma first appears as a boss for Hyrule Warriors in Faron Woods, and makes occasional appearances in other areas. Instead of closing its eye, two of its limbs come together to form a large shield in front of its eye. It can us its other limbs as scythes in a spinning attack. Additionally, it can jump great heights before crashing down (with the spot it will fall being marked by a white light), shoot balls of green acid from its underside, and charge forward. Its eye is capable of firing laser beams. It will often shoot a laser and then sweep it sideways or upwards, after which its eye will glow blue and be vulnerable to arrows. Sometimes, it will plant its feet firmly on the ground and charge up a powerful blast. During the charging, it is vulnerable. When it is hit in the eye, it will be stunned, and can be attacked anywhere on the body, depleting its Stamina Gauge. When it is defeated, it will either drop a weapon, Gohma's Acid, or Gohma's Lens.

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, a variant of Gohma called Gohmaracas appears as a boss. It resembles a stylized red and green version of the Ocarina of Time design, and fitting with the rhythm theme of the game, its claws have been replaced with maracas.

Gallery

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  The Legend of Zelda

Names in other languages

Gohma

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ゴーマー Gōmā ゴーマ Gōma	Gohma (Guidebooks for the first game and Link's Awakening) Gohma (In-game for the first game, and in materials for later games)

Parasitic Armored Arachnid: Gohma

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	甲殻寄生獣ゴーマ Kōkaku kisei-jū gōma	Crustacean Parasite Beast Gohma

Arthropod Cyclops Monster: Gohma

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	魔眼鎧殻種ゴーマ Mame yoroi kara-shu gōma	Demon eye armor shell species Gohma