Rupee

Rupees (pronounced ) are the unit of currency within most of, in circulation in the lands of Hyrule, the Dark World, Koholint Island, Termina, Labrynna, Holodrum, the Great Sea, the World of the Ocean King, Skyloft, and Lorule. They resemble hexagonal gemstones, come in many colors and sizes, and are most often stored within a Wallet.

Location and Uses
Rupees have appeared in every Zelda game to date, with the exception of, where there are no items available for Link to purchase, and , where Force Gems appear in their place. They are most commonly acquired by defeating enemies, cutting tall grass or bushes, throwing rocks, smashing pots, rolling or dashing into trees, winning minigames, or opening Treasure Chests. They can also rarely be found simply lying around in the overworld and in dungeons, and are sometimes given to Link as rewards for completing certain sidequests. In many games, it is possible for Link to sell certain items, such as treasures and bugs, in order to obtain Rupees quickly and easily.

Rupees are primarily used to purchase items in shops or play certain minigames. The value of a Rupee is often denoted by its color, but the value of each color is inconsistent throughout the series. Generally, the greater the value of a Rupee, the harder it is to obtain, usually requiring more difficult tasks to do so. In, , , and , both size and color denote value, and , , and specify the value of a Rupee through text rather than color, because the Game Boy's palette is limited.

The Legend of Zelda
In, Rupees are called Rupies, and only yellow and blue varieties exist. Normally, they can only be found by killing enemies or stumbling across hidden rooms in dungeons. However, in addition to this, a Moblin hidden in a cave in northeast Hyrule will gift Link 100 Rupees when visited, uttering the iconic phrase "it's a secret to everybody" in the process. On the other hand, certain Old Men will demand that Link pays them for damaging their doors if he intrudes on their caves, and subsequently take 20 Rupees from him.

Rupees can be used to buy items such as Food and Bombs from Merchants, and Water of Life from Old Women, as well as play the Money Making Game, which, while a potential risk, can come in useful if Link happens to be low on funds. One Old Woman living near Death Mountain even requires a payment of 20 Rupees if Link desires to know how to scale the Lost Hills and reach the Lizard dungeon, and a lone Old Man inside the Dragon dungeon will sell Link a Bomb capacity upgrade for 100 Rupees. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Rupees are also used to fire the Bow, with one Rupee being deducted for every Arrow that Link shoots, as Arrows don't appear as collectible ammunition in the game. Naturally, if Link runs out of Rupees, he will be unable to use the Bow until he gets some more.

A Link to the Past
After their absence in, Rupees reappear in , in which they can be colored green, blue, or red. These colors have since been used in every other game in the series, having the exact same value in every appearance. However, there are also three other kinds of Rupee that can only be found in Treasure Chests, which are all green and have their value denoted by a small number. It is unknown whether the single Rupee is worth said value, or if the number simply shows how many individual green Rupees Link obtains at once, much like with bundles of Arrows or Bombs.

A Link to the Past introduced the concept of Link being able to find Rupees by cutting grass and bushes, destroying rocks and pots, opening Treasure Chests, and dashing into trees. It also introduced the ability for Link to sell items to gain Rupees; he is able to sell Golden Bees to the Street Merchant for 100 Rupees each. As a small Easter Egg, paintings resembling can be found in certain buildings in Kakariko Village, and will occasionally produce Rupees when pulled. Link is able to spend his Rupees at various shops and minigames located throughout both Hyrule and the Dark World, earning him many items such as Shields and Potions. There are also three Fortune Tellers located north of Kakariko Village, north of the Village of Outcasts, and beside the Lake Hylia Shop, who Link can pay between 10 and 30 Rupees to learn how to progress in his quest.

Link's Awakening
introduced the ability to dig up Rupees using the Shovel, and all Rupees that are found via this method or by cutting grass are worth one Rupee, most likely because of the color graphic limitations of the Game Boy. If Link has at least twenty Secret Seashells and exchanges them for a, then any chests that would have contained extra Secret Seashells will contain twenty Rupees instead. If Link does not exchange his twenty Secret Seashells, then the chests will still contain Secret Seashells until he does. Rupees in this game can be spent at either the Town Tool Shop or the Trendy Game Shop, both of which are located in Mabe Village. Furthermore, Link must pay Mamu 300 Rupees if he wishes to learn the Frog's Song of Soul, revive the, and access Turtle Rock.

