My Top 5 'Legend of Zelda' Items

It's November, and if you know anything about me, you'll know that this is the month I dedicate to celebrating everyone's favourte tunic wearing hero who even in 2019, still gets called Zelda for some reason. That's right, it's time for another Zelda Month, and just like last year, I'll be writing four articles and putting them up here for your reading pleasure. Now, in case you're wondering, yes, the articles will be running until the end of the first week of December, so it isn't for the entire month, but nevertheless, I will endavour to give you the very best Zelda content, so that you too, can join in the celebration of this legendary franchise.

In case you need a quick primer on what Zelda Month is, to celebrate the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, in 2011, YouTuber Austin Hargrave (aka Peanut Butter Gamer), started a series of videos where he talked about various aspects of the Zelda franchise for the entirety of November, dubbing the series "Zelda Month." He has since continued the tradition, with several other YouTubers joining in, taking up the initiative of making Zelda-themed videos every November.

This year, I'm going to kick off Zelda Month by looking at my top five items in the Zelda series. Link is commonly depicted with his trusty sword and shield, but it's no secret that throughout his various quests, Link obtains and wields a variety of items, which usually change with each entry in the franchise. These items have all evolved over the years to form some of the most recognizable parts of Link's arsenal, and they have become one of the things I look forward to most in a brand new Zelda game. Without further ado, here are my top 5 Legend of Zelda items.

5. The Hammer

The Hammer is one of the most common items in the Legend of Zelda series, and it's also one of the most entertaining. Making its debut in The Adventure of Link for the Nintendo Entertainment System, the hammer has gone through several modifications in the various games it's appeared in. I’m going to be focusing on the Skull Hammer, featured in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The hammer is obtained as a reward for besting Phantom Ganon in Link’s second venture through the Forsaken Fortress. The hammer is primarily used for knowing down pegs that are in Link’s way, but its utility is definitely not the only thing that warrants it a spot on this list. For starters, look at the thing; its design is incredible, and really bolsters the cartoon aspect of the world that the cel-shaded style of graphics was going for. Add that to the relatively small size of this incarnation of Link, and you’ve got a comical representation of absolute destruction.

As a weapon, the Skull Hammer is no joke—it's pretty powerful, not to mention INCREDIBLY satisfying to swing around. The hammer flattens Minibins into pancakes and can send even them flying:

I briefly considered putting the Megaton Hammer on this list instead of the Skull Hammer, but the aesthetic of the item and the overall exaggeration of it when it is wielded put it just above the Hammer of the Gorons. All in all, due to its unique design compared to the other iterations of the Hammer, and it oozing style, the Skull Hammer gets the number five spot on this list.

P.S As a bonus, if you look at Link’s eyes when he has the Skull Hammer out, he gets all serious, which is adorable.

4. The Stasis Rune

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Yes, I FINALLY played the game) introduced a ton of new mechanics to the Zelda franchise, some of which I hope to see in later editions of the series. While your traditional bow and arrows, bombs and boomerang are all back for another adventure, the game introduced the concept of Runes, which are like special abilities that are given to Link thanks to the Sheikhah Slate which he obtains in the very beginning of the game. The Runes are one of the most fundamental aspects of the entire game, and the one that I found to be the most fun to use was the Stasis rune, which lets you temporarily freeze an object in time.

Now, normally, stopping an object in time is cool enough, but when you combine that with the wide range of actions that Link can perform in this game, the possibilities are endless. The fact that the object builds up momentum when it's frozen presents a whole range of crazy manoeuvres that the player can perform—no doubt you’ve seen how people travel from one place to another by using Stasis on a boulder, hitting it multiple times, and then clinging on as it whizzes through the sky. Its application on enemies too, is useful, and some people have gotten extremely inventive using it as a way to take down enemies without ever giving them a chance to counterattack. It's beautiful, and downright terrifying.

The genius of the Stasis rune simply comes form the fact that while it seems like an all powerful tool that you can use anywhere, it takes quite a bit of skill to master, which is one of the firsts that Wild introduced to the Zelda series. Use it at the wrong time or on the wrong target, and you could be in for some trouble. But if you do manage to control it, it easily becomes one of the best tools in Link’s arsenal, and for that, it gets the number four spot.

3. Boomerang

Ah, the Boomerang. One of Link’s oldest items, dating back to the very first Legend of Zelda for the NES, the Boomerang is always my personal go to in case I find myself in a sticky situation that I don’t quite know how to get out of. The Boomerang is a useful tool for stunning enemies or for killing more minor ones like Keese or Bubbles. My favourite iteration of the Boomerang is a toss up between Twilight Princess’ Gale Boomerang and The Wind Waker’s… umm… well, Boomerang. Both can lock on to multiple targets, and while it's true that Twilight Princess has the whole ‘gale’ aspect to it, the aesthetic of the Boomerang in The Wind Waker is very appealing (see above).

