Lily Pad

Lily Pads are disc-shaped leaves that appear in several games of. They are found floating on water and are similar to their real-world counterparts of the same name.

In some games, they are featured as a game mechanic, generally as a platform to stand on, while in others they are just aesthetic.

As an Aesthetic Object
In most games, Lily Pads are merely aesthetic objects that serve no purpose other than being part of scenery. Occasionally in some games, including, , and , they appear as giant plants that act as solid platforms in otherwise watery areas where the water is swallow. Since walking in swallow water slows Link down, these platforms can be used to walk on instead. These Lily Pads usually appear in swamp locations, such as the Swamp of Evil, Goponga Swamp, and Spool Swamp, respectively.

In, there are Lily Pads in the Fishing Pond. These serve nothing but as scenery, however, the Sinking Lure and the Hyrule Loach can potentially be found among them. The Fishing Hole in has similar Lily Pads.

Majora's Mask
In, Lily Pads appear as platforms that Link can cross. They can be found in the Southern Swamp and Woodfall, both in areas with normal water and in areas with poisonous water.

When Link is in his normal form, he can climb and stand on one of these for only a few seconds before it collapses under him. After a while off-screen, it reappears. However, as Deku Link weighs less, as long as Link is wearing the Deku Mask, he can stand on one without it collapsing. Due to this attribute, Deku Link can use the Lily Pads to safely navigate the poisonous waters of Termina's swampland. Doing so is necessary to access certain areas of the Deku Palace.

A similar type of Lily Pad, under which Bio Deku Babas live, can be found in the Great Bay Temple, as well as in Secret Grottos. This variety will support all of Link's forms, however it will flip over and toss him off if the Bio Deku Baba is still attached.

Four Swords Adventures
In, Lily Pads act as platforms in The Swamp stage. The Links can use the Roc's Feather to hop from pad to pad, avoiding the poisonous water. At times Zoras will pop up from under a Lily Pad, sending anyone on top of the Lily Pad high into the air. The Links can perform a super jump this way by allowing themselves to be flung into the air in order to reach another Lily Pad or even land on the ground.

The Minish Cap
In, Lily Pads can be found in areas where Link must be Minish-sized and where there is water, such as streams and puddles in Hyrule and the two Minish-sized dungeons: Deepwood Shrine and the Temple of Droplets.

Such Lily Pads can be propelled if Link uses the Gust Jar to shoot bursts of air in the opposite direction. This is required to navigate these areas. Stretches of water navigable in this manner frequently have Pestos flying overhead that will attack Link if he draws near.

Skyward Sword
In SS undefined, Lily Pads are large enough to support Link, and have pink thorns that branch out underneath. There are two types of Lily Pad. One has a small cluster of thorns around the base of a hook-like structure extending from the bottom. The other has a much larger cluster of thorns on the bottom and no hook. Both of these types can be found in the Ancient Cistern, and also Faron Woods when it is flooded.

If Link jumps down from a high place onto either variety of Lily Pad, it will flip over. If a Lily Pad with the hook-like structure is flipped over with the thorns on top, Link can use the Whip to grab the hook and flip it over again. This does not work on the hookless variety, however.

Link will get injured if he touches the thorns. As long as the thorns are on top, he cannot stand on it, and the thorns will also block his path underwater. The hookless variety with the large cluster of thorns is often found blocking passages in the Ancient Cistern, and one such Lily Pad has a Tadtone trapped in its thorns when Faron Woods is flooded.

Trivia

 * The is the real-world counterpart, and the  is an even larger variety that is strong enough to hold a person, which is likely the inspiration for the Lily Pad's ability to stay afloat with Link on top of it.