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Shops are useful locations that have appeared in every installment of the Zelda series except for Template:AOL, Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. They sell a large variety of items or equipment that Link can purchase, often in exchange for Rupees (although there are some notable exceptions). There are many different types of shop, and the goods that they sell tend to differ depending on these types.
History
2D Era
In Template:LOZ, Merchants were hidden across the overworld, often concealed behind bombable walls or underneath Armos Statues. They mainly sold items such as Bombs, Recovery Hearts and Keys, but also sold more important items such as the Blue Candle, Bait and the Blue Ring. The items available for purchase differ between each merchant, as well as the items' prices. In addition to merchants, Old Women could also be found scattered across Hyrule, hidden in a similar manner. If Link obtains the Letter from the Old Man in a cave in northeast Hyrule, various Old Women will start to sell Life Potion and 2nd Potion. Shops were not featured at all in Template:AOL.
In Template:AOL, the shop system became a lot more complex, introducing different types of shop that specified in particular types of items. For example, the Magic Shop, which only sells Potions, and the Dark World Shield Shop, which only sells Shields. However, a few shops still retained the same style as the ones run by the merchants in the first game. The game also introduced the concept of selling items; Link is able to sell Golden Bees to the Bottle Merchant for 100 Rupees each.
Although having almost the exact same shop system as in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening did introduce Thievery. This allowed Link to get any item for free by stealing it from the Town Tool Shop, but if he entered the shop again, the shopkeeper would kill him. This idea was only ever used again in Twilight Princess, in which Link is able to steal from Trill's Shop.
3D Era
As in A Link to the Past, Template:OOT included multiple shops that each sold different items. One new addition was the Happy Mask Shop, which functioned very differently from shops seen previously in the series. Rather than buying the masks upfront, Link had to borrow them and then sell them himself, before paying the price of the mask back to the shop's owner, the Happy Mask Salesman. Doing this would allow Link to borrow the mask again for free whenever he wished.
The shop system seen in Majora's Mask was very similar to the one seen in Ocarina of Time, with a couple of new additions. The first of these was the Curiosity Shop, which sold stolen goods. Here, Link could purchase items that were stolen from other people, such as the Big Bomb Bag, which was stolen from the Old Lady from Bomb Shop by Sakon. He could also purchase his own items here if they were stolen by the Takkuri. The second new addition was the Milk Bar, which only sold Milk and Chateau Romani. However, in order to enter, Link must have obtained Romani's Mask, which is used as proof of membership.
Types of Shop
Most of the shops in the Zelda series fall under one of the following varieties.
General Shop
General shops are the most common variety of shop in the Zelda series, appearing since the very first game. They sell common items at relatively low prices, such as Arrows, Recovery Hearts and Slingshot Pellets. They appear quite frequently, and more than one can often be found in each game. They sometimes sell different items depending on the stage of the game that Link can first visit them. For example, in Template:OOT the Kokiri Shop sells Deku Shields whereas the Bazaar sells Hylian Shields, due to its later appearance in the game.
Bomb Shop
First appearing in Template:ALTTP, bomb shops, as the name suggests, specialize in Bombs and their different variations, often selling bunches of them in different quantities. They are often located in highly populated areas such as Kakariko Village, Hyrule Castle Town and Windfall Island, and usually, only one can be found in each game.
Potion Shop
Making their debut in Template:LOZ, Potion Shops are shops that specialize in potions, or in some cases, other items that can be carried in Bottles, such as Fairies. One notable, recurring Potion Shop is the Witch's Hut, run by Syrup, which first appeared in A Link to the Past and has made its most recent appearance in The Minish Cap.
Merchant
Not to be confused with the specific Merchants from the first game, merchants are people who specialize in selling only one type of item, or one group of items. Examples include Crazy Tracy from Link's Awakening, who only sells Secret Medicine, the Carpet Merchant from Template:OOT, who only sells Bombchus, and the Moonlight Merchant from Skyward Sword, who only sells Treasure. They are uncommon in comparison to most other forms of shop, and are often found in hard-to-reach locations, or require certain criteria to be met in order for Link to be able to buy from them.
