Rupee

A Blue Rupee
Rupee
Origin	Hyrule
Type	Currency
Debut	The Legend of Zelda

Rupees are the standard currency used throughout the Zelda series. They are essentially hexagon-shaped jewels and come in a wide variety of colors and sizes. The colors and sizes determine the value of the Rupee, although the series is not always consistent.

Information

Rupees come in several denominations.

• Green - 1 Rupee. Introduced in A Link to the Past. Some games also have giant green Rupees that are worth 50 or 100 Rupees.
• Blue - 5 Rupees. Introduced in The Legend of Zelda. Some games have giant blue Rupees that are worth 100 Rupees.
• Yellow - 10 Rupees. It originally appeared in the first The Legend of Zelda as being worth 1 Rupee instead of the green Rupee, and it also appeared in the Oracle games with a variable value that could be 1, 5 or 20 Rupees. This type was reintroduced The Wind Waker, as being worth 10 Rupees, and it has maintained that value in its other appearances in Twilight Princess and Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.
• Red - 20 Rupees. They were introduced in A Link to the Past and have appeared in every game since. They have a standard value of 20 Rupees in almost every appearance except for Link's Awakening (where they are 30 Rupees) and the Oracle games (where it can be worth 1, 5 or 10 Rupees). Several games have also had big Red Rupees, which are worth 200 Rupees.
• Purple - 50 Rupees. This type was introduced in Ocarina of Time and has primarily been used in the 3-D games, although it eventually appeared in 2-D games with A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes.
• Orange - 100 Rupees. A Big Orange Rupee originally appeared in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask as being worth 200 Rupees. However, the normal-sized Orange Rupee has had the value of 100 Rupees in all three of its appearances: The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.
• Silver - 100 or 200 Rupees. Silver Rupees originally appeared in Ocarina of Time, where they had to be collected within time limits as parts of puzzles and were only worth 5 Rupees. It was properly introduced in Majora's Mask as being worth 100 Rupees. It was then worth 200 Rupees in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, only to revert to being 100 Rupees in its later appearances: Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes and Breath of the Wild.
• Gold - 200 or 300 Rupees. They are worth 200 Rupees in the Nintendo 64 games and 300 Rupees in all later appearances (which is every game from Phantom Hourglass onwards).

In Four Swords, there is also a "Black Rupee" which reduces Rupees by a random amount. Skyward Sword similarly has a Black Rupee that is called a Rupoor and will take away 10 Rupees.

Rupees are not just currency, but also have a certain magical trait to them. In most Zelda games, Rupees are often used to summon Great Fairies from wishing pools. As explained in Rupeeland, it's often because of the purifying aspect that Rupees have on pools. Despite this, they can bring both happiness and misery due to the greed they induce. This factor is exploited by Uncle Rupee whose greed for Rupees has been used to transform innocent people into a 'Tingle' to collect Rupees for him.

In general, rupees can be found anywhere. These methods of finding them include cutting down grass or bushes, breaking pots, defeating monsters and opening chests, in addition to receiving them from NPCs. In Four Swords, Rupee shards can be collected and assembled into a single Rupee worth 500 Rupees. Typically in most Zelda games, there is a certain limit to how many Rupees can be carried. Larger wallets are required to carry more Rupees.

In Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, Tingle can only survive as long as he has Rupees. In his adventure, he finds several Super Rupees that are square shaped and have no specific monetary value. These types of Rupees were full of power and were able to create extremely powerful monsters. Their actual use was to unlock the large Master Rupee, which was silver colored and necessary to reach Uncle Rupee with. During Tingle's battle with Uncle Rupee, he used Rupees as his ammunition.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Rupees appear in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, where they can be found in other villages' storage units and obtained as furniture when playing under Welcome amiibo.
• They can be collected in Hyrule Warriors and can be used for a variety of modifications. Players are awarded Rupees at the end of a battle depending on their performance. An 8-Bit Rupee also appears as a special weapon for Agitha (originally as DLC), and in the Definitive Edition of the game, Tingle can deploy exploding Rupees as part of his combo.
• In Mario Kart 8, Rupees replace Coins on the Hyrule Circuit.

Trivia

• Rupees are also the name of the real-world currency used in India.
• The sprites for yellow Rupees in The Legend of Zelda are recycled from those that were used for gold bars in Clu Clu Land.
• There is a sticker of a Green Rupee in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.