When Link seeks the help of an animal companion, he usually ends up riding the horse Epona. While Epona is a dearly beloved ally to the hero, she is not the only animal companion that has stood by Link’s side. In Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Link ventures outside of Hyrule and meets not one, not two, but three new animal companions! Each of these new characters help Link cross a certain type of terrain, such as Dimitri the Dodongo that can swim across any body of water. While each of the animal companions are useful, the one that sticks out most to me is Moosh, the flying bear.
Moosh is a big blue bear with tiny wings, who specializes in helping Link cross large chasms and defeating groups of enemies, using a ground pound that he can perform while flying over his opponents. While Moosh doesn’t talk much, he does make it very clear how paralyzingly-afraid of water he is. Get near the gate of the Sunken City, and he’ll wimp out and leave immediately. He also happens to be a big fan of Spring Bananas, and will open the door to one of the dungeons of Oracle of Seasons in exchange for some of them.
While he appears in both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, how you meet him differs depending on the game. In Oracle of Ages, you save Moosh from being attacked by a group of ghosts near the graveyard, and he offers to help you in return. In Oracle of Seasons, he is instead being attacked by a group of Moblins. In both games, he and the rest of the animal companions of the Oracle games are called using a flute. Link can only call one of the animals at a time though, as he only has one flute with which to call them.
The existence of Moosh opens up the interesting topic of his species. Most of Labrynna and Holodrum greatly resemble Hyrule, with Moblins roaming the wilderness and civilizations of the Gorons and Zoras. Since these lands can be so similar to Hyrule, it makes it all the more strange when a blue bear with wings shows up, considering there are no significant bears in Hyrule, not to mention bears with wings. It’s possible there’s a Moosh species somewhere in Hyrule that Link has simply never encountered.
While the Zelda series will probably never see Moosh again or learn more about his species, I’ll always remember him for being the cute bear with some truly impressive wing muscles. He must work out to be able to lift Link and himself with those tiny things.
