Four Swords

“He who draws the sword will split into four...”

— Four Swords

Four Swords
Developer	Nintendo Capcom
Publisher	Nintendo
Genre	Action Adventure Multiplayer
Platform	Game Boy Advance Nintendo DSi
Release dates	March 14, 2002 December 2, 2002
Chronological Order
Previous	"Oracle of Ages"
Next	"The Wind Waker"

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords is the ninth installment in the The Legend of Zelda series, released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. It is preceded by Oracle of Ages and succeeded by The Wind Waker. The Hero of the Four Sword is the main protagonist and Vaati is the main antagonist. Vaati's monsters are the villainous faction.

It is the ninth game in the series, and the third in the Unified Timeline, set very soon after the events of The Minish Cap. It follows Link, split into four by the Four Sword, tasked with saving Princess Zelda and the Great Fairies from Vaati the Wind Mage.

As part of the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series, an enhanced port of the game was released for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS as a limited-time free download, Four Swords Anniversary Edition.

Chronologically this game takes place between The Minish Cap and Ocarina of Time.

Synopsis

Hundreds of years before Ocarina of Time, this time's Link and Zelda are exploring the Four Sword Sanctuary, a long-forgotten sanctuary that houses the Four Sword. Suddenly, the Four Sword twitches and the spirit encased inside, Vaati, escapes and kidnaps Princess Zelda. Link reaches for the blade, and as he pulls it, he is split into four versions of himself. The four Links travel across Hyrule collecting three keys which they will use to access the Palace of Winds. They enter and defeat Vaati and save Princess Zelda, sealing Vaati within the Four Sword once again, and placing it back in the Palace of the Four Sword.

Summary

Princess Zelda of the land of Hyrule was a beautiful young girl born with mysterious power to sense approaching forces of evil. For this reason, she was assigned with the sacred duty of protecting the shrine of the Four Sword and the blade itself. One day, Zelda was in Hyrule Castle when she sensed that something unusual was occurring at the Four Sword Shrine. She asked a boy named Link, whom she trusted above anyone else, to accompany her to investigate the happenings at the shrine..."

As they approached the shrine to check on the seal, suddenly a dark figure grabbed princess Zelda. The seal on Vaati had weakened over time, and Vaati managed to break out of his prison within the Four Sword. Having still no memory of his time as a Picori, or the power of the Light Force, Vaati did not recognize the princess and saw only a fair maiden. He decided she was to become his bride to commemorate his return and took off with her to his palace. After being instructed by fairies, Link takes the Four Sword from its pedestal and is split into four, as the legend foretold. The Great Fairies could help Link to get to the Palace of Winds, but not until he proved himself courageous enough. After traveling over three different lands and the dungeons they contained, Link and his three other selves confronted the wind mage in the Palace of Winds, the seat of Vaati's power. After an arduous battle between the sorcerer and the heroes, Link was able to reseal Vaati into the Four Sword blade.

Characters

Hero of the Four Sword

Princess Zelda

Vaati

Bosses

Image	Enemy	Description	Stage
	Guardian of the Sea of Trees: Big Manhandla	Big Manhandla is a large, multi-headed plant. At the start of the battle, Big Manhandla will have two to four heads that will change colors depending on the number Links. As the blossomed heads circle around the battlefield, the corresponding Links must attack the flowers that matches their tunic while dodging the small green stones that Big Manhandla shoots. On higher difficulties, Big Manhandla will sprout additional flowers that spit seeds at players. Each head will have a corresponding Lever that will cause it to open, revealing the necessary colors to destroy it.	Sea of Trees
	Guardian of Talus Cave: Tera Zol	Dera Zol is a large slug-like creature that attacks by jumping up and down, primarily to crush the Links should they move underneath its body, but also to shake off icicles that will injure them should one land on them. To defeat the beast, the Links must repeatedly charge into it using the Pegasus Shoes to bump it into the ice wall, freezing it. At this point the heroes can slash at it with their Swords to cause damage. On higher difficulties, Dera Zol will begin creating illusions of itself after taking damage. The true body can be identified by its shadow.	Talus Cave
	Guardian of Death of Mountain: Gouen	At the start of the battle, Gouen will summon a series of small flames that converge on his smaller body to form his main flame. Gouen is practically invincible when he is fully covered in flames. He attacks the heroes with balls of colored fire. If the Link of the same color hits the ball of fire, it will be reflected back at the monster. When the ball of fire makes contact with him, his flames will scatter. The Links must strike the flames to locate which one he is hiding in to cause damage.	Death Mountain
	The Wind Mage: Vaati	Vaati appears in Four Swords as a mage that kidnaps many beautiful maidens and brings them to his Palace in the sky. He no longer has memories of his life as a Minish. At that moment, a hero wielding the legendary Four Sword appeared. Using the Sword, he split his body in four to defeat Vaati and seal him away inside the Four Sword in the Four Sword Sanctuary.	Vaati's Palace

Title Screens

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords	The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition

Media

Japanese

USA

Trivia

• In Four Swords, the player does not get the option of choosing a name for Link, akin to Four Swords Adventures and Breath of the Wild. This was changed in the Anniversary Edition.
• Even though The Wind Waker was the first Zelda game to use the cel-shading graphics style, Four Swords was the first to use the style's accompanying 2D art elements.
• Four Swords is the first game featuring a dungeon set entirely in the clouds.
• It is the first multiplayer Zelda game.

Continuity

• This game takes place after The Minish Cap and before Ocarina of Time.
• The Four Sword was retroactively revealed to be made of the four Elements that are in the Four Sword Sanctuary, in The Minish Cap.
• The version of Hyrule in this game may be behind what we usually know as Hyrule since we never return to any of these locations.