Potion

In the Legend of Zelda series, Potions are medicinal drinks with magical properties that can heal Link, refill his Magic Meter, or both, although there are also potions with unique effects. Potions are often contained in bottles, in which cases Link can't buy or obtain a potion unless he has an empty bottle. In games without bottles as items present, potions are standalone items.

These potions, the Red, Green, and Blue Potions are the most common in the Zelda franchise, as they perform the most basic and relevant behaviors to Link: that of health replenishment, magical restoration, and for the most part, a combination of the two, respectively.

Health Potions
Health Potions, perhaps the most common potion type, provide Link health. These potions are usually red, but they do come in a variety of colors and, especially in recent Zelda titles. The amount of life these potions restore to link also varies, as well as their name. While most potions are used manually, Secret Medicine from Link's Awakening and Magic Potion from the Oracle series are automatically used when Link has no hearts left. The Purple Potion of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks works in a similar manner.

Water of Life
Seen only in The Legend of Zelda, the Water of Life has two varieties. Life Potion (blue) lasts one use. The 2nd Potion (red) will last two uses, turning into a Life Potion after the first use.

Red Potion
A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap The Red Potion is the most prevalent concoction found in the Zelda series, seen all the way from The Legend of Zelda to Spirit Tracks. In almost all of its incarnations, it operates as a powerful health restorer, rejuvenating Link through the replenishment of his hearts, in the same fashion made famous by recovery hearts and fairies. In each game, the replenishment rate of this potion differs, and interestingly has recently declined in functionality in the past few games: from Ocarina of Time to The Minish Cap the Red Potion has acted like a manual fairy, restoring all of Link's hearts, but with the release of Twilight Princess, this potion has fallen to restoring only 8 hearts, and finally came to an all-time-low of a 6 heart restoration in Phantom Hourglass. In games where this potion must be concocted by Link, Red ChuChus are the main ingredient used in it's creation, seen in The Wind Waker and in Twilight Princess, although certain mushrooms are used in Majora's Mask, Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons in its inception.

Secret Medicine
In Link's Awakening, Link can purchase a unique Magic Potion from a woman named Crazy Tracy for 42 rupees (28 rupees the first time). Unlike the "Color" potions, this is rubbed on Link when he purchases it, rather than being drunk from a bottle.

Magic Potion
This potion is similar to Secret Medicine. This red-colored potion can be found in both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages. In these games, it can be obtained through purchase from Syrup's shop, by taking it if Maple drops one, or through the contents of a Gasha Nut. In either game, only one of these potions can be held at once. The Magic Potion is consumed automatically when Link would otherwise die, filling all of his lost hearts instantly. Only one Secret Medicine can be held at a given time, so if Link already has one & gets another from a treasure chest, he will still only have 1 Secret Medicine in his inventory.

Blue Potion
This potion appears in The Minish Cap. It is the first potion available from Syrup's hut. It only heals ten of Link's hearts. It is seen again in Twilight Princess, where it heals all of Link's hearts.

Purple Potion
Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks Purple Potion as found in Twilight Princess, has a random effect, and will either recover or decrease Link's health once ingested. It can be obtained by collecting the remains of a Purple ChuChu. Nasty Soup works in a similar, less effective manner. In Spirit Tracks, Purple Potions restore 6 of Link's hearts and can be bought at almost any store for the price of 150 Rupees.

Yellow Potion
Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks Yellow Potions are the most powerful potions and restore all of Link's life hearts, in Phantom Hourglass. The yellow potion can only be purchased from the Masked Ship for 200 Rupees. This shop ship appears only between 10 a.m. and noon according to the internal DS clock. In Spirit Tracks, Purple Potions also restore all of Link's hearts and can be bought in the Goron Country Store and the Papuchia Shop for the price of 200 Rupees.

