In A Link to the Past, the Fighter's Shield is a small family shield that belongs to Link's Uncle, and is received from him in the secret passageway leading into Hyrule Castle grounds. As it is the first shield obtained in the game, it is the weakest of all shields and provides very little defense. It is able to protect against arrows, spears and rocks, but little else. The shield can be eaten by enemies, and if the shield is swallowed up by a Pikit or a Like Like, another one can be purchased in the many shops throughout the Dark World.
Blocks (and sometimes reflects) enemy attacks. Some enemies can’t be defeated without a shield, but it's also just a good idea to know when to defend yourself.
Like most basic shields obtained throughout The Legend of Zelda series, the Small Shield can be swallowed by Like Likes. If this happens, Link can defeat the Like Like to retrieve the Small Shield, or buy a new one at Stockwell's Shop. The Small Shield can defend Link from the most basic of attacks, such as an Octorok's rocks and sword strikes from other enemies. After Link completes the main quest, he can turn the Small Shield into the Mirror Shield by allowing Biggoron to eat it.[6][7]
The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.
Link using the Fighter's Shield against Agahnim
In the A Link to the Past comic by Shotaro Ishinomori, Link's uncle is seen using the Fighter's Shield during his duel against Agahnim. However, after Link witnesses the defeat of his uncle at the hands of his wizard, he rushes to his side and obtains his uncle's sword and shield from him before passing out. Link continues to use the shield only for the first chapter, using it to defend himself from enemy attacks. However, when he reaches the Sanctuary with Princess Zelda and faces off against Agahnim, he loses his sword and shield along with it, and the young hero is never seen using the Fighter's Shield for the rest of the comic.
The following section is not part of the Zelda canon and should not be taken as such.
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The Small Shield can be used to reflect Rocks fired by Octoroks and the projectiles fired by Deku Scrubs back to their source.
Trivia
Screenshots from versions of the game prior to release seen in promotional material for the game show the Fighter's Shield with brown coloring, rather than blue.[citation needed] This possibly explains why some official art depicts it as brown, while others depict it as blue.
The Fighter's Shield is the first shield to have a bird-like design on it in the series, and many aspects of its design were used for the Hylian Shield.
The Great Fairy granting Link a better shield when he answers honestly is an homage to the Aesop fable, The Honest Woodcutter. In the story, a man accidentally flings his axe into a lake and begins to weep, having lost his only means of livelihood. The god Hermes decides to take pity on the woodcutter and emerges from the lake holding a golden axe, asking the man if it is his. The man truthfully denies, and Hermes produces a silver axe asking the same. Once again, the man answers honestly saying that he had lost a wooden axe. For his display of honesty, Hermes gives him all three axes. Later, a man overhearing this story decides to fling his own axe into the lake and falsely cry about his loss. Hermes again appears offering to the man a golden axe, which he greedily claims. Disgusted by this man's avarice, Hermes gives him nothing and leaves his axe at the bottom of the lake as punishment.
↑Hello there. Did you drop this? I like an honest person. I will give you something better in return. — Great Fairy (A Link to the Past)
↑Here! I want to give you a present! Doesn't this shield suit you perfectly, Link? — Princess Zelda (The Minish Cap)
↑Owwwwch! That must be the Business Scrub I heard the soldiers talking about. They were saying a Deku Scrub had been hassling all the passersby. Link, do something about it! Otherwise, we can't get to the castle. If only we had some way to defend ourselves against those nuts of his. — Princess Zelda (The Minish Cap)
↑Welcome. Goro. Oh, what a tiny Goron you are... You make this big Goron happy with this unexpected visit to my distant home. Tell me, little one, what do you know about shields? Well, among us Gorons, who know well the taste of steel... They are considered a fine delicacy. Ah, yes... Just once, I should like to taste a fine, fresh shield... — Biggoron (The Minish Cap)
↑Nummnumm! Slurp, slurp! Oh, delicious! That was excellent! Thank you so much. Now, I finally know the legendary taste of a shield! And I will happily fulfill my promise! Let me just spit your shield back out again! Goro goro...?! It-It seems your shield has changed shape a little as I was chewing on it... Oh, but it's fine! It is still a shield after all, just a slightly differently shaped one! I think... Well, I have to go now! Good-bye, goro! — Biggoron (The Minish Cap)
