Permanently Missable Items

These are items with limited chances to obtain. If certain decisions are made, or after changes occur in the game these items will no longer be available. This listing is intended to aid 100% completion Game runs.

=The Legend of Zelda= 4 Heart Containers in each quest are missable if you choose the Potion instead of the Heart Container. Never choose the Potion! You can buy Potion at any time in the game, but once you pass up that Heart Container, it's gone forever! In rooms with a choice of paying 50 rupees or losing a Heart Container: you can earn the Rupees back at any time, but not the Heart Container. If you find that you don't have enough, leave the room and hunt more Rupees, then return when you have enough.

3 Heart Containers are actually losable in the second quest as well! At three points (all in dungeons), you'll come to a room where the old man will offer either pay 50 Rupees or 1 Heart Container.

=Adventure of Link= Nothing is missable in this game, although it should be noted that whenever you complete a palace, it turns to stone in the overworld and you'll never be able to enter it again. However, it only becomes stone when you A) obtain the main dungeon item, and B) place the crystal in the statue after the boss battle. So if you do B but not A, don't fret--you can still return to claim the item. However, if you do both, the palace will be closed, and you won't be able to return to boost experience points, pick up Treasure Bags, or anything like that.

1-Up Dolls
Also of note are the 1-up Dolls. It's not possible to miss these permanently, but when you do get one, it's gone for the rest of the save file, even after you quit and return to the game. Therefore, it's best to plan wisely and strategically when hunting them all down! For instance, it would probably be better to wait until all the palaces have been completed except the Great Palace, and then go retrieve them all. (Also note that once you've maxed out your stats at level 8 in all three areas, you get a 1-up for each 9000 experience points you gain.)

Treasure Bags
P-Bags containing experience points, as those are also one-shot deals as soon as you obtain them. Collect them strategically since once you've retrieved a bag, you cannot get it back. Just make sure you don't get a "game over" after obtaining any of these set Treasure Bags without leveling up, since a "game over" or restarting your game puts your experience points back down to zero again! That said, there are many more Treasure Bags in this game than Dolls.

=Link's Awakening=

Photo Album
4 pictures (DX version only) out of the 12 are missable in this game. First, to trigger the photography side quest, you must visit the Photo Shop and speak to the mouse who runs the place. After that, he'll show up at various times during your adventure to take pictures. It's possible to miss 4 of these such moments forever after a certain point, though! The last 3, in fact, are all taken while escorting Marin to Animal Village. So here they all are:

1.) The first is the picture of Link with Richard in front of the gate to Kanalet Castle. You must walk to the castle entrance while it is still closed. Then Richard will appear and the photographer show up to take your picture. Do not step on the switch inside Kanalet Castle until you have obtained this photograph! 2.) The second is the picture of Link with Marin on the seashore, at the southwesternmost tip of Koholint Island. Simply go straight there once she starts following you, and the photographer will do the rest. 3.) The third is the picture of Marin falling on top of Link at the bottom of a well! One screen north of the Village Library is a hole. Cut the bushes up above it and jump in. Once you land in the cave below, don't move but let Marin land on you. 4.) The fourth is in the Mabe Village town square, in front of the weathercock, as Link poses with both Marin and Tarin. Simply go there when Marin is following you, and Tarin and the photographer will meet you there. For photos #2-4, do not prompt Marin to awaken the walrus near Animal Village until you have obtained all three of these photographs! If you're uncertain, check the photo shop near Tal Tal Heights before you part with Marin.

On a more minor note regarding the pictures, the very first picture you take is not missable, but it's variable--and whatever choice you make will be what you see as long as your file lives. During your first dialogue with the photographer, if you agree to take a picture, then your first picture will be of Link posing with a peace sign. If you continually reject the photographer, though, he'll take a picture of a beat-up Link. Which one you want is up to you, but you'll be stuck with whatever choice you make.

