Bow and Arrow
| |
| The Fairy Bow from Ocarina of Time. | |
| Bow and Arrow | |
| Type | Projectile weapon |
| Debut | The Legend of Zelda |
The Bow and its arrow ammunition together form one of the most commonly recurring weapons within the The Legend of Zelda series.
Information[edit]
Like the real bow, the bow is a stringed weapon which fires arrows at enemies. It can usually fire only directly forward, although the 3-D games utilize a first-person perspective while the Wii and DS games use motion and touch screen controls respectively for the firing of the bow. Link can hold only a set amount of arrows which are kept within a quiver (which is first referred to in Ocarina of Time), but he can receive upgrades to hold more arrows. The exception is during the bow's first appearance in The Legend of Zelda, in which there was no arrow counter, and instead each arrow fired depleted five Rupees. It is a versatile weapon and was initially the only weapon that Link could wield in horseback combat. Arrows are most likely the most effective projectile weapons in general. They are also used in various minigames which usually are some manner of target-shooting gallery.
The bow itself has few capabilities. Within the Four Swords subseries, Link can hold back the arrow before firing it in order to "charge" it. The arrow glints when at full power. The bow can also be upgraded to a Level 2 Bow in Four Swords Adventures, which can fire off three arrows at the same time. A different modifier was available for the bow in Twilight Princess, in which the Hawkeye item could be combined with the bow to give Link accuracy akin to that of a sniper's scope. Aside from that, the main variations come with the arrows themselves. In early games, Link could upgrade his arrows into more powerful Silver Arrows, which served as Ganon's weakness. Later games replaced these with three new elementally charged arrows: the Fire Arrow, Ice Arrow and Light Arrow. There is also the Bomb Arrow, which was an easter egg item in Link's Awakening and has been implemented into later games as an actual arrow type.
Bows are sometimes wielded by enemies such as certain soldiers and Moblins. Bows have also been wielded by allies. Princess Zelda has used bows on several occasions, and Romani has practiced wielding a bow.
Appearances[edit]
In The Legend of Zelda, it was found within the Eagle Labyrinth, which was considered to be the first dungeon, and thus it is among the first weapons that could be found within the game. The Silver Arrow was later found in Death Mountain, just in time for the final battle against Ganon. In A Link to the Past, the bow was found within the Eastern Temple. Link could initially hold 30 arrows, but the amount can be gradually increased to a maximum of 70 by making regular donations to the Pond of Happiness. The Silver Arrows were given to Link by the Pyramid of Power's Great Fairy when Link first meets her. In Link's Awakening, the bow and arrow set was on sale at Mabe Village's shop for the high price of 980 Rupees and was needed to progress through the game. It was possible for Link to shoplift it, but he would have to face consequences afterwards. Link could initially hold 30 arrows, which could later change to 60 arrows from the Mad Batter's "curse".
In Ocarina of Time, the Fairy Bow was among the first weapons Link gains after growing up, and it was found at the Forest Temple. He could only use it as a teenager. Link's first quiver held 30 arrows. The Big and Biggest Quivers, which respectively held 40 and 50 arrows, were earned by winning the Shooting Gallery at Kakariko Village and by getting 1500 points at the Gerudo's Horseback Archery Range. In Majora's Mask, the bow was called the Hero's Bow and was found at Woodfall Temple. Each of the other three main temples notably had an elemental arrow as their treasure, with the other weapons being obtained elsewhere in the regions. The Large and Largest Quivers, which were the same as the previous game's Big and Biggest Quivers, were won by setting high scores at the shooting galleries.
In The Wind Waker, the Hero's Bow was found at the Tower of the Gods and started off with 30 arrows. Link could receive upgraded to carry 60 and then 99 arrows from the Great Fairies of Western and Thorned Fairy Island. This game also marked the first time that another character used Link's bow, as Princess Zelda herself wielded it for the final battle with Ganon. Bows were also available as items in multiple areas within Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, and in the latter game they could be upgraded by Great Fairies into Level 2 Bows. These bows also uniquely fired an infinite amount of arrows. In The Minish Cap, the bow was found within the Castor Wilds. Link once more started with 30 arrows and could upgrade his quiver to carry 50, 70 and 99 arrows by buying a quiver from Stockwell's Shop, opening a chest atop a beanstalk unlocked by fusing a Kinstone with a Minish near the Wind Ruins and by answering the Great Dragonfly Fairy truthfully in the Royal Valley.
