Heart Container
A Heart Container fromSkyward Sword.
Universe	The Legend of Zelda
Appears in	SSB Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Item class	Damage Recovering
Article on Zelda Wiki	Heart Container

TheHeart Container (ハートのうつわ,Heart Container), known simply asHeart in the originalSuper Smash Bros., is anitem that will reduce thedamage of the character who picks it up. Its operation has remained functionally identical, but the nuances of its healing have changed in some of the games.

Origin[edit]

A Heart Container (to the right of Link), as it originally appeared inThe Legend of Zelda.

The Heart Container made its first appearance inThe Legend of Zelda. At the beginning ofThe Legend of Zelda, Link starts off with a maximum health capacity of three hearts. When Link finds a Heart Container, it gives him another heart of capacity, allowing him to sustain more damage before dying. Since its debut, Link is often awarded with a Heart Container after defeating adungeon's boss. Starting inThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Heart Containers would also replenish Link's health to full upon collection. InSuper Smash Bros. andMelee, the Heart Container's design is based aroundOcarina of Time's Heart Containers. Its appearance changed inBrawl to the design inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, like mostZelda content. The design of the Heart Container changed once again inSuper Smash Bros. 4 to match its appearance inThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, giving it a slightly thicker and more detailed aesthetic. The Heart Container retains itsSkyward Sword design, also used inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, inUltimate.

The geometric heart is a common piece of imagery used in video gaming to represent health, typically stamina but sometimes the number of lives, often times acquiring health boosts come through acquiring non-diegetic heart objects scattered throughout a map or dropped by slain enemies.The Legend of Zelda popularised the trope, and is generally believed to be its originator, with the only other game from around that time period known to use hearts for health beingChubby Cherub, a localised version of the anime licensed titleQ-tarō the Ghost: BowWow Panic, developed byTOSE and published byBandai, a game that predatesZelda, but did not feature hearts until its localisation in-line with the cherub-centric rebrand, which came out after the release ofZelda in Japan, but before its release elsewhere, likely amounting to a coincidence rather than inspiration one way or the other.

InSuper Smash Bros.[edit]

Heart Container inSmash 64.

Heart Containers take on their appearance fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. They spawn above the ground and float down slowly, creating a delay before they land. While this has little effect in later games since in them, items can be grabbed in the air, it means that in the originalSuper Smash Bros. players must fight for the area where it will land as it falls.

Once grabbed, the Heart Container heals the user, recovering damage all the way down to 0% (even if the player is hit during this time).

InSuper Smash Bros. consuming at least two or three Heart Containers in a match (respectively) gives the player the Heartthrob bonus, worth 17,000 points inSSB (8,000 points in the Japanese version ofSSB) and 2,800 points inMelee. As the Heart Container is the only healing item inMelee that is not also a "food" item, consuming three Heart Containers is the only way to attain the Wimp bonus, worth 1,500 points; as a result, the Wimp bonus always overlaps with Heartthrob.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

Heart Container inMelee onFinal Destination.

Heart Containers again take on their appearance fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Heart Containers function similarly to64. However, it now only heals a total of 100%. The player is given three Heart Containers in theAll-Star Rest Area that can heal all of their damage instead of the standard 100%. Due to a glitch, entering the teleporter inMelee will interrupt the Heart Container's healing and thus not fully heal the player. Completing All-Star Mode inMelee without using a Heart Container or Continuing gives the player the Melee Master bonus, worth 100,000 points.

Trophy[edit]

The Heart Container appears as a collectable trophy.

Heart Container's trophy inMelee

Heart Container

Heart Containers drift toward the ground slowly and replenish 100 percentage points of health. In The Legend of Zelda, these items beefed up Link's life meter; in most cases, Link found them in the possession of bosses or hidden in secret areas. Heart Containers are often scattered across the land inseveral fragments.

The Legend of Zelda (7/87)

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Heart Container inBrawl onFinal Destination.

Heart Containers take on their appearance fromThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and they function the same as inMelee. IfAll Star andBoss Battles are done inCo-op mode, there are more Heart Containers (six instead of three). There are six with the new three Heart Containers appearing under the platforms which the normal three (from solo mode) hold. Heart containers will now fully heal the user in both modes even should they enter the teleporter while healing.

Trophy[edit]

The Heart Container appears as a collectable trophy.

Heart Container's trophy inBrawl

Heart Container

The best recovery item! Grab this and heal 100 percentage points of damage. It falls slowly, so it's best to grab it in midair. Damage recovery won't happen instantly, though, so try not to get launched while your damage is counting down. In the Legend of Zelda series, Heart Containers raise the player's maximum health. Bosses always have one in their possession.

