The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom may be bringing back forgotten boss monster Gleeok

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a thousand fans combing through The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer for theories. Having joined the search ourselves, we and the fanbase believe an old boss may be returning to make things much more difficult for Link. Three times as difficult actually, as the enemy in question is Gleeok.

Gleeok is a multi-headed dragon that appears throughout several games in the Zelda series. Sometimes the boss will show up with two heads, or even four, but typically, Gleeok runs around with three of them. You don’t need the Lens of Truth to see what could be Gleeok in the latest Tears of the Kingdom trailer. If you pause the video at 30 seconds, you’ll see what appears to be a three-headed dragon guarding a stone bridge. All three heads are on fire and a giant tail swishes back and forth as it stands ready. The shot is about three seconds long, just long enough to linger in the minds of the fans. Could Gleeok be among us?

The boss monster first appeared in the original The Legend of Zelda title where Link had to fight them multiple times. Gleeok shows up again in Oracle of Seasons and appears for a final time in Phantom Hourglass. Since then, Gleeok has ghosted the Zelda series, that is until now. If Gleeok makes their return alongside familiar enemies and possibly Redead in Tears of the Kingdom, where have they been hiding? Perhaps it was under The Gleeok Bridge which is a tiny wooden bridge in Breath of the Wild. We think not.

In previous games, Gleeok fought by launching fireballs and spewing ice at Link. The boss works similarly to a Hydra in that all its heads must be severed and destroyed before it can be defeated. Once they are free of the body, they float about the area pelting Link with fire. If Link is not able to defeat the floating heads, they will reattach themselves to the body of Gleeok.

If it is Gleeok, we will have to wait for the full release of Tears of the Kingdom to learn more. In the meantime, the collector’s edition is available to pre-order.