Skeletal Defense

Skeletal Defense
Type	Defensive Technique
Fields	Force, Stalfos, Transform, Undead
Requires	Stalfos race
Cost	Normal Cost P5: 40 rupees P4: 50 rupees P3: 60 rupees P2: 70 rupees P1: 80 rupees Rent: 10 rupees

Skeletal Defense is a defensive technique, and a racial perk exclusive to Stalfos. As such, a Stalfos may gain this perk upon character creation, or later as a normal treasure. A member of a different race cannot obtain Skeletal Defense.

At will, the Stalfos can momentarily break the magic which holds his bones together. If done so at just the right moment, this can prevent an otherwise lethal strike. If an explosive is thrown right in the Stalfos' face, for instance, he can activate this technique to allow himself to be blown apart; when a sword threatens to chop his spine in half, he can let his body drop to have the steel slice harmlessly between vertebrae. In exchange for this momentary protection, however, the Stalfos regains only control of his head for about ten seconds. Any damage which doesn't destroy bones outside of his skull is harmless, but his vulnerable skull can only hop around on its jaw until he summons enough strength to reform. The reforming process is relatively quick, and uses unseen forces to snap all the bones back into their proper slots.

A Stalfos generally has difficulty using this technique in rapid succession. It can generally only be used about once a minute.

Trivia

The Skeletal Defense treasure canonically appears in the Zelda series, initially in A Link to the Past. It was never given an official name, however.