Master Sword

The Master Sword (マスターソード), also known as the Blade of Evil's Bane and the Sword of Time, is a recurring sword in the Legend of Zelda series. In many games, it is said to be the only sword capable of defeating the malevolent Ganondorf and his demonic alternate form, Ganon. This legendary blade was crafted by the Ancient Sages and blessed with the power to vanquish beings of evil. It is directly related to the legend of the Hero of Time and has become one of the most iconic symbols of the Legend of Zelda series, often appearing in other video games. Additionally, the Master Sword has been featured in several Zelda games' logos.

History
At one point in ancient Hyrule, the Ancient Sages forged a sword to repel evil, foreseeing that wicked ones would seek to abuse the Triforce. To protect the blade from any misuse, the Sages ensured that only those pure of heart and strong of body could lay their hands on it. After its creation, the Master Sword was embedded into an enchanted pedestal, and the great Temple of Time was built around it. Ultimately, the sword and pedestal were both sealed inside a private chamber protected by a mighty stone barrier. Only one worthy of the title of "Hero" could pull the sword from the pedestal and unlock its true power. For many ages, the Master Sword lay hidden in its chamber, awaiting the time when the Hero spoken of in the prophecy would come to claim it.

Design
The Master Sword is a double-edged longsword with no fuller and a purple or blue hilt, although in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the hilt is golden. The sword's crossguard is noticeably large and elaborate in relation to its pommel, and is reminiscent of the seal of Hyrule's Royal Family. The blade possesses a ricasso, although Link is never portrayed using it. The Triforce is engraved on the base of the blade, and embedded in the crossguard is what appears to be a yellow gemstone.

In The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, the state of the gem and crossguard seems to be indicative of the sword's power; when Link first acquires the unawakened Master Sword, the gem in its crossguard is dark, and the guard itself seems to have retracted toward the grip. Only once the sword has been restored to its full power does its hilt regain its signature appearance, and its blade again radiates a mystical light. This theory is reinforced in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword during the forging of the Master Sword. The Unpowered Master Sword and the Fully Powered Master Sword have a retracted and an outstretched wing crossguard, respectively.

Abilities
More than mere steel, the Master Sword holds the power to repel those aligned with evil. The magic of the Master Sword also seems to prevent it from ever being physically damaged. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the Temple of Time falls into ruin over the centuries, but the Master Sword and its pedestal both appear untouched by the ravages of time when Link discovers it in the Sacred Grove.

Additionally, the Master Sword sometimes holds the power to unleash a mighty beam to smite enemies. It also has the ability to release the power of the Bombos, Ether, and Quake Medallions seen in A Link to the Past. The Master Sword also seemingly protects its user from evil auras, curses, and transformations. After obtaining the Master Sword in Twilight Princess, Link is no longer involuntarily transformed into his wolf form, except under the influence of the Shadow Crystal Fog within the Palace of Twilight.

The Master Sword also has the ability to dispel magical barriers that other weapons and items are ineffective against. In A Link to the Past, Link must use the Master Sword to destroy the barrier blocking the entrance to the top level of Hyrule Castle to progress through the dungeon, and confront the evil wizard Agahnim. In The Wind Waker, Link finds himself trapped in a magical barrier that encompasses all of Hyrule Castle. A single strike with the Master Sword causes the entire barrier to shatter like glass.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Master Sword rests in the Lost Woods of northwestern Hyrule. There are many Fake Swords in the forest, and the real one is in a grove. In the grove, there is a pedestal with the master sword in it and ancient Hylian inscribed on it. During the game, Link must obtain the Master Sword in order to defeat the Dark Wizard Agahnim. Before he can wield the sword, however, Link must obtain three Pendants of Virtue from three temples throughout the land. Link does so, defeating Agahnim and ultimately Ganon himself with the sacred blade. At the end of the game, it is stated that after Link placed the Master Sword back into its pedestal, it rested there for eternity, never to be used again. Strangely, even if Link has upgraded his sword to the Tempered Sword or the Golden Sword, when it is placed back into the pedestal, it is shown to be the normal, unaltered Master Sword.

