Your Shield Can Shatter During Battle In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

While you could lose your shield in Ocarina of Time if an enemy swallowed it — or burnt it in the case of the wooden shield — the shields in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword can actually break during sword fights. This is handled using a shield gauge.

You can perform a Shield Attack in Skyward Sword using the Wii Nunchuk. This is a parrying sort of move that can be performed when an enemy is attacking you. If you don’t perform it correctly, however, your shield gauge runs down, and when it depletes completely, the shield shatters.

Skyward Sword lets you upgrade your equipment, shield included, so we assume that better shields will be more durable and less susceptible to breaking easily.