Poe (The Legend of Zelda)

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Poes as they appear in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

A Poe is a ghost enemy in The Legend of Zelda series of video games.

A Poe is a ghost of concentrated hatred toward the world that freely roams graveyards and other haunted locales in Hyrule and other such places. They originally appeared in A Link to the Past, filling the role Ghinis served in the first game. The original Poe behaved nearly identical to its predecessor, flying randomly around gravesites and appearing from pushed tombstones, they also had unusually high endurance. They may be named after Edgar Allan Poe.

In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, they fly around until they spot Link, at which time they will charge at him, spinning their lanterns. Targeting Poes in these games will cause them to become temporarily invisible, although they will become visible every once in a while. Their lanterns remain visible when they vanish, allowing the player to at least dodge and keep track of the invulnerable enemy until it reappears. When a Poe is defeated in these games, its physical body disappears, and the lantern it was holding drops and breaks, revealing its spirit. The Poe Spirit appears as a purple flame with a sad face, and disappears after a while. Before it disappears, Link can put the Spirit in a bottle, which is primarily used to sell for Rupees but can also be consumed, which can have strange (and usually negative, though not always) effects. In Ocarina of Time, ten special "Big Poes" are found in Hyrule Field. Defeating them and bringing their spirits (which appear as a grinning orange flame) to the ghost shop merchant will net Link a fourth bottle as a prize.

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Poes as they appear in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Later in The Wind Waker, Poes harass Link by burning him with their lamps. They can also jump into Link's body, possessing him, and thereby reversing the player's movement controls. These Poes are invulnerable unless exposed to light (usually reflected by the Mirror Shield) which causes their ethereal bodies to become temporarily solid (evidently causing them great distress, as they run around in a state of panic while solid). In The Wind Waker, Poes are ruled over by Jalhalla.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask involve some specific Poe characters that play a role in the progression of the story, or at least a sidequest. In Ocarina of Time, the ghosts of the royal composer brothers named Sharp and Flat tell Link about the Sun's Song and other music-related things after he defeats them in Kakariko Graveyard. In Majora's Mask, Flat rewards Link with the Song of Storms, which is used to defeat Sharp later on. These games also contain four Poes known as the Poe Sisters: Joelle, Beth, Amy, and Meg. These poes are the sub-bosses of the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time, and are fought as a mini-game in Majora's Mask.

In Twilight Princess, Poes can only be seen as floating blue lanterns while Link is human. In order to see their bodies, Link must transform into a wolf and use his senses. When seen as a wolf, they are bright blue/white, carry their lanterns with their feet, and wield large scythes. Like in the Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time, four special Poes steal the flames that open a door in the Arbiter's Grounds dungeoun. These Poes are larger than normal Poes, and wear cloaks that makes them resemble Nazgûl. After being killed, the cloak is left on the floor (Which, despite being ghosts, have a scent that Link can track). To defeat a Poe, Link must transform into a wolf to see it, and then attack it twice to knock it down. After this, he can "finish" it by ripping out its soul, otherwise the Poe will simply get back up and fight. There are 60 Poes total in the game, and one sidequest is based on killing all of them and collecting their souls for a character named Jovani, who sold his own soul to the Poes.

Big Poe

In Ocarina of Time there are 10 Big Poes that Adult Link can find in certain locations throughout Hyrule Field. While on foot, the Big Poes circle Link, keeping a safe distance from him, and shoot fire out of their lanterns. They do not turn invisible, but if Link fails to defeat them they eventually disappear completely, refusing to reappear until Link leaves and returns to the field. When defeated on foot, the Poe spirit is treated like that of an ordinary Poe. If Link encounters them on horseback, they behave differently. Rather than attack, they quickly fly away and disappear when they hit a wall. The player has to attack quickly through horseback archery in order to defeat it. A Big Poe defeated on horseback is treated as a true Big Poe when bottled, and as a side quest, Link can catch and sell each Big Poe to the Ghost Shop at the gates of fallen Hyrule Castle for credit. Once Link has turned in 10 Big Poes, he is rewarded with a Bottle.

In Majora's Mask the Big Poe appears as a sub-boss Beneath the Well and in the third night's open grave in Ikana Graveyard. It is summoned when three blue flames appear and merge together. This Big Poe attacks like a normal Poe, although after each attack it disappears and reappears from another direction. The bottled Big Poe can be sold for big money at the Curiosity Shop, although one is needed to trade with one of the Gibdos beneath the well.

Jalhalla

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Jalhalla

Jalhalla is the king of Poes (and apparently Ghinis as well), and so is very large, as is with most of the series' rulers. Jalhalla resembles a gigantic version of the Poes from Wind Waker, but has a differently shaped mask and a horribly bloated stomach. The name Jalhalla is likely based on Valhalla, the Norse heaven for heroes and home of Odin. Jalhalla himself was possibly based on Boolossus from Luigi's Mansion, as both are massive ghosts that result when several ghosts merged together. The battle music when fighting Jalhalla is reminiscent of a French accordion.

To defeat Jalhalla, you must defeat all twelve of his component Poes. Like Boolossus from Luigi's Mansion, he must be impaled on something fairly sharp to make split him into the form of separate Poes. This is done by exposing him to a beam of reflected light via the Mirror Shield, turning him solid. This process is continued by throwing the solid Jalhalla into one of the spiked pillars encircling the arena, after which he is separated and can be destroyed Poe by Poe.

Jalhalla appears in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker as the boss of the Earth Temple, and in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures as a boss.