Secret Seashells
3 Secret Seashells are missable, out of 26. Once you have exactly 5 Seashells (no more, no less), go to Seashell Mansion ] to gain a 6th. Likewise, once you have exactly 10 Seashells (no more, no less), return there to gain an 11th. The third missable Seashell is the one near Kanalet Castle's entrance that must be accessed with the Flying Rooster (see above). None of this is actually all that big a deal, however, since you only need 20 of the 26 Secret Seashells to forge the L-2 Sword. After you've powered your sword up, all remaining Secret Seashells in the game turn into Rupees, and the slot for Secret Seashells on your inventory menu disappears. So if you want the transitory satisfaction of having all 26 Secret Seashells on your inventory, you're more than welcome to search them all out and hold off on returning to the Seashell Mansion until you've found them all. But the number and seashell icon will vanish once you get the L-2 Sword.

Minor notes
If you successfully steal from the shop in Mabe Village, you lose the original name that you created for yourself for the rest of the file, as everyone in the entire game now will address you as "THIEF." (Also note that the first time you return to the shop as THIEF, the shopkeeper will drain your hearts and kill you for an automatic "game over" as soon as you come in the door.) It's up to you whether you want to give up your name like this, but if you're playing the DX version, you actually have to become THIEF in order to complete the photography side quest--just don't go back into the shop!

Another minor note is the loss of the green tunic (DX version only) at the conclusion to the Color Dungeon. After you beat the boss of that bonus dungeon, you gain access to a Great Fairy who will offer the choice to wear either a red tunic (boosting your attack power) or a blue tunic (boosting your defensive strength). When you choose one, you're perfectly able to return and swamp between red and blue, but you can never go back to green.

=Ocarina of Time=

Deku Nut Upgrade
A Deku Nut upgrade is permanently missable. As you enter the Lost Woods from Kokiri Forest, go right, left, right, left, and left again to see a somewhat more open area with a tree and thick grass in the back. Keep wandering around the tall grass in the back until you fall down a hidden hole. Inside in the Forest Stage, where if you wear the right mask, the Deku Scrubs will reward you. Wear the Skull Mask to get the Deku Stick upgrade (this can be obtained at any time), and wear the Mask of Truth to get the Deku Nut upgrade.

However, the Deku Nut upgrade will only work if you have not pulled the Master Sword yet and become an adult for the first time. If you've already become an adult and then travel back through time, wearing the Mask of Truth in front of the Deku Scrubs will get a variety of reactions, but it won't get you the upgrade. It will be gone forever. As such, do not pull out the Master Sword in the Temple of Time until you have obtained this upgrade! Also, contrary to some fan notions, the running man on Hyrule Field can be found before pulling the Master Sword. Look for him after you've obtained Zora's Sapphire. A rumor is that if you haven't gotten the first Deku Nut upgrade yet (buy from the Business Scrub in the hole under a bombable rock near the entrance to the Sacred Forest Meadow), then you actually can still get the upgrade from the Forest Stage even after you've become an adult and reverted back. Still, I wouldn't chance it.

Minor note
A minor note is the Giant's Knife that you can buy from Medigoron in Goron City for a whopping 200 Rupees. It's a blade more powerful than the Master Sword but breaks after a few uses. At any rate, after you succeed in the adult trading sequence and gain the Biggoron's Sword, the Giant's Knife is obviously no longer available to you (Medigoron won't sell it).

=Majora's Mask=

Treasure chest
One treasure chest is missable--at the very beginning of the game! When you're inside the cave at the very beginning (before you ever reach Clock Town) in pursuit of the Skull Kid and trapped in your Deku Scrub form, you can find a treasure chest. When you reach the room where you must use the Deku flowers to launch from one island to the next (over a bottomless pit), launch from the first to the second island, and from there launch yourself to the island ahead and a little to your left. There you'll find a treasure chest housing your first stash of Deku Nuts. Note that after you leave this room and arrive at Clock Town, this brief section of the game is cut off from you forever. So get those Deku Nuts while you can. I repeat, do not leave this room until you have opened the treasure chest! Even if you miss this particular chest, you'll still have plenty of chances to find Deku Nuts from other places. Other than that, the beauty of this game is the ability to travel back in time and reclaim anything you've missed, and even open all the treasure chests again that you opened previously.

