Hookshot

The Hookshot in The Wind Waker.
Hookshot
Type	Weapon
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Hookshot (sometimes spelled Hook Shot) is a recurring item that has appeared in several installments of the Legend of Zelda series.

Information

The hookshot consists of a spring-loaded chain with a pointed edge, and it has several uses. Its most common use is as a grappling gun, as it can hook onto certain points and pull Link to them. The hookshot can also be used to reel in items and some enemies which would otherwise be out of reach. It can also could simply function as a weapon to pierce and destroy enemies. Some games have upgraded forms of the hookshot, such as the Longshot, which merely have longer reach.

Appearances

In A Link to the Past, the hookshot was found in the Swamp Palace. In Link's Awakening, it was located at Catfish's Maw, but the Master Stalfos stole the item and had to be defeated before Link could actually claim it. In Ocarina of Time, it was the first weapon Link could find when he was older. Dampé had discovered the hookshot and was buried with it when he died, as it was his treasured item. Link had to beat Dampé in a race underneath Kakariko Village's graveyard in order to earn the Hookshot. The advanced version, the Longshot, was found in the Water Temple and could extend twice as far as the original Hookshot.

In Majora's Mask, a hookshot with a unique gold design was found at the Pirates' Fortress. It apparently had been stolen from the local fisherman, who used to use it to catch fish off the coast. In The Wind Waker, the hookshot was found in the Wind Temple. It could be specially used in conjunction with the Iron Boots to reel in statues and other large objects due to Link being weighed down.

In A Link Between Worlds, it was among the weapons that could be purchased through Ravio's shop. It could initially only be rented for 50 Rupees (with rental items being taken from Link and returned to the store if the player continues past a game over), but later in the game it could be bought permanently for 800 Rupees. Once Link owned the Hookshot, it could be upgraded by Mother Maiamai to the Nice Hookshot as a potential reward for saving her children. The Nice Hookshot can extend longer and causes more damage to enemies.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. games, Link (as well as Young/Toon Link) uses the Hookshot to reel in opponents as his grappling move, although it is replaced by a Clawshot for the older Link in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A sticker of the hookshot from Ocarina of Time is also available in Brawl.
• The Hookshot can be obtained and used in Hyrule Warriors, where it can be used to grapple onto ledges and to reel in enemies. When temporarily upgraded through power-ups, it could even pull a tiny moon down onto opponents. The Hookshot also appears as an Item Card for Adventure Mode, which can be used to unlock a new area on the mode's map.

Trivia

• The Hookshot is replaced with similar items in other games, such as the Switch Hook and Long Hook in Oracle of Ages, the Clawshots in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, and the Gripshot in Tri Force Heroes. Another item with a similar function was the Grappling Hook, which coexisted with the Hookshot in The Wind Waker, but was featured separately within Phantom Hourglass.
• The hookshot can only fire directly forward in the 2-D games, but in the 3-D games the player controls it through a first person perspective. The targetting icon is shown as a red dot in the N64 games (reminiscent of a sniper rifle) and as a rotating starburst in The Wind Waker.
• It was considered for inclusion in Breath of the Wild, with the ability to swing around with duel hookshots, but it was ultimately decided to omit it from the game, because it would break the game's climbing mechanic.