Trading Post
Trading Posts are shops that use a bartering system rather than simply selling goods, and first appeared in the Oracle Series. They are perhaps the least common recurring variety of shop in the series. Examples include the Tokay Traders and the Subrosian Market appearing in Template:OOA and Template:OOS respectively, which require Link to trade Mystical Seeds for items. The Trading Post in Spirit Tracks is another example of this type of shop, where Link has to exchange Treasure rather than Rupees in order to obtain Train Parts. Despite its name, the Trading Post in Majora's Mask does not fall under this category.
By Game
Template:LOZ
- Merchant – Various shops in the overworld run by the merchant.
Template:ALTTP
- Bomb Shop – Shop specializing in bombs which can be found in the Dark World.
- Dark World Shield Shop – A shop in the Dark World which sells only shields.
- Kakariko Village Shop – A small potion/oddities shop found in Kakariko Village.
- Witch's Hut – Any one of several potion shops run by Syrup.
- Lake Hylia Shop Cave – A general merchandise shop found on the northwestern side of Lake Hylia.
Link's Awakening
- Crazy Tracy – A shop which sells a special rejuvenating medicine.
- Town Tool Shop – A general shop found in Mabe Village.
Template:OOT
- Kokiri Shop – A general shop found in the Kokiri Forest.
- Bazaar – General Merchandise found in Hyrule Market and Kakariko Village.
- Goron Shop – General Merchandise found in Goron City.
- Happy Mask Shop – A shop found in Hyrule Market that lends masks to be sold to others.
- Flying Carpet – A shop found in the Haunted Wasteland which sells Bombchu for 200 Rupees.
- Medicine Shop – A shop in Kakariko Village which sells various bottled items.
- Zora Shop A shop in Zora's Domain.
Majora's Mask
- Bomb Shop – Shop specializing in bombs which can be found in West Clock Town.
- Curiosity Shop – A shop in West Clock Town which sells stolen goods.
- Milk Bar – A bar in East Clock Town which sells milk to members only.
Template:OOA
- Horon Village Shop – A basic necessities shop in Horon Village.
- Lynna City Shop – A basic necessities shop in Lynna City.
- Vasu Jewelers – A shop in Labrynna and Holodrum which appraises rings.
Template:OOS
- Subrosian Market – A trading post in Subrosia where items are purchased with Ore Chunks.
- Vasu Jewelers – A shop in Labrynna and Holodrum which appraises rings.
The Wind Waker
- Bomb Shop – Shop specializing in bombs which can be found in Windfall Island.
- Beedle's Shop Ship – A floating shop.
The Minish Cap
- Figurine Shop – A shop in Hyrule Town where customers trade shells for figurines.
- Wheaton & Pita – A bakery in Hyrule Town.
Twilight Princess
- Bomb Shop – A shop specializing in bombs which can be found in Kakariko Village.
- Malo Mart – One of two shops run by Malo.
- Trill's Shop – A shop run by Trill in North Faron Woods.
- Sera's Sundries – A local shop in Ordon Village which is run by Sera.
- The Goron Shop - a small shop run by a Goron near Goron Mines.
- Oocca Shop - A shop located in the City in the Sky, it is the only shop in Twilight Princess found inside a dungeon.
Phantom Hourglass
- Teller of Treasures – A shop on Mercay Island which appraises and purchases treasures and ship parts.
- Beedle's Shop Ship – A floating shop run by Beedle.
Spirit Tracks
- Beedle's Air Shop - A shop run by Beedle which sells treasures.
Skyward Sword
- Beedle's Air Shop - A shop run by Beedle which sells various valuables.
- Scrap Shop - A shop in the Bazaar owned by Gondo where Link can upgrade and repair his items.
- Gear Shop - A shop in the Bazaar owned by Rupin which sells shields and other upgrades.
- Potion Shop - A shop in the Bazaar owned by Bertie and Luv which sells potions.