The Master Sword deals twice the damage of the Fighter's Sword, and can fire sword beams when Link's health is full. It also allows Link to obtain and use the Bombos, Ether, and Quake Medallions. Notably, the Master Sword cannot damage Ganon without use of the Spin Attack. Later in the game, Link can upgrade it to the Tempered Sword by bringing it to the Dwarven Swordsmiths. The Tempered Sword can itself be upgraded to the Golden Sword by throwing it into the Mysterious Pond at the base of the Pyramid.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Master Sword resides in the Temple of Time, where it serves as the final key to opening the gateway to the Sacred Realm, resting place of the Triforce. The blade is said to be legendary within the game, indicating that it has attained mythical status in the eyes of Hyrule's people. Before Link can obtain it, however, he must collect the three Spiritual Stones and obtain the Ocarina of Time. When Link pulls the sword out of the Pedestal of Time, Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, enters the Sacred Realm and siezes the Triforce. Because Ganondorf's heart is not in balance, the Triforce splits into three parts, leaving Ganondorf with the Triforce of Power. Link and Navi, meanwhile, enter a seven-year slumber until Link is old and mature enough to wield the Triforce of Courage in the fight against Ganondorf, now the King of Evil. At the end of the game, with evil defeated, Link again lays the Master Sword to rest in its chamber.

The Master Sword deals twice the damage of the Kokiri Sword. As seen in the battles with Phantom Ganon and Ganondorf himself, the blade is able to rebound dark magic back at enemies in a version of Dead Man's Volley. The blade also possesses the ability to transport its wielder back and forth through time via the Pedestal of Time, allowing Link to alter events in both times, and to conquer trials in one time branch that he could not in the other.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons
The Master sword is the second and final upgrade to the Wooden Sword. It can only be obtained in a Linked Game, by delivering a certain secret between games in addition to completing that game's trading quest. Upon completion of the first of either of these tasks, Link's Wooden Sword is upgraded to the Noble Sword. Once the remaining objective is finished, the Noble Sword becomes the Master Sword.

In Oracle of Ages, Link must tell King Zora the secret from the Zora in the Hero's Cave in Holodrum, and complete the trading quest by having Patch repair the Broken Sword. King Zora will give Link a secret in return, which can be used to upgrade his sword in Oracle of Seasons by speaking to Farore.

In Oracle of Seasons, Link must tell the Old Man beneath Tick Tock's Clock Shop the secret from the Old Hag in Lynna City, and complete the trading quest by playing the Phonograph for the music-loving Deku Scrub. The Old Man will give Link a secret in return, which can be used to upgrade his sword in Oracle of Ages by speaking to Farore.

The Master Sword deals four times the damage of the Wooden Sword, and is entirely blue. It, is the one of the two swords (the other being the Biggoron's Sword) that can damage General Onox and Ganon without use of the Spin Attack. It is possible that this Master Sword is not the same as the one that appears in other games: three of the four methods of acquiring it entail it being made from an existing sword, which does not share the Master Sword's traditional origins. However, the fourth method of obtaining it does involve pulling it from an unnamed pedestal in the Lost Woods, similar to how it is found in A Link to the Past and Twilight Princess.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
The Master Sword appears as a secret weapon in the Anniversary Edition for the Nintendo 3DS and the DSi. It is obtained after completing the Realm of Memories, a bonus area added to the Anniversary Edition that features locations from previous Zelda games. The Master Sword can shoot sword beams when Link is at full health.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Master Sword rests in a hidden chamber beneath Hyrule Castle, located deep beneath the waves of the Great Sea. When Hyrule was flooded at the climax of the Great Flood, the Master Sword and the Pedestal of Time became the lock and key for a seal that would keep Hyrule and all in it&mdash;primarily Ganondorf and his army&mdash;frozen in time at the bottom of the sea. Only when the sword is drawn again can the seal be broken, and Hyrule reawakened. When Link claims the blade, he awakens Ganondorf's minions from their ancient slumber, unknowingly releasing the King of Evil's full power once again.

Link later learns that before he was sealed beneath the waves, Ganondorf caused the Master Sword to lose its power to repel evil by slaying the Sages of Earth and Wind. Link must awaken two new Sages in order to restore that power. With this done, he is able to break the magical barrier protecting Ganon's Tower inside Hyrule. Link then battles Ganondorf atop his tower, and after a long and hard-fought battle, thrusts the Master Sword into the Dark Lord's forehead. Ganondorf then turns to stone, with the Master Sword remaining stuck in his forehead&mdash;presumably for all time. As the waters of the Great Sea overtake Hyrule per Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule's wish, he bids Link and Zelda to "live for the future," and elects to pass with his kingdom while Link and Zelda are delivered safely to the surface.

