Link can encounter a number of recurring mini-bosses throughout his journeys in Hyrule, like Molduga in the Gerudo Desert and Talus in rocky areas. The Hinox is one such recurring boss in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that can be found in a number of locations in different forms, but it's not as dangerous as it looks.
Hinox are known for their enormous size, and a gigantic single eye which serves as a convenient weak spot for Link to aim for. If players don't want to fight it, they can use an old trick in Tears of the Kingdom to stealthily climb onto the Hinox' hand and pick up the items around its neck without even waking it up. But these gigantic foes are well worth taking down for the strong Elixir and Fuse materials they drop.
Where To Find Hinox
Hinox are found all over Hyrule in a few varieties. There's the regular Hinox, who appears reddish and tends to live in forest or green areas, the Blue Hinox, the Black Hinox, and even Stalnox, which are skeletal versions of these giant world bosses. In Lookout Landing, players can talk to a member of the Monster-Hunting team to find out the location of nearby Hinox, too.
Despite their size, it's easy to accidentally stumble across these bosses without realizing what is going on. When traversing hilly terrain or dense forests, keep an ear out for a distorted, guttural noise warbling over the winds – it could be the sound of a snoring Hinox asleep in a nearby meadow. Indeed when Link comes across a Hinox, they're almost always asleep. When they wake up Hinox are capable of dealing some serious damage, but they suffer from one glaring weakness: a gigantic eyeball, ripe for Link's arrows.
How To Beat Hinox
Hinox take up a lot of space, and as with all big enemies, it's never a bad idea to make some space of one's own and get the upper hand. Players can dance around its feet and attack with melee the whole time, but it's nearly impossible to avoid being hit by it at close range. Instead, remember that Hinox move relatively slowly. If Link can sprint to a far enough distance away, it will give him a few seconds to aim with a strong Bow.
Having a Bow and plenty of arrows is key to beating the Hinox quickly and efficiently as these monstrous bosses can be stunned reliably with a direct shot to its gigantic eyeball. If Link is close, he won't be able to aim high enough to get the critical hit, but if he's too far he won't be able to close the distance before it gets back up again.
If Link consistently stays about a 5 seconds sprint from the Hinox, he should be able to consistently hit its eyeball with arrows and stun it over and over again. Sometimes it will try to protect its eye with its hand, so make some more distance, wait for its hand to drop, then hit the eye again.
A weapon with at least 20 damage is good for this fight as it will whittle its health down without being painfully slow – of course, higher-damage weapons are always preferable. It's a good idea to bring a one-handed weapon to this fight over a two-handed one as Link will be able to attack much faster and get much more damage in before it rises to its feet once again. Just repeat the process of firing at its eye, running up for melee strikes while it's stunned, then retreating until it explodes into purple smoke.
What Do Hinox Drop?
Hinox around Hyrule will drop mostly the same rewards as each other, with different names and values based on the level of Hinox that was fought. A Black Hinox or Stalnox, for example, will drop much stronger cooking ingredients and elixir materials than a run-of-the-mill Red one. All Hinox will drop Hinox Tooth, Hinox Guts, Hinox Toenail, Hinox Horn, and a swathe of cooking and Elixir-making materials.
Some Hinox will also drop weapons, specifically the weapons they wear on a chain as a necklace. Though these weapons will drop at the end of the fight, there's an old method for climbing Hinox from Breath of the Wild that also works in Tears of the Kingdom to get these weapons without even engaging the boss.
First, raise Link's Stealth by consuming Stealth-boosting foods or by wearing the Sheikah Armor, which boosts Stealth passively. Then, find a sleeping Hinox out in the world. Crouch down, then walk up to its outstretched hand, typically on its left side. If the hand is on the ground, and the Hinox is still asleep, carefully walk onto the palm and wait.
After a few seconds it will grunt and raise its arm to its chest, at which point players can calmly walk off and onto its belly. The weapons around its neck can be looted here, though its body parts and cooking ingredients cannot – just be careful not to be too loud when getting off its belly, as it can wake up at the slightest provocation.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available for the Nintendo Switch.