Legend of Zelda Tier List

Legend of Zelda Tier List

If you VS debate, I’m sure it has come to your attention that there’s a lot of confusion surrounding the Legend of Zelda series in terms of where its characters stand and who scales to whom. This mostly stems from sites using secondary or tertiary sources of information and arbitrary statements, along with plenty of favorable assumptions and guesswork putting characters far higher than they have any business being, and scaling characters to each other without much logical reason. With this list, I will instead be pulling information directly from the games themselves, as they are the primary canon and thus the most reliable source, and will only be using secondary canon like guidebooks or creator interviews if no other information is available, or as a supplement to already existing information. Wiki pages will also be used, but only for displaying lore-based background information and text that appears in the games.

And of course, I will not be listing EVERY enemy, boss or character, as I would be essentially repeating myself and will be forced to speculate where there is basically nothing to draw from. However, I will list of some of the fodder enemy types as a reference point for other beings and characters.

This tier list is loosely based on ThorGunderson’s Ben 10 tier list.

Skulltulas and Walltulas

Basically just large spiders. The children of Kokiri Forest or Ordon Village can easily kill one with a seed launched from a slingshot.

Shadow Insects

The fodder of the Twilit enemies, the sole purpose of these bugs is to carry a small fragment of the essence of a guardian spirit. They are capable of becoming invisible and discharging a small electric shock. Link in wolf form can easily kill them in one bite to help in restoring said spirit’s power. They are ultimately a minor inconvenience to Link’s quest in Twilight Princess.

Stalkins

These pint-sized piles of bones are the weakest of the undead Stal types of enemies. They often appear in groups as they are only a threat in large numbers. They are armed with spears and wear minimal armor, but they are easily disassembled by being stomped on or rolled into with the Iron Boots, let alone with bombs and other weapons.

Bokoblins

The most common of Ganon’s forces. They are unintelligent and beastlike, though they are capable in combat and they carry weapons and shields. They are known for ambushing and attacking travelers.

Moblins

The grunts of Ganon’s army. They carry long spears or axes and can often be found patrolling around temples or castles. The Sheikah Slate data entry on them reads: “their legs alone strong enough to resist the force of a bomb blast.”

Hylians

The elf-like inhabitants of Hyrule. They are referred to by the other races as the ‘humans’. And for all intents and purposes, they are similar in most attributes to humans. In terms of stats, however, they are quite variable, as some are lower than peak human, yet Hylian Knights are capable of driving out Ganon’s forces from populated areas, and during the Imprisoning War they fought off hordes of Moblins. The mayor of Ordon Village often wrestled Gorons (see below) for sport. Some are even capable of magical abilities. They are also capable of living for upwards of a couple hundred years.

Gorons

Gorons are rock-people who usually reside on Death Mountain. They make a living by mining and providing Hyrule with jewel stones and precious metals. Going into the active volcano of Death Mountain is no trouble for them, as they can wade through lava relatively unaffected. They are known for handling heavy mining equipment and explosives. They can bust through large boulders and rock walls with their bare fists, and Darmani’s little brother in Majora’s Mask is completely unshaken by a powder keg detonating near him.

Guardians

These spider-tanks are the bane of all new players of Breath of the Wild. They can be found practically anywhere, and they fire a beam of concentrated energy that will incinerate most targets. They were originally designed to defend Hyrule Castle from Ganon and his monsters, but he was able to possess them. 100 years before the events of BotW, they relentlessly pursued Zelda and Link until the latter was weakened to a near-death state (it is to note that this was before he got all the weapons and armor, and various power boosts from the shrines and Champions after he awoke a century later, and it is implied he fought Ganon just before). Look out, here comes the spider-tank!

Stone Talus

Giant earth elementals that resemble massive rock formations. Most have a weak point that is protected by the rest of their large stone bodies. They are capable of sending Guardians flying with one punch, and their beams won’t even put a dent in a Talus. There are also different types such as an Ice Talus and Magma Talus.

