Fighter's Shield

[[File:File:ALttPShield.png.png|20x20px]] [[|]] The Fighter's Shield is the first Shield in A Link to the Past.

Location and Uses

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.

Link can obtain an upgraded version of the Fighter's Shield known as the Red Shield by throwing it into the Mysterious Pond of the Waterfall of Wishing. Only by answering the Great Fairy's question honestly will she reward him with a better shield.^[1]

Other Appearances

Non-Canon Information

A Link to the Past Comic

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.

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 Woodsman. 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.

Gallery

ALttP Shield Sprite.png

The Fighter's Shield as it appears in the game
The Fighter's Shield on the equipment subscreen
Lttp Link.png

Link armed with the Fighter's Shield in official artwork
ALttP-FS Link.png

Link armed with the Fighter's Shield in official artwork (Game Boy Advance remake)
Link using the Fighter's Shield