Keese

Keese
Artwork of a Keese from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
First appearance	The Legend of Zelda
Latest appearance	Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda
Variant(s) Chasupa Dark Keese Electric Keese Fire Keese Ice Keese Shadow Keese Vire
Relative(s) Big Keese
Comparable Ache Bad Bat Deadite Dark Bat Firebat Jawbee Sancrumi

Keese (occasionally pluralized as Keeses) are large, aggressive bats that appear in most The Legend of Zelda games. Like real bats, they are generally found underground, sometimes coming outside at night. Their appearance has varied from that of a typical bat to a heavily-stylized design. Despite usually being quite aggressive, they are also extremely weak, and as such spend most of their time flying out of reach.

History

The Legend of Zelda series

The Legend of Zelda

Keeses appear in most labyrinths of The Legend of Zelda. They are first seen sitting still in the rooms they are in, but begin to fly around erratically when Link approaches. They can be defeated in one hit. Usually, they are blue, but in some dark areas during the Second Quest, they are instead black. When a Vire is defeated with a weak attack, it splits into two red Keeses.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Keese are common in cave passages in Hyrule and are indigo, with detail in their sprites. They act mostly the same as in the first game, and first appear in the Sewer Passageway. In Hyrule Castle's upper floors and the Dark World, Keese have a stronger counterpart called Chasupa, which looks like a large eye with bat wings. Ganon summons several fire-based ones called Firebats in his battle.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Keese again appear as common dungeon enemies, first appearing in a cave in the Mysterious Forest. They again lack much detail, using only two colors in their sprites. Due to the different palette system (as well as the original being monochrome), the Keese that Vires split into are now depicted as slightly larger with skulls for heads, and they swoop at Link. Also notable are the Grim Creeper's Keese-like minions, the Big Keese.

In the Nintendo Switch remake, Keese mostly resemble their appearance in A Link Between Worlds, but black with brightly glowing yellow eyes.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Keese appear commonly and have some new variants. Normal Keese are teal with red eyes. They either fly around aimlessly or sit in place, occasionally flapping, both waiting for Link to approach. When he does so, they will start to fly at him in a beeline. They can be blocked by a shield or defeated beforehand with a projectile. Other varieties are the white Fire Keese, which cause Link to catch on fire and can burn the Deku Shield, and Ice Keese, which can freeze him. Normal Keese can become Fire Keese by flying into a lit torch. Both types regress into normal Keese upon hitting Link.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Keese are rare, mostly only appearing from Fire and Ice Keese. A larger bat known as Bad Bat for the most part has Keese's normal role but is commonly found outside. Invisible Keese are found underneath the Ikana Graveyard. Even after being defeated, they can still be targeted until they disappear. In Majora's Mask 3D, the colors of Fire and Ice Keese are switched, so Ice Keese are white with a red wingtip and Fire Keese are teal.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages

In The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, Keese appear as they do in Link's Awakening, first appearing in the Hero's Cave in the former and Maku Road in the latter. Fire Keese and Vire also appear.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords

In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, Keese are depicted as being black and featureless, like in the previous handheld games. They are again common and weak.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Keese act mostly like they do in Ocarina of Time, but are larger, and are sometimes shown hanging upside-down like real bats. While flying, they move very fast over a wide area, but upon targeting Link, they hover slowly in front of him while chittering, occasionally lunging forward at him. This is the first game to heavily stylize them, giving them wide fanged mouths and large ringed eyes. They, along with Fire Keese, initially appear in Dragon Roost Cavern. On Rock Spire Island, a secret cave features an enormous colony of Keese, which becomes visible only after a torch is lit. They also assist Puppet Ganon during its battle.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Keese come in normal blue as well as red. The blue ones, first found in a huge swarm in the Cave of No Return, act as normal, but the large red ones, first found in the Swamp, fly in a wide circle around the Links, trailing a bunch of purple afterimages. Only attacking the red Keese on the front is effective. When it is defeated, it and each image behind it leaves behind a small green Force Gem. Four blue Keese also circle the fourth and final Big Dark Stalfos. Once they are defeated, they respawn after a while.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Keese are again common, and look like they to in Four Swords.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Keese are once again heavily-stylized, having large mouths and long, sickle-ended tails. They commonly hang upside-down in both dungeons and minor caves. Fire and Ice Keese also reappear.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Keese resemble their appearance in The Wind Waker though they now constantly fly around oblivious to Link. They first appear in the Mountain Passage on Mercay Island.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

