Moblins and others




Moblins and others

Moblins (or Molblins, or Moriblins) are large humanlike creatures with a bulldog's face. Their skin can very in color and this seems to determine their strenght and (inversely) their intelligence They typically inhabit forests and their name could in fact be interpreted as "Mean spirit from the Forest" (their natural habit). However, as anybody in Hyrule could easily tell you, they are all too concrete. Molblins are for the most part as ruthless as beasts yet deviously intelligent. Enough to at least make leather armor and primitive weapons. Some Molblins are even capable of coherent speech, and jumbled writing too! Their eyesight, however, seems to be rather poor; probably because they have too distanced eyes.
Even when without a master Moblins have been, throughout history, a constant danger for the careless and all small settlements; but they do instinctively respect their leaders, who are simply the biggest and cruellest among them and whole gangs of Moblins have been known to disband and run away if their leader is killed. Not surprisingly, they have often been minions for Ganon. Truth be told, some pacific Moblins who have refused to serve the Evil King and lived in hiding from their own kin did exist, but whether their motives were genuinely noble or mere cowardice can't really be told.

Different, yet often mistaken as Moblins, are the Butablins. The confusion comes from the fact that members of these two species often band up together, and even among themselves they all come to be called Moblins. The Butablins can however be told apart very easily: their faces bear the features of pigs as opposed to those of a bulldog.
The Butablins were in great numbers among Ganon's soldiers in the Dark World, it is therefore suspected that their ancestors were evil men changed by the Dark World; but it could be that these men were changed into something that already existed, just as outcasts were turned into the fox-like keatons. In fact it would seem that Butablins originally belonged to the dark tribe of evil that attacked Hyrule in the distant past and was then sealed in a chest by the Picori blade.
Whatever their origin is, they are clearly a species of their own (despite their claims of being Moblins). Their intelligence is on a similar level to a Moblin's, and as an additional pig trait, Butablins have hooves. These are however absent in a subrace of theirs, the Bokoblins. Bokoblins are smaller than Moblins and Butablins (and therefore not usually confused with the other two) but they are more apt at using tools of all kinds, in particular, sticks made from the Boko Baba flowers which eventually came to influence their name. They are rather noisy, except when hiding.
But even more noisy are the bizarre Miniblins, they are as small as children, but this is hardly deceptive as they are devilish both in looks and mind. Well aware of their limited strenght, Miniblins gang up in large numbers to defeat their preys. More than few adventures had to run away before a seemingly endless horde of these creatures.

The bulblins then are yet another race that is commonly grouped together with moblins because of their savage behavior, appearence and inclination to band with bokoblins. As the latter they are, in general, short and slender but they can be distinguished by green skin, small dirty yellow bull horns, faintly glowing eyes, and almost flat faces. A few individuals, like King Bulblin, can grow very heavy and very tall, topping out at almost eight feet. Individuals this size prove exceedingly durable and can survive great trauma, such as falling off a high bridge.
The bulblins are notable for having led Zant's monsters to the springs of the Light Spirits, and generally assisting Ganondorf when he tried to take over Hyrule upon returning from the Twilight Realm. However their loyalty is fleeting since, as stated by King Bulblin, following the strongest side is all they know (they can talk, and seem to have their own language, but rarely say anything, at least to humans). Outside of this incident, Bullblins have mostly remained in the shadows throughout Hyrule history, Moblins and Butablins being much more prominent in that sense.
Bulblins (and bokoblins?) were among the few, or only (moderately) intelligent race in Hyrule that could retain a corporeal form within the Twilight in which Zant covered it. However, the Twilight corrupts them like it does animals native to Hyrule, and their already ugly appearance becomes truly monstrous while they are within its boundaries, their faces covered in strange masks. It is unclear whether this difference was because of their allegiance to Zant or because they are more alike soulless beasts than enlightened beings such as humans, gorons etc (who would instead turn into spirits).
The bulblins are crude fighters, usually using clubs or crude swords in melee and flaming arrows in ranged combat. Their eyesight may be better than a moblin's because the bulblins are actually passable archers. They ride giant boars called bulbos into battle, usually in pairs (one holding the reins while the other fights, typically with arrows).
Their largest camp was in front of Arbiter's Grounds in the Gerudo Desert. This may just have been where they were stationed at the time, however. Another large camp existed in the hidden gulch, the near abandoned Sheikah village once known as Old Kakariko, until Link defeated them and drove them out.


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