In this incarnation, the Master Sword is notably smaller than other versions of the blade. This was likely simply a technical decision by the developers, given Link's diminutive size in The Wind Waker, although it is possible that the Master Sword is actually able to magically adapt to the size of its user.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Master Sword sleeps in the ruins of the Temple of Time, presumably the very same temple where the Hero of Time set the sword at the end of his adventure in Ocarina of Time. However, the temple has fallen into disrepair, and the surrounding area is now a deep forest. This seemingly marks a midpoint between Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past: the sword still resides within the remains of the Temple of Time, but also rests deep in the woods of the Sacred Grove, which likely over time became the Lost Woods which housed the Master Sword in A Link to the Past.

After Zant curses Link, forcing him to remain as a wolf, Princess Zelda explains that only the Master Sword can cleave the evil that cloaks him. Upon touching the blade, Link changes back into a Hylian. If he uses the Hawkeye to look closely at the pedestal, Link can see some small Hylian writing that translates to "Master Sword Master Sword". When he returns to the Sacred Grove later on, Link momentarily inserts the Master Sword into its pedestal to gain access to the Temple of Time as it was in its prime. Inside the restored temple, Link again briefly inserts the Master Sword into its pedestal, this time revealing a hidden path to the dungeon portion of the temple.

Later in the game, Link returns the Sols to their proper place in the Twilight Realm, and their power merges with the Master Sword. This transforms the blade radically as long as it remains within the Twilight Realm: it radiates golden light fiercely, cuts through Shadow Crystal Fog, and defeats Twilit enemies with a single blow. In the final battle against Ganondorf, Link uses the Ending Blow to impale the King of Evil with the Master Sword. After Ganondorf's defeat, peace reigns once again, Link places the sacred blade back into its pedestal during the end credits. This mirrors the endings of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, in which the Hero returns the sword to rest, where it awaits the day when it is needed to battle evil once again.

In this incarnation, the Master Sword is noticeably longer than in Ocarina of Time, more closely fitting the description of a longsword.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Initially, the Master Sword is called the Goddess Sword, which rests in a pedestal within the hidden chamber inside the Statue of the Goddess, on the floating island of Skyloft. The sword is sentient, and projects its spirit in the shape of an A.I.-like female humanoid named Fi. Fi contacts its predestined owner, Link, in response to the disappearance of Zelda, and to the weakening and inevitable breaking of Demise's seal on the Surface. After leading him to the sword pedestal, Fi informs Link that in order to save Zelda, he must verify his identity as her master and wield her.

As the game progresses, the Goddess Sword is purified and tempered by three sacred flames, each of which physically and spiritually transform the sword, altering its shape and granting it new powers, until it becomes the nearly-completed "Master Sword". Finally, it is blessed by Zelda, the mortal incarnation of the Goddess Hylia, and thus transforms into what the game refers to as the "True Master Sword", which is the incarnation whose appearance most closely resembles that of the Master Sword in other games. Oddly enough, despite its in game description stating that Link is the only one who can wield the Master Sword, if Link replays the first or second fight with Ghirahim in the Lightning Round he is still able to steal the True Master Sword from Link, though this is most likely the result of a game mechanic.

At the climax of the game, Demise is absorbed into the sword, which parallels how the Four Sword imprisoned Vaati and Ganon in the Four Swords games. After absorbing the remains of Demise, the Master Sword is placed within the Sealed Grounds, to allow time for the fiend to be completely dissolved within the blade. This, however, signifies the end of Fi as the sword's sentient spirit.

A gameplay mechanic re-introduced in this game is the Goddess Sword's ability to absorb and release energy from the heavens, known as a Skyward Strike, which is unleashed as a wide sword beam. Initially, these beams have very limited range, and have less attack power then regular sword slashes, doing only half the damage of a regular attack, while having the capacity to knockdown opponents. Once the sword is tempered into Goddess Longsword the damage Skyward Strike deals is doubled as well, and once fully-tempered and attains its final form as the True Master Sword, however, the range vastly improves, the charging speed is dramatically increased and the beam does more damage than before, just as they did in earlier games. Unlike in other games with beam attacks, however, Link does not need to be at full health, nor does he need to spend magic but must first charge his sword by raising the blade high above his head and aiming it skyward, causing it to flash, signaling it is ready to discharge.

Soulcalibur II
The Master Sword, along with the Hylian Shield, appears as Link's standard weapon in the Nintendo GameCube version of Soulcalibur II. In the game, it is Link's most balanced weapon.

Super Smash Bros. series
Link wields the Master Sword in battle. A trophy depicting the Master Sword can also be won in the Adventure Mode of Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Toon Link uses the Master Sword from The Wind Waker. In the Subspace Emissary mode of this game, Link pulls the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time in the first cutscene he appears in.

Gallery
Espada Maestra