Guardian
- For the enemies known as "Guardians" in Skyward Sword, see Guardian (Skyward Sword).
Guardians are a type of enemy in Breath of the Wild.
Characteristics and Weaknesses
Guardians are ancient machines created by the Sheikah, originally meant to aid in the battle against Calamity Ganon. Taken over by the Calamity, Guardians now stalk the land of Hyrule attacking those that near them.
Guardian Stalkers are powerful enemies, with high health, high resistance, and a laser beam attack that deals six Hearts of damage. If a target is too close to them, they will attempt to distance themselves in order to fire their lasers; otherwise they will relentlessly pursue said target until they lose track of it. When defeated, they may drop any combination of Ancient Gears, Ancient Screws, Ancient Shafts, Ancient Cores and Ancient Springs.
Decayed Guardians are static variations of the Stalkers that have long since lost mobility. They have a third of a Stalker's health and are prone to malfunctioning after being attacked.
Guardian Scouts are smaller variants of Stalkers that can be found within Shrines of Trials and Divine Beasts. Depending on the grade, these can be equipped with different weapons. They can also use their laser to repeatedly burn the ground surrounding them, sending Link back if struck. However, this creates an updraft that allows Link to use the Paraglider to reach them. Additionally, when near death, they will charge a stronger laser attack that cannot be interrupted.
Guardian Skywatchers are flying Guardians with spotlights whose propellers can be damaged to bring down.
Other variations of Guardians include Guardian Turrets and Sentries.
While Guardians are formidable opponents, they have a few weaknesses. A Guardian's eye is their weak spot; shooting an arrow at it causes extra damage and interrupts the charging of their laser. While sufficiently strong weapons can deal a fair bit of damage to Guardians, they are especially weak to Ancient equipment, which deals much more damage to them. The Master Sword is another excellent weapon against them. Cutting their legs off is another good strategy, as it will temporarily stun the Stalkers; however, it can also backfire if Link isn't quick to cut off the remaining legs, as the Guardian will actively and frantically escape Link's range as soon as they recover, making it much harder to land subsequent hits. Smaller variants of Guardians are also particularly susceptible to elemental attacks, becoming stunned when electrified, catching on fire when exposed to it and freezing entirely when attacked with frost.
Development
The basic Guardian Stalkers were based on the Octoroks from The Legend of Zelda, which to people on the development team seemed huge in comparison to Link. This led to the cephalopod-like design of the Guardians and the technological theme of the game.[1]
Etymology
 Names in Other Regions 
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|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Name | Meaning | |
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EnglishUK | Guardian | |
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Japanese | ガーディアン (Gādian) | Guardian |
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Dutch | Wachter | Guardian |
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Italian | Guardiano | Guardian |
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Russian | Страж (Strazh) | Guardian |
Gallery
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Link in combat with a Guardian Scout in Breath of the Wild.
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Guardian Scout in Breath of the Wild.
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Decayed Guardian as seen in-game from Breath of the Wild
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Decayed Guardian attacking Link from Breath of the Wild.
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Decayed Guardians inside the Temple of Time from Breath of the Wild.
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A destroyed Guardian.
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Zelda defending Link from a Guardian.
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Guardian Turret as seen in-game
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A Guardian statue from the E3 2016 Breath of the Wild booth.
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Statues of Link and a Guardian fighting from the E3 2016 Breath of the Wild booth.
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Guardian in early development in 2014 Breath of the Wild trailer.
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Attacking the Guardian in the 2014 Breath of the Wild trailer.
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Concept art of a Guardian Scout from Breath of the Wild.
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The Breath of the Wild Guardian amiibo.