Lynels

Lynels are basically centaurs with lion heads, only arguably way worse. They are highly intelligent, incredibly strong, and insanely durable. They are by far the strongest non-boss enemies, and the Sheikah Slate database reads things such as “facing a Lynel is ill-advised”, “each of their attacks is an invitation to the grave”. It also says that they are resistant to all types of elemental attacks, and it’s likely that they are highly resistant to light magic as well, since they take minimal damage from the Master Sword and several strikes to them can quickly deplete it of energy. The most powerful weapons will also break against their skin. And though you may claim this to be a game mechanic, NPCs in the game will remark on how they sense certain legendary weapons have left the world and Link will have to repair them.

They possess massive shields and melee weapons such as clubs and weapons that can only be described as huge man-sized hunks of metal. Lynels carry bows that usually fire elemental Shock Arrows, which they can fire with keen accuracy up to three shots at once. They can release fireblasts from their mouths and are capable of producing a large explosion from their bodies.

The Bosses

I would like to name a specific individual that could take this spot, but honestly there are so many bosses that are around the same level that any of them could. In Ocarina of Time, there is Volvagia, the subterranean lava dragon who eats Gorons and casts a stormcloud over Death Mountain, and Morpha, who according to Navi has “absolute control of water” and freezes Zora’s Domain. Goht in Majora’s Mask causes perpetual Winter on Snowhead Mountain until killed, and Twinmold casts a curse of undeath across Ikana Canyon. Gohma’s DC was calc’d to about 13 tons (city block level) and Morpha was calc’d to 1.4 kilotons (high end MCB). The Blight Ganons in BotW took over the Divine Beasts. Most of these bosses are on the high end of Multi-City Block level.

The Triforce Heroes

The three Links who appear in Triforce Heroes. Unfortunately, not many feats exist for them other than defeating bosses such as Moldorm, who was a boss in A Link to the Past. They also have various costumes that grant them various abilities, such as the Serpent’s Toga that makes them invulnerable to attacks in the game provided they are standing still. Despite them being named Link and going on an adventure, none of them are actually the incarnation of the Goddesses’s Chosen Hero, that would be Link in A Link Between Worlds.

Zelda

You may take issue with her being so low on this list (honestly her being this high is being generous), but her feats are few and far in between, and she often gets captured or defeated by the likes of Zant, Agahnim (who turns out to be Ganon) and Vaati. Though her power stems mainly from her light-based magic and evil-sealing abilities, she has little to no combat feats as she is clearly not a fighter outside of being Sheik. Even then, it’s not very clearly shown what exactly she can do aside from play some of the magic songs for Link and conjure a small sandstorm or fire, surviving being ragdolled by an evil spirit, and jumping into a lake from a high tree. Aside that, she can teleport herself and others to a spiritual plane and enlist the help of the Sages or guardian spirits. She can conjure Light Arrows and cast light magic that momentarily stuns Ganon. In BotW, she dispelled Ganon’s affect on several Guardians and survived being sealed in Calamity Ganon’s pocket dimension for 100 years.

Zant

Zant is the usurper of the Twilight Realm, who transmuted its inhabitants into deformed beasts. He is capable of casting his magic across town-sized areas, and anyone under its effects will become spirits. He brings Link to his own building and town-sized pocket dimensions where he fights him. He also turned Midna into her imp-like state.

Midna

Midna aids Link throughout his adventure in Twilight Princess. She displays a slew of powers such as teleportation, shadow travel, telekinesis, and intangibility. She kills Zant after he fights Link and with the Fused Shadows she clashed with Ganon in his spirit form, causing an explosion that destroyed Hyrule Castle and the surrounding town.

Vaati

A sorcerer and former student of Ezlo (before he became a bird…hat…thing) who became lustful for power after he “became corrupted by the hearts of men” … whatever that means. He is the main antagonist of Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures. He is responsible for creating the Shadow Links and turned Zelda to stone. Vaati is also capable of shapeshifting. He transforms Hyrule Caste in his own image, ruins towns and villages with typhoons, and battles the four Links.

