Ball and Chain Trooper

A knight who wields a spiked ball on a chain.

Appearance: A Link to the Past Quick Facts: The Ball and Chain Trooper appears as a Miniboss in this game, but also appears later on as a regular enemy in Hyrule Castle's Tower.

Appearance: Link's Awakening (DX) Quick Facts: This Trooper is a bit smaller than the ones found in ALttP, but can still be a difficult adversary. You have to fight one for a Golden Leaf.

Appearance: Oracle of Ages / Seasons Quick Facts: This guy is exactly the same as in LA. They appear later in the game near Onox's place in OoS, and Link fights one in the one in OoA's Ancient Tomb on ice!

Appearance: Four Swords Quick Facts: A new and bigger version of the Ball and Chain Soldier appears in this game.

Appearance: Four Swords Adventures Quick Facts: This BnC soldier is somewhat bigger and comes in several variaties.

Appearance: The Minish Cap Quick Facts: This soldier is again present, with exactly the same sprite as in FS.

Description

General

Ball and Chain troopers also move under incognito of Iron Ball Soldier, this mainly applies to the troopers in FS. These soldiers move around as individuals meaning that you will rarely encounter more than one Trooper per screen. They are not very mobile, but they can reach very far distances with the ball when they throw it around. All Troopers are heavily armored and will take several hits before they are defeated, moreover it is hard to get a close hit when they are swinging the ball around.

A Link to the Past

The first time you meet one of these guys is in the same room where Princess Zelda is being kept captive. The Ball and Chain trooper was specially send down there to guard the key to the cell with his life (literary). The only way to claim it is by defeating it. This could be done very easily just by tossing the pots from the other cell on top of him. Three pots or eight sword slashes with your newly obtained L1 sword. After this mini-boss battle this enemy only appears a few times inside Agahnim's Tower. In this game the Trooper is also known to be called "Mace Knight".

Link's Awakening (DX)

In this game you will meet up with one of these special forces in the Kanalet Castle, he is guarding one of the special Golden Leaves you need to collect for Richard. Other than this place BnC Troopers are rarely found in this game.

Oracle of Ages / Seasons

BnC troopers appear in some of the later dungeons in both games. They even start to appear on the overworld in some sections. The sprite of the trooper is basically the version of used in LA DX. Some examples of places where you meet BnC trooper in each game:

OoA: The Ancient Tomb (level 8) has one craftily placed on a icy floor. Making it very hard for you to destroy it if you don't have the Snowshoe Ring equipped. The last part of Veran's Tower featured a few BnC troopers as well.

OoS: Some BnC troopers appeared on the world map as well in this game, for example there is one just in front of Onox's Castle and also a few close to the Ancient Ruins (Level 6) dungeon.

Four Swords

Since the dungeons are made up randomly it is hard to mention some locations. Although one appears in the only non-random tutorial dungeon: Chamber of Insights.

The main characteristics of this soldier is that it has a golden armor and is also somewhat taller than the others. Once again this enemy can only be defeated when it isn't swinging the ball around in circles.

The Minish Cap

Ball & Chain Soldier makes another appearance in this game as well.

Miscellaneous Notes

The Ball and Chain trooper is sometimes also referred to as the "Iron Ball Soldier". The are exactly the same type of enemy so it is basically the same as a trooper.

Relevant Quotes

A Link to the Past

Manual on Page 44:

"Agahnim controls all of Hyrule

Castle's soldiers, including this

strong and skilled fighter. He guards

Zelda's cell and other important

areas of the Castle and attacks with

a whirling ball and chain."

The Minish Cap

Figurine Description:

Ball and Chain Soldier

Appears in the Palace of Winds and
Dark Hyrule Castle. They're not fast,
but that iron ball is a bruiser! Try to
hit them after they swing the ball.

Translations

The German Translation keeps stuck to "Iron Ball Soldier", whereas the Italian one states it as an "Iron Soldier". The Spanish translation means Ironball. It is unknown how the French translation was created, but it seems that was made up byt the translator.

See Also

• Golden Leaf
• Kanalet Castle
• Hyrule Castle
• Agahnim's Tower