Four Sword: Difference between revisions

The '''Four Sword''' is a legendary magical blade that has appeared in four games of [[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|''The Legend of Zelda'' series]] (''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords|Four Swords]]'', ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures|Four Swords Adventures]]'', and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap|The Minish Cap]]''). Its blade sparkles with magical power, and it has a hilt of gold, usually with a jewel that varies in color. As its name implies, when wielded by one of pure heart, it has the power to split its holder into four near-identical copies of themselves. Not only this, but like its spiritual counterpart in the series, the [[Master Sword]], it possesses the power to repel evil, meaning that like the Master Sword, it cannot be touched by those of impure heart. Like its counterpart, the only person shown to have wielded it in gameplay is the hero of [[Hyrule]], [[Link]]. Typically when it is in use by Link, it will split him into four copies of himself with differing colored tunics: green, red, blue and purple. It has often been used to seal evil entities away such as [[Vaati]] and later [[Ganon]].

Unlike the [[Master Sword]], the Four Sword was not originally of the world of [[Hyrule]], nor did it originally go by that name. As revealed in ''The Minish Cap'', the Four Sword began as a creation of a race of tiny, thumb-sized beings known as the [[Minish]] (known as the "Picori" by [[Hylian]]s) and was known as the [[Picori Blade]]. Long in Hyrule's past, a fierce [[War of the Bound Chest|war]] broke out across the land when an army of dark creatures descended upon it and wreaked havoc. Just as all seemed lost, a young man known as the [[Hero of Men]] rose up to defend Hyrule, and the tiny Minish descended from the sky bringing him a sword, the Picori Blade, and a golden light, the [[Light Force]].<ref>{{cite|The tiny Picori appeared from the sky, bringing the hero of men a sword and a golden light.|Prologue|The Minish Cap}}</ref> Using these two gifts, the hero drove back the creatures and locked them all away within the confines of the [[Bound Chest]], sealing it with the sword itself.<ref>{{cite|With wisdom and courage, the hero drove out the darkness.|Prologue|The Minish Cap}}</ref> Following these events, the Picori Blade was carefully enshrined by the people of Hyrule<ref>{{cite|When peace had been restored, the people enshrined that blade with care.|Prologue|The Minish Cap}}</ref> while the Light Force was magically sealed inside Hyrule's [[Princess Zelda|princess]]. For many years afterward, the blade that would one day become the Four Sword was kept in the care of the [[Royal Family of Hyrule]] and brought out of [[Hyrule Castle]] once a year for the annual [[Picori Festival]] held to honor the service the Minish rendered during the war against evil.<ref>{{cite|The legend has it that, long ago, the Picori gave us this blade. Whoever wins the competition earns the honor of touching the sacred blade.|Potho|The Minish Cap}}</ref>

In its second appearance, the Four Sword is shown to still rest in the Four Sword Sanctuary some time after the events of Four Swords. The sword still seals away the Wind Sorcerer Vaati after he was re-sealed within it by Link and Princess Zelda. With the passing of time, the people have come to feel a sense of peace and security, or so they thought. As of late however, dark storm clouds have blackened the skies of Hyrule that fill all who see them with fear and dread. This has caused some to fear that the seal of the Four Sword binding Vaati may once again be weakening. The specter of Vaati's return causes such disturbance that Princess Zelda sees fit to convene a meeting of the six other [[Maiden|Shrine Maidens]] that guard the different regions of Hyrule and have the power to open the way to the Four Sword's resting place. Intending to inspect the sword's seal herself, Zelda decides to take Link along with her for extra security while she checks to see if Vaati's return is really imminent.