In, all Rupees are colored blue, except for the two red Rupees that can be won as prizes for the Trendy Game, which are both worth thirty. Green Rupees, which are worth five Rupees, make an appearance in one hidden room of the Color Dungeon, in a nod to the hidden, Rupee-filled rooms appearing in the dungeons of The Legend of Zelda.

Ocarina of Time
In, seven different varieties of Rupee exist, though the Blue Rupee and Silver Rupee are worth the same amount, and the Huge Rupee and Orange Rupee are worth the same amount. The Silver Rupee's low value is due to the fact that its only purpose in the game is as a puzzle element, and not an actual spending Rupee. These Rupee puzzles can be found in Dodongo's Cavern ( only), the Ice Cavern, the Bottom of the Well, the Shadow Temple, the Gerudo Training Ground, the Spirit Temple, and some routes of Ganon's Castle. In all of these locations, a set of Silver Rupees must be collected (occasionally within a time limit) in order to open a locked door or make a Treasure Chest appear.

Like in A Link to the Past, Link may sell certain bottled items such as Fish and Blue Fire to the who lives in the Market when Link is a child, or Kakariko Village when Link is an adult. Poes and s, however, can be sold to the Poe Collector, who appears near the entrance to the Market in the future. As part of the Mask Trading Sequence Link may also sell Masks to various characters, the most notable being the Running Man, who will completely fill up Link's current Wallet, regardless of how large it is, for the Bunny Hood. If Link kills all 100 Gold Skulltulas and returns to the Cursed Man in the House of Skulltula, he will be rewarded with a Huge Rupee, and may return to the Cursed Man multiple times in order to receive the reward again, effectively giving him an unlimited supply of Rupees. In addition, if Link enters the Lost Woods as an adult and manages to defeat one of the Skull Kids there, he will receive an Orange Rupee, which can also be obtained multiple times. Strangely, if Link shoots at one of the windows in with the Slingshot, it will produce a Red Rupee, though this may only happen once. Link can spend his Rupees in the numerous shops and minigames found in both Hyrule's present and future periods, but can also use them to buy items and upgrades from Business Scrubs. Furthermore, a total of 550 Rupees are required to buy all ten Magic Beans from the Bean Seller, which open up many shortcuts and secrets throughout the overworld, including.

Majora's Mask
Rupees in remain largely the same as in Ocarina of Time, the only difference being that Silver Rupees are worth 100 Rupees rather than 5, and aren't used as puzzle elements. Since the Beggar doesn't appear in Termina, Link can sell his bottled items to the Curiosity Shop in West Clock Town instead. Unlike the Beggar, the Man from Curiosity Shop will buy any of Link's bottled items—excluding major, plot-related ones such as the Deku Princess and Seahorse—and will pay the most for Big Poes, Chateau Romani, and Gold Dust, which each sell for 200 Rupees. In addition, the game's three day cycle allow for certain Rupees to be obtained multiple times whenever Link plays the Song of Time and returns to the Dawn of the First Day. Of these, some of the most notable are the three Silver Rupees that can be found in Treasure Chests in East Clock Town, the Bombers' Hideout, and the Stock Pot Inn, and the Purple Rupee that can be found in a Treasure Chest on the tower opposite the Clock Tower in South Clock Town on the Final Day. Also, three Red Rupees can repeatedly be found in the Laundry Pool, but they can only be accessed on the Night of the Second Day, being out of reach at any other time. Lastly, if Link dons the Postman's Hat, he may receive either a Green or a Blue Rupee whenever he interacts with a Mail Box. Like in Ocarina of Time the Huge Rupee in Majora's Mask is given to Link after he completes a certain sidequest, which in this case is the Trading Sequence. After giving the to the Business Scrub in Ikana Canyon, Link will be rewarded with the Huge Rupee, and he may go back in time and repeat the entire trading sequence again to get the prize as many times as he desires. Also like in Ocarina of Time, the Orange Rupee is dropped by a rare and powerful enemy, which in this case is the Takkuri near the entrance to Milk Road in Termina Field. Interestingly, Blue Bubbles will always drop Purple Rupees when shot by a Light Arrow.

