Great Fairy

Great Fairies are recurring characters in.

They are large humanoid Fairies. Their main purpose is to heal Link whenever he is wounded and will also recover his Magic Power in games with a Magic Meter. In other titles, such as and, they also bless Link with new items, powers or upgrades of his existing equipment. The Great Fairies' appearance differ vastly between games, and most of them can be found living within a Great Fairy Fountain.

The Legend of Zelda
In, while not referred to as a Great Fairy and in the appearance of a normal Fairy, there are a few areas in the Hyrule overworld where a pond housing a Fairy can be found. These specific Fairies have the same role as later Great Fairies; they will only appear if Link approaches their pond with injury and will instantly recover all of his Hearts.

A Link to the Past
Several Great Fairies appear in.

Common Great Fairies
These Great Fairies are the most common ones out of all the Great Fairies in A Link to the Past, and as such, they can easily be found scattered throughout Hyrule in either caves or holes. When Link approaches her, she will completely heal the young hero's wounds. Great Fairies seem able to maintain their normal forms even while in the Dark World, despite its corrupting effects (with one possible exception, see Fat Fairy below).

Waterfall of Wishing Fairy
At the Waterfall of Wishing near Zora's Waterfall lives a Great Fairy who is known to be a friend of Venus. She looks identical to Venus with the exception of her wings, which are smaller and greener. The Fairy at the Waterfall of Wishing appears as Link throws various items into the Mysterious Pond and asks him whether or not he dropped them. She will return items dropped by the hero, but if he drops certain items, she will instead give him better items or upgrades of the item in return if Link answers the questions honestly. These include the Boomerang, which she upgrades to the Magical Boomerang, the blue Level-1 Fighter's Shield, which she upgrades to the Red Shield, and an empty Magic Bottle, which she fills with Medicine of Magic.

Venus
Venus is the Fairy Queen and lives in the middle of Lake Hylia. Throwing money into the Wishing Well allows her to upgrade Link's carrying capacity of Bombs and Arrows.

Fat Fairy
The Fat Fairy can be found in the Mysterious Pond within the Pyramid of Power in the Dark World. To gain access to her hidden fountain, Link must use the Super Bomb to blow a hole in the lower levels of the Pyramid. She will grant Link the Silver Arrows required to defeat Ganon, and will also power up the Tempered Sword into the Golden Sword. The Fat Fairy blames her appearance on a curse put on her by Ganon's magic.

Link's Awakening
In, Great Fairies are found scattered throughout certain areas of Koholint Island, usually in a cave that houses a small pond and two Fairy statues. They recover Link's wounds when approached. Not all Great Fairies in Link's Awakening live in a cave, for one of them lives in a small pond of the Mysterious Woods. There is also the Fairy Queen who only makes an appearance in, and resides in the last room of the Color Dungeon, a dungeon exclusive to Link's Awakening DX. As thanks for visiting her, she rewards Link with the "power of color"; a choice between the Red Clothes, which increases Link's weapon power, or the Blue Clothes, which increases Link's defense. Link can visit the Fairy Queen again to swap between the two tunics, but he can never get his green tunic back once he has swapped it for another tunic.

Ocarina of Time
In, the Great Fairies are depicted as giant women who wear ivy vines as clothes and leather boots, and have red hair that is tied into three pigtails. This also marks the first time that Great Fairies are seen without wings. Their locations are scattered throughout Hyrule, where they live in certain Great Fairy Fountains that has the Triforce symbol engraved on the floor in front of their pond. By playing "Zelda's Lullaby" on this symbol, they will be summoned. Great Fairies, when first summoned, will bless Link with either a new item or an upgrade. The color of their fountain's walls also vary from either blue or red to signify what kind of blessing they will give. Three of the Great Fairies give out Din's Fire, Nayru's Love and Farore's Wind. Another three will upgrade Link's abilities, giving him the Magic Spin Attack and the Magic Meter, a larger Magic Meter, and doubled defense in the form of an extended health bar.

The Great Fairies can also be summoned again at their fountains to recover Link's health as well as his Magic Meter. All three of the Great Fairies who give out Din's Fire, Nayru's Love and Farore's Wind refer to themselves as the Great Fairy of Magic, and possibly may be the same Great Fairy. The Great Fairies who bless Link with a magical sword spin attack, a larger Magic Meter, and a defense upgrade are referred to as the Great Fairy of Power, the Great Fairy of Wisdom, and the Great Fairy of Courage, respectively.