Upon opening the portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary, the entire party of the Shrine Maidens, Zelda and Link are surprised by the emergence of [[Dark Link|Shadow Link]], who kidnaps the Shrine Maidens and Zelda before luring Link through the portal to the Four Sword Sanctuary. Seeing he has no weapon to duel his dark doppelganger, Link draws the Four Sword from its pedestal, causing himself to split apart in the same manner the sword had worked previously, causing him to split into four different colored versions of himself. Shadow Link laughs and makes a quick exit as Vaati escapes his prison once again and sends the four Links far away with a whirlwind. Upon awakening, the four meet [[Kaepora Gaebora]], who tells them that they must master the power of the Four Sword in order to defeat Vaati and rescue Zelda and the Shrine Maidens. To do this, they must gather a total of 2,000 [[Force Gem]]s in each area they visit to fully power up the Four Sword and give it the [[Power to Repel Evil]]. In this manner, the four heroes work their way across Hyrule and gradually rescue all of the maidens with the power of the Four Sword. They eventually reach the [[Palace of Winds]] and confront Vaati, ultimately destroying him for good using the blade's power. However, it turns out that the true evil behind Vaati's release and the evil plaguing Hyrule is [[Ganon]], who has stolen a [[Trident]] possessing the great magic of an evil spirit. Confronting the demonic sorcerer with Princess Zelda, the four heroes succeed in subduing him while the Shrine Maidens magically seal him within the blade of the Four Sword. The sword is returned to the Four Sword Sanctuary soon after, now serving as the prison of Ganon.

The origins of the Four Sword are revealed in ''The Minish Cap'', where it is revealed to have once been known as the [[Picori Blade]] and was used by the [[Hero of Men]] to lock away the beasts that plagued Hyrule during the [[War of the Bound Chest]]. By the start of the game, many long years have passed since the war, and the annual [[Picori Festival]] is being put on while marking the hundredth year since the Minish last came to Hyrule (as the [[Minish Door]] opens only once a century). The festival’s sword-fighting tournament winner gains the honor of approaching the [[Bound Chest]] and touching the Picori Blade itself. The winner this year is a new face in Hyrule, a dark stranger named [[Vaati]]. However, the stranger reveals he is a powerful sorcerer and uses his dark magic to blast open the Bound Chest thinking the [[Light Force]] is inside, shattering the Picori Blade in the process. When the evil sorcerer turns [[Princess Zelda]] to stone, Hyrule’s [[King Daltus]] sends [[Link]] (and consequently his companion, [[Ezlo]]) on a quest to restore the Picori Blade and use its power to break Vaati’s curse on Princess Zelda.

To this end, Link has the blade’s fragments re-forged into the [[White Sword]] by the master Minish smithy [[Melari]] and learns from the Minish that he needs the mystical [[Elements|Four Elements]] in order to transform it into a new sacred sword. The Four Elements are the crystalline jewels infuse with the powers of the four major elements of the world: earth, air, fire and water. They are scattered all across Hyrule in different locations, and Link must take them to the [[Elemental Sanctuary]] located in [[Hyrule Castle]]’s courtyard in order to infuse each into the blade of the re-forged sword. Meanwhile, Vaati has infiltrated Hyrule Castle and is impersonating the king in order to use Hyrule’s soldiers to search for the Light Force. Eventually, he learns that the secret of the Light Force rests in a sealed chamber within the Elemental Sanctuary, and that the sacred blade is necessary to gain access to it. The villain decides to wait for Link to restore the sacred blade and use him to gain entry to this chamber. This plan succeeds when Link successfully retrieves the final element, the [[Elements#Wind Element|Wind Element]], from the [[Palace of Winds]] and brings it to the Elemental Sanctuary, where infusing its power into the blade alongside the others fully regenerates the blade and transforms it into the Four Sword. This opens the chamber revealing the location of the Light Force, which turns out to be embodied within the body of Princess Zelda. Vaati learns this and uses his magic to transform Hyrule Castle into [[Dark Hyrule Castle]] and takes Zelda to the roof to perform the ceremony necessary to extract the Light Force from her (which will likely kill her). Link arrives in time to stop the ceremony and is forced to confront Vaati in several deadly forms (ending with him finally transforming into his Wind Mage form), though the young hero ultimately triumphs over him and seals him away within the blade of the Four Sword.