Heart Container

A Heart Container, called a Bowl of Hearts in the The Official Nintendo Player's Guide entry for, is an item that increases Link's maximum health. In, Link's health is represented by a set of Hearts, excluding The Adventure of Link, where his health is symbolized by a life bar. After collecting enough Pieces of Heart, they will be assembled into a Heart Container, increasing Link's maximum health.

Description
As Link progresses through the games, he will require more and more health in order to survive the greater challenges. This additional health is acquired in the form of Heart Containers, with each Heart Container adding one whole heart to the amount of hearts Link has. A Heart Container is awarded after every major boss in most games. Most games finish with Link having gained a total of 20 hearts. and break from the series standard since Heart Containers are not permanent upgrades. Most stages in this titles contain Heart Container upgrades, but Link begins the next stage without them. It is possible to finish some games without getting any Heart Containers.

Heart Containers can apparently form when people display deep affection for each other, as seen in where Yeto and Yeta create Hearts and a Heart Container in their embrace. Twilight Princess also considers Heart Pieces to be sources of love, as seen with Madame Fanadi when she asks Link for what type of prediction he wants to see.

Heart Containers Summary
Note that in The Adventure of Link, Link's health is illustrated by blocks instead of Hearts, and that in Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures, Heart Containers are not permanent upgrades.

Description
In many games, a Heart Container can formed by collecting four Pieces of Heart. They were introduced in, and have since then have appeared in every other title following it. The exceptions being and, in which only full Heart Containers can be found, and  and , in which Heart Containers are not permanent upgrades. Pieces of Heart are scattered throughout the world, and can be found in Treasure Chests, won in mini-games, or given as thanks for helping someone. Obtaining a Piece of Heart will immediately refill all of Link's health, regardless of whether or not that Piece of Heart is completing a Heart Container. The amount of Pieces of Heart depends primarily on how many Heart Containers are in the game; the Pieces of Heart, combined with the Heart Containers, typically add up to a total of 20 Hearts by the end of a game. The number of Heart Pieces in a game is inversely proportional to how many dungeons (therefore, bosses with Heart Containers) are available in that adventure. Because of this, holds currently the record for having the highest number in the series (52, this for featuring only four Heart Containers).

breaks the tradition by requiring five Pieces of Heart in order to form a Heart Container instead of the normal four. This is likely due to the high number of Heart Containers present in the game. Although in Twilight Princess Pieces of Heart are collected in fifths, Link still loses health in minimums of fourths.

In SS undefined, there are only 24 Pieces of Heart. This is due to the fact that Link starts off with three more hearts than usual, making it so that he begins with six, earns six from defeating bosses, and obtains six from Pieces of Heart, with the last two Heart Containers being potentially temporary items in the form of Life Medals, which take up a spot in Link's Adventure Pouch if he wishes to use them.

The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword are the only games in the series to have in-game guides showing where the Pieces of Heart are. The Wind Waker has the Sea and Island Hearts Charts that reveal their location in both sea and islands. Twilight Princess has the fortune teller Madame Fanadi who can guide Link to them by paying a fee. In Skyward Sword, Sparrot, a fortune-teller similar to Fanadi, will give Link hints on where to find Pieces of Heart.

It is unknown if any character other than Link understands the use and purpose of the Pieces of Heart, or if any character other than Link can use the Pieces of Heart, as very few characters ever have anything to say about them, even when handing them out as rewards. In Twilight Princess, if Link catches the Piece of Heart while fishing in the Fishing Hole, Hena will remark "Whose heart did you catch? You big sweetheart!" In Skyward Sword, Beedle will eventually sell Link a Piece of Heart starting at 1600 Rupees. If Link asks Beedle about the item so that he can buy it, Beedle will tell him that he does not actually know what it is, and that he found it somewhere nearby. In the Lumpy Pumpkin, one of the first Pieces of Heart available in the game is located on the chandelier hanging in the center of the place. If one speaks to Kina, she remarks that the Rupees on the chandelier may have caught Link's eye, and that he cannot get them, nor should he even think about trying. She makes no mention of the Piece of Heart on the chandelier, as it is likely the first thing that catches the attention of anyone upon entering the restaurant. Fortune Tellers who give hints leading to the location of Pieces of Heart refer to them as something having to do with love.

Super Smash Bros. Series

 * See article on  for more information.

In every game within the, the Heart Container appears as a healing item. In, it reduces all damage to 0%. In every subsequent game, however, it reduces only 100% of damage. In Super Smash Bros. and, the player that grabbed the Heart Container cannot receive any damage from opponents while the item is restoring health. In, any damage that is taken will be subtracted from the 100%.

Heart Containers and Pieces of Heart also appear as Trophies and Stickers.

Sonic Lost World
Heart Containers appear in Sonic Lost World's The Legend of Zelda Zone. They can be obtained by opening Treasure Chests. Heart Containers increase Sonic's life by one.