Demon King's Bow
The Demon King's Bow is a magical bow in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom whose attack power scales with Link's maximum number of hearts, up to 60 damage.
Key Takeaways
The Demon King's Bow is a heart-scaling bow whose performance depends on Link's maximum health rather than a fixed strength value. Its unusual scaling makes it especially relevant after completing more heart upgrades, but it also creates a clear limitation for early or stamina-focused progress.
Heart-based strength
The bow's displayed strength increases by two for each heart in Link's maximum capacity, up to a displayed maximum of 60. Hearts temporarily removed by Gloom do not count toward this calculation.
A high-ceiling ranged option
With a large maximum-heart total, the Demon King's Bow can reach its full displayed strength while retaining the normal advantages of a bow, including ranged attacks and arrow-material Fuse interactions.
Phantom Ganon acquisition
The bow is obtained by defeating Phantom Ganon, which drops it when defeated. Its acquisition is therefore tied to an enemy encounter rather than a general shop inventory or ordinary chest route.
Health progression matters
The bow is less attractive when Link has few maximum hearts, because its strength scales down with that total. Players prioritizing stamina upgrades must weigh that progression choice against the bow's potential power.
Limited restoration options
The Demon King's Bow cannot be repaired or receive weapon bonuses when dropped for a Rock Octorok, so durability management and replacement planning matter more than they do for weapons that support those methods.
Its key comparison point
Unlike a conventional bow with a fixed base strength, the Demon King's Bow changes its displayed strength with Link's maximum hearts, making health progression its defining point of difference.
Overview
The Demon King's Bow is a heart-scaling bow in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, rewarding a large maximum-heart investment with higher displayed attack rather than relying on a fixed strength value.
As a ranged weapon, the Demon King's Bow occupies a specialized place in Tears of the Kingdom's bow roster. Its defining behaviour is that its attack power is tied to Link's maximum heart capacity, so its performance reflects permanent progression rather than a single unchanging base value. Hearts temporarily removed by Gloom do not contribute to this calculation, keeping the bow's scaling tied to maximum capacity rather than current health.
That design makes the bow particularly relevant for players who have invested heavily in Heart Containers. It can serve as a high-power general-purpose bow when Link has a substantial maximum-heart pool, while a stamina-focused or early-progression character may gain less from its defining mechanic. This is a different role from bows whose identity comes primarily from multi-shot behaviour, elemental effects, or a fixed special firing pattern.
The bow is associated with the Demon King and is also used by Demon King Ganondorf during the game's final encounter, giving it a clear place in the base game's late-stage weapon pool without making it a downloadable-content variant. Its intended acquisition is tied to defeating Phantom Ganon, so it is encountered through combat rather than treated as a permanently available starting option. The weapon can therefore function as both a progression reward and a thematic late-game armament.
The Demon King's Bow is best understood as a scaling weapon, not simply as a bow with a high listed attack. Its value depends on the relationship between the player's maximum-heart investment, the bow's heart-based calculation, and the normal limitations of ranged combat and bow durability. That conditional identity is what distinguishes it from more predictable alternatives: its strength can grow with Link's build, but it is not equally suited to every character progression path.
Statistics
Attack and durability are the game’s own published values, not a 0–100 scale. Taken from the project’s verified weapons database, not from generated text.
- Durability42
- Range30
- ClassRanged
- TraitAttack scales with maximum hearts (6–60)
- UniqueYes
- ConditionStandard
- Compendium#470
Figures verified against Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
Compared to similar bow weapons
| Weapon | Durability | Class | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demon King's Bow | 42 | Ranged | 30 |
| Dusk Bow | 40 | Ranged | 40 |
| Royal Guard's Bow | 20 | Ranged | 30 |
| Great Eagle Bow | 60 | Ranged | 40 |
| Duplex Bow | 18 | Ranged | 40 |
Attack and durability are the game’s own published values. From Consolidated Game Weapons Database.
How to Obtain
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom base game; no DLC or New Game Plus requirement.
- Access to Hyrule Castle Sanctum, normally reached during the Crisis at Hyrule Castle main quest.
- Ability to defeat Phantom Ganon. The encounter and its drop contain major story spoilers.
- The Hyrule Castle Sanctum reward is a one-time encounter for that location, but Demon King's Bow is not permanently missable because other Phantom Ganon encounters can provide it.
