Zol

Zol
Game(s)	The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past Link's Awakening Oracle of Ages Oracle of Seasons Four Swords Four Swords Adventures Phantom Hourglass
Other Media	BS The Legend of Zelda Ancient Stone Tablets Zelda's Adventure
Habitat(s)	Dungeons Overworld
Attack(s)	Bouncing Popping out of the floor
Effective Weapon(s)	Any weapon
Spoils	Heart (TLoZ) One Rupee (TLoZ) Five Rupees (TLoZ) Clock (TLoZ)

Zols are recurring enemies in The Legend of Zelda series.

Characteristics

The Zol's primary habitat ranges from Dungeons and Caves in The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past, to the Overworld in Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons. While Zols typically yield two Gels when struck with a weapon, it is possible to defeat these creatures through the use of a more powerful weapon (such as the White Sword from The Legend of Zelda) as such so that the enemy bypasses the Gel stage altogether. As their most common incarnation facilitates the split into the Gel form upon attack, it could be said that these creatures carry twice the vitality and by extension, offensive power as their Gel counterparts.

Interestingly, the Zol of A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures are the only incarnations not to experience a Gel phase when attacked, however, it is also the version in the most abundance, as it appears in three different colors across the Hyrule Overworld and show a difference in vitality: the standard red are the simplest, while green and yellow are the most difficult to defeat. Coloration of Zols is not limited to A Link to the Past though, as Link's Awakening also incorporates red and green Zols: the red Zol is the stronger of the two and can divide into Gel if struck with a weak weapon (a strong one will simply defeat it), while the green version is much less powerful and does not divide into Gel upon attack. Also, in Link's Awakening and the Oracle series, only green Zols can pop out of the ground in an ambush, attacking Link in a radically different way in comparison to the commonplace, bouncing strategy of other titles' incarnations. In A Link to the Past, both green and yellow Zols can pop out of the ground.

As Zols are often commonplace enemies, they can be defeated with the most conventional of weaponry, including the Sword, Bomb, Boomerang, Arrows, and the like.

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda Manual Comment

	Zol & Gel
	Jelly-like monsters that walk about bouncing around in the labyrinths. When Link cuts Zol, it splits into two Gels. Gel has little attacking power, but Zol has twice the power of Gel.

Zols first appear in The Legend of Zelda. When defeated, Zols may drop either a Heart, one Rupee, five Rupees or a Clock.

Gel

Diagram from The Legend of Zelda showing a Zol splitting into two Gels

When attacked with a weak weapon, Zols have the ability to split into two Gels, which appear to be smaller variation of the Zol. Gels are circular, often green or red blobs that tend to bounce aimlessly around wherever they are found, whether it be within a labyrinth, as seen in The Legend of Zelda, or across the Overworld, as seen in Link's Awakening. Sometimes, Gels can appear without the presence of Zols. Overall, these foes are renowned in the Zelda universe for their weak attacks and slow movement, both of which make an enemy such as this a small threat to any who happen to cross paths with it. In The Legend of Zelda, Gels never drop any items when defeated.

The Gels present in Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and Phantom Hourglass are quite unique in that they do not cause damage, but can attach themselves to Link's body similar to the way Morths do in The Wind Waker, impeding Link's movement.

Color-Changing Gel

Color-Changing Gels are a variant of the Gel that appear exclusively in Oracle of Ages. As their name implies, they are Gels that are able to change their color between red, blue and yellow. They appear in certain Dungeon rooms where the floor is of one color, where the Gels are able to perfectly camouflage into their surroundings. They attack and move by jumping forward one tile at a time. When blended into the background, the Gels are invincible and cannot be destroyed. To defeat them, Link must hop over the central tile in the middle of the room using the Roc's Feather, which will instantly change the floor's color. The Gels are stunned briefly before changing color, allowing Link to attack them. Color-Changing Gels usually must be defeated in order to progress through a dungeon, such as to obtain a Key.

Trivia

• Slime Eye, the boss of the Key Cavern in Link's Awakening, is called Deguzoru or "Big Zol" in the Japanese version.
• The boss of Talus Cave in Four Swords is a large slug-like creature called Dera Zol.
• The Zol may have been the precursor to the Chuchus, seen in more recent Zelda games. Phantom Hourglass marked the first occasion in which both enemies appeared in the same game, and they can sometimes even be seen alongside each other. Chuchus in Skyward Sword split into two when struck, just like Zols, and cling to Link to attack much like Gels.
• Both Zols and Gels are programmed into The Minish Cap, but are left unused.

Nomenclature

Names in Other Regions
Language		Name
		Zol	Gel
	EnglishUK	Zol	Gel
	Japanese	ゾル (Zoru)	ゲル (Geru)
	French	Zol	Gel
	German	Zol	Gel
	Italian	Zol	Gel
	Spanish	Zol	Gel

Gallery

Zol

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  Official artwork of a Zol in Legend of Zelda

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  Green Zol in Legend of Zelda

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  Black Zol in Legend of Zelda

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  A Zol in BS The Legend of Zelda

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  Red Zol in A Link to the Past

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  Green Zol in A Link to the Past

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  Yellow Zol in A Link to the Past

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  Light Green Zol in A Link to the Past

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  Yellow Zol in Ancient Stone Tablets

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  Red Zol in Four Swords

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  A Blue Zol in Four Swords Adventures

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  A Green Zol in Four Swords Adventures

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  A row of Green Zols in Four Swords Adventures

Gel

• 

  Official artwork of a Gel in Legend of Zelda

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  Color-Changing Gels from Oracle of Ages

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  Red Gel in Four Swords

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  Gel in Phantom Hourglass

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  A Gel in BS The Legend of Zelda

See Also

• Slime
• Chuchu
• Zolgel