Ball and Chain

The Ball and Chain is an item featured in Twilight Princess.

Location
The Ball and Chain is located in one of the northernmost rooms of Snowpeak Ruins, the fifth dungeon in the game. As Link tries to find the Bedroom Key, he finds his way towards the aforementioned room. At first, the item is in the hands of a seemingly lifeless armor, which is actually a living enemy known as Darkhammer. Link receives it after he defeats the Darkhammer to obtain the Ordon Goat Cheese for Yeta.

Uses
The Ball and Chain is basically a heavy iron ball linked to a chain that Link can use to break his way through icy barriers or inflict heavy damage on tough enemies.

The Ball and Chain is very effective against certain enemies. If Link continues to swing the ball and chain when he is swarmed by Bokoblins, they will simply run into the ball and take heavy damage. Swinging the Ball and Chain does not necessarily stop enemies from attacking Link. Some attacks are timed so they will hit Link instead of the ball. Also, the Ball and Chain can wipe out Stalfos skeletons in a single swing, saving the supply of bombs, blows through the defenses of some monsters, and can kill ReDeads or Chilfos with a throw attack. The Ball and Chain is also the only item that can defeat Freezards.

An additional factor of the Ball and Chain is that when Link holds the ball in his arms, he can point the ball in the direction of enemy attacks to deflect them.

Trivia

 * The Ball and Chain is an item seen many times before in the The Legend of Zelda series, but Twilight Princess is the first game in which Link can use one.
 * Interestingly, this is one of the only two dungeon items in the game that is not guarded in a chest, the other being the Gale Boomerang.
 * Enemies in previous games such as Gumas and Ball & Chain Troopers, as well as the bosses Gooma and Onox, use such a weapon and are usually very difficult to defeat.
 * In Twilight Princess, the Ball and Chain has a strange effect on Dynalfos: when Link swings the weapon in close proximity of these foes, they will freeze. While frozen, Link can run around and strike their unprotected backsides for a quick kill.