Hinox

Maren's Tip

Stock up on Hearty meals before boss fights — a single Hearty Durian dish gives full recovery plus bonus hearts. Don't forget to save!

Description

A one-eyed giant that sleeps in the open across Hyrule's forests, hills, and beaches. Wears a necklace strung with weapons and food plucked from passing travelers. Relatively straightforward once you master the eye-stun loop — shoot the single eye with an arrow to trigger a stagger window, then rush in for melee hits on the legs. Three color variants scale in HP and aggression: red Hinoxes are the easiest, blue Hinoxes hit harder and begin shielding their eye earlier, and black Hinoxes are the toughest and cover their eye almost constantly. The Stalnox is the undead skeleton variant, found only at night on the surface or permanently in the Depths. Each variant wears different quality weapons on its necklace — black Hinox necklaces often carry Royal-tier gear worth the extra effort.

Weakness

Hinox's primary weakness is Eye — shoot with arrows to stun.

How to Beat Hinox

1. Hinoxes are one-eyed giants that are among the first major enemies you encounter in the overworld.
2. They are significantly easier than most bosses but provide good loot and practice for the eye-targeting mechanic used against many enemies.
3. Preparation: Bring a bow with a few arrows (five to ten is plenty) and a decent melee weapon.
4. No special armor or food is required for basic Hinoxes.
5. Stealth Approach: Hinoxes are always found sleeping.
6. You can sneak up to a sleeping Hinox and steal the weapons from its necklace without waking it if your stealth is high enough (Sheikah armor or stealth food).
7. This is a legitimate strategy for acquiring weapons early in the game without fighting.
8. If you want the material drops, you need to fight it.
9. Combat Strategy: Shoot the Hinox in its single eye with an arrow.
10. This stuns it for about five seconds and causes it to stagger backward, covering its eye in pain.
11. Rush in during the stun and attack with melee weapons — aim for the legs since they are easiest to reach.
12. After the stun wears off, back away to medium range and prepare another eye shot.
13. The Hinox attacks by slamming its hands on the ground (dodge by sprinting sideways), picking up trees and swinging them (large but slow — easy to dodge), and occasionally sitting down hard to create a shockwave (jump or get distance).
14. All attacks are well-telegraphed with long windups, giving ample time to react.
15. Variant Differences: Blue Hinoxes have more HP (roughly eight hundred) and deal more damage.
16. Black Hinoxes have the most HP (roughly one thousand) and additionally cover their eye with their hand when at low health, requiring you to wait for them to attack (which uncovers the eye) before shooting.
17. For Black Hinoxes, bait an attack, shoot the exposed eye during the attack animation, then melee during the stun.
18. Three to four eye-stun cycles defeat most Hinox variants.

Rewards

• Hinox Tooth
• Hinox Toenail
• Hinox Guts
• Weapons from necklace

Related Bosses

• Flame Gleeok — Overworld Boss, Various (Eldin, Hyrule Field), HP 2,500, 4/5
• Frost Gleeok — Overworld Boss, Various (Hebra, Tabantha), HP 2,500, 4/5
• Thunder Gleeok — Overworld Boss, Various (Gerudo, Akkala), HP 2,500, 4/5
• King Gleeok — Overworld Boss, Depths / Rare Surface, HP 4,000, 5/5
• Flux Construct I — Overworld Boss, Sky Islands / Depths, HP 800, 2/5
• Flux Construct II — Overworld Boss, Sky Islands / Depths, HP 1,200, 3/5

Related Guides

• Weapons Database — Find the best weapons for every boss fight
• Temple Walkthroughs — Complete dungeon guides with boss prep
• Armor Sets — Best armor for boss resistances & defense
• Shrine Walkthroughs — All 152 shrine solutions for max hearts