Thief


 * Not to be confused with the term "THIEF" used in Link's Awakening.

Thieves are characters in A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures, who steal things like ammunition and Rupees from Link but cannot be killed.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, there are thieves in the game that can steal rupees, bombs and arrows from Link whenever they touch him. However, they do not cause harm. Once they glance at Link they chase him until he is a considerable distance away.

They can be found as humans in the Lost Woods or in a fox-like form in the Village of Outcasts. They can be stunned with Link's sword or a long range item (such the boomerang) for a short time, but unfortunately they are virtually invincible. Thieves found inside caves or underground stumps typically offer rupees. One of the Forest Thief runs a Treasure Chest Game shop on the north end of the Lost Woods. A former thief assists Link by opening a locked chest containing a Magic Bottle, and another one, who has been cursed and transformed into a hand in the Dark World, asks Link 20 Rupees for telling him his story.

One more fox-like thief guard the first room of the bonus dungeon, the Palace of the Four Sword, in the Game Boy Advance version of A Link to the Past. The fox-like creature will not allow Link to enter the dungeon unless he is worthy. If the player has completed the multiplayer mode Four Swords that is also on the game cartridge, and has previously guided Link to destroy Ganon, the young hero is then deemed worthy by the creature who disappears upon payment of 20 Rupees.

The Minish Cap

 * Main article: Keaton

Thieves also appear in The Minish Cap, although they are depicted as Keatons instead.

Four Swords Adventures
The thieves in Four Swords Adventures do not cause damage to the Links, but steal their Force Gems. The Links must trap 10 thieves, 7 of which wear red bandanas while the remaining appear to be normal villagers, in Kakariko Village by throwing them into a fenced in area. The thieves cannot be killed, but can momentarily be stunned by a variety of weapons, including swords, bombs and pots.

A Link to the Past comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, three thieves appear in Chapter 6. Upon leaving a nearby shrine in the Dark World, Link is confronted by three thieves and a Hinox, who ask him about a fairy they are pursuing for her magic powers. When Link tells them he does not have the fairy, the thieves attack  him, but the young hero easily defeats them with the use of a Spin Attack from the Master   Sword.

Trivia

 * Comically, the thieves in Four Swords Adventures are carried upside down and can be used to break pots.
 * Once all the thieves are captured in Four Swords Adventures, they will disappear upon revisiting their "prison".