Slimes are odd creatures —creatures you may not expect to encounter in a vast majority of games. Despite this fact, they happen to be a rather common entry in the lexicon of standard RPG enemies. The Zelda series is, of course, also home to many slimy creatures. You may be already familiar with the Chuchu, a collection of slime-like enemies that first appeared in Majora’s Mask before undergoing several modifications throughout the years before being featured more recently in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. While these goofy little guys have become the de facto slime creature that Nintendo deploys in most Zelda titles, it wasn’t always this way. Back in the old days, the Zelda series was home to a different slime monster: the Zol.
The Zol have a rather interesting history in the land of Hyrule, being first introduced in the original The Legend of Zelda. The instruction manual describes their ability to split into two “Gels” when attacked, which is a trait that defines them. This trait, however, manifests inconsistently in other games, with some weapons bypassing the ability and other Zol not possessing the ability to split up at all. For example, the Zol from A Link To The Past are one such iteration that cannot split (the ability being stolen by the Red Bari, jellyfish- like monster). Though this may seem an unassuming change at first, it marked the beginning of the end for the Zol’s presence in Hyrule. Little by little, traits of the Zol were split up and divided among other monsters, until the Zol themselves were phased out.
Towards the end of their time in the series, the Zol appeared in the game files for The Minish Cap. These files typically went unused since the Chuchu were featured quite heavily in this title, especially early on. However, the Zol did get one last feature before fading into obscurity, having one big boss bearing their namesake in Four Swords—Dera Zol. This giant slug monster shares some visual traits with the Zol (it too is bulbous and slimy). The word “Dera” is likely short for “Doerai”, a Japanese word meaning “immense.” This would basically make its name, Giant Zol, similar to the Giant Chuchu fought in Minish Cap. It is also worth mentioning that Dera Zol’s second form resembles an Octorok, which may separate it from the Zol species, but I prefer to think of Dera Zol as the species’ last hurrah before taking a lengthy vacation from the series.
Had this post been written a few years ago, it likely would’ve ended here. However, with the recent release of Echoes of Wisdom, the Zol were resurrected after many years of being missing from the series. They did not just return as an enemy, as Echoes of Wisdom introduces several other varieties (not to mention making them all summonable by the player!) Ignizol is especially useful as a fire source throughout the game. In addition, while they may not be referred to as “Zol” anymore, many Chuchus in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom do retain the original ability to split up when attacked; in this sense, even though they have been gone for many years, the DNA of the Zol remains somewhere within the Zelda series.
If it was not already apparent based on my previous columns, I consider myself a defender of many of the runts throughout the Zelda bestiary. I find these strange monsters who were introduced in the early days of the series to be some of my favorites (even the Red Bari and Buzz Blobs who did sort of steal the Zol’s vibes). Dera Zol, however, was one such monster I did not realize could be affiliated with the Zol until I started doing research for this article. I wonder if the boss was originally intended to be used in The Minish Cap, alongside the unused Zol sprites, and ended up being featured in Four Swords instead. In any case, though I doubt the Zol will ever gain a new meaningful role within the main series, I’m very glad for their inclusion in Echoes of Wisdom and I hope to see them again someday!