- 01Travel to Hyrule Castle in the Central Hyrule region and enter the Hyrule Castle Sanctum. The intended route is the main-story Crisis at Hyrule Castle sequence, although the weapon is obtained from the encounter rather than from a vendor or chest.
- 02At the Sanctum, trigger and defeat the Phantom Ganon encounter. After the battle, collect the dropped Demon King's Bow from the arena before leaving; this Phantom Ganon encounter provides the bow as a guaranteed drop.
- 03If the Sanctum encounter has already been completed, other Phantom Ganon encounters reached after defeating Gloom Hands can also provide Demon King's Bow drops. The Sanctum route is the clearest fixed location; ordinary chests and vendors do not stock this weapon.
Availability
Requires Defeat Phantom Ganon
No vendor price, difficulty gate, NG+ requirement, or separate DLC availability is established for this weapon. Its attack value varies with Link's maximum hearts, so availability is not tied to a fixed damage tier.
Mechanics and Handling
Heart-based attack scaling
The Demon King's Bow does not have one universal attack value. Its attack power is tied to Link's maximum heart capacity: each maximum heart contributes two points, up to a 60-point ceiling. This is a maximum-health calculation rather than a current-health calculation, so taking ordinary damage does not reduce the bow's power. Hearts temporarily removed by Gloom are excluded from the calculation while they are unavailable. The result is a bow whose effectiveness grows with story and upgrade progress that increases Link's permanent heart total, rather than with a conventional weapon-upgrade track.
This scaling also makes the bow especially sensitive to the difference between permanent hearts and temporary health effects. A player with fewer maximum hearts will obtain a lower attack value than a fully developed character, even if both are using the same bow. Conversely, recovering from ordinary damage does not restore or increase its power, because the relevant input is maximum heart capacity. The 60-point ceiling prevents additional maximum hearts from producing unlimited attack power.
Standard bow handling, specialized output
The Demon King's Bow uses the normal bow control pattern: Link can fire a quick shot or hold the aim to draw the bow before releasing. It launches one arrow per shot and has no documented innate multi-shot property. Its attack value applies to the bow's own contribution; the arrow and any material attached through Fuse can add separate effects or damage. A fused arrow can therefore change the practical role of the bow by adding elemental, utility, or combat effects, but those results belong to the selected Fuse material rather than representing a permanent trait of the Demon King's Bow.
The bow does not create a special status effect on its own, and it has no weapon skill or alternate firing mode that replaces ordinary arrow use. Its projectiles follow the usual arrow trajectory, so distance, elevation, enemy movement, and the player's aim remain important. The weapon's heart scaling should not be confused with a headshot bonus or a hidden multi-arrow multiplier: a well-placed hit can benefit from normal bow combat rules, but the bow does not automatically turn every shot into a critical hit or make every fused arrow connect with the same target.
Arrow economy and Fuse choices
Every shot consumes an arrow, and special arrow behaviour depends on the material fused to that arrow. This means the Demon King's Bow is only as flexible as the player's available arrow supply and Fuse materials. Standard arrows preserve the bow's straightforward damage role; elemental or utility materials can instead make a shot useful for setting targets or environments, revealing information, creating openings, or exploiting an enemy's vulnerability. Because Fuse effects are temporary arrow modifications, they should be selected for the encounter rather than treated as a permanent bow upgrade.
The bow's heart-based attack value remains the weapon's own scaling mechanic when an arrow is fused. A fused arrow can add its own contribution or effect, but that does not turn the Demon King's Bow into a different roster weapon or establish one universal combined damage value. The outcome depends on the specific material and situation, so a single fused example should not be read as the bow's default performance.
Durability and repair limitation
Like other usable bows, the Demon King's Bow is subject to durability and can eventually break through use. Its notable maintenance limitation is that dropping it for a Rock Octorok does not repair it or grant the usual weapon bonuses. In practice, this makes replacement and preservation more important than relying on the standard Rock Octorok restoration loop. Avoid spending it on low-value shots when another bow can handle routine targets, and reserve its heart-scaled output for encounters where its damage or arrow-Fuse flexibility provides a meaningful advantage.
Upgrades and Variants
Strengths, Weaknesses and Best Uses
Strengths
- Its displayed attack scales with Link's maximum heart capacity, so it becomes a stronger general-purpose bow as a heart-focused playthrough progresses.
