Featured Enemy – Stalchild!

The Stalchild take the form of small skeletons who haunt the grounds of Hyrule Field at night. They are particularly weak, only able to withstand 1 blow from the Kokiri Sword. Another hit will crumble them into a pile of... bones. Despite this, Link's first encounter with these enemies could be a very frightening experience for the poor 'lil guy.

The green-clad hero would be strolling through the fields of Hyrule as the light from the orange sun dims to a slumber. Unknowing of what lurks underneath the ground he is standing on, Link may stray off the path during this time to find these foul beasts suddenly emerging from the ground and headed straight for him. Despite his state of shock, Navi quickly calms Link down, and he manages to take to battle.

A large majority of these boney critters are approximately the same height as child Link, making for an easy fight. However, the more he kills, the larger they emerge. The largest possible is nearly the size of Captain Keeta from MM! Link is not to be intimidated, though, as even the largest of the large still only take 2 hits to dispatch.

If Link is feeling mischevious, he can deploy 1 horizontal slash. This will knock a Stalchild's head off, rendering it blind. Link can then laugh heedlessly at the Stalchild as it proceeds to find its way around, repeatedly walking around in circles, unable to make any progress at all.

So what do you think about the Stalchild? Do you think the idea of them growing in size could have made for an interesting mini-game? Did you have fun messing with them? Did you pull off headless Stalchild prank and had a laugh? Do you think they grew into Stalfos? Why do you think they are absent in the future?

these guys are pretty cool, although i have never fought the big one if i remember correctly, i just never stuck around long enough

well anything's possible, in Zelda at least anyway

It's always daytime if I'm headed to somewhere other than the Market. Whenever I try to go there, the bridge is certain to shut on me seconds before I reach it.

Secrets like that were what made Zelda OoT known as one of the greatest games of all time. Not only the larger Stalchild, but the larger Guay also existed; and so did the Purple Leeva.

The mini-game idea sounds cool. Imagine a larger Like Like, or Iron Knuckle. The Like Like could suck you up from a further distance, and the Iron Knuckle's axe would reach you from afar, making the battle fairly difficult.

I think that the Stalchildren did grow into Stalfos by natural means. Most monsters of the dead have some magic about them, but the Stalfos seem to rely on raw damage in battle. They prove worthy opponents, something that could only be achieved through experience and practise. The Stalchildren learn to fight at an early age, and although they're not very good at first, they have plenty of time in 7 years to get to the rank of the Stalfos.

This also explains why there were lots of Stalchildren, but a limited number of Stalfos. Some Stalchildren may not have had the skill to become a warrior.

I have a theory, that underneath the field, there is a whole new land, where the Stalpeople live. They seem to be able to dig up to the surface anywhere they want, so it would make sense.

Their land could also include the grottos, and the place where the ReDeads are underneath Kakariko Village.

Um... This wasn't very successful. Come on now, MarioJr64, get it going again.

Good idea with them catching Link. They could have grabbed him and chomped on his leg to deal damage.

We know MM is a parallel world to OoT, and the Stalchild race are run by Captain Keeta, so an underground organisation could be possible in OoT. They also seem very social too, proven in MM, when at one point you see them sitting at a table chatting and laughing together. Some are even sitting on top of library shelves.

There is also the part where they are sitting around a campfire in the graveyard. All this suggests that they are more than capable of living a normal life after death (if they ever lived in the first place). One is even swinging on a tree, which may also suggest that they are actually fun creatures.

If MM is really parallel to OoT, then personallities would have to be the same as well, proofing that there could easily be an organisation going on.