Bongo Bongo
from Zeldapedia, the Legend of Zelda wiki
| Bongo Bongo | |
|---|---|
 Artwork of Bongo Bongo | |
| First appearance | Ocarina of Time (1998) |
| Location(s) | Shadow Temple |
| Weapon(s) | Hands Charging |
| Effective weapon(s) | Fairy Bow swords Longshot |
| Spoils | Shadow Medallion Heart Container |
- "Boss of the Shadow Temple, revived from the well. Look at it with the eye of truth!"
- — Navi
Phantom Shadow Beast: Bongo Bongo (暗黒幻影獣ボンゴボンゴ Dark Phantom Beast: Bongo Bongo?) is the boss of the Shadow Temple, the seventh dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Contents |
[edit] Story
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Bongo Bongo is a gargantuan, mysterious, invisible, evil spirit with one eye and two large disembodied hands that was sealed away in the well in Kakariko Village by Impa. However, when Ganondorf assumed power, Bongo Bongo eventually broke the seal placed on him and set Kakariko Village on fire. Link arrives just as Bongo Bongo escapes, but fails to stop it from traveling to the Shadow Temple. Link chases after him into the temple.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
[edit] Battle
The battle takes place on a large bongo drum. Bongo Bongo beats the drum, setting up a fast, softer beat with one hand but tapping much harder at a slower rate with the other one. The heavier drum beat bounces Link up into the air, which makes aiming and dodging harder. Bongo Bongo always stays on the opposite side of the drum, as far away from Link as possible. When Bongo Bongo stops drumming, he is preparing for an attack.
Link must first stun both of Bongo Bongo's hands with arrows. Once Link starts attacking one of his hands, the other hand retaliates with one of a half-dozen attacks: a horizontal swipe across the drum, a horizontal slap, a vertical smacking, grabbing Link with a fist, and just trying to punch him directly. All of these do significant damage to Link. If both hands are unhindered, Bongo Bongo will try to smash Link in a devastating clap.
After Link has stunned both his hands, Bongo Bongo does one more attack, involving his entire body and both fists charging across the drum towards Link. This attack is unavoidable and causes massive damage to Link. While Bongo Bongo is executing this attack, this is the only time the creature is vulnerable, allowing Link to fire an arrow at his eye (which, for the only time during the battle, is open), disabling it, allowing Link to damage the boss by slashing his eye. It is also possible, though much harder, for Link to attack Bongo Bongo's eye at the last second with his sword. Though not required, the Lens of Truth allows Link to see Bongo Bongo's eye, making the battle much easier. Ice Arrows can also be effective during this battle since they enable Link to freeze Bongo Bongo's hands.
Interestingly, Bongo Bongo has the largest amount of health out of all the bosses in Ocarina of Time. This is a record that is achieved either if the player counts just sword slashes or sword slashes and extra weapons hit, ending up with a total of twenty-six and sixty-three hits, respectively.
[edit] Video
This clip was provided by lleeoo2010 at YouTube
[edit] Etymology
Bongo Bongo's name is a very obvious reference to the Bongo Drum on which the battle takes place.
[edit] Possible Origins
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the viewpoints or research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
The boss in the Shadow Temple is theorized to be (or have been) a Sheikah. This is because when Adult Link talks to Shikashi near the House of Skulltula, the elderly man states:
- "A long time ago... There was a man in this very village who had an eye they said could see the truth! Now usually, you have to train your mind's eye most strenuously to actually see the truth... But this fella, no, they say he had a different way of doing things... His house stood where the well is now..."
- — {{{2}}}
The shapeshifting monster could be this person due to the fact that Bongo Bongo has one eye and was living in the well. His house could have been sent to the bottom of the well, along with certain artifacts (the Lens of Truth, a Sheikah's item). His description says Phantom Shadow Beast, as "phantom" as a "dead person" and "shadow" as "Shadow folk", another name for the Sheikah. However, the 'eye' he references could have been a metaphor, and a direct reference to the Lens itself.
Also, it is possible that Bongo Bongo betrayed the Royal Family in the Hyrulean Civil War and was executed, being sent (along with his house) to the bottom of the Kakariko Well. To add to this theory, The Bottom of the Well has various torturing devices, which means this could have been the place that Bongo Bongo was executed in. Another theory proposed is that he was a Dark Interloper, but he was not imprisoned in the Twilight Realm. Instead he was sealed away in the Bottom of the Well by Impa. It is also possible that before they knew about the Twilight Mirror they bound certain interlopers in distinct places.
Theory warning: Theories end here.
