Not to be confused with Morpheel.

Morpha is the Boss of the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time.^[1] Created by Ganondorf after he acquired the Triforce of Power, it has complete control over the water in the room in which it resides, moving swiftly through it and creating long amoeba-like "limbs".^[2] This monster is responsible for the receded state of Lake Hylia as well as the frozen condition of Zora's Domain.^[3]

Morpha itself is not the transparent muscle-like tentacle as its Ocarina of Time official artwork suggests, but the vulnerable red nucleus often safeguarded under the muck of the thick liquid. This nucleus can manipulate the water in any way it likes, creating one (and eventually two) large water tentacles as the battle progresses.

Characteristics[]

As Link enters the boss room, Princess Ruto warns him that the water in the room "isn't normal".^[4] As he jumps onto one of the four pillars standing in the pool of water, a cutscene shows the view of a creature lurking in the water. It slowly makes its way to Link and emerges from the water behind him. The hero looks back at one of Morpha's tentacles before it vanishes, and the battle commences.

Morpha's nucleus churns the water below and rises within the center of one of its created tentacles. While the amoebic liquid is impossible to penetrate when in large concentrations in the pool, whenever a single-arm rises and latches upon the land, the liquid becomes thin enough to pierce with the spike of the Longshot. Link must hook the nucleus, and slash at it while it is on land during its Critical Point, the time in which it is entirely vulnerable and clear of any amoebic fluid. If Link is in Morpha's body of water, its nucleus will charge at him. While Link is in the water, its tentacles will not appear.

Morpha eventually adapts to the battle and grows a second tentacle, using it to distract Link from latching on to itself again. Just like with the single tentacle, the second one can grab Link, swing him about, and then throw him at the spikes at the edge of the arena, causing surplus damage. It is also notable that if Link stays in the corner of the arena between the spike panels, Morpha will be unable to successfully grab him. Though the battle becomes more urgent as the second tentacle grows, the technique used to defeat Morpha remains the same: Link must continue to hook the nucleus and slash it repeatedly while it is bouncing about on land. After injuring Morpha's nucleus several times, the core bursts in a spray of water. The tentacle clings to life as long as it can by using up all of the water in the central pool, and by attempting to drain and escape through the ceiling. Once it absorbs all of the water in the pool, the tentacle culminates in a single water droplet on the ceiling and drops to the floor, splattering in all directions.

Link's rewards for his victory are a Heart Container and the Water Medallion from Ruto.^[5]

Trivia[]

• Din's Fire is capable of evaporating Morpha's tentacles.
• Morpha can be defeated very easily by using the Longshot to pull it, and continuing to do so when approaching the corners of the room to avoid it escaping. Link must repeatedly slash at it while trapped in the corner to defeat the boss quickly, and often injury-free.
• After Morpha is defeated, Lake Hylia is restored to its former water-filled state. However, Zora's Domain remains frozen.
• Contrary to popular belief, Princess Ruto is the one who warns Link about the strange water in Morpha's room, not Navi. In the Japanese version, this is more evident as the speech patterns of Ruto and Navi differ, in that Ruto tends to end her sentences with the word ゾラ.^[6] Also, Navi's text is generally blue, but the text for this dialogue is completely white.
• Prior to the official release of Ocarina of Time, Morpha was called "Water Spirit" on the official Nintendo website.^[7]
• The appearance of Morpheel, a Twilight Princess boss, in the first phase of combat is the same as Morpha's.
• The promotional artwork of Link being captured by Morpha shows him losing his Master Sword, but this doesn't happen during the actual battle. The only time Link ever loses his Master Sword is during the first phase of the final battle with Ganon, until when Zelda points to where his Master Sword is when the fire barrier between them vanishes.

Nomenclature[]

Morpha's name comes from the Ancient Greek word morphḗ, (“form, shape”).

Names in other regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	モーファ (Mōfa) (OoT)[8]	Same as English.
This table was generated using translation pages. To request an addition, please contact a staff member with a reference.

Gallery[]

• 

  Alternate artwork of Morpha

• 

References