Locations and Rewards
The locations of the Great Fairies as well as the upgrades received in Ocarina of Time are as follows:

Majora's Mask
In, the Great Fairies share the same in-game model as the ones from Ocarina of Time, with each one having a different colored hair and shaped eyebrow. Five Great Fairies appear in Termina, all having been torn apart into 15 Stray Fairies by the evil power of Majora's Mask. The only Great Fairy that needs to be recovered in order to progress in the game is the one in North Clock Town, who grants Link the ability to use Magic, and only one Stray Fairy has to be found for her. For the other four Great Fairies, Link must recover the remaining 15 Stray Fairies scattered around each dungeon found in the four cardinal directions of Termina in order to be rewarded with upgrades and a special weapons.

Locations and Rewards
The locations of the Great Fairies as well as the upgrades received in Majora's Mask are as follows:

Oracle series
In the, many Great Fairies appear through Holodrum and Labrynna to heal Link at their fountains. Three of them participate in password Secrets.

Near the Eyeglass Island Library in the past, Link encounters the Fairy Queen, guardian of the Zora Seas, who was cursed by Veran into an Octorok-shape so that the evil sorceress could poison the seas and kill the Zoras without the Fairy Queen's interference. She asks Link to find the Fairy Powder hidden in the nearby Library to heal her, and once he does, she removes all of the pollution from the sea, returning its natural beauty and restoring health to the King Zora and Lord Jabu-Jabu.

Four Swords
In, there are three Great Fairies in total: the Great Fairy of Forest, the Great Fairy of Ice, and the Great Fairy of Flame. After the Links defeat each boss, they will be transported to the Great Fairy's Fountain, and if their performance during the dungeon was deemed worthy (based on the number of Rupees obtained), she will give him one of the Great Keys. The Great Keys bestowed by the Great Fairies are required to complete the final mission of the game as well as to unlock special bonus content in A Link to the Past.

As a special secret in Four Swords Anniversary Edition, if all the Links have acquired the Hero's Keys and completed the game, the Great Fairies' appearances will change to that of those seen in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, even including their trademark laughter. The Great Fairy of Forest will become pink, akin to the Great Fairies of Ocarina of Time and to Woodfall's Great Fairy of Power from Majora's Mask. The Great Fairy of Ice will become green, akin to the Great Fairy of Wisdom from Snowhead, while the Great Fairy of Flame will be an reddish orange hue, similar to the Great Fairy of Magic from Majora's Mask. The smaller Fairies surrounding the fountain will also change color to match their new appearance.

The Wind Waker

 * See also: Fairy Queen

In, there are seven Great Fairies, five of which have their fountains under a giant shell. One of them must be rescued from inside a Big Octo at the Two-Eye Reef. Another one, the Fortune Goddess, lives in the Forest of Fairies in Outset Island and gives Link a larger Wallet. The upgrades received, along with the names of the islands in which the Great Fairies are located, are as follows:


 * Pink Great Fairy : Wallet upgrade.
 * Northern Fairy Island – There is no obstacle blocking the entrance; this fountain can be visited as soon as the Forbidden Woods have been completed.
 * Outset Island in the Fairy Forest – A bomb must be used to blow up the rock blocking the entrance.


 * Blue Great Fairy : Bomb Bag upgrade.
 * Eastern Fairy Island – A bomb must be used to blow up the rock blocking the entrance.
 * Southern Fairy Island – A bomb or a Fire Arrow must be used to destroy the wooden wall blocking the entrance.


 * Violet Great Fairy : Magic Meter upgrade
 * Two-Eye Reef – A Big Octo must be defeated to rescue the Great Fairy.


 * Yellow Great Fairy : Quiver upgrade:
 * Western Fairy Island – The Skull Hammer must be used to hit the nearby stake and remove the fire blocking the entrance.
 * Thorned Fairy Island – The Skull Hammer must be used to hit the three nearby stakes and remove the thorns blocking the entrance.

After Link has received the upgrades or power-ups from its respective Fairy Fountain, the Great Fairy will no longer be at the fountain. Instead, Fairies will be floating over the pond, ready to heal the young hero or be put in an empty Bottle.

Four Swords Adventures
In, Link can encounter a Great Fairy while inside certain dungeons or caves. If Link throws in a certain item into the pond below the Great Fairy, she will upgrade it to a Level 2 item. For example, throwing in the Slingshot will allow Link to shoot seeds from three different directions at the same time. Encountering these Great Fairies is crucial in order to solve various puzzles within the stages. The Queen of Fairies also appears in Four Swords Adventures, during the Hyrule Castle level. The Great Fairies in Four Swords Adventures have the same appearance as the ones from The Wind Waker.

