Fighter's Shield

The Fighter's Shield is the first Shield in A Link to the Past.

Location and Uses
It is nothing special and is received from Link's Uncle in the basements of Hyrule Castle. As it is the first shield obtained in the game, it is the weakest of all shields and provides very little defense. If the shield is swallowed up by a Pikit or a Like Like, or otherwise lost, another one can be purchased in the many shops throughout the Hyrule overworld.

Link can obtain an upgraded version of the Fighter's Shield known as the Red Shield by throwing it into the Mysterious Pond of the Waterfall of Wishing. Only by answering the Great Fairy's question honestly will she reward him with a better shield.

A Link to the Past comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, Link's uncle is seen using the Fighter's Shield during his duel against Agahnim. However, after Link witnesses the defeat of his uncle at the hands of his wizard, he rushes to his side and obtains his uncle's sword and shield from him before passing out. Link continues to use the shield only for the first chapter, using it to defend himself from enemy attacks. However, when he reaches the Sanctuary with Princess Zelda and faces off against Agahnim, he loses his sword and shield along with it, and the young hero is never seen using the Fighter's Shield for the rest of the comic.

Trivia

 * The Great Fairy granting Link a better shield when he answers honestly is an homage to the Aesop fable, The Honest Woodsman. In the story, a man accidentally flings his axe into a lake and begins to weep, having lost his only means of livelihood. The god Hermes decides to take pity on the woodcutter and emerges from the lake holding a golden axe, asking the man if it is his. The man truthfully denies, and Hermes produces a silver axe asking the same. Once again, the man answers honestly saying that he had lost a wooden axe. For his display of honesty, Hermes gives him all three axes. Later, a man overhearing this story decides to fling his own axe into the lake and falsely cry about his loss. Hermes again appears offering to the man a golden axe, which he greedily claims. Disgusted by this man's avarice, Hermes gives him nothing and leaves his axe at the bottom of the lake as punishment.