Silver Arrow

"SECRET POWER IS SAID TO BE IN THE ARROW."

- Old Man

The Silver Arrow is a special upgrade to the bow and arrow used to defeat Ganon. They are the only weapon that is capable of defeating Ganon, who will recover from any wound if not pierced by a Silver Arrow. These arrows have appeared in both the first The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. In later games of the series, the Light Arrows perform a similar role, although they function differently in that they merely stun Ganon. The Master Sword is often used to deal the final blow instead, but aside from one occassion in the Oracle Series where Ganon was not fully revived, the Silver Arrows are the only weapon shown to completely destroy his demonic beast form.

The Legend of Zelda
In The Legend of Zelda, the Silver Arrows are found in Death Mountain Labyrinth, the final dungeon. After hitting Ganon with his sword, Link must use the Silver Arrow to finish him off. Besides being able to defeat Ganon, these arrows deal double damage to every other monster in comparison to regular arrows.

A Link to the Past
In A Link to the Past, Silver Arrows are given to Link by the Fat Fairy inside the Pyramid of Power, once the way has been opened with a Super Bomb. These are more powerful versions of the typical arrows Link obtains, and are in most cases, the strongest weapon there is. When used as weapons in the field, they can kill most enemies in a single shot, including some bosses. Keeping in tradition with past games, the Silver Arrows are used to kill Ganon, although it takes four shots to finally defeat him.

Ancient Stone Tablets
In, the Silver Arrows are foretold to be buried on Death Mountain, and appear from a Hylian Monolith that also seals away Ganon's Tower from the world. They carry the same purpose and function as previous titles.

The Legend of Zelda comic
The Silver Arrow is also featured in two stories of the Legend of Zelda comic, and in both appearances, Princess Zelda is the one to wield it with her bow. In Day of the Triforce, Princess Zelda decides to go attack and defeat Ganon once and for all since he is now powerless. Once reaches Death Mountain to challenge Ganon, she finds the powerless Ganon in his throne. Just as she is about to shoot him with the Silver Arrow, she hears a cry for help in another room and cannot help but to go and aid said person  instead.

In Choices, Zelda finds the Silver Arrow on a small pedestal after defeating a Darknut inside Death Mountain. She then recalls what Impa told her, about how, if Zelda's heart is true, then the Triforce of Wisdom will help her use the Silver Arrow to  destroy Ganon. When the princess finds Ganondorf, she wastes no time and quickly readies a Silver Arrow to shoot at Ganon, but before she has a chance to release it at the Prince of Darkness to  defeat him, Link comes crashing in, giving Ganon a chance to escape.

A Link to the Past comic
In the A Link to the Past comic, Roam reveals that he is seeking the Silver Arrow spoken of in the Book of Mudora, which mentions that the one who corrupts the Golden Land will be defeated with the sacred arrow. Although he reveals to Link that he has yet to find it, Roam continues to search for the Silver Arrow to defeat Ganon with it and prove himself to be the legendary hero. However, when Link and Zelda arrive to Ganon's Tower, Roam suddenly appears and admits he has failed to find the Silver Arrows, and enters the tower with the young hero and the princess. Inside, after Roam dies saving Zelda, the princess uses Roam's crossbow to shoot an ordinary arrow at Ganon. As it approaches Ganon, the power of the Maidens, Zelda, Link, and Roam, turn the arrow into the Silver Arrow, destroying the King of Thieves.

A Link to the Past manga
In the A Link to the Past manga by Akira Himekawa, the heads of the Silver Arrows are an heirloom of the Knights of Hyrule. Their only known living descendant, the young thief Ghanti, wore them as earrings, unaware of their true purpose. This fact is revealed to her by Princess Zelda shortly after she recovered from the wounds she sustained as Trinexx, causing the young thief to change her views on the Knights. She later uses the arrows to aid Link in his battle against Ganon, and with them, deals the finishing blow.

Trivia

 * The Silver Arrows' function as Ganon's only weakness is similar to more modern werewolf legends, in which a silver bullet is the only weapon that can kill a werewolf. This may be because silver was considered a holy element in many cultures.
 * So far, the Silver Arrow has only been shown to exist in the Downfall Timeline, in which the Hero of Time lost to Ganon. In the other timelines, Silver Arrows are replaced by Light Arrows. The reason for this is unclear, although the most likely explanation is simply that the games in the Downfall Timeline were made before the 3D games, and the Silver Arrows were thus conceived before Light Arrows were.