While some enemies are meant to provide Link with a serious challenge while he’s fulfilling his destiny to save Hyrule, other enemies are solely meant to provide as much aggravation for him as possible. The Bari is a monster species that falls into the latter type of enemies. It is an aquatic breed that is known for being both frustrating and stubborn as its members follow their seemingly natural desire to impede Link’s progress.
The Bari are sentient or semi-sentient beasts that resemble real-life jellyfish. Their design changes with each new Zelda game they appear in, but they always retain their domed heads, tendrils, and ability to generate powerful electric currents.
A Link to the Past
The Bari made its introduction into the Zelda series in the SNES classic, A Link to the Past. Once the player faces Agahnim for the first time and enters the Dark World, they can find the Bari in all of the game’s subsequent dungeons. As is the case for many Zelda enemies, the Bari come in both red and blue variants. The only difference between the two is that the red ones will split into two Biri (a smaller sub-species of the Bari) after Link attacks them.
The enemies attack by electrifying their bodies. When a Bari comes into contact with Link, he will receive a powerful and painful shock that both damages and momentarily paralyzes him. The Bari will only emit their electric current every few seconds, so Link must quickly attack and defeat between charges.
Ocarina of Time
Despite receiving a noteworthy design change, the nature of the Bari in Ocarina of Time is nearly identical to the original version. The only major deviation from their original purpose is that, while the Bari of Ocarina of Time are common enemies, they are also used as weapons by the boss monster Barinade. Aside from that, they deal damage in the same way by using electricity, and they can split into multiple Biri once they are destroyed.
Compared to the original Bari, these ones are much larger and only come in one color type. Attacking them will almost always result in Link getting electrocuted, so his best option is to first stun them with a projectile such as the Boomerang or Deku Nuts before using his sword.
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Ages features Bari that are almost identical to the ones from A Link to the Past. The exception to this is the fact that the blue and red Bari were essentially merged together. The Bari of Oracle of Ages are only blue in color, but they behave like the red ones by splitting into two Biri when defeated.
They also share a commonality with the Bari from Ocarina of Time. The Bari of A Link to the Past appear in multiple dungeons, but Ocarina of Time‘s Bari only live Inside Jabu-Jabu’s Belly. This is also the case for the Bari in Oracle of Ages.
Twilight Princess
The Bari featured in Twilight Princess are arguably the most divergent iteration of the species. Found exclusively in the Lakebed Temple, the Bari can only survive in bodies of water, where they float in place and wait for prey to approach them. Once anything or anyone comes near, their enter bodies surge with a powerful electric current that can damage anything that comes in contact with them.
With them being underwater, Link’s options for defeating them are extremely limited. His only reliable options are to either make a Water Bomb explode near them or attack them with his Hookshot while he’s using the Iron Boots to stand at the bottom of the water.
A Link Between Worlds
A Link Between World’s Bari are almost identical to the Bari from A Link to the Past, but they do come in more color variants. There are blue, red, silver, and gold Bari found throughout Hyrule and Lorule. The red and gold Bari will split into two Biri when they are killed, but the blue and silvers one will not.
The game also features a large miniboss variant called the Gigabari. It is fought twice, once in the Swamp Palace and a second time in Lorule Castle. These minibosses attack and move in the same way as the regular Bari, but they will cause Link to fly back whenever he strikes them with his sword. And when Link does defeat them, they explode into 15 Biri that fill the room.
The Bari have retained a recurring and useful position as a standard and often annoying threat in any water-based dungeon that needs a dependable hazard. Though Link stayed above sea level in the latest installment, Breath of the Wild, the series will eventually take the hero back into some type of watery domain, so the chances of these electrified pests returning to the series are high.
