Heart Container

Link's health is symbolized throughout the The Legend of Zelda series as a set of Hearts, excluding The Adventure of Link wherein his health is symbolized by a life bar. Depending on the game, Link must collect either Pieces of Heart or full Heart Containers to increase his 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 (again, excluding The Adventure of Link wherein the Heart Container adds an extra block to Link's life bar). A Heart Container is awarded after every major boss in most games. Most games finish with Link having gained a total of 20 hearts. Four Swords Adventures breaks from the series standard since Heart Containers are not permanent upgrades. Most stages in this title contain Heart Container upgrades, but Link begins the next stage without the benefit. It is possible to finish some games without getting the Heart Containers received from bosses.

Heart Containers can apparently form when people display deep affection for each other, as seen in Twilight Princess where Yeto and Yeta create Recovery Hearts and Heart Containers in their embrace. As a matter of fact, 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 be built manually by collecting four Pieces of Heart, which were introduced in A Link to the Past, and have since then have appeared in every other title following it, excluding Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, in which only full Heart Containers could be found. These 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. Interestingly, 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, Majora's Mask holds currently the record for having the highest number in the series (52, this for featuring only four Heart Containers).

In The Wind Waker, unlike a few other games in the series, there is not a single Piece of Heart that can be found in a dungeon, with the sole exception being the very first Piece of Heart available to Link the game, found in the Forsaken Fortress. Instead, all dungeons feature optional rooms and puzzles that yield Treasure Charts. Any Treasure Chart found in a dungeon in Wind Waker will lead a Piece of Heart hidden in a chest out on The Great Sea.

Twilight Princess breaks the tradition by requiring five Pieces of Heart in order to create a Heart Container instead of the normal four. This is likely due to the high number of Heart Containers present in the game, and so more Pieces of Heart were required to keep the number of them higher than in Ocarina of Time (which had the same number of Heart Containers, but only 36 Pieces of Heart because of the old four-piece system) and narrowly The Wind Waker (44), having therefore 45 in total. Although in Twilight Princess heart pieces are collected in fifths, Link still loses health in minimums of fourths.

In Skyward Sword, 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 the Life Medals, which take up a spot in Link's Adventure Pouch if he wishes to use them.

It's also worth noting that The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword are the only games in the series to have in-game "guides" showing the player where the Pieces of Heart are. The first game being The Wind Waker thanks to certain Special Charts, and then Twilight Princess in the form of Madame Fanadi. In Skyward Sword, a fortune-telling character similar to Fanadi, Sparrot, 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 Upper Zora's River Fishing Hole, Hena will remark "Whose heart did you catch? You big sweetheart!" In Skyward Sword, Beedle will sell Link a Piece of Heart starting at 1600 Rupees once Link has purchased his Life Medal. If Link asks Beedle about the item so that he can buy it, Beedle will tell him that he doesn't 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 can't get them, nor should he even think about trying. She makes no mention of the Piece of Heart on the chandelier, a glaring oversight, as it is likely the first thing that catches the attention of players upon entering the restaurant. It's also worth mentioning that the Fortune Tellers who give hints leading to the Heart Piece Locations refer to them as something having to do with love.

In the Super Smash Bros. Series

 * See SmashWiki's article on Heart Container for more information.

In every game of the Super Smash Bros. series, the Heart Container appears as an item that can be grabbed during play. In the first game, it restores all health. In every subsequent game, however, it restores only 100% damage. In the original and Melee, the player that grabbed the Heart Container cannot receive any damage from opponents while the item is restoring health, but in Brawl, any damage that is taken will be subtracted from the 100%.

The Legend of Zelda
ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

The Adventure of Link
ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

A Link to the Past
Piece of Heart Location Guide at StrategyWiki

ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

ZeldaInformer.com's Guide

Link's Awakening
ZeldaInformer.com's Guide

Ocarina of Time
Piece of Heart Location Guide at StrategyWiki

Majora's Mask
Piece of Heart Location Guide at StrategyWiki

ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

ZeldaEternity.com's Guide

Oracle of Ages
ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

ZeldaUniverse.net's Guide

Oracle of Seasons
ZeldaUniverse.net's Guide

The Wind Waker
ZeldaInformer.com's Guide

ZeldaUniverse.net's Guide

The Minish Cap
ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

Zelda Temple's Guide

Twilight Princess
Piece of Heart Location Guide at StrategyWiki

Phantom Hourglass
Piece of Heart Location Guide at StrategyWiki ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide

Spirit Tracks
ZeldaDungeon.net's Guide