The Minish Cap
In, there are three Great Fairies hidden through the land of Hyrule, all of which give Link special upgrades as well as heal his wounds. The three Great Fairies are the Great Butterfly Fairy, the Great Dragonfly Fairy and the Great Mayfly Fairy. In each case, they possess wings resembling those of the insect from which they take their names. Each of the Great Fairies greatly resemble the appearances of the Great Fairies in Four Swords.

The Great Butterfly Fairy is found in the northern section of the Minish Woods. She mentions she is in need of Rupees and asks Link for all of his. If he agrees, she tells Link that she does not really need any Rupees and rewards Link's generosity with a larger Wallet.

The Great Mayfly Fairy is found on Mount Crenel. If Link throws a Bomb into her fountain, she will ask if he threw a gold or a silver one. If Link gives an honest answer, she rewards him with a bigger Bomb Bag.

The Great Dragonfly Fairy is found in the Royal Valley. She asks Link to tell her of his adventures, and asks a series of questions regarding several key details of his journey. If Link answers all of her questions correctly, she will reward him with a larger Quiver.

Twilight Princess
In, unlike previous Zelda games, only one Great Fairy can be found. She appears within the Cave of Ordeals in a fountain every ten floors. Each time Link reaches a new fountain, the Great Fairy will send healing Fairies to the Spirit Springs across Hyrule. The first time Link reaches the fountain of the 50th floor, the Great Fairy will reward him by filling one of the young hero's empty Bottles with Great Fairy's Tears. She will also tell him that he can get more Tears by going to any of the Light Spirit's Springs, although Link will only be able to have one Bottle filled with Great Fairy's Tears at any given time. However, should he complete the Cave of Ordeals again, he will be able to fill another Bottle with the Tears at the fountain on the 50th floor, allowing him to have more than one. The Great Fairy can also warp Link out of the Cave of Ordeals if he asks her to.

Phantom Hourglass
In, while not explicitly called a Great Fairy, the Secret Island in the Southwest Great Sea contains a "Shrine of the Sacred Fountain", where the Goddess of Spirits and her servant reside and help to empower the Servant Spirits.

A Link Between Worlds
Similar to A Link to the Past, has several types of Great Fairies.

Common Great Fairies
Much like the Great Fairies found in A Link to the Past, these Great Fairies are commonly found scattered throughout the land of Hyrule. Many of which can be found in the same places as the previous Great Fairies. These Great Fairies will completely heal Link every time he visits.

Great Rupee Fairy
The Great Rupee Fairy is found in Lorule, where Link is able to throw Rupees into her fountain, similar to Venus. After Link has given her a total of 3,000 Rupees, she will grow back to her normal size and reward him with a Bottle.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Great Fairy from The Wind Waker appears as a Trophy and a Sticker in.

Hyrule Warriors
In, Great Fairies appear in several stages, heavily modeled on the Ocarina of Time incarnation. They are supportive characters who live inside Fairy Fountains, and may be summoned by praying to them inside of Magic Circles for their aide. They help in various ways depending on the battle; such as sending Fairies to drop giant Bombs on enemy units, calling upon a recreation of the Terminian Moon to knock Argorok out of the sky, or sending a rain of energy that destroys several enemies on the field. Great Fairies appear in Hyrule Field, Faron Woods, Valley of Seers, Palace of Twilight, and Skyloft, where their fountains may be found. Although whether they are summoned or not depends on the Scenario.

A Great Fairy also serves as a weapon type for Link, which is simply referred to as Great Fairy. When used as a weapon, Link is kept inside of a giant Bottle while control switches to the Great Fairy. The Great Fairy uses magic attacks and magically-enhanced physical attacks. In some combo attacks, Link is momentarily released as he and the Great Fairy perform special, combined attacks, including a form of Dead Man's Volley that targets surrounding enemies. The Great Fairy's enormous size makes her a powerful character, and her attacks cover a wide range. The Great Fairy weapon is of the Water element.

Trivia

 * There is an error in the Great Fairies' names in the North American release of Majora's Mask. The Great Fairy found by Snowhead Temple introduces herself as the Great Fairy of Wisdom, and then the Great Fairy of Courage on subsequent visits. Likewise, the Great Fairy near the Great Bay Coast says she is the Great Fairy of Courage, and then the Great Fairy of Wisdom. This is not present in the Japanese and European releases, in which Snowhead's Great Fairy is the Great Fairy of Wisdom, and Great Bay's Great Fairy is the Great Fairy of Courage.