The Four Links

Link as he appears in Four Swords, aka “Link times 4”. After drawing the Four Sword, he splits into four identical Links. They cooperatively traverse through dungeons and defeat Vaati. They possess magical items such as the Gnat Hat which functions similarly to Ezlo in Minish Cap, shrinking them to the size of an insect. They can wear the Pegasus Boots that greatly boost their speed, allowing them to clear fields in seconds. The Links also have a Bow-Wow as a pet/weapon, basically a Chain Chomp from the Mario series that allows them to bust through walls. The Four Sword then reappears in Four Swords Adventures when Vaati resurrects.

Girahim

One of the main antagonists of Skyward Sword. He has teleportation abilities and can summon blades. He can also summon hordes of Bokoblins and Moblins and battles some of the guardian spirits and Link several times. Towards the end of the game, it is revealed that he is a weapon created by Demise.

Ganondorf Dragmire

The image above is from Hyrule Warriors which is non-canon, but I just love the design so much. Ganondorf Dragmire or simply Ganondorf is the version of Ganon who appears in Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker.

In Gerudo Desert, the Gerudo race is populated by only females. However, it is said that if a male Gerudo is born, he shall rule as their king. Eventually Ganondorf was born, who is the mortal reincarnation of Demise. He become a powerful sorcerer and skilled thief, and after Link drew the Master Sword he unknowingly left open a portal to the Sacred Realm, where Ganondorf seized the Triforce of Power. With it, he is granted additional power and abilities, and survives for hundreds of years reappearing in different time periods and plaguing the descendants and incarnations of Link and Zelda. He creates most of the monsters that appear in Hyrule, resurrects ancient monsters like Volvagia, places a massive boulder in front of Dodongo’s Cavern, and is capable of BFRing beings into pocket dimensions. He tanks blasts from Midna with the Fused Shadows and has two island level feats from Wind Waker: destroying Greatfish Isle and conjuring a storm over the entirety of the Great Sea.

The Hero of the Skies

Link as he appears in Skyward Sword. He lives in a high-altitude area above the clouds and can crush large stone pillars and a giant gold automaton. He wrestles free from the tentacles of and defeats a seamonster that can easily pierce through the hull of a ship. He also defeats Girahim, The Imprisoned, and Demise as he is slowly regaining his power from Zelda’s spirit.

The Hero of Winds

Link as he appears in Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. Aka “Toon Link”. This tough little guy got launched into the wall of the Forsaken Fortress no worse for wear, and froze an active volcano with his magic. He can control wind with the Wind Waker and summon gusts of wind with the Deku Leaf. He also defeats Ganondorf.

The Hero of Twilight

Link as he appears in Twilight Princess. No, not Edward or Bella. There are no heroes in that movie.

He sumo wrestles with Gorons (including one five times his size wearing heavy armor) and has a ball and chain that destroys large sheets of ice. The Triforce of Courage protects him from Twilight magic, which rather than turning him into a spirit transforms him into a wolf, and can turn back into a human with the Master Sword. As a wolf, he is capable of attacking intangible beings such as ghosts. He also defeats Zant and Ganondorf in one-on-one combat.

Farosh

Farosh is one of the guardian spirit dragons in Hyrule, its element being lightning. Shay the traveler in Breath of the Wild has this to say about it: “Hey, buddy! Got a map? So on this map of yours, do you see Dueling Peaks to the north of here? Well, apparently that used to be just one mountain a really long time ago. The legends say a dragon god split the mountain in half to forge a way through, and that's how it went from one to two. Recently, some are even saying they've seen the shadow of a large creature on the surface of Lake Floria!” For reference, the Dueling Peaks are this big.

Ganon

Ganon as he appears in the Downfall Timeline (in other words A Link to the Past and Zelda 1 and 2) who seems to be different from the Ganon who appeared in Ocarina of Time. This version wields a trident and is more hulking, monsterous, and piglike in appearance. He is also physically the strongest and most durable version of Ganon (aside from BotW), able to take several slashes from the most powerful version of the Master Sword relatively unphased before becoming weakened. He can transform into different animals such as a bat, create fire bats that swarm and set ablaze the arena, turn invisible, use telekinesis, teleport, and use different types of energy blasts. The versions of Ganon that appear in the Oracle games and Four Sword Adventures are considered separate entities, though this version is likely stronger. The wizard Yuga also attempted to merge with him in A Link Between Worlds.

