Sword Beam

, also known as , are a recurring Sword skill in . It is often utilized by Link wherein, when he is at full health, an attack with his Sword will result in a beam of light streaking out and striking anything in its path. It is useful for when one does not wish to engage in close quarters combat or use ammunition like Arrows. Depending on the game, it can be utilized with any blade; at others, only special blades like the Master Sword will create a Sword Beam when swung.
==Overview==
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Whenever Link has full health in , he is capable of shooting a Sword-shaped Sword Beam from the Sword, the White Sword, and the Magical Sword. Lynels are also capable of using Sword Beams.
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Provided that Link has full health, he is capable of firing Sword Beams in . are also capable of using Sword Beams.
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Link can fire swirls of circular Sword Beams while equipped with the Master Sword, the Tempered Sword, or the Golden Sword in , provided he has full health. The purple Dark Link in the Palace of the Four Sword is capable of using Sword Beams as well in the Game Boy Advance version of .
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If Link has obtained the Level 2 Sword in , he can fire Sword-shaped Sword Beams at full health.
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When Link is wearing the Fierce Deity's Mask in , he will be able to shoot out a blue, crescent-shaped Sword Beam from his Sword. However, this ability can only be used when L-Targeting, and it consumes Magic Power.
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If Link has the Noble Sword or the Master Sword, he can fire a Sword-shaped Sword Beam from his Sword while his health is full. If the Light Ring is transferred to in a Linked Game from , Link is capable of using it. While wearing the Light Ring, Link can use Sword Beams from the Noble Sword and Master Sword even with up to two Hearts of damage. The Light Ring L-2 increases this limit to a maximum of three Hearts of damage. If he wears the Energy Ring, his Spin Attack will be replaced with a sword beam.
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If Link has the Noble Sword or the Master Sword, he can fire a Sword-shaped Sword Beam from his Sword while his health is full. While wearing the Light Ring, Link can use Sword Beams from the Noble Sword and Master Sword even with up to two Hearts of damage. The Light Ring L-2 increases this limit to a maximum of three Hearts of damage. If he wears the Energy Ring, his Spin Attack will be replaced with a sword beam.
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In , circular Sword Beam swirls can be fired from the Four Sword once Link has obtained the Master Sword in on the same save file, provided that the have full health. In , Sword Beams can be executed after the have full health and have obtained Master Sword by completing the Realm of Memories.
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The Four Sword can be empowered to use Sword-shaped Sword Beams in , once the have obtained 2,000 Force Gems. Unlike in prior games, the Sword Beam is not affected by the ' health.
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Link can learn to perform a standard blade-shaped Sword Beam from Grimblade in the Hyrule Castle Garden in . Like other titles, the Sword Beam can only be executed while Link has full health. A similar technique that only works while Link has one Heart or less remaining, known as the Peril Beam, can be learned from Waveblade in Lake Hylia.
After Link infuses the Four Sword with all Four Elements, his Sword will shoot a circular Sword Beam swirl after performing a Spin Attack. This circular version of the Sword Beam is capable of breaking Vaati's curse on the inhabitants of Hyrule Castle. This circular sword beam does no damage to enemies.
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Regardless of Link's health, he can execute Sword-shaped Sword Beams after collecting at least 10 Courage Gems, and having Ciela equipped as his active Fairy in . If Link obtains 20 Courage Gems and has Ciela equipped as his Fairy, the Sword Beams shot from his Sword will become wider.
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Link can perform Sword-shaped Sword Beams with full health after collecting the Swordsman's Scroll #1 in .
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In , are one of . They can be executed by raising the Goddess Sword, Goddess Longsword, Goddess White Sword, the Master Sword, or the True Master Sword into the air to charge it, then slash to fire a versatile beam. In his final battle in Hylia's Realm, Ghirahim is capable of firing red, circular Sword Beam waves from his sword in an identical manner to the Skyward Strike.
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Link can execute a crescent-shaped Sword Beam from the Master Sword if his health is full in .
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The can shoot Sword Beams while their collective health is full in by wearing the or the . The also allows any wearing the to shoot Sword Beams in four directions at once with full health. Alternatively, Sword Beams can be shot with the Fierce Deity Armor after executing a Spin Attack, regardless of health.
Although Sword Beams can only be shot while wearing that strengthen the ' Swords, the Sword Beams themselves only deal the damage of a regular Sword strike.
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Disc-shaped Sword Beams can be fired from the Master Sword if Link has full health in . To execute a Sword Beam, Link must "throw" the Master Sword in the direction that he wants the Sword Beam to go. The use of Sword Beams slowly deteriorates the Master Sword and will contribute to its loss of energy. The beams are capable of damaging Dark Beast Ganon.
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Sword Beams in Tears of the Kingdom work mostly like they did in Breath of the Wild, but if Link is wearing the Champion's Leathers or the Tunic of Memories, he can fire the Sword Beams even at low health, at the cost of them disappearing at a shorter distance than at full health.
The Vow of Sidon grants Link access to a water-based sword beam that is not restricted by weapon.
==Other Appearances==
=== (TV Series)===
In , the Sword Beam, referred to as zaps, is the only attack which Link performs with his Crissword, other than using it to parry. The Sword Beams seen in the cartoon are pink, and Link is able to shoot them from his Sword at any time, no matter his health. Any monster that receives a zap from the Crissword is sent to Ganon's Evil Jar, including Ganon himself. However, Link cannot use its zaps to hurt anyone who is not a monster, as shown in "Sing for the Unicorn" when the hero is unable to damage Sing with it. 
The zaps emitted from the Crissword are powerful enough to knock back the person holding the Sword. As such, the Sword must be held with two hands by beginners until they are able to master it completely.
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When wielding the Hylian Sword, Link can fire a Sword Beam using his Strength III combo. The Master Sword adds Sword Beams to all of Link's combo attacks as long as Link is at full health. The Great Fairy's Strength II combo has the Great Fairy borrow Link's Hylian Sword and fire Sword Beams at Link, damaging enemies as he dodges out of the way.
The Strength III combo for Young Link's Mask results in a Sword Beam being fired from Kokiri Sword. When in Focus Spirit, Sword Beams are added to every one of Young Link's attacks.
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Link can fire a Sword Beam from the Master Sword by using his forward Smash attack while his damage is at 0% in .
==Trivia==
*In a Q&A page in 1998, Dan Owsen of Nintendo confirmed that Sword Beams were present in , though they were inexplicably removed before release. The code for the Sword Beam can still be found in the game's debug ROM.
==Nomenclature==
==See also==
* Peril Beam