In The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Keese appear as they do in Phantom Hourglass. They are the first enemy encountered in the tunnel to the Tower.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Keese appear as large-mouthed bats that appear both at the surface and in Skyloft. They first appear in the cave Groose, Cawlin, and Strich trap Link's Loftwing in, and can be found across Skyloft at night. They again commonly either flap about or hang from ceilings, lunging at Link through the air once he approaches. Fire Keese reappear, and two new varieties appear as well, the Lanayru Desert-dwelling Thunder Keese and the Eldin Volcano-dwelling Dark Keese, which electrocute and curse Link, respectively.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Keese act as they do in A Link to the Past, but have a slightly updated appearance, being blue and having a visible nose along with large, yellow eyes. Like in A Link to the Past, they are first found in the path to the Sanctuary. Chasupas reappear in Lorule, with both appearing in the Treacherous Tower.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

In The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, Keese look and act as they do in A Link Between Worlds. Fire Keese, Ice Keese, and Chasupas also reappear, with the former two's effects now being extended to when hit with the sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Keese are reimagined as having only one eye, similar to Chasupas, though the eye does not take up the whole body, and a mouth can be seen on their undersides. They typically are only found at night, though some can be found upside-down in small caves at any time of the day. They typically fly around in groups of two or three, pursuing Link if he gets close. Sometimes, they appear at enemy encampments, casually flying in place in front of a campfire, while others hang upside down in the large skull-shaped structures at night. In areas with a high difficulty tier, Keese can commonly be found in large swarms. When they see Link, they will circle around him, eventually divebombing him all at once while their eyes turn red. Defeating any of the Keese in the cloud will cause the others to flee. When defeated, Keese drop Keese Wings and Keese Eyeballs.

Aside from normal Keese, Fire Keese appear in volcanic areas such as Eldin, Ice Keese appear in cold areas such as Hebra and Gerudo Highlands, and Electric Keese appear in stormy areas such as Faron and Lanayru Wetlands, as well as in Gerudo Desert. They each drop wings unique to their type.

CD-i games

Link: The Faces of Evil

In Link: The Faces of Evil, Keese are first found at Spearfish Falls, and fly from the top of the screen in an arc to Link. Similar bat-like enemies in varying sizes include Deadites, Jawbees, and Sancrumis.

Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

In Zelda: Wand of Gamelon, Keese first appear in a building in Aru Ainu. Deadites and Jawbees also reappear.

Zelda's Adventure

In Zelda's Adventure, Keese act as they do in the previous games, and initially appear in the Shrine of Earth. The flapping of their wings is made by simply distorting the original sprite, rather than adjusting the base model.

Nintendo Land

In Nintendo Land, hand-crafted Keese occasionally appear as enemies in the "Battle Quest" mode, first appearing in the sixth quest, Death Mountain Climb. They are purple and have Chain Chomp-like faces. They tend to hang in large groups and will fly at the players when approached. They can be easily blocked or defeated, and if they are blocked or they miss the players they will simply continue flying forward past them.

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, Keese use their Breath of the Wild design and appear alongside some of their variants.

Gallery

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  The Legend of Zelda

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  The Legend of Zelda

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  The Legend of Zelda

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  The Legend of Zelda (split from Vire)

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  The Legend of Zelda (Second Quest Level-5)

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  The Legend of Zelda (Second Quest Level-9)

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  The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu 1

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  The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	キース Kīsu	Keese