=Oracle of Ages & Seasons =

There are no missable items per se in the two Oracle games, but some choices must be made throughout the course of your (linked) adventures. Decisions you make in the first game will carry over into the second, linked game as well, it should be noted. The first is your choice of animal companion and their accompanying flute. You can choose between three companions--Ricky, Dimitri, or Moosh--and once you've chosen, you get that one's particular flute, which means you can't get a flute for the other two. The following shows briefly how to choose the particular animal for you in each game.

Oracle of Ages
 * Moosh: Since Moosh is Link's default partner in this game, simply carry on in your quest as normal, and once you leave Lynna City (in the present) to the west, go north once up the steps and use an Ember Seed to burn the bush across the river, activating the switch that builds a bridge. Go across and north, then Moosh will be yours.
 * Dimitri: To recruit Dimitri instead, simply buy his flute from the shop in Lynna City (present) for 150 Rupees. Do not burn the bush and activate the bridge switch north of Lynna City until you've bought Dimitri's Flute if this is the animal you want.
 * Ricky: To recruit Ricky instead, keeping winning the Shooting Gallery mini-game in Lynna Village (past) until the prize given out to you is Ricky's Flute. Do not burn the bush and activate the bride switch north of Lynna City until you've won Ricky's Flute if this is the animal you want.

Oracle of Seasons
 * Ricky: Since Ricky the kangaroo is Link's default partner in this game, simply carry on in your quest as normal, and once you reach the area 1 screen north and west of the tree stump where you originally met Din (this would be North Horon), picking up the rock and going north through the gate, then Ricky will be yours.
 * Dimitri: To recruit Dimitri the dinosaur, keep winning the Subrosian Dance (after you've won the Boomerang) until the prize given out to you is Dimitri's Flute. Do not enter the area of North Horon where you must lift the stone and pass through the northern gate until you've won Dimitri's Flute if this is the animal you want.
 * Moosh: If you'd like to join up with Moosh the bear, simply buy his flute from the Horon Village shop for 150 Rupees. Again, do not enter the area of North Horon where you must lift the stone and pass through the northern gate until you've bought Moosh's Flute if this is the animal you want.

The second area of decision in these two games is the side quest involving the growth and development of Bipin and Blossom's son, whom you even get the honor of naming. Certain decisions Link makes for him at one stage of his life will permanently affect the course that later stages of his life will take. This actually gets quite complicated, so instead of fixating on that in this guide, I simply refer you to Puritan's comprehensive guide on this subject at GameFAQs: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbc...e/472313/19523

=The Wind Waker=

Nintendo Gallery Figurines
15 figurines in the Nintendo Gallery side quest are missable in this game--well, sort of missable, that is. The Wind Waker does allow Link to continue in a second quest after beating it, where he starts out with nothing in their inventory except a Deluxe Picto Box (needed to take color pictographs for the figurines, as the regular Picto Box will not work for this side quest), and all figurines from the previous quest carry over as well. Nevertheless, it is possible (despite popular belief) to collect all 134 figurines on the first go-around if you're vigilant! The object is to take a color pictograph of a character and show it to Carlov at the Nintendo Gallery by Forest Haven. If he approves it, he'll make a figurine of that character to put in a room inside the gallery.

=The Minish Cap=

Light Arrows
Light Arrows are missable. If you reach Cloud Tops (via the whirlwind atop Veil Falls) having not rid him of the ghost, however, Gregal will be dead and the Light Arrows permanently out of reach. So do not ride the whirlwind to Cloud Tops until you have warped to the Tower of Winds and healed Gregal of his ghost!

Kinstone fusion
One Kinstone fusion becomes impossible after a certain point in the game, resulting in the loss of 1 Empty Bottle, an appearance by Biggoron, and the Mirror Shield! This curiosity is only present in the PAL version of the game (Europe, Australia, and other places). So far as I know, this is not missable in the Japanese and North American versions of the game. The source of this problem is Eenie, a farmer at Lon Lon Ranch. If you begin to fuse with him but then quit and leave the area, he will never give the option to fuse again. In all likelihood, this was a glitch in the game rather than something intended by the developers.