This item makes the list simply because it's essential for Link in nearly every Zelda game, and not just for combat. Its usefulness stretches far and wide, to solving puzzles that require multiple switches to be triggered simultaneously to fetching items that are a bit too far away to reach by jumping to the place directly. Here’s a small little story: when I first played Breath of the Wild, I didn’t know if the Boomerang was back as an item or not, and for the first couple of hours, I hadn’t come across it. When I found and killed my first Lizalfos, I picked up its weapon without really reading what it was, assuming it was a sword. It was a full day later that I discovered (when I was fooling around, no less) that it was actually a Boomerang that could be thrown and caught, and I was ecstatic, and threw it around EVERYWHERE.

… until it broke and I had to get a new one. That part kind of sucked.

2. Shock Arrows

Elemental arrows are nothing new to the Zelda franchise. Making their debut in Ocarina of Time in the form of Fire, Ice and Light arrows, these variants have been one of Link’s most powerful tools in almost every Zelda game. When Breath of the Wild came about, it introduced a brand new element to add to the existing trio—Shock Arrows, and surprinsgly, these little things worked their way up to number two on this list.

Why are Shock Arrows so good? Well, aside from being one of the coolest looking times in the game once you’ve used them (those slow motion flurry rushes… wow), they also have a shocking (pardon the pun) amount of utility. They stun any enemy they hit for a very brief duration, allowing Link to maybe get from point A to point B, or maybe even knock them over with a rush attack, and when they’re used on certain enemies that are affiliated with water, they’re super effective, creating a sphere of electricity from the point of contact. This can be super useful when dealing with multiple enemies in the water. To add on, they’re ultra powerful in the rain, and given how much it rains in this game, that’s bound to come in handy sometime.

The cherry on top of the proverbial cake is the fact that, just like the rest of the game, which takes into account real world physics, shock arrows can send electricity through metal objects, including shields, crates and even weapons. Considering most of the higher-leveled enemies in the game use metal weapons (with the exception of Guardian based enemies), these arrows prove to be extremely useful. When you combine such a wide range of utility to one of the best designed weapons in the game, you know you have a winning combination, and it's not surprising in the least that they take the number two spot.

1.5 - Honourable Mention: The Spinner

If there’s a list for items in the franchise that had the most potential, this would be number one on it, no questions asked. The Spinner is one of the coolest items to ever exist in any Zelda game, which only adds to the feeling of absolute disappointment that it's only ever useful in one dungeon in Twilight Princess. The Arbiter’s Grounds is a fantastic dungeon on its own (as you may recall from last year’s list, where I put it at number three), and it's value is only boosted by the inclusion of this item. Throughout the dungeon there are tracks along the walls that Link can latch onto using the Spinner. It's used most commonly for crossing chasms and gaps that are too big to jump, or for navigating through complex pathways.

However, the real fun begins when you start the battle with the dungeon’s boss, Stallord. You’re never on your feet in this fight, seeing as how the arena is a giant ocean of sand. You have to use the Spinner to chip away at Stallord’s spine, and once you’ve done that enough, it seems the fight is over and only his head remains. However, it starts to float and the entire room changes into an empty room with a pillar in the middle, with tracks all along the wall. You then have to jump between tracks to get close to Stallord to down him. This was one of the best bosses in the series, and was actually the boss competing for Volvagia’s spot in last years Top 5 Boss Battles list.

That’s where the use of the Spinner ends, unfortunately—while you technically can use it whenever you want, it's so slow to the point where it's just painful to watch. I wish they would bring this item back in some way in a future game, because it was honestly one of the most innovative concepts the series has ever seen.

1. The Hookshot

When someone thinks of iconic Zelda weapons, all the usual suspects immediately come to mind—bombs, the boomerang, the bow and arrow along with the types of arrows… and last but not least, the Hookshot. This item is hands down the coolest item that has ever been seen in a Zelda game, if you ask me. Introduced in a Link to the Past, the Hookshot is a spring loaded chain that can drag you from one place to the other. Link can use it to traverse large distances and drag items and even enemies towards him. In Ocarina, Majora, and Wind Waker, the hookshot could latch onto basically any wooden substance, making it extremely useful for getting treasure chests and getting around in general. Some stronger foes can even be stunned with the hookshot, which makes it useful all around. In Ocarina, Link gets an upgraded version of the Hookshot called the Longshot, which performs the exact same function, but is… well, longer.

Another version of this item that I considered putting at number one is the Double Clawshot, from Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. These versions take the basic concept of the hookshot and they make it more entertaining. The first time I used it in Twilight Princess, I felt like a soldier from Attack on Titan, or Spider-Man swinging around New York City. Now, while this item was admittedly much cooler aesthetically, the practical aspect of hitting chests and using it as a method of traversal even in the absence of dedicated targets and vines drags it down. However, it is still a very good item and one of my personal favourites for sure—it's just not as all round as the Hookshot is, and for that, the Hookshot gets the spot of my favourite Zelda item.

That completes the first Zelda Month post of 2019! Stay tuned for more in the next three weeks, and if you like what you read, be sure to leave a like or a tip if you want, and check out my homepage, where you can read last year’s collection of Zelda Month posts. Catch you guys next time!