Link (Zelda 1 and 2)

This Link took down massive dragons like Gleeock and Aquamentus. He also killed several Lynels. Impressively, he took on Ganon without the Master Sword, though he did have Silver Arrows which “turned him to red mist” (come on, we all know that’s really blood).

In Zelda 2, he defeats Dark Link and prevents Ganon’s resurrection. He also gains shapeshifting powers such as turning into a fairy and flying through stages, and also can become invulnerable temporarily.

The Hero of the Past

Link as he appears in A Link to the Past, a prequel to Zelda 1 and 2. This version of Link has some of the most powerful abilities and weapons in the Zelda canon. He has the Magical Cape which turns him invisible and intangible, and crushes the Helmasaur King with the Magic Hammer. He has Silver Arrows and the most powerful variation of the Master Sword, the Golden Master Sword, which was tempered by dwarves and blessed by a Great Fairy. He also has the Ether, Bombos, and Quake Medallions, the latter of which shook a whole plateau. He wears the Pegasus Boots, which grant him speed similar to Goron Link’s rolling (see below).  And of course, he defeats Ganon.

The Hero of Time

Link as he appears in Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. He also appears in Spirit Form as the Hero’s Shade in Twilight Princess. As his title suggests, he has various methods of time manipulation, such as time slowing, time reversing, and time acceleration. He is also capable of summoning storms and teleporting to various locations. He has magical attacks like Din’s Fire which releases a large room-sized fireblast and can put up energy barriers around himself. He can rotate entire rooms around by pushing them and lifted a giant stone obelisk (with the Golden Gauntlets), estimated to weighing roughly 1000 tons (his body can also support the weight). And of course, he defeats Ganondorf and wears down his transformed state of Ganon with the Megaton Hammer and Biggoron’s Sword before he was sealed away by Zelda and the Sages.

In Majora’s Mask, he receives various powerups, weapons and abilities. He gets his durability doubled by one of the Great Fairies (which was already impressive enough on his own since he just fought Ganon) and obtains the Great Fairy Sword, which is proclaimed as being “the most powerful of all blades”. This is more than just a baseless boast, as it was created by the Great Fairies, who according to Tatl could defeat the Skull Kid who at the time had Majora’s Mask. It is also highly effective against Majora’s second form. He also has the Stone Mask which makes him unnoticeable to enemies, the Lense of Truth which allows him to see through illusions, and the Goron Mask which allows him to inhabit the body of a Goron, increasing his physical strength and allows him to clear Termina Field in less than a minute via rolling. To determine how impressive this is, we are told in Majora’s Mask that the Four Giants took 100 steps from Clock Town (which is in the center of Termina Field) to the four main locations in the game. We can see from a cutscene that these giants are a bit taller than the clock tower in Clock Town, and according to this site the average height of a clock tower is around 600 feet tall.  This means if Goron Link rolls from Clock Town to one of the four main locations, his speed would be about 304 meters per second, about 0.8 Mach. This would apply to his reaction time as well considering he would be dodging boulders, walls, and other hazards. Even if we use the in-game countdown timer (which is honestly ambiguous on its own since it takes Sakon an hour to enter his lair from a relatively short distance, so I wouldn’t take it at face value) and assume this takes 30 minutes, it’s about 14 m/s which is well above peak human. He also possesses the Fierce Deity’s Mask, which allows him to assume the form of one of the most powerful characters in the Zelda canon, Fierce Deity Link. So powerful, he’s several levels higher than most everything else on this list, so I felt I had to put him in a separate entry to express the vast power difference.

While the HoT is one of the strongest Links and in base form has the weapons capable of damaging Majora in his first and second forms, his final form is a different story, and he is susceptible to a Majora’s Mask-possessed Skull Kid’s hax and DC, as the massive explosion caused by him kills him if he doesn’t stop him in time.

Divine Beasts

The Divine Beasts are essentially giant mechs piloted by Champions chosen by Hylia. Vah Naboris is capable of causing thunderstorms throughout Gerudo Desert and Vah Ruta produces enough rain to flood the dam at Zora’s Domain. A coordinated assault from all four of them is meant to destroy Calamity Ganon.

