If you've been playing through The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, you've probably stumbled upon a fairy floating around. And if you've played other Zelda games before, you might have wondered how best to stuff it in a jar and keep it to heal you later. If you want to find them all, we've got you covered.
How to find all the fairy bottles in Link's Awakening
Link's Awakening, like most other Zelda games, includes bottles in which you can trap fairies for quick health boosts as you adventure, but they can be a bit confusing or tricky to find. There are three bottles in total. Here's how to find all the Fairy Bottles:
Locating Fairy Bottle 1
- The first Fairy Bottle is available from the very beginning of the game in Mabe Village.
- You'll need at least 10 rupees, probably more unless you're a skilled angler.
- Head to the north section of Mabe Village to the fisherman and agree to play his mini-game.
- If you look at the floor of the pond, you'll see a small glint in the bottom left, behind one of the big pieces of seaweed. That's the bottle!
- Cast your line as far as you can.
- Let it sink to the bottom.
- Slowly begin tugging (with the left analog stick) the line along the bottom of the pond until it catches the bottle.
- You now have to rapidly tap A to reel it in.
- Watch out! Any fish that see you will try to stop you.
- You may need to fish up a catch or two before doing this to get particularly pesky fish out of the way.
- If you fail, the bottle drops where it falls and you can always try again.
Getting Fairy Bottle 2
- You'll get the second bottle automatically as part of the main story after the fourth dungeon.
- A pink ghost will start following you around, mentioning a house.
- Take her to the abandoned house in the easternmost area of Martha's Bay. It's just to the right of Toronbo Shores.
- After a quick scene, take the ghost to its grave near the Witch's House.
- The grave isn't in the cemetery proper. It's southwest of the Witch's House, and is covered in flowers.
- The ghost will be appeased, and will give you the bottle.
Winning Fairy Bottle 3
- Fairy Bottle 3 will take a bit more time. You need to be doing a lot of the Dungeon Creator and finishing Dampe's tasks.
- After a while, Dampe will eventually assign you a challenge called Heart Shortage.
- You'll need to create a dungeon shaped like a bottle, that you complete with just three hearts.
- Once you create and finish the dungeon, Dampe will give you the final bottle as a reward.
Why do I need Fairy Bottles?
Fairy Bottles are just the quintessential bottles from the Legend of Zelda series that can contain any number of things, but in Link's Awakening are only for fairies. If you've ever seen a fairy floating around at either a Great Fairy Fountain or elsewhere in the world, you can equip a bottle to one of your action buttons (X or Y) and "use" it to capture the fairy.
Using the bottle again will free the fairy, restoring a significant number of hearts. It's great to keep these full and on you at all times, as it essentially gives you extra lives in dangerous places where you might be taking a lot of hits. Be warned: in other Zelda games, dying will automatically release a fairy on your person to revive you. That doesn't happen in Link's Awakening! You have to release them manually.
Our top equipment picks
Everything you need to set out on your adventure on Koholint Island:
Awake the wind fish
Link finds himself stranded on a strange island that exists in the shadow of a massive egg. The egg is said to house the sleeping Wind Fish, whom Link must awaken if he ever wants to leave. Our hero must journey across Koholint Island and obtain eight magical instruments across eight dungeons to play the ballad that will send him home.
Additional Equipment
If you want to experience everything Link's Awakening has to offer, you may also need to pick this up:
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening amiibo ($16 at GameStop)
This tiny friend can be tapped in the game's Dungeon Creator mode to send a Shadow Link scurrying after you, hindering your progress. Add it for an extra cute challenge!
ButterFox Carrying Case ($11 at Amazon)
Keep your adventures on Koholint Island safe with an inexpensive traveling case for the Nintendo Switch. It can hold 19 games, the Switch itself, and multiple cables and Joy-Con controllers.
Nintendo Switch Lite ($200 at Amazon)
If you're obsessed with gaming on the go, consider the Nintendo Switch Lite as an alternative or addition to the regular Nintendo Switch. It's smaller, cheaper, more durable for if you have kids playing the system, and comes in fun colors like yellow and turquoise. It can't dock on a TV, but if you're primarily a handheld gamer, this may be the best option for you.