Termina, like Hyrule, features shops, minigames, and Business Scrubs that Link can spend Rupees on. Of the 20 non-transformation Masks that appear in the game, only one, the All-Night Mask, must be purchased. It will be on sale for 500 Rupees in the Curiosity Shop on the night of the Final Day if Link saves the Old Lady from Bomb Shop from Sakon in North Clock Town on the Night of the First Day. Majora's Mask is currently the only game in the Zelda series to feature a banking system that Link can use to store Rupees for later use. The Clock Town Bank is located in West Clock Town, is run by the Banker, and allows Link to deposit up to 5000 Rupees. As Link saves up more Rupees, he will be rewarded with different prizes, the most valuable being a Piece of Heart.

Oracle Series
Rupees are the currency used in both Holodrum and Labrynna. Subrosia uses Ore Chunks as its currency, as Rupees do not appear there at all.

Higher values are usually specified by in game text. It should be noted that using the Shovel, Link can dig up huge Rupees that are worth 100 Rupees. Rupee values double when equipped with the or.

Four Swords
Rupees play a large role in, where the main objective of the first three stages is to collect as many Rupees as possible in order to receive a Great Key from each of the Great Fairies. A total of 1,000 is needed for the Silver Key, 3,000 for the Gold Key, and 5,000 for the Hero's Key. The Link who collects the most Rupees in a stage is also awarded the Medal of Courage.

Rupees are also required when one of the Links is defeated, where a penalty must be paid for revival. At first the amount is 50, but increases exponentially each time a Link falls. If a Link is defeated and he does not have enough Rupees to revive, the game ends.

In, collecting a grand total of 30,000 Rupees unlocks the Hero's Trial.

The Minish Cap
The Rupee system used in is the same as the one seen in Four Swords, except Black Rupees and Rupee Shards do not appear.

Twilight Princess
The Rupee system used in is identical to the one seen in The Wind Waker. Link can continuously earn Rupees by finding Golden Bugs and giving them to Agitha, who will award him 50 Rupees for one bug, and 100 Rupees each time he completes a pair. Agitha will also give Link the Big Wallet after giving her the first bug. Once Link has handed in all 24 bugs, Agitha will reward him with the Giant Wallet. The Magic Armor uses Rupees to function, draining them when worn. The armor protects Link from damage, draining 12 Rupees when attacked. If Link runs out of Rupees, the armor will lose its power and become heavy, as if Link was wearing the Iron Boots.

Twilight Princess introduced for the first and only time a feature where Link puts Rupees back to a Treasure Chest if his wallet capacity is exceeded. After reducing his number of Rupees, Link can then come back to open the chest again and retrieve the Rupees.

Skyward Sword
In SS undefined, a mineral known as Rupee Ore can be found along the walls of Tubert's cave. By shooting at it with either the Slingshot or the Bow, Link may obtain Rupees. The amount of Rupees corresponds to the color of the Rupee Ore that was shot. Link can also obtain Rupees by drawing a hexagon shape on a Goddess Wall. . Skyward Sword is perhaps the most expensive game so far, as Link must purchase not only the upgrades to his Adventure Pouch with Beedle, but also most of his equipment in the Gear Shop, or otherwise, find the necessary treasures and pay the cost of an upgrade in the Scrap Shop. Along with purchasing potions in the Potion Shop, Link can also upgrade them for a cost and using specific bugs.

A Link Between Worlds
The Rupee system used in is similar to the one used in Skyward Sword, but with the absence of Rupoors and the inclusion of Purple Rupees. The game notably features the lack of a wallet upgrade, and Link can carry up to a maximum of 9999 Rupees. This feature facilitates the rental of equipment from Ravio's Shop. Link may rent Ravio's equipment at a cheap cost and for an indefinite period, or may purchase the equipment at a higher price.

Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
In, Rupees are the most important part of the game. They act as Tingle's health in addition to being used as currency. Nearly everything in the game requires Rupees, including talking to people. Rupees are also necessary to progress through the game. Tingle must throw Rupees into the Western Pool near his house to cause a tower to grow which will allow him to access other areas of the game. Rupees can be found by defeating monsters, opening chests, or given as rewards for services to people. In the instances where Tingle is rewarded, he must choose the amount of Rupees he expects to receive from the person. If the amount he chooses is too high, the character will become outraged and give him nothing. Tingle must also choose how much he will pay people for information or services. There is no set price on any item, and Tingle must guess how much the other character will want for it. This is done with a sort of cash-register type of interface on the touch screen.

Not all rupees in the game have set values. They are generally the same, but some can vary slightly.
 * * Values may vary

Super Rupees and the Master Rupee
During his quest to reach Rupeeland, Tingle must obtain the five Super Rupees hidden throughout the three continents, and eventually the Master Rupee hidden in the Auros Ruins. The Super Rupees have no value, but are said to contain mystical powers. The five Super Rupees are the Metal Rupee, the Aqua Rupee, the Leaf Rupee, the Earth Rupee, and the Magma Rupee.