The best recovery item! Grab this and heal a minimum of 100 percentage points of damage. It falls slowly, so it's best to grab it in midair. Damage recovery won't happen instantly though, so try not to get launched while your damage is counting down. In the Legend of Zelda series, Heart Containers raise the player's maximum health. Bosses always have one in their possession.

:The Legend of Zelda

:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Sticker[edit]

A sticker depicting a Piece of Heart Container can be attained inBrawl. Usable only byLink,Zelda,Ganondorf andToon Link, the sticker causes Heart Containers to heal 150% damage instead of only 100% damage.

Name	Game	Effect	Fighter(s)
Piece of Heart	Zelda: Twilight Princess	SpecialHeartContainerEffect+050 +50	Link Zelda Ganondorf Toon Link

Piece of Heart (Zelda: Twilight Princess)

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

Meta Knight andKirby standing next to a Heart Container infor Wii U.

Heart Containers take on their appearance fromThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and they function the same as inBrawl. Heart Containers are not affected byequipment that increases damage healed inSSB4, as they are not "food". This classification goes to theFairy Bottle too. InSmash 4's All-Star Mode, the player receives only one Heart Container initially and gets two if playing after unlocking all characters, but they also receive aMaxim Tomato andFairy Bottle.

Vs. Master Fortress[edit]

InSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, a Heart Container will drop on the stage whenMaster Fortress appears, which fully heals the player like in All-Star Mode. It can be left alone and used in later phases, if the player returns to the stage proper.

Trophy[edit]

The Heart Container appears as a trophy in both versions.

Heart Container's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Heart Container's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Heart Container

An important item in the Legend of Zelda series, this item would appear when you beat a boss and increase your life by one when collected. In Smash Bros., grabbing this will heal 100 points of damage. Grab it as it gently floats to the ground!

:The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages (05/2001)

:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (11/2006)

A quintessential item from the Legend of Zelda series that raises your max health. In those games, you have to defeat bosses to get them, but in this one, they'll just fall from the sky, which makes things a whole lot easier. If you see one, grab it quick – in mid-air if you can! Why? To take 100 off your damage – that's why!

:The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Ages (10/2001)

:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (12/2006)

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

Link pretending to hold up a Heart Container inUltimate.

Heart Containers again take on their appearance fromThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and they function the same as inSmash 4.

In World of Light[edit]

In the second phase of thefinal stage ofWorld of Light, a Heart Container spawns on the stage after every 2bosses that are defeated. Each Heart Container that spawns stays on the stage between fights until used or until the phase ends, after defeating all 6 bosses.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  A render of a Heart Container fromOcarina of Time andMajora's Mask, used forSmash 64 andMelee.

• 

  The Heart Container inSmash 64.

• 

  A render of a Heart Container fromTwilight Princess, used forBrawl.

• 

  Heart Container artwork fromBrawl.

• 

  A render of a Heart Container fromSkyward Sword, used forSmash 4 andUltimate.

• 

  Four Toon Links surround a Heart Container inUltimate.

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ハートのうつわ	Heart Container
English	Heart Container	—
French	Réceptacle de cœur	Heart Container
German	Herzcontainer	Heart Container
Spanish	Contenedor de corazón	Heart Container
Italian	Portacuori	Heart Container
Chinese	心之容器	Heart Container
Korean	생명의 그릇	Life Container
Dutch	Hartje	Heart
Russian	Капсула сердца	Heart Capsule
Portuguese	Recipiente de Coração	Heart Container

v • d • e The Legend of Zelda universe
Fighters	Link (SSB ·SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Sheik (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Zelda (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Young Link (SSBM ·SSBU) ·Ganondorf (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Toon Link (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU)
Assist Trophies	Tingle ·Skull Kid ·Midna ·Ghirahim ·Moon
Bosses	Ganon
Stages	Hyrule Castle ·Great Bay ·Temple ·Bridge of Eldin ·Pirate Ship ·Gerudo Valley ·Spirit Train ·Skyloft ·Great Plateau Tower Underground Maze (Adventure Mode)
Items	Heart Container ·Bunny Hood ·Deku Nut ·Fairy Bottle ·Cucco ·Bombchu ·Beetle ·Gust Bellows
Enemies	Bubble ·Cucco ·Darknut ·Like Like ·Octorok ·Peahat ·ReDead ·Stalfos
Other	Bulblin ·Dark Link ·King Bulblin & Lord Bullbo ·King of Red Lions ·Koume & Kotake ·Majora's Mask ·Navi ·Phantom ·Sacred Land ·Tetra ·Yiga Clan
Trophies,Stickers andSpirits	Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits
Music	Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate
Masterpieces	The Legend of Zelda ·Zelda II: The Adventure of Link ·The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Related content	Fire Bar

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