Zelda Wiki

Want to contribute to this wiki?
Sign up for an account, and get started!

Come join the Zelda Wiki community Discord server!

READ MORE

Zelda Wiki
Register
Advertisement
The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.

Manhandla is a recurring Boss in The Legend of Zelda series.[1]

Characteristics

Manhandla is a large, spinning, man-eating flower with the ability to spit fireballs. Its defining characteristic is its four symmetrical mouths, which are its weak points. When each of its mouths are dispelled, Manhandla picks up speed, reaching its maximum velocity upon destruction of the third mouth. Once all four mouths are destroyed, the Manhandla is defeated.

Mainline appearances

The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda Manual Description
The Legend of Zelda logo
Manhandla
A large man-eating flower with hands sticking out in all four directions. It moves faster as it loses its hands. It's pretty mean. So, watch out!

Manhandla is the Boss of Level 3, where it defends one of the Triforce Shards. Manhandla is later encountered as a mid-boss in Level 4 and as a standard enemy in Level 8. Manhandla appears more commonly during the Second Quest, including in Level 2, Level 5, Level 6, and Level 7.

When fought, Manhandla has the ability to spit fireballs from all three hands, and it moves around erratically. Link must destroy all four of its hands to defeat it. Each hand has a health of 4, totaling the beast at 16 health. Manhandla is unaffected by the Boomerang and Fire. Link can damage Manhandla using his Sword, Arrows, the Magical Rod, or Bombs. Bombs are the most effective, as one is powerful enough to destroy Manhandla's hand in a single blast, so if the Bomb detonates in the center, it can destroy all four hands at once. As each hand is destroyed, the Manhandla increases its speed and spits fireballs at a faster rate. The Magical Shield cannot defend Link from Manhandla's fireballs. When Manhandla is accompanied by Stone Statues, the Statues also increase their rate of fire as each hand is destroyed. When defeated, Manhandla will drop a Heart Container and may drop either a Heart, a Fairy, or one Rupee.[note 1]

Oracle of Seasons

Manhandla OOS 2

In Oracle of Seasons, Manhandla is the boss of the sixth dungeon, the Ancient Ruins.[3] Manhandla starts out by spitting four fireballs at Link. The flowers can only be damaged by the Magical Boomerang when they are open. When Manhandla loses all four flowers, it moves around the room very fast. Link has to continually hit Manhandla with the Magical Boomerang to expose its core. At that point, Link has a small amount of time to use his Sword to destroy Manhandla's core and defeat it. Link receives a Heart Container and the Blowing Wind as a reward for destroying Manhandla.

Manhandla's body is now a large Buzz Blob, which is very similar to the Giant Buzz Blob mini-boss from the Color Dungeon in Link's Awakening and to the Big Green Chuchu of the Deepwood Shrine in The Minish Cap. The four plant heads now look and act very similar to Piranha Plants from the Mario franchise, reflecting its origins as a relative.

Four Swords Adventures

In Four Swords Adventures, Manhandla appears in The Coast, Frozen Hyrule, and Realm of the Heavens, as either a Boss or Mini-Boss. The strategy is the same as in The Legend of Zelda, but the claws are different colors, and the Link of the corresponding color must strike the claw to destroy it. It takes one hit to weaken each claw, but if one of the Links get struck by it or hits the wrong head, Manhandla will spit fire from all four heads and they will grow to full size again. The Links must to repeat the process in that case. Once all the claws have become smaller it will be destroyed.

A larger variant of Manhandla, Big Manhandla, also appears, and it first appears in Four Swords, which regular Manhandlas are absent from.

Spinoff appearances

BS The Legend of Zelda

BSManhandla

Manhandla also appears in BS The Legend of Zelda. The first time it shows up is in Level-3 as the Boss, then it returns in the seventh dungeon as a mini-boss. The battles play out in a similar manner to that in The Legend of Zelda, except for the fact that Manhandla is much faster and requires fewer blows to defeat.

Hyrule Warriors



In Hyrule Warriors, Manhandla is a Giant Boss encountered in several Legend Mode and Adventure Mode stages. In Legend Mode, it appears as a Boss in the Scenarios "The Sorceress of the Valley", "Ganondorf's Return", and "Darkness Falls". As with previous incarnations, Manhandla appears as a bulb with four heads, however, its heads and body are covered in a sturdy metallic hide that deflects attacks.

