Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series has used Rupees since the first game, but why was that name chosen for Link's money? There is a real-life currency with that name, but was its use in The Legend of Zelda's world of Hyrule intentional?
Rupees are gemstones that Link can find hidden around the world in The Legend of Zelda game. They are most commonly found in tall grass and treasure chests, though some monsters will also drop Rupees when they're defeated. The color of a Rupee determines its value, with green Rupees being the most common, and silver or gold Rupees being rare and valuable.
The majority of fantasy video games use gold as the main currency, in order to keep things as simple as possible when trading items. A couple of video game franchises have their own unique currencies, like Gil in the Final Fantasy series, but these function in the same manner as gold coins in other titles. Rupees are the currency in The Legend of Zelda and they're accepted everywhere from Hyrule to Lorule. It's also the name of the real-world currency used in India, which raises the question of whether this was an intentional reference?
The Legend of Zelda: Rupee Or Ruby?
The Legend of Zelda series is infamous for its bizarre names, many of which are still used to this day. This is why Link battles enemies called Darknuts, Leevers, Peahats, and Ropes. In most cases, these English names are close to the original Japanese names. The developers of the original game in The Legend of Zelda series had no idea how popular the series would become, so it's likely that little thought was put into the names of the generic enemies that appeared throughout the story. The origin of the Rupee name was revealed in an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto on the official Nintendo website, and it's another example of a bizarre choice that stuck over time.
According to Miyamoto, the connection to the Indian rupee was unintentional. The Legend of Zelda Rupee name was chosen because it has a cute sound and it's similar to the word "Rubies." They were actually called Rubies in the original English manual for The Legend of Zelda, but this was changed to Rupees in later versions of the game, likely because they weren't actually red. The comparison to gemstones is apt, considering that's what Rupees look like in every The Legend of Zelda game, and it makes more sense to think of them as gemstones with different monetary values than as coins.
Source: Nintendo