A gem that is the unit of currency in Hyrule and other lands.
Contents |
Description
Overall
The Rupee is the main currency used in Hyrule, Termina, Labrynna, Holodrum and Koholint Island. As a matter of fact Rupees appear in every Zelda game with the exception of AoL and FSA. The latter of the two has Force Gems instead, which have almost exactly the same properties although they are used to boost the power of the Four Sword. Rupees come in many different varieties and therefore the table below shows what types of Rupee each game uses. This table excludes the Yellow Rupee Shard and the Black Rupee, because these two types have different purposes rather than raising your money funds.
Value Table
| Type | LoZ | ALttP | LA(DX) | OoT | MM | OoS/A | FS | TWW | TMC |
| Green | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Big Green | 50 | 50 | |||||||
| Giant Green | 500 | ||||||||
| Blue | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Big Blue | 100 | 100 | 100 | ||||||
| Red | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | |
| Big Red | 200 | 200 | 200 | ||||||
| Orange | 100 | ||||||||
| Purple | 50 | 50 | 50 | ||||||
| Yellow | 1 | 10 | |||||||
| Silver | 5 | 100 | 200 | ||||||
| Huge | 200 | 200 |
Legend of Zelda
Link can find only two types of Rupee in this game. First we have the Yellow Rupee, that is worth 1 Rupee and second there is the Blue Rupee worth 5 Rupees. Yellow ones (they look like they're orange) are found in various places and are commonly dropped by enemies, whereas the rarer Blue Rupee is a harder to find.
The most important reason to collect Rupees is to buy several good items like for example the Blue Ring for 250 Rupees or Arrows sold for 80 Rupees. In this game it is also possible to find several very simple gambling games that can earn you more Rupees.
A Link to the Past
The most costly items Link has to buy in this game are the Flippers for 400 Rupees at King Zora's. Other than that there are not many purchases needed, although the useful Blue Potion is also quite expensive. In this game the number of Rupees Link can collect is limited to the maximum amount displayable with three digits: 999.
In the GBA version of the game you can get some hidden Rupees if you try to pull a Painting of Mario from the wall in one of the houses. This only works 1 time, however.
Link's Awakening (DX)
There are not that many shops around so the few of the uses of the Rupees in this game is buying the Bow and Arrow set for a ridiculous amount of 980 Rupees, only 19 Rupees less than the maximum Link can carry in this game. You can also learn the Frog's Song of Soul from Mamu for 300 Rupees.
Ocarina of Time
On the long term this is still not that much, for there are so many Rupees hidden in this game that the counter gets to 500 in no time at all. Also this game features some special invisible Rupees that are located on some interesting places:
- Walk up the Hyrule city's drawbridges' chain links.
- Use the Scarecrow's Song at Zora's Fountain on the big rock sticking out of the water next to where Lord Jabu-Jabu was in the past. Then use the Hookshot to find some rupees, while walking over that rock.
- Shoot a Deku Seed with the Slingshot on Mario's Painting in Hyrule Castle's Courtyard
In OoT there is also another type of Rupee; the so-called Silver Rupee and it's worth 5 Rupees. If you come across a room where these Rupees are found you need to collect all of them, in order to complete a certain objective that may vary per location.
Majora's Mask
The Rupee currency is also used in the world of Termina. For this game the sprites of OoT's Rupees were reused, apart from the Silver Rupee that is now worth 100 Rupees and has no special use anymore. Moreover even the Wallet system is copied from OoT making this game very similar (what Rupees concerns). The only big difference is that all the Rupees in your wallet will disappear if you go back to Day 1. The only way you can save you money permanently is by storing in at Clock Town's Bank.
Oracle of Ages / Seasons
Five types of Rupee exist in both Holodrum and Labrynna. If you manage to collect a total of 10,000 Rupees in either OoA or OoS Vasu will give you the Rupee Ring. Another Rupee connected Ring is the Gold Joy Ring, equipping this will increase the probability you will find a random Rupee, when you cut a bush or kill an enemy. Last method of finding many rupees is excavating every square of the screen with the Shovel. You have a very small chance of finding a Big Blue Rupee earning you 100 Rupees in one go. The Big Red Rupee however is a very uncommon rupee only to be found in 3 or 4 locations in both Oracle games, possibly in the Hero's Grave.
In the OoS there is also a Subterranean world called: Subrosia. The people around here use Ore Chunks as the standard currency, unfortunately it is not possible to exchange Ore for Rupees and vice versa, so Link has to collect the Ore Chunks seperately if he needs something from the tribe of the Subrosians
Four Swords
In this game it is your secondary objective to collect as many Rupees as possible. There are 6 types of Rupee in this game and as the chart table shows the most valuable Rupee is the rare Green Rupee.
Black Rupee
A black rupee causes a player to lose some of their own rupees.
Rupee Shard
A piece of a golden rupee. Four shards gives the player and their team 500 additional rupees.
The Wind Waker
Template:Section-stub Description here please
The Minish Cap
Miscellaneous Notes
NES' 255 Rupee Limit
In LoZ Link can only carry up to 255 Rupees. This may seem odd, but it can be easily explained if you know how the NES keeps track of its variables. In order to keep this readable for our non-technical audience it is most easily explained as following: The NES uses internal registers of size 1 byte (8 bits) to keep track of all the data values in the game. 1 bit is either a 0 or a 1 so we have a total of 2 possibilities, thus 8 bits gives 28 possibilities = 256 possibilities. This still leaves 256, does it? However we also need a value for 0, hence we have a range of 0 to 255.