While being fought, Manhandla can use a greater variety of attacks than in its previous appearances, possibly since Hyrule Warriors is their first appearance in a 3D game, but they can no longer spit fireballs. A Manhandla's attacks include spitting seeds that target the Allied Base; rapidly spitting seeds directly at its targets; lunging with its huge jaws; uprooting itself and rampaging around the battlefield while swinging its heads around; or spewing a pool of poison similarly to what Deku Babas can do. These attacks will also harm nearby enemy troops. Occasionally however, namely before lunging with its four heads or firing a seed upwards and right after its seed barrage, its heads will briefly lose their metallic hide and become organic. While Manhandla's heads are exposed, the player's warrior can throw the Boomerang at the heads to stun it. When all four heads are stunned, Manhandla falls and exposes a large crystal in its bulb, revealing its Weak Point Gauge. There is a very uncommon occurrence of Manhandla exposing its Weak Point Gauge even without all of its heads stunned. When defeated, Manhandla will usually drop the Manhandla's Toxic Dust, and rarely, the Manhandla's Sapling.

In other media

Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa)

After Link defeats Blaino in the Oracle of Seasons manga by Akira Himekawa, a Keese flies off to inform General Onox that the hero bears the sacred mark on his hand.[4] It first tells a crow,[5] who in turn drops a seed that sprouts. As Link, Piyoko, and Ricky wander through the forest, Manhandla bursts from the ground.[6] One of Manhandla's heads swallows Piyoko, trapping the chick inside it.[7][8] Ricky attacks Manhandla with his tornado punch and frees Piyoko.[9] Link tells Manhandla that he cannot let the forest be overtaken by monsters like it.[10] However, Link and his companions are proven to be no match for the plant monster and are soon tangled in its vines. Link reaches for one of the seeds that the Maku Tree had given him and tosses it into one of Manhandla's open mouths.[11] The seed turns out to be an Ember Seed, causing Manhandla to burst into flames.[12]

Trivia

Nomenclature

TMC Forest Minish Artwork Names in other regions TMC Jabber Nut Sprite
LanguageNameMeaning
JapanJapaneseテスチタート (Tesuchitāto) (TLoZ)[14]Testitart
NetherlandsDutchMan-Handen (TLoZ)[15]
FranceFrenchEUManhandla (TLoZ)[16]
GermanyGermanManhandla (HWDE)
This table was generated using translation pages.
To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. If Link defeats 10 enemies without getting hit or teleporting with the Recorder, then the 10th enemy defeated will drop five Rupees. However, if the 10th enemy is defeated with a Bomb, then it will drop four Bombs. If Link defeats 16 enemies without getting hit or teleporting, then the 16th enemy will drop a Fairy. After the 16th enemy, Link must get hit and reset the counter to zero in order to achieve this effect again. Defeating Armos, Like Likes, Keese, or Gels will not be counted.[2]

References

  1. Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 191 (TLoZ | OoS | FSA)
  2. n.a., Forced Drops, redcandle.us, published n.d., retrieved August 17, 2017.
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages — The Official Nintendo Player's Guide, Nintendo of America, pg. 45
  4. "That boy...His hand bears the sacred mark. I must inform General Onox!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 116)
  5. "The rest is up to you, crow." (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 116)
  6. "It's the flower monster, Manhandla!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 121)
  7. "I don't want to be digested! Link, heeelp!!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 121)
  8. "It swallowed Piyoko!!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 121)
  9. "What have you done to Piyoko?! Tornado punch!!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 122)
  10. "I can't let the forest be taken over...By monsters like you!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 122)
  11. "Maybe the Maku Tree's seeds can help!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 124)
  12. "I-It's burning up!" (Oracle of Seasons (Himekawa), VIZ Media, pg. 124)
  13. "4方向に手を持つ大型のパックンフラワー。手が減るごとに速い動きになる。ややつよい攻撃力を持つ。" (The Legend of Zelda manual, pg. 36)
  14. Hyrule Encyclopedia, Ambit Ltd., pg. 188
  15. The Legend of Zelda manual, pg. 37
  16. The Legend of Zelda manual, pg. 37
The Legend of ZeldaThe Adventure of LinkA Link to the PastLink's AwakeningOcarina of TimeMajora's MaskOracle of SeasonsOracle of AgesFour SwordsThe Wind WakerFour Swords AdventuresThe Minish CapTwilight PrincessPhantom HourglassSpirit TracksSkyward SwordA Link Between WorldsTri Force HeroesBreath of the WildTears of the Kingdom
Advertisement