Fire Arrow

The Fire Arrow is an upgrade to Link's bow arsenal that has made several appearances throughout the Zelda series, first appearing in Ocarina of Time.

Uses
The weapon infuses arrows with the power of fire, causing the spot it hits to burst into flame. This attribute makes it quite useful for lighting torches and dealing significant damage to ice enemies, among other things. They consume Link's Magic Meter, so they must be used sparingly.

Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time, the Fire Arrows are obtained in Lake Hylia as an adult. Link must stand in front or on top of a platform with writing on it (above the Water Temple entrance) and shoot an arrow at the sun just as it is beginning to rise. The arrow will freeze in mid-air and fall to the ground on an island in the lake, where Link can pick it up, granting him the ability to use Fire Arrows.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to complete the Water Temple to fill the lake and thus obtain the Fire Arrows. Link can also play the "Song of Storms", which is considered "filling the lake with water" and shoot an arrow at the sun before the rain stops. The young hero can collect the arrows by using the "Scarecrow's Song" and the Longshot or by using the "Bombchu hover."

Though it may not seem so, the Fire Arrows are not necessary for completion of the game. A combination of Din's Fire and shooting an arrow through an already lit torch can be used to clear puzzles involving the Fire Arrows. Even so, the Fire Arrows are particularly useful for torches that are too far away for the Din's Fire spell to reach. However, Fire Arrows are indeed needed to complete the Master Quest version of this game, as they are needed to burn the webs on the ceiling of the Spirit Barrier room full of ReDeads and Gibdos in Ganon's Castle, which Din's Fire is unable to reach.

Majora's Mask
The Fire Arrows are more useful in Majora's Mask than in its predecessor. They are acquired in the Snowhead Temple after defeating a Wizzrobe.

They look the same and deal the same amount of damage, though they are used more often to complete various puzzles, particularly in the Snowhead area. These puzzles usually involve melting ice or lighting several torches at a fast pace.

The Wind Waker
Link can receive the Fire Arrows as well as the Ice Arrow in The Wind Waker at the Mother & Child Isles after learning the "Ballad of Gales." He must warp inside the rock structure located in the isle in order to meet the Fairy Queen, who will grant him the power to wield these special arrows. However, the Fairy Queen will not hand over the ability to use the Fire Arrows until Link has rescued his sister, Aryll, from the Forsaken Fortress.

The Fire Arrows are needed in the storyline when Link has to melt the ice surrounding Ice Ring Isle in order to obtain the Iron Boots.

Twilight Princess
The Fire Arrows are not obtained in the normal game flow of Twilight Princess. However, using a hacking device, it can be seen that item number fifty-three, in the list of items, is named "Fire Arrow," meaning that they were originally meant to be obtainable. The Fire Arrows are still used, but by enemies; Bulblin Archers use them against Link, which can cause problems for his wooden shields. The Bomb Arrows seem to make up for the lack of Fire Arrows used by Link.

Trivia

 * Despite being on fire, in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask the Fire Arrow does no more damage than a regular Arrow, giving it little value as a weapon except against enemies like Freezards that are specifically weak to fire, and also on rare occasions against dense clusters of targets like Wart's bubbles where the spreading flame hits several targets at once. In The Wind Waker, however, it does twice as much damage.