Quick Rupee Trick (ALttP SNES only)
In the SNES version of ALttP Link can obtain a lot of money in a very short time span using the following method. This method works in both SNES and GBA versions, but on the GBA you can only do this one single time. Go to the Forest where the Flute Boy is, equip the Pegasus Boots and dash into the trees on the upper right screen. This will cause 2 Red Rupees to fall out, giving Link 40 Rupees. If you rinse and repeat this process you can easily get all the money you could ever need.
FSA Rupee
Originally in the early development stage of FSA the screenshots that were released back then clearly show that Rupees were used at the beginning. Take a look at these two identical screenshots (for the early development of the game and the released version):
| Development | Release |
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In the latter the Rupee is replaced by a Force Gem. Any particular reason for game developers to make this conversion is unknown to me.
Rupee as a real-world currency
The Rupee is a real currency invented in India. It is used in many different Asian countries. See Wikipedia.
Relevant Quotes
Legend of Zelda
The Manual about Rupees (called Rubies in LoZ):
- "Rubies are the money used in this kingdom. They sometimes appear when Link disposes enough of the enemy. If Link collects enough of them, he can buy treasure from the merchant. Blue Rubies are worth five times more than yellow ones. In all, Link can own up to 255 yellow rubies, and he may use them in any way he likes." (US manual pg.21)
A Link to the Past
The manual about Rupees:
- "The people of Hyrule use precious stones called Rupees as currency. There are three different kinds of Rupees:
- Green Rupee = 1 rupee
- Blue Rupee = 5 rupees
- Red Rupee = 20 rupees"
Sign in front of Hyrule Castle:
I will give 100 Rupees to the man who finds the descendants of the wise men. THE KING
Signs in Village of Outcasts
This is the Village Of Outcasts. People without Rupees are not welcome here.
King Zora Monologue when buying Flippers:
Wah ha ha! But I don't just give flippers away for free. I sell them for 500 Rupees a
pair.
What do you do? Pay 500 Rupees Quit after all
Sign near the Pond of Happiness:
--POND OF HAPPINESS-- Throw some Rupees in and your wishes will surely come true.
Do you want to throw Rupees? Throw a few Don't feel like it
Link's Awakening
The guy in the near the Raft center:
Want to go on a raft ride for a hundred Rupees?
Shopkeeper in Mabe Village after showing him the Bow and Arrow Set:
Bow & Arrow Set Only 980 Rupees!
Various Treasure Messages:
You got 20
Rupees!
JOY!
You got 50
Rupees!
Very Nice!
You got 100
Rupees!
You're Happy!
You got 200
Rupees!
You're Ecstatic!
Ocarina of Time
After opening a chest with a Rupee in it:
You got a Green Rupee! That's one Rupee!
You got a Blue Rupee! That's five Rupees!
You got a Red Rupee! That's twenty Rupees!
You got a Purple Rupee! That's fifty Rupees!
You got a Huge Rupee! This Rupee is worth a whopping two hundred Rupees!
After giving the Bunny Hood to the guy running on the field:
It's a 50-Rupee mask, but he paid you a crazy amount of money for it--more money than you can count!
(Link gets his Wallet completely filled)
Go back to the Mask Shop and pay back just 50 Rupees of this money.
Majora's Mask
After opening a chest with a Rupee in it:
You got a Green Rupee! That's worth one Rupee!
You got a Blue Rupee! It's worth 5 Rupees! That's not too shabby...
You got a Red Rupee! It's worth 20 Rupees! That's pretty nice!
You got a Purple Rupee! It's worth 50 Rupees! Your face is beaming!
You got a Silver Rupee! It's worth 100 Rupees! You're pretty happy!
You got a Huge Rupee! Just one is worth 200 Rupees! That's a big deal!
Oracle of Ages / Seasons
After opening a chest with a Rupee in it:
You got 1 Rupee! ...
You got 5 Rupees!
You got 10 Rupees!
You got 20 Rupees! That's not bad.
You got 30 Rupees! That's nice.
You got 50 Rupees! How lucky!
You got 100 Rupees! I bet you're thrilled!
You got 150 Rupees! Way to go!!!
You got 200 Rupees! That's pure bliss!
Oracle of Seasons
Talking to the Wise Man inside the Hero's Grave (if Link doesn't have enough Rupees):
You've done well to make it this far, but there is a final trial for the true hero. It costs 60 Rupees. Will you try?
Even a hero has need of money. Save up, then return.
?:
Inside a Gasha Nut? More than anything, you find Magic Rings, but sometimes you find Rupees or Hearts.
The Minish Cap
After opening a chest with a Rupee in it:
You got 1 Rupee. It's green! Don't spend it all in one place!
You got 5 Rupees! That's kind of nice.
You got 20 Rupees! That's great.
You got 50 Rupees! You must be very happy!
You got 100 Rupees! How exciting!
You got 200 Rupees! Your face is beaming!
After getting a Yellow Picolyte:
Oh, that Yellow Picolyte makes it easier for you to find Rupees! It practically pays for itself! Care to buy it?
?:
Nonsense! Maybe we need it now more than ever before! Fusing Kinstone pieces can bring people happiness! This is the true motive for fusing, my friend! Not Rupees, but happiness!
Translations
| Country | Name |
| Japanese | ルピー (RUPĪ) |
| English | Rupee |
| French | Rubis |
| German | Rubin |
| Spanish | Rupia |
The German translation calls a Rupee more like a Ruby. This is similar to the English LoZ mistranslation of Rupee into "Ruby" and "RUPY". This was corrected in ALttP to Rupee and has since been used in every Zelda game this gem appears.