Heart Container

The Heart Container has appeared in every single game in the Zelda series. Link usually gets it as a reward for defeating bosses. It does exactly what it sounds like it does. It contains hearts. The more heart containers Link has, the more hearts he can hold at one time. The more hearts he has, the more damage he can take. When Link is down to a certain number of hearts (this number changes depending on how many containers he has) most Zelda games will play a constant alarm sound until the hearts are back above the warning level. This keeps the player from having to constantly check his hearts to see if he's about to die.

In many games, when all of Link's heart containers are full, he can shoot a beam from his sword, provided that he has the right kind of sword. In The Minish Cap Link could learn Peril Beam which let him shoot a beam from his sword when his heart meter gets low enough to beep.

In addition to defeating bosses, Link can also fuse four Heart Pieces together to create a new Heart Container. Heart Pieces weren't introduced until A Link to the Past.

In every game, Link always starts off with three containers, and usually ends with two rows of heart containers. The length of the rows changes from game to game (more recently it tends to be 10 hearts on each row), but you can usually use the amount of hearts you have to judge how far you are in a Zelda game. Once you get a new heart on the second row, you're usually more than halfway done, assuming you've been collecting heart pieces as you go along.

Appearances

 * The Legend of Zelda - Found after defeating any major boss.
 * Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Found in various caves and dungeons. Increases HP by one whole unit.
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces. One additional heart container can also be found in the sanctuary at the beginning of the game.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * Super Smash Bros. - Can be found and used in battles. It fully restores all of the character's health.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee - Can be found and used in battles. Reduces damage by 100 points.
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords - Given to the player with the most rupees at the end of each level.
 * The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of four Heart Pieces.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures - Found in chests in various locations. These only last until the end of the level, then you start the next level with only three heart containers.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Found after defeating any major boss. Can also be fused together out of five Heart Pieces, a change from previous games.