Bio-electric Anemone Barinade is the third boss you'll face as Young Link in the N64 videogame The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Barinade inhabits the interior of the Zoras' fish-god Jabu-Jabu, which, normally a friendly place, has become filled with malevolent tentacles, electric jellyfish and other nasty things with the monster's arrival. Barinade was, of course, placed there by the game's principal bad guy, Ganondorf, in order to persuade the Zoras to give up the Zora Sapphire, which was vital to his evil plans.
To beat the game, you (as Link) must go Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly and slay Barinade.
Nothing unusual here. A large round arena, with about six pots spaced evenly around the edges, mostly containing hearts. Use these if you find yourself short on health. Barinade itself is intially positioned (immobile) in the centre of the room, but it does have ranged attacks, and it does get up and chase you later. Navi's hint? You should somehow dispose of the jellyfish protecting the thing's lower body, and attack there.
For phase one, Barinade sits patiently in the middle of the room. Its lower body is completely protected by "jellyfish plating" so there is no direct way to damage it yet. Five tentacles sprouting from above it are plugged into the ceiling, causing trouble elsewhere in Jabu-Jabu's belly. Additionally, four or five trumpet-shaped things are arrayed on Barinade's crown. For the first phase, these will charge up (signalled by a flash of white coming from the relevant trumpet) and then fire a bolt of electricity at you. The bolts come roughly three or four seconds apart but if you get hit, there is a short pause while you recover.
In the second phase, the jellyfish on Barinade's bulbous lower body will come out and whirl around Barinade, while it itself trundles after you. Dodging the jellyfish is pretty tricky but supposedly standing on the small platform where a pot is will protect you.
For phase three a second row of jellyfish come out, this time whirling much faster while Barinade chases you much more quickly. It's more of the same, only more difficult. Barinade will break out the electrical blasts again at this point.
Phase four, if it can be called that, the same as phase three but with no jellyfish. It is possible to defeat Barinade without ever reaching phase four - this only occurs when you destroy the second wave of surrounding jellyfish, which is completely secondary and optional compared with attacking Barinade itself.
How to beat Barinade
The major item picked up in this dungeon was the Fairy Boomerang and you're definitely going to need to use it. This is also the first point in the game where you absolutely HAVE to use Z-targeting, so if you haven't already learned, you'd better. This battle is frantic and confusing, but not too hard - the first time I did it, simply Z-targeting and boomeranging everything in sight served quite well.
To start with you have the electric shocks to deal with. Provided you keep moving at a high enough speed, most of these will miss you. They are signalled by a flash of light from the trumpet that is about to fire at you. However, the camera will probably swivel around to a position where you can't see Barinade itself, making the next bit tricky. You need to Z-target the tentacles connecting Barinade to the ceiling and hurl your Fairy Boomerang in that direction. They do not reattach themselves so take your time while you cut down all four.
Now Barinade is able to move, whirling its first row of jellyfish around it for protection as it chases you. While on the retreat from the deadly electric carousel, you have to turn around and aim a boomerang shot at Barinade's centre. This will stun the creature and cause the jellyfish to stop moving. At this point you should use your boomerang to rapidly target and take out as many jellyfish as you can before they start moving again. Repeat until the first wave of jellyfish has been destroyed. Stock up on hearts if necessary.
Phase three is the same, but harder. The second row of jellyfish will fan out to chase you, and now Barinade will be moving much faster and attempting to fry you with electric shocks at the same time. This makes turning around for long enough to draw a bead on its red lower middle becomes a dangerous affair. However, once you manage to stun Barinade, its belly is now completely exposed - vulnerable. At this point you have two options - continue to take out jellyfish as a precautionary measure, or directly attack the stunned Barinade with your Kokiri sword. Barinade will soon recover to chase you, so repeat the stun-attack pattern until Barinade's centre has taken enough damage to undergo its spectacular demise.
After Barinade is dead, Jabu-Jabu will be restored to (nearly) complete health. You and Princess Ruto will turn up in the Zora river, where she will present you with the Zora Sapphire as an... engagement present? You now have all three precious stones. Next stop: Princess Zelda, and the Temple of Time!
This was the third boss from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Previous boss: King Dodongo.
Next boss: Phantom Ganon.