Calamity Ganon

Despite not possessing the Triforce of Power, this is the most powerful incarnation of Ganon, and likely the last. After suffering defeat so many times over the centuries, Ganon gave up on resurrection and somehow left his physical form to become the true incarnation of hatred itself that Demise intended. His presence produces Malice across the Hyrule kingdom, which is a life-draining goo that is highly corrosive and can produce the undead floating heads of enemies. He also resurrects the Lynels and creates thousands of Bokoblins and Moblins, and possesses all of the Guardians. He also creates the Blight Ganons, which are extensions of his consciousness that he placed inside each of the Divine Beasts to kill its Champions and take them over from the inside. In the presence of a Blood Moon, he is able to resurrect all enemies killed by Link.

He also created a makeshift body of Guardian parts stitched together with Malice. This body takes on Link and survives an indirect blast from the Divine Beasts. He puts up an energy barrier around himself that deflects hits from the Master Sword. He also has another form called Dark Beast Ganon that storms across Hyrule Field.

The Hero of the Wild

Link as he appears in Breath of the Wild. Aka “Champion Link”. Prior to his hundred-year nap, he was the appointed guardian knight for Princess Zelda, protecting her from enemies such as the ninja-like Yiga Clan and hordes of Moblins and Lynels. He is eventually weakened after an unprepared fight against Calamity Ganon and a large group of Guardians. He is mortally wounded and taken to the Shrine of Resurrection, where he is put into a comatose state until he regains his full strength 100 years later (you would think they would try to heal him and wake him up a bit earlier than that). Upon awakening, he travels the world and collects spirit orbs from 120 shrines which he trades for various power boosts at Goddess or Demon statues. He infiltrates the Yiga Clan Hideout and kills their master. He also retakes the Divine Beasts and is given the magical abilities of the fallen Champions, including Mipha’s Grace, which will revive and fully heal him upon death, Revali’s Gale, which allows him to summon a gust of wind and leap several hundred feet into the air and glide, Darruk’s Protection, where the spirit of the Goron Champion will surround Link in an energy barrier and parry attacks, and Urbosa’s Fury, which summons lightning strikes around Link’s vicinity. He collects various weaponry such as the Champions’ legendary weapons as well as the Master Sword, and armor he picked up from around the world.  He defeats the Blight Ganons and Calamity Ganon.

The Great Fairies (Majora’s Mask)

(Again, image is from Hyrule Warriors. I’m a sucker for the designs. Doesn’t look much different from the 3DS version anyway.)

The Great Fairies that appear in Termina possess a ton of magical abilities. They are capable of healing and increasing Link’s power and durability as well as granting him additional magical abilities. They create the Great Fairy Sword and are as strong as Skull Kid under the influence of Majora’s Mask. However, like Link, they are vulnerable to his hax as he was able to shatter their bodies and essence to pieces and scatter them across the four temples. However, it seems they are able to undo Skull Kid’s de-aging spell on Kafei.

Skull Kid (with Majora’s Mask)

The Skull Kid who Link met in the Lost Woods, after he stole Majora’s Mask from the Happy Mask Salesman. Inside the mask manifests a powerful demon that bestows its wearer great and terrible power and manipulates them into inflicting chaos and misery onto others. He has various abilities such as teleportation, levitation, transmutation, and soul manipulation. Upon meeting Link he took the soul of the Deku Butler’s deceased son and merged it with Link, transforming him into a Deku Scrub. He conjured the four bosses of each temple that cast various magical affects across the main areas (like the aforemention Goht and Twinmold). As mentioned before, he scattered the essence of the four Great Fairies. But, most impressively, he created a miniature moon as a dark omen for the inhabitants of Termina and slowly brings it closer to the earth to terrify the inhabitants of Termina before finally crashing it into Clock Town at midnight on the night of the Carnival of Time. What makes this so impressive is the massive explosion this causes. This explosion is so devastating and so fast that it destroys all of Termina and will engulf and kill Link wherever he is on the map, be he undergound or atop Stone Tower. It’s because of this that this explosion is calculated and generally accepted to be multi-continental+ in terms of Destructive Capacity. The ancient tribe who used the mask in hexing rituals were able to create a similar explosion.