Treasure chest
One treasure chest is missable underneath the Royal Hyrule Library in Hyrule Town. The significance of this is that later in the game, once you return to the Elemental Sanctuary with all four Elements and fuse the Four Sword, the library (along with the treasure chest in question) will be closed off to you for the rest of the game. As such, do not enter the Elemental Sanctuary with all four Elements until you have thawed and opened this treasure chest! Make sure to do all your business in the library before fusing the Four Sword because once that sword is in your possession, the library is lost to you forever.

Minor notes
Din, Nayru, and Farore (recognizable from Oracle of Seasons/Ages), fuse Kinstones with one of them, and Gorman will arrive in town. The housing sidequest will begin and the oracles receiving a home will create charms for Link's bottle. The one stuck at the inn won’t be able to make any such charms. So you’re going to have to go without one of the charms in your file no matter what you do. Select your two ladies wisely.

=Twilight Princess=

Letters
Two letters from the Postman, out of 16. So if you're at the end of the game and only have 14 or 15 letters, you've missed something along the way. I'll detail how to get both below--it's slightly confusing, but I'll explicate it as clearly as I can. Both of the permanently missable letters are from Ooccoo, and both are entitled "Dear Adventurer."


 * The first letter from Ooccoo says she was happy to meet you and will appear again at a different location (i.e. another dungeon). She adds a P.S. about a son she has. Anyway, you get this letter after completing the Forest Temple, as long as you don't use her to warp out of that dungeon--I repeat, find Ooccoo but do not use her in the Forest Temple!
 * The second letter from Ooccoo says she was happy to meet up with you and happy to see her son again, concluding by saying she'll be going to another location (i.e. dungeon). You can get this letter after most any dungeon in the game by using Ooccoo there. But the last dungeon where Ooccoo will appear is City in the Sky (there are two others after that, Palace of Twilight and Hyrule Castle, but Ooccoo will not be at either one), so therefore you must find and use Ooccoo before finishing the dungeon prior to City in the Sky--which would be the Temple of Time. So do not defeat Armogohma and clear the Temple of Time until you have used Ooccoo to warp out of a dungeon and back in at least once!

Ordon Shield
Ordon Shield is losable if it gets burned by fire. This is just a minor note as you can easily purchase a Wooden Shield from numerous shops in Hyrule. The Wooden Shield works just the same as the Ordon Shield, but it has a different design and different name.

=Phantom Hourglass=

Heart Container
One Heart Container in a treasure chest is missable, but you have to be really trying to miss this one. After you defeat the Diabolical Cubus Sisters on the Ghost Ship, your prize will be the usual Heart Container in the large treasure chest. However, since the Ghost Ship is the one dungeon that can never be reentered, it is possible to bypass this chest and go on without it. Mercifully, even if you do pass it up, the next day (on your DS's internal calendar), the Postman will come and attempt to deliver it to you. When he brings it to you, he'll make it painfully obvious that it's the Heart Container from the Ghost Ship and then ask if you want it. If you choose "Yes," it's yours. If you choose "No," however, then it's gone forever.

=Rumors of missable items=

Stray Fairies
A while back, a post on a message board someone claimed that if you start collecting Stray Fairies in a dungeon in this game, but for whatever reason time catches up on you and you have to play the Song of Time to return to the first day, then when you reenter the dungeon without having finished the Stray Fairy quest, all chests that would've otherwise contained Stray Fairies contain only Rupees instead, rendering you permanently unable to retrieve the Stray Fairies and obtain the corresponding item. Pretty much everyone I've talked to, however, has debunked this claim.

Hawkeye
This claim is not quite as easily dismissible as the first one since many posters complain about it, albeit in different forms. One said that if you win Talo's target shooting challenge without even missing, you'll win the contest and no Hawkeye will be sold at Malo Mart. This is simply not true. Another version of the story, though, goes that if you wait too long in the quest either to take Talo up on his challenge, or if you do the challenge and the Hawkeye goes on sale but you wait too long to buy it, then it'll be gone from Malo Mart after a certain point. Other posters claim to still be able to buy the Hawkeye even at the very end of the game when you're able to enter the final dungeon, Hyrule Castle.