Skyward Sword Enemy of the Week #5: Big Blin
Posted on April 30 2011 by Nathanial Rumphol-Janc
Enemy Profile: Big Blin
Enemy Type: Giant Goblin Warrior
History: Spirit Tracks
Attacks: Big Shield Block, Spear Jab
Varieties: Unknown
Okay, so admittedly we don’t know whether the enemy above is actually a Big Blin or a Moblin or some new goblin-type enemy, but given its appearance along with the fact that the Spirit Tracks development team has come on board for the last stretch of Skyward Sword‘s creation, I think this guy probably was at least somewhat inspired by the newer enemy. Its inclusion represents what I find to be one of the most intriguing things about this game’s development – the contributions of both the console and handheld Zelda teams.
Big Blins were an interesting enemy in Spirit Tracks. They were incredibly slow, but they could take a hefty beating and their club attack packed a wallop and could even leave Link dazed for a moment. When they were first seen, many people speculated that they were Moblins, a guess that was somewhat confirmed when investigation into the Japanese version of the game revealed that they had the same name as the Great Moblin of Link’s Awakening. The differentiation in Western territories likely has to do with the design differences between the Big Blins and the Moblins of previous cel-shaded titles.
In Skyward Sword the only known Blin approaches Link with a giant wooden shield at the ready and a massive spear in hand. It will try to jab Link with the spear when he gets within range, but he can hack away at its shield with his sword to get past its defenses. At this point we’re not sure how powerful the Big Blin is – in the GDC Trailer the player managed to dodge its attack and we didn’t really see how much health it has – but it’s safe to say that it’ll probably be reasonably strong compared to the enemies we saw in the E3 2010 demo.
Part of me is really glad to see that Spirit Tracks’ influence seems to be going strong – that game was one of my favorite Zelda titles of the past decade. Between the Big Blins, the Whip, and the reappearance of the goblins’ leopard-print underwear, I’m excited to see what else the Spirit Tracks team has to bring (hopefully a neat intro legend sequence?).
