Either one refills your health to the new maximum when you obtain it. They come both whole and in 1/5 fragments, the latter usually being hidden away as secrets. Axiom Verge has red balls called Health Nodes that permanently increase health.Assassin's Creed has a version of this, your synchronization bar (health) increases as you progress the game by finishing memory sequences, and also for every 15th side-memory you accomplish.
The Trope Namer is the Heart Container, an item from The Legend of Zelda. Not to be confused with Soul Jar, which can sometimes literally be a heart in a container. Related to the Rare Candy, which is like this, but can be used at any time, once acquired, instead of being used immediately when gotten (and is usually an addition to the statistical benefits of level-based progression), and Equipment-Based Progression.
They often restore health as well, and so can serve as a type of After Boss Recovery or Level-Up Fill-Up. In games with icon-shaped Life Meters, it's highly likely that these life-giving MacGuffins will be shaped like their display counterpart (such as, uh, hearts). Note that Heart Containers may also be split into pieces, requiring a player to collect a certain number of 'fragments' (usually 3 to 5) before gaining the benefit of added HP (the flipside being a much larger number of fragments to find). On the other hand, some are just well hidden in the game world itself, inviting the player to search every nook and cranny for these valuable items.
Heart Containers usually come as a reward for doing something "big," like defeating a boss or completing a big ol' sidequest. After all, if you want more Hit Points, an RPG hero can simply do some Level Grinding, but outside that genre? You'll need one of these babies to do it for you. Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong Country Returns (when buying a Heart Boost)Īn item or power-up that permanently increases one's Hit Points, usually through making a reference to an existing Life Meter, and particularly common in Action Games and Adventure Games that don't involve (HP-boosting) RPG Elements.
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