The Four Giants

The Four Giants are the guardian protector spirits of Termina. Link plays the Oath to Order to summon them to the Clock Tower where they stop the moon when Skull Kid is attempting to crash it down. They successfully prevent it, and Skull Kid passes out from the strain of pushing against them.

Majora

After Skull Kid goes unconscious, the mask leaves him behind to go inside the moon and add his power to it, and the Giants begin struggling. There, it confronts Link and breathes life into the remains of the bosses he defeated to attack him. After they are defeated, he transforms into Majora’s Incarnation and begins frantically dashing around the stage. After this form is defeated he transforms into Majora’s Wrath (pictured above), the full-power manifestation of the demon Majora allowed by the mask.

Fierce Deity Link

The Hero of Time after donning the Fierce Deity’s Mask. Said mask emanates dark power that is speculated in-game to be “even worse than Majora”. Fierce Deity Link is an immensely powerful and wrathful god whose energy effortlessly destroys Majora and disintegrates his moon along with him. Little is actually shown about him because his appearance is so brief, but he is clearly established as one of the strongest if not the strongest character in the Zelda canon (other than maybe Demise and Hylia herself).

Demise

Ganon and Oni from Street Fighter 4 after performing a fusion

The final boss of Skyward Sword who is said to be the source of all evil beings in the Zelda verse. Fi states that he has “conquered time itself”. Throughout the game, he attempts breaching the physical plane as The Imprisoned. He is capable of conjuring storms and summoning lightning strikes. After his defeat at the hands of Link, he promises that an incarnation of his hatred would forever plague the forces of light. It is to note, however, that in the battle that took place at the end of SS Demise was not yet at full power as Girahim’s resurrection ritual was not complete, otherwise the Hero of the Skies would be much higher on this list. At full power he was able to hurt the Goddess Hylia.

The Three Golden Goddesses

The three Goddesses Din, Farore, and Nayru who created the earth and its inhabitants. After leaving the mortal plane they left behind a bit of their essence in the form of the Triforce. The Triforce, when all three pieces are together, is capable of granting one wish. Link in Skyward Sword wished for the permanent destruction of Demise (which dropped Skyloft on top of him) and in A Link to the Past he wished everyone a happy end. Ganon's wish changed the Golden Land to the Dark World.

Hylia

Hylia, the main goddess in Zelda lore who created the Three Goddesses and most of the guardian spirits in Hyrule. She created the Goddess Sword, later the Master Sword, and grants Link various stat boosts. She was reborn as a mortal in Zelda, although it seems she is able to still manifest her own consciousness to speak to Link through Goddess Statues.

So, to recap:

Fodder Tier:

Skultullas

Shadow Insects

Stalkins

(Many others not listed)

Sub-human to Peak human Tier:

Bokoblins

Hylian civilians

(Many others, see link above)

Wall level Tier:

Moblins

Gorons

Hylian Knights

Guardians

Building level Tier

Stone Talus

Lynels

Multi-City Block Tier

The Bosses

The Triforce Heroes

Zelda

Town Level Tier

Zant

Midna

Vaati

The Four Links

Island Level Tier

Girahim

Ganondorf

The Hero of the Skies

The Hero of Winds

The Hero of Twilight

Farosh

Ganon

Link (Zelda 1 and 2)

The Hero of the Past

The Hero of Time

Country Level Tier

The Divine Beasts

Calamity Ganon

The Hero of the Wild

Continent to Multi-Continent Tier

The Great Fairies

Skull Kid (Majora’s Mask)

The Four Giants

Majora

Fierce Deity Link

God Tier (earth creation and able to hurt beings on that level)

Demise

Golden Goddesses

Hylia

Well then, I think that just about wraps it up!  Let me know if you take issue with anything on this list and I will gladly discuss it with you. Also, the next Zelda game is currently in development, so check back every now and then as this list is subject to change. I am Hero’s Shade, and I’ll see you all next time!