Zelda franchise strategy guide/Items/Four Sword

The Four Sword is able to banish evil like the Master Sword, but can also split its wielder into four clones, each representing one of the four elements. Like the Master Sword, it has a secondary function — to serve as a prison for Vaati and Ganon.

Originally, the Four Sword was the Picori Blade, a magical sword given to the Hero of Hyrule by the Minish. This blade was used to imprison all known monsters in the Bound Chest, and was broken when Vaati opened the chest while looking for the Light Force. It was later forged by Melari into the White Sword, and finally became the Four Sword when it was infused with the crystalline essences of the four elements.

Link uses the Four Sword to defeat Vaati, who is seemingly killed. However, according to Four Swords, he was imprisoned inside the sword, and the sword was placed inside the Four Sword Sanctuary. In Four Swords, Vaati escapes the Four Sword. However, Link, or rather, the four Links (each wearing a different-colored tunic to distinguish them from one another), are able to track him down and re-imprison him in the sword. In Four Swords Adventures, Ganon uses the Dark Mirror to create Shadow Link, who tricks Link into withdrawing the sword and releasing Vaati. This time, however, Vaati is killed, and instead, Ganon is sealed within the sword. The Four Sword appears one last time in the re-release of A Link to the Past (which has Four Swords as part of the release), in the optional Four Sword Palace. It is implied in this game that Ganon broke out of the sword, shattering it, and took over the Pyramid of Power and the Triforce and thus the Golden Land from there. When Link collects the fragments, he is challenged by four Dark Links.

The Minish Cap version of the sword had a red jewel in the center of the hilt, while later versions instead had a marking resembling Vaati's eye. This may be due to Vaati's influence on the sword, and the reason why the Four Sword's clone power is automatic instead of a controlled ability in the other games.