Four Sword

The Four Sword is a sacred sword that appears in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. It is similar to the Master Sword in that it is needed to defeat the main villain, which is Vaati in the three games, and that it can only be wielded by someone who is pure of heart. The Four Sword also splits its wielder, which is Link in each appearance, into four nearly identical copies of themselves. Link's copies can mainly be distinguished from the color of their tunic; besides standard green, the other three have a red, blue, and purple tunic respectively.

The Four Sword is a double-edged spear-point blade with a small fuller near the hilt. The hilt is gold and engraved with what appears to be the symbol of an eye (likely representing Vaati). On the pommel is a round jewel. When the Four Sword is not in use, the jewel is a dull, green color. Once the Four Sword has been drawn, the jewel changes to match the color of the tunic of whichever Link is wielding it.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, during the intro, Zelda senses a disturbance in the Four Sword, and subsequently invites Link to investigate with her. As the two of them enter the Four Sword Sanctuary, Zelda instructs Link not to touch the blade, as it might cause him to "shatter to pieces." Just as Zelda goes to check the seal, the Four Sword leans out of its pedestal and the room goes dark. Vaati is unleashed from the seal, and he captures Zelda and takes off with her to his palace.

When Link regains consciousness, he is awakened by three Great Fairies. They explain the purpose of the Four Sword to Link and instruct him to pull it out of its pedestal. In doing so, Link is split into four copies of himself. Besides their differently colored tunics, the Links are only different in the deepness of their voices.

Inside Vaati's Palace, the four Links battle Vaati. They eventually weaken Vaati enough so that he can be sealed back into the Four Sword. The Links free Zelda, and they return to the Four Sword Sanctuary to put the Four Sword back into its pedestal. In doing so, Link becomes one person again.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Game Boy Advance)
In the Game Boy Advance version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the Four Sword is a key item that can be found in the Palace of the Four Sword. Each fragment of the Four Sword is guarded by enhanced versions of the Helmasaur King, Arrghus, Mothula and Blind respectively. After Link defeats these creatures and retrieves all four shards, he reforms the Four Sword, and enters the final area. However, the Four Sword splits into four, and thus four Dark Links, each representing a shard of the Four Sword, attack Link. Once Link defeats them, he manages to reform the Four Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, during the intro, Zelda and the six maidens become worried about the Four Sword holding Vaati because of the black clouds covering Hyrule. Link is asked to go to Hyrule Castle to protect the Maidens as they open a portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary. As the portal opens, Shadow Link and captures Zelda and the maidens in magical crystals. Link quickly follows him through to portal to the Sanctuary. Link is lured up to the Pedestal holding the Four Sword, which he pulls out to use on Shadow Link. This proved to be a set up because drawing the Four Sword allowed Vaati to escape from his seal. Like in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, pulling out the Four Sword causes Link to split into four copies, this time each corresponding to a different element: Green Link represents wind, Red Link represents fire, Blue Link represents water, and Purple Link represents earth. The four of them are pulled into one of Vaati's whirlwinds and are blown to a faraway area.

Later, the four Links are awakened by Kaepora Gaebora at Lake Hylia. He tells them that the Four Sword has lost its ability to vanquish evil, but with the help of enough Force Gems he can return it to full strength. Every time one of the Links collects over 2,000 Force Gems, the Four Sword powers up and turns back into the Ultimate Four Sword.

At the end of their journey, the four Links enter the Palace of Winds to confront Vaati for one last showdown. Link uses the Four Sword to defeat Vaati, and just as he and Zelda make their escape, Ganon appears to battle Link and Zelda. After winning the battle, Link seals Ganon into the Four Sword by help of the maidens. To prevent anyone from further tampering with the blade, a magical barrier is cast over it for protection. Link ends his journey by putting the Four Sword back into its pedestal in the Four Sword Sanctuary, returning him back into one person.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, the game starts with the annual Picori Festival. The winner of the contest gets to touch the Picori Sword, which was given to the Hylians long ago by the Minish.

Late into the game, it is revealed that the Picori Blade is the Four Sword without its power. The White Sword, which is a reforged version of the Picori Blade, becomes the Four Sword in the Elemental Sanctuary once Link obtains the Wind Element, which is the last of the four elements. After this, a secret chamber is revealed in the the Elemental Sanctuary, revealing that the Light Force is found within Zelda. Vaati, disguised as King Daltus, confronts Link and Ezlo and congratulates them for leading him to the Light Force's location. Vaati reveals his true identity, and he promptly knocks Link unconscious before taking over Hyrule Castle, and transforms it into Dark Hyrule Castle.

With the Four Sword, Link is able to create four separate copies of himself, although only for a short time. Throughout Dark Hyrule Castle, Link uses the Four Sword to solve puzzles requiring him to separate into four copies of himself. At the top of the castle, Link re-encounters Vaati, and the final boss battle starts. Like in Dark Hyrule Castle, Link uses the Four Sword to fight Vaati and his different incarnations. The battle ends with Vaati being absorbed into the Four Sword, putting an end to his reign of terror.

Powers and abilities
Once drawn from its pedestal, the Four Sword splits its wielder's body into four separate copies, one of which is the original. These three replicas are almost completely identical to the original. The only two differences that can be told is the clothing of the four are all different colors (although the design is the same), and the varying deepness that can be made out from their voices. The four can choose to separate from each other and work on their own, or they can stick together in different formations.

The Four Sword can fire Sword Beams when Link is in full health. In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, this can only be done once the power to repel evil has been restored by the Force Gems. Only when the power to repel evil has returned can the Four Sword be used to break Vaati Barriers. One of the most surprising abilities of the Four Sword is the ability to take Link back in time to the beginning of a level if he does not have enough Force Gems at the end. In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, the Four Sword cannot fire Sword Beams until Link has obtained the Master Sword in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords.

In The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, Formations are a standard combat system, consisting of gathering the Four Link clones into one single area to combine their strengths. When in formation, the four generally stay close to one another and attack in unison. There are four different formations. The first is the box where the four are arranged side to side, back to back. Closely related are the long and wide formations, where everyone is located side to side in a single line. The diamond formation is done when all four are lined up back to back facing away from each other, and is useful for when surrounded. Finally there is the standard formation, where one is in the front attacking, while the others merely follow in his footsteps.

In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, the Four Sword has a similar use. When charged, Link can walk over special tiles to create the four copies of himself. However, the three copies only last a short while before disappearing, and have no different colored clothing. Why the sword acts so differently between games has yet to fully be explained, although the changes may simply be due to gameplay constraints. When charged at it's fully unlocked strength, the sword can let out a beam that can lift curses, such as the one that turns Princess Zelda to stone. It can also seal evil inside itself, though this seal will seemingly weaken as time passes.