Tear of Light

The Tears of Light are light-infused magical teardrops that have the power, when collectively held, to energize Spirits of Light, as in, or the sword, as in , the latter of which will be given the power to stun and possess Phantoms with Zelda's spirit. Tears of Light are non-equippable objects, meaning that upon their collection, they automatically perform their function whenever they are near something that requires their power.

Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, the Tears of Light, when collected within the Vessel of Light, are needed to revive the greatly depleted Spirits of Light, and return the land to its light-abundant state, ridding it of the twilight that had sapped the land of life. The Tears of Light are the key to not only awakening the provincial Spirit, but to lift the blanket of Twilight from the certain province in question so that Link can regularly traverse it while in human form. Only in wolf form can Link find the location of the Tears though, because they are manifested within Shadow Insects that can only be detected upon the activation of his Wolf Senses. After a certain Shadow Insect is defeated, it will reveal the Tear of Light within, and Link will be able to capture it in its respective containter, the Vessel of Light. Commonly, these Shadow Insects exist in pairs, making it easier for Link to locate the Tears, even though each Spirit marks the location of each insect-infested Tear on Link's map subscreen, as well. As the game progresses, the number of Tears Link must collect increases, as does the distances between their locations and time spent collecting them. Link must return to the Spirit Spring after filling the Vessel of Light with Tears, so that the spirit can be awakened, and the cloak of twilight lifted.

Tears of Light can be found in three areas: Faron Woods, Kakariko Village/Death Mountain, and Lake Hylia/Zora's Domain. However, Tears can only be found in one province at a time: the Spirit that requires them only marks the tear-holding insects on the map that reside within its province.

Spirit Tracks
In, each section of the Tower of Spirits features three Tears of Light that must be collected to power up Link's sword. Once all three Tears have been obtained, Link can strike a Phantom in the back, which stuns it; Princess Zelda's spirit can possess the Phantom while it is in this state. After Link obtains the Lokomo Sword, he no longer needs to use the Tears of Light -- the sword itself is infused with divine energy, and can allow Zelda to possess such Phantoms in the same way this previous sword did.