Within the Twilight Princess, the Hero's Bow was found within the Goron Mines with a matching quiver that held 30 arrows. It was referred to as a Goron treasure that used to belong to "the hero of old", who left it there generations ago, which implies that it is one of the bows used by the Hero of Time (most likely the bow of the same name from Majora's Mask, which purportedly is in the same timeline). According to Gorr Liggs, the bow was used to defeat "the most powerful evils this world has ever known". Link could upgrade to a Big Quiver that held 60 arrows and a Giant Quiver holding 100 arrows by completing different levels of the STAR Tent minigame. In Phantom Hourglass, a bow was found in the Temple of Courage. Link could hold arrows by 20 arrows originally, 30 Arrows with the Big Quiver that was received after scoring well at Molida Island's shooting gallery and 50 arrows after buying the Biggest Quiver from any shop. In Spirit Tracks, the bow was found at the Fire Temple. This game had the same quivers as Phantom Hourglass, with the Big and Biggest Quivers being purchasable at Goron Village's shop and earned by scoring 3500 points at the Pirate Hideout minigame respectively. Link later retrieves the legendary Bow of Light at the Desert Temple, which is essential for the final battle in which Zelda winds up wielding it.
In Skyward Sword, the bow was the treasure found at the Sandship after destroying LD-002S Scervo. Gondo could upgrade the Bow into an Iron Bow and then a Sacred Bow, which made it more powerful. Link could obtain extra quivers through various means. Each quiver could hold five arrows and could be upgraded twice (with each upgrade adding another five arrows), although Link could only carry as much as the limited Adventure Pouch would allow. In The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, the bow was the first item to be made available for Link through Ravio's rental service, and it was made available for free for the first rental. As with all of his rental items, it would be reclaimed by Ravio if Link continued from a game over, at which point Link would have to pay to rent it again. Later in the game, Link could purchase the bow permanently from Ravio, and it could be upgraded by Mother Maiamai into a Nice Bow. In this game, there were no limits on the available arrows, as firing arrows depleted Link's Stamina Meter rather than any numbered stock. Additionally, Link was granted a Bow of Light by Zelda's magic for the final battle, which could only be fired when Link was merged with a wall.
The bow also appeared in Tri Force Heroes as a temporary item found in various areas. As in A Link Between Worlds, arrows depleted the Stamina Meter. Wearing the Kokiri Clothes could also enhance the bow to fire three arrows at the same time. In Breath of the Wild, there were various different bows that could be obtained throughout Hyrule, and they could be found through means like treasure chests, being found lying in the wild, taking them from enemies, buying them from merchants and receiving them as gifts. All bows would break after certain numbers of uses, and the various types of bows had different features and advantages over others. Link could even fire bows in midair, with an optional slowdown effect. The different types of arrows available in this game were normal arrows, Fire Arrows, Ice Arrows, Bomb Arrows, Shock Arrows and Ancient Arrows. Link could also only hold a certain number of bows at a time, determined by the number of slots for bows on the inventory screen. Through upgrades from the Korok Hetsu, Link could eventually hold up to thirteen bows at a time.
Other Appearances[edit]
Video Games[edit]
- In the Super Smash Bros. series, Link (as well as Young/Toon Link) fires an arrow from his bow as his standard special move. He can also "charge" the arrow before releasing it, a move which was mimicked in several of the later Zelda games. Young Link specifically fires Fire Arrows. A sticker for the Hero's Bow from Twilight Princess is found in Brawl.
- In Soulcalibur II, Link can fire an arrow from his bow as one of his moves. He is also capable of charging the arrow here and adjusting the direction in which the arrow is fired.
- The Bow appears as an item in Hyrule Warriors that could be used by Link, with Light Arrows being fired in its upgraded form. Zelda could also use a bow that fired Light Arrows as part of her Rapier moveset.
- In Cadence of Hyrule, the bow could be gained as an inventory item, along with a stronger version known as the Great Bow. The player could also gain Fire, Ice and Electric Arrows, along with a new type known as Poison Arrows.
Trivia[edit]
- There are several other projectile-firing weapons throughout the Zelda games, but the only other one which fires arrows is the crossbow that was featured in Link's Crossbow Training, which fired an unlimited amount of arrows.