Guardian (Breath of the Wild)

Guardian

Official artwork of a Guardian Stalker

Games	Breath of the Wild Age of Calamity
Location	Field
Threat
Effective Weapons	Bows Master Sword Ancient and Guardian Weapons
Related	Guardian Scout Sentry

The Guardian is a type of enemy that appears in Breath of the Wild. There are many variants of Guardians, ranging from the airborne Skywatchers to the powerful Stalkers.

Breath of the Wild

The Guardians were crafted by the ancient people of Hyrule 10,000 years prior to the events of Breath of the Wild. They were created by the thousands, to stop the powerful beast known as Ganon, along with the four Divine Beasts. Ganon was defeated, and the Guardians eventually became lost and buried far underground. 9,900 years later, the Guardians and the Divine Beasts were rediscovered by the Hyrule under the command of King Rhoam. The people brought the mechanical beasts back to life, and planned on using them to stop Ganon, when he inevitably returns. Things seemed tremendous for the Hylians; they were well prepared for Ganon, however, when he returned, things didn't quite go as planned. As the Guardians and Divine Beasts were ready to attack Ganon, he unleashed a powerful draining force which corrupted all the Guardians and Divine Beasts to be under his control. The Guardians turned against the people of Hyrule, starting with destroying Hyrule Castle Town and all its inhabitants, before wreaking havoc on the rest of Hyrule, and Ganon almost had full control of the land.

In the present day, Link awakens from the Shrine of Resurrection, with the motive to stop Ganon and save Hyrule. Guardians are littered all around the Great Plateau, most of which are non-functioning, however the rogue machine is. As Link traverses the land of Hyrule, he sees many Guardians, active and inactive, scattered everywhere. They are more prominent the closer he gets to Hyrule Castle, being stronger than ever and with a blood lust for Link.

Notes

• Through the use of shields and the Perfect Guard move, Guardians can effectively be defeated without ever using melee weapons. Decayed Guardians may be defeated with a single Perfect Guard, while other Guardians may take 3-4 hits.
• In general, once Guardians shoot their beams and hit Link, they'll shoot an extra 2-3 shots immediately afterwards. These extra shots may not damage Link once the first one hits, but will prolong his stunned status. If multiple guardians shoot at Link, only the first hit will produce damage.
• If attacked in surprise, Guardians may start making wanton shots of their beams without aiming. Sometimes, after the aforementioned surprise attack, Link's melee strikes trigger the beam shots.
• There are numerous empty husks of deactivated Guardian Stalkers scattered all over Hyrule, but there are no husks of Skywatchers or Turrets in the whole game.
• In Master Mode, Guardians may delay their beam attacks, making Link miss the timing of the Perfect Guard. Also, due to this mode's enemy health recovery, it may take more Perfect Guards to defeat said Guardians.

Trivia

• In the 2014 E3 trailer, the Guardian Stalker that is attacking Link is colored with orange streaks instead of magenta. It's not until later that the magenta coloration was introduced for attacking guardians in the overworld, as this indicates that they're blighted with Malice.

See also

• Guardian Stalker
• Decayed Guardian
• Guardian Skywatcher
• Guardian Turret

Gallery

• 

  A Guardian Stalker with orange coloration shown during E3 2014; the magenta coloration wouldn't be introduced until later in production.

• 

  Link preparing a shot on a Guardian Stalker.

• 

  Link fights a Guardian in Age of Calamity