- The heart-based scaling makes its base shot predictable: its strength comes from Link's health progression rather than a temporary combat buff or a narrowly triggered weapon trait.
- Arrow Fuse effects remain available, allowing the bow to deliver elemental, utility, or other material-based effects without changing its core heart-scaling identity.
- It is a useful reward to keep after a Phantom Ganon encounter because its performance can improve as Link's maximum hearts increase.
Weaknesses
- Its output is tied to maximum hearts, so it is a weaker fit for low-heart, stamina-focused, or early-game builds than for a developed health-focused character.
- Hearts blocked by Gloom do not contribute to the bow's attack calculation, reducing its effective strength while exploring areas where Gloom has removed part of Link's health.
- The bow cannot be repaired or given weapon bonuses through Rock Octoroks, making durability management more important than it is for weapons that support that maintenance route.
- Its scaling does not by itself solve ammunition costs or the opportunity cost of using valuable arrows and Fuse materials; special-arrow effects still depend on the player's supplies.
Best uses
- Use it as a late-game general-purpose bow when Link has accumulated a substantial maximum-heart total and wants reliable base strength without depending on a temporary buff.
- Bring it into encounters where arrow effects matter, pairing its heart-scaled shot with situational Fuse materials rather than treating it as a replacement for every specialized bow.
- Prefer it during normal exploration when conserving specialized bows is useful, provided its durability and arrow supply justify the choice.
- Avoid making it the main bow for a low-heart or heavily Gloom-exposed setup; another bow with a more suitable fixed or conditional mechanic may better match that situation.
Compared With Similar Weapons
| Weapon | Displayed strength | Shot pattern | Distinctive trade-off | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demon King's Bow | Single arrow per shot | Its strength depends on the heart total rather than a fixed base value; it cannot receive weapon bonuses from Rock Octoroks | Heart-focused builds and strong single-target shots when Link has a high maximum-heart total | — |
| Great Eagle Bow | Three arrows per shot | Trades lower per-arrow strength for a multishot volley; each arrow can interact separately with fused arrow materials | General-purpose multishot use, especially when several arrows can connect | — |
| Savage Lynel Bow | Three arrows per shot | A high-strength multishot bow that can outperform a single-arrow bow when the volley connects | Burst damage, close-to-mid-range targeting, and multishot arrow effects | — |
| Royal Guard's Bow | Single arrow per shot | Higher fixed displayed strength than the Demon King's Bow's value below 25 maximum hearts, but lacks the Demon King's heart-based scaling | Single-target shots for players who prefer fixed damage and do not want to build around maximum hearts | — |
Used In
- Phantom GanonPhantom Ganon can drop the Demon King's Bow when defeated. This is the weapon's principal enemy-based acquisition relationship.
- Demon King GanondorfDemon King Ganondorf wields the Demon King's Bow during the game's final encounter, reflecting the weapon's connection to the Demon King.
Lore and Design
The Demon King’s Bow is framed as a weapon of Demon King Ganondorf rather than an ordinary Hyrulean bow. Its story significance comes from its direct association with the Demon King and from its use by Ganondorf during the game’s final encounter, giving the weapon a stronger narrative identity than its damage profile alone would suggest. Its unusual heart-based power rule also ties the bow thematically to the wielder’s vitality, although the game presents that relationship as a gameplay property rather than explaining it through a separate story passage.
The bow’s visual design has been described by IGN as inspired by the yumi, a traditional Japanese bow. That attribution supports identifying a documented design reference, but it does not establish a developer statement about the weapon’s inspiration or a broader cultural meaning. Within Tears of the Kingdom, the weapon is best understood as a magical bow associated with the Demon King’s power and arsenal. Its relationship to Ganondorf is explicit through its appearance in the final encounter; interpretations beyond that connection should remain separate from the game’s established lore.
Trivia
- The Demon King's Bow’s design is inspired by the yumi, a traditional Japanese bow. This reference is reflected in its overall bow profile rather than establishing the weapon as a direct historical replica.
- Unlike ordinary equipment that can benefit from Rock Octorok maintenance, the Demon King's Bow cannot be repaired this way and does not receive a weapon bonus when dropped for a Rock Octorok.