For the longest time, most people thought that the Zelda series had finally stagnated to the point where no new innovation could every bring the series back to its former glory. However, the release of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild completely destroyed this pessimistic notion surrounding the series, providing gamers with one of the greatest open-world experiences, and definitely one of the best Zelda games of all time.
While one can talk endlessly about the sheer number of ways in which Breath Of The Wild managed to revitalize the series, there's one aspect of the game that definitely deserves a mention — the enemies. Breath Of The Wild is by no means an easy game, and enemies can completely wipe the floor with Link without so much as a second thought. This is especially true for the Guardians, who are easily one of the hardest enemies in the entire game by a country mile.
Here are ten facts about these mysterious Guardians that even the most ardent Zelda fan will have no idea about.
10 The Guardian Stalker Was The First Enemy Designed For The Game
The impact of the Guardian Stalker on the entire game was pretty massive. Not only was it the first enemy designed for the game, but it also led Nintendo to focus on a more technological world, as opposed to a classic fantasy one.
However, the actual story behind the design of the Guardian Stalker is quite interesting in itself.
9 Guardian Stalkers Were Based On The Design Of Octoroks From The Legend of Zelda
In the original The Legend Of Zelda, Octoroks were pretty much the same size as Link, posing way more of a threat than the current iteration we see in modern games.
Nintendo wanted to craft an enemy that seemed as daunting, with long-range attacks. This led to the birth of the Guardian Stalker enemy design, which took the octopus-like nature of the Octorok and added a mechanical twist to it.
As for the ranged attacks... well, the lasers of the Guardians are pretty infamous and need no further mention.
8 The Guardians Actually Have Numerous Weaknesses
Guardians can feel like incredibly challenging enemies from the get-go, with Link finding it pretty much impossible to deal with this threat early on. However, gamers who decide to tackle these enemies more frequently after progressing will realize that these enemies aren't all they're built up to be.
All Guardians have their eye as a weak point, which should be targeted by arrows as soon as they start aiming their laser. However, aside from this, Guardian Stalkers can also be stunned by destroying their limbs, while Guardian Skywatchers can be brought down to the ground by destroying their propellers. Either the Master Sword or Ancient weapons should be used in a confrontation since they deal bonus damage.
Of course, this doesn't even come close to the number one strategy that anyone should use against a Guardian.
7 An Ancient Arrow To The Eye Can Defeat A Guardian In One Shot
Ancient Arrows are easily one of the most powerful arrows that Link can use, absolutely decimating his enemies with just one arrow. A player might assume that this one-shot doesn't apply to an enemy as powerful as a Guardian... but that's where one might be surprised.
If the player has good aim, then they can unleash a single Ancient Arrow at the eye of a Guardian, leading to a one-hit kill. It's the easiest way to dispose of any Guardian and takes away any stress from what might initially seem like a daunting encounter.
6 King Rhoam And Princess Zelda Excavated The Guardians Before They Went Berserk
Before the Great Calamity, King Rhoam and Princess Zelda were the individuals responsible for unearthing the Guardians in a bid to use them against Ganon.
However, this plan was completely turned on its head when Ganon used his Malice to take over the beasts, leading to the imminent destruction of Hyrule itself.
5 Link Was Rendered Comatose Because Of A Guardian Attack
Link was one of the best swordsmen in Hyrule, but there was no way that he could be prepared for the massive threat of the Guardian Stalkers.
Players who are diligent about searching Link's lost memories will find out that it was actually the laser of a Guardian Stalker that took him out of commission, pretty much rendering him comatose for a hundred years.
4 Guardians Are Mechanical Enemies... But Respawn After A Blood Moon Nevertheless
One perplexing fact about Guardians that has never been cleared up in the game is that these mechanical enemies still manage to respawn after a Blood Moon... even though their inherent nature should prevent this from happening.
Perhaps Ganon's Malice is so powerful that it gives these advanced pieces of machinery a mind of their own, which can be quite a massive revelation indeed.
3 They Were Created By The Sheikah 10,000 Years Before The Events Of The Game
The Guardians are extremely ancient, and the previous generation of Shiekah was proficient enough in technology to form these advanced protectors almost 10,000 years ago.
One might wonder what the reaction of the Shiekah would be when they realize that their automaton protectors would be possessed by an evil being like Ganon to do his own bidding.
2 Their Rampage Led To The Age Of Burning Fields
After being possessed by Ganon and rendering Link comatose, the Guardians ran amok across the entirety of Hyrule. They destroyed towns, killed people, and burnt down fields all over the countryside.
This led to the Age of Burning Fields, where humanity was sent spiraling into ruin and had to strategically place their new settlements so that they wouldn't come within patrolling range of these vicious enemies.
1 The Guardians Suffered A Ton Of Losses Too
However, the Guardians weren't let off completely scot-free. The automatons suffered their fair share of losses in the way too, and one need only look at the scores of Guardian husks to realize that they weren't all that impervious of a threat.
The fact that Link can easily body a number of Guardians without any issues shows that humans weren't completely helpless in this war... although they were definitely on the losing side.