Green Potion
The Green Potion, first introduced in A Link to the Past, is the chemistry concoction that responds exclusively to the magic meter. Unlike the Red Potion, this potion restores the entire magic bar, regardless of the meter's size, and how much usable magic is left in the meter itself. Often this potion can be bought in potion shops alongside the Red Potion at a decreased cost, or collected from Chu Jelly like in The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess across the overworld of Hyrule. Out of the three common potions, Green Potion costs the least in terms of rupees. Magic Jars, like in Ocarina of Time, are the overworld versions of the Green Potion that often result from the defeat of an enemy or slashing short grass, found in a similar way as recovery hearts and fairies, the overworld counterparts of the Red Potion. In games that don't feature the magic bar, however, the green potion does not exist. In A Link to the Past, it can be bought from Syrup the witch for 60 rupees. It survived the jump to 3D, and is now known simply as the "Green Potion"; it made its first appearance in Ocarina of Time as an adult, in Kakariko Village's Potion Shop. In Majora's Mask, it can be bought from Koume in the Southern Swamp Potion Shop. In The Wind Waker, it can be obtained once 15 drops of Green Chu Jelly were given to Doc Bandam, and can be bought for 10 rupees after that.

Multipurpose Potion
These potion affect more than just health or magic. Certain ones actually affect both.

Blue Potion
The Blue Potion is the "jack-of-all-trades" of its kind: in its most common form, it replenishes not only a full magic meter, but the majority if not all of Link's hearts, as well. Blue Potion is often the most expensive purchase at a potion shop, and rightly so, considering its dual replenishment qualities.

Other Potions
Along with some incarnation of common potions indicated above, certain games incorporate their own potion creations, often with different colors, and widely different effects than that of the common variety.

Gold Potion
Gold Potion is only featured in the A Link to the Past Satellaview 'expansion', The Ancient Stone Tablets. As well as replenishing both health and magic, it temporarily allows the hero (not Link in this game) to charge Spin Attacks twice as quickly and makes him twice as strong with sword attacks until the first hit.

Gold Potion is apparently the precursor to the Elixir Soup found in The Wind Waker, Chateau Romani, and the Great Fairy's Tears found in Twilight Princess, which work in a similar manner.

Picolyte
Picolyte in The Minish Cap is a kind of potion which will, for a short while, increase the find rates for various items when cutting grass or smashing blocks.

Tings
Tings are accessible when using the Tingle Tuner in The Wind Waker. Link can purchase three types of these potions called Tings, from Tingle which correspond to the usual effects of red, green, and blue potions for 20, 30, or 60 Rupees respectively. Once bought, Tingle will deliver the Ting to Link by balloon, as seen on the Game Boy Advance screen, which will instantly replenish all his hearts, his magic, or both depending on the color bought. Furthering Tingle's sidequests will cause Tingle to slice his prices.

Potion Making
There have been several potion brewers throughout the Legend of Zelda games, and they use different ingredients to create their potions. Syrup, a witch who has appeared in several games, apparently uses mushrooms to create her potions, and so do Kotake and Koume in Majora's Mask. In The Wind Waker, Doc Bandam from Windfall Island uses Chu Jelly obtained from ChuChus to create different potions, while Hollo the Korok uses the magic inside Boko Baba Seeds to make Blue Potion.

In the games in which these characters don't appear, the origin of potions is unknown, although in Twilight Princess, it is possible that at least some of them are made with Chu Jelly as in The Wind Waker. Evidence for this is that the remains of a defeated ChuChu leaves a blob that when scooped into a bottle will act as a potion. However, Trill states that Red Potion is made from a mix of mushrooms and herbs.

Trivia

 * In Majora's Mask, Green Potion can be bought at the Southern Swamp Potion Shop for ten rupees. But the Curiosity Shop will buy it for twenty.
 * In Twilight Princess, although it doesn't appear in-game, the game's memory retains data for a Magic Potion, since the game was originally meant to have a magic meter, as seen in some screenshots on the back of the Wii version box. It is possible to create green ChuChu jelly by allowing a blue and a yellow ChuChu to merge, creating a green ChuChu, but the jelly Link gets from killing it does nothing.

Gallery
Soups in Twilight Princess Milk Picolyte