Link's Crossbow Training
By breaking certain pots, skulls, and other destructible objects in, an Orange Rupee will be released. These Rupees are initially worth 1000 points, but their point value will decrease the longer they stay on-screen. Link must shoot at them quickly to gain the highest amount of points.

Philips CD-i Games
In and, Rupees are referred to as Rubies. They are used to purchase a variety of items such as Lantern Oil, Rope, and Bombs from the games' respective shops. Certain items also require Rubies to function, and will use a set amount each time they are used. Both Link and Zelda can carry up to 999 Rubies.

In, Rupees are kept in the item inventory. In order to make a purchase, Rupees must first be selected from the inventory. Rupees are mainly used to purchase Spells, as they are valued for containing magical energy. Similarly to certain items in The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon, Spells also require a certain amount of Rupees to use. Zelda can carry up to 999 Rupees. Although while Rupees are correctly referred to as such in the game manual, characters refer to them as "Rubies".

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
A Green Rupee appears as a Sticker in.

Sonic Lost World
In , Rupees appear in place of Rings in The Legend of Zelda Zone.

Hyrule Warriors
In, Rupees are obtained by defeating enemies, opening Treasure Chests, breaking brown pots, selling weapons, and finishing stages. Beating a stage gives bonus Rupees based on the performance, time used to win, and the difficulty settings. Rupees can be used to upgrade the level of a Warrior, buy Potions and mixtures, and modify weapons.

Unlike other Zelda games, Rupees are automatically collected once they appear, making their physical appearance during gameplay completely cosmetic. The Rupee colors that normally appear are green, blue, and red. The Rupee colors of silver and gold are also possible if the Rupee Festival Potion is active or a Rupee Fairy is obtained.

An 8-bit Rupee also appears as a weapon type for Agitha in the Twilight Princess DLC pack.

Rupee Value Summary
* Values can vary

Rupee Thieves
Enemies that cause Link to lose Rupees appear in several games. When they come in contact with Link, they will either cause his Rupees to fly out of his Wallet and onto the ground (like Thieves and Keatons), or drain or steal the Rupees straight from his wallet (like Rupee Likes and Takkuri). Known Rupee thieves:
 * Rupee Like
 * Thieves (Hylians and Foxes)
 * Takkuri
 * Rupee Wraith
 * Rats
 * Pikit
 * Pikit

Rupee Draining Items
Most items in The Legend of Zelda series can be used either without cost or until a finite supply is exhausted. These few, however will deplete Link's Rupee supply upon use:
 * The Bow in The Legend of Zelda, where firing an Arrow costs one Rupee.
 * The Magic Armor in Twilight Princess rapidly depletes Rupees while equipped, while in, Rupees are depleted everytime Link receives damage.

Rewards
Link will be rewarded simply for collecting high number of Rupees in the following games:
 * In Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Vasu will give Link the after collecting 10,000 Rupees.
 * The Banker in Majora's Mask gives Link the Large Wallet after depositing 200 Rupees, a Blue Rupee after depositing 1,000 Rupees and a Piece of Heart after 5,000 have been deposited.
 * Four Swords rewards the Link with the most Rupees with a Medal of Courage.

Trivia

 * The is the real-world currency of, , , , , the , and . However, they are paper notes as opposed to the gemstone appearance of the Zelda games. It was also formerly the currency of  and.
 * In the manual of The Legend of Zelda, Rupees are called Rubies. This may be due to the fact that in the German versions of the Zelda games, a Rupee is called a Rubin, which means.
 * In A Link to the Past, large formations of Rupees that are found in caves and dungeons directly on the ground and not in jars, skulls, or enemies, have a smaller hitbox than Rupees found from killing enemies and lifting jars and skulls. This is because those Rupees are not sprites, rather object layer tiles as the game cannot handle many sprites on screen. As seen in the Chris Houlihan Room, Link can walk in between the Rupees even if they are very close to another. Also, Link cannot pick them up with items like the Hookshot and the Boomerang as they will simply go through them.
 * In The Wind Waker and, Rupees are translucent. In all other games, Rupees are opaque.
 * The Rupee sprites from The Legend of Zelda were borrowed from the earlier game , where they were originally Gold Bars.