Stubborn monsters and creatures abound in the Zelda series. Some foes hit hard. Some foes simply refuse to go down and stay down. And some foes are a challenging combination of both. The Armos Knights are a perfect example of the third option.
Armos Knights are living statues that have had a long history of creating problems for Link. Their durable bodies, powerful weapons, and surprising mobility allow them to constantly pressure Hyrule’s hero.
A Link to the Past
The Armos Knights first appeared in the SNES classic, A Link to the Past. A group of them serves as the game’s first dungeon boss. They are living statues that resemble human knights, complete with armor, swords, and shields. They are also large. A single Armos Knight is close to three times the size of Link.
When Link encounters the knights in their arena, they immediately begin to move around by jumping up and down. They can move in any direction while they are in the air. This is their form of attack, as they will slam into Link and injure him whenever they land.
To defeat the Armos Knights, he must either attack them with his sword or strike them with three arrows each. When all but one of the knights falls, the last one becomes enraged and aggressively targets Link. The strategy for killing the last knight is no different from the others, however. A few accurate hits with the sword or the arrows brings it down.
Link’s Awakening
Only one Armos Knight exists in Link’s Awakening. This knight serves as a miniboss for the Ancient Ruins, and its purpose is to guard the Face Key. Link needs this key so he can access the Face Shrine, the game’s sixth dungeon.
The Armos Knight is similar in design to the Armos Knights from A Link to the Past. It also has similar abilities. When Link finds the metal soldier, it springs to life and begins to jump around and chase Link. Whenever it jumps high into the air, Link must use the Roc’s Feather to jump as well. If he does not, he will be stunned by a shockwave that the knight creates when it lands.
Defeating the knights involves striking it with the sword to slowly chip away at its health. Once it takes enough damage, parts of the knight’s armor will fall off. Its helmet will break, revealing a featureless face, save for two eyes. It will begin to move faster once this happens. Link must continue the process and slay the knight before it can catch up to him.
The Wind Waker
The Wind Waker’s incarnation of the Armos Knight was the first time the species served as common enemies. It also received a significant design change.
The Armos Knights are large statues that resemble pottery more than any humanoid shape. They don’t have legs and only have two, tiny decorative arms that cannot move. They also have a row of spikes that cover the bases of the bodies. Jumping toward an enemy and skewering it with the spikes is their only form of attack. These knights also have bright, glowing eyes, and large mouths that they open and close to roar at their prey.
Their mouths are the key to defeating the knights. Their exteriors are invulnerable, so Link must destroy them from the inside. When they stop to open their mouths, Link can throw a bomb into them. The statue will swallow the bomb, which detonates a few seconds later, blowing the knight to pieces.
Four Swords Adventures
Currently, the last appearance of the Armos Knight was in 2004’s Four Swords Adventures. Six Armos Knights appear in the game and partially return the enemies to their traditional design. They are statues that resemble human knights (though they do not have legs). Per the norm, they can only move by jumping around.
What makes these knights unique is that they are completely invincible. None of the Links’ weapons can harm them. Instead, the Links must complete a puzzle sequence to make the knights self-destruct. The Armos Knights also only jump around in a set pattern. They move in a circle around a room. All around them are unlit torches and a few Beamos statues. The Links must quickly light all of the torches while avoiding both types of statues. Once they do, the knights will instantly explode.
The Armos Knights have not appeared in many games, but they have served an important role as a more menacing version of the regular Armos statues. Time will tell if they will return in a future game. But if even if they do not, their role as a forceful, durable threat will most likely inspire the designs of other enemies still to come.
