Great Sea

The Great Sea is a vast sea that covered up Hyrule after it was flooded by the Golden Goddesses to protect Hyrule from Ganondorf. The inhabitants of Hyrule were forced to quickly settle on the mountaintops, and eventually they forgot about Hyrule and the land below the sea. This huge sea with many islands became the new home of all life in Hyrule. The Great Sea seems to contain another realm, called the World of the Ocean King.

History
The Hero of Time became a legend after sealing away Ganon, the King of Evil, within the Sacred Realm. He left Hyrule, but, before leaving, split the Triforce of Courage and scattered the shards across the land.

Eventually, Ganon somehow escaped and waged war against Hyrule. The land was overrun by his army, but the Hero of Time would not appear. To seal him and his army away, the Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore casted never-ending downpours. Hyrule became the Great Sea, and Ganon and his army were sealed away and frozen in time underwater during the Great Flood.

The people fled to the mountaintops, and, after the flood, started towns and civilization on said mountaintops, which now became islands. Species like the Zora may have evolved in order to adapt to the new environment. Over the course of hundreds of years, the memory of Hyrule faded.

Despite the Goddesses' efforts, Ganon managed to escape the seabed, albeit without his power and beast form due to the Master Sword holding them in place. However, a new hero would be born on Outset Island.

The Triforce was scattered, with Ganon holding the Triforce of Power and the pieces of Wisdom and Courage shattered into pieces and scattered throughout the waters. He tried desperately to find the descendants of Princess Zelda, sending out his Helmaroc King to gather suspects. He inadvertently drew the attention of the new Link after kidnapping his sister accidentally. However, Ganon used this to his advantage and manipulated Link into opening the passage into Hyrule and drawing the Master Sword, releasing his power and his army. The Triforce of Wisdom was reformed by Zelda and her ancestor, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule. Link was left to restore the Master Sword's power and reform the Triforce of Courage.

This newfound power opened the path to Ganon's tower under the ocean. It was there that the Triforce was united and King Daphnes Hyrule used its power to make the barrier over Hyrule collapse and allow the waters to flood. Ganondorf was killed in a final duel atop his tower, as Hyrule around them was being flooded.

With his final words, Daphnes apologized to Link and Zelda, telling them that instead of looking to the past, they should look toward the bright future and a land that would be the new Hyrule.

Human geography
As Hyrule is imprisoned beneath the ocean, there is no activity on the seabed.

Above the ocean, however, local commerce has improved considerably. Most of the food is gathered from fishing and small farms. There is also a large trade boom with the Gorons, who seemed to have moved off elsewhere.

There is only one major town on the Great Sea, on Windfall Island. However, a large pirate base did exist in the extreme northwest until being taken over by Ganon. A large tower, the Tower of the Gods, is erected in the center of the ocean, but barring that, there is not much else, except the small settlement on Outset Island. There may have once been a similar settlement on Greatfish Isle, but if so, it was destroyed before Link ever visited.

The governments of this time are not very powerful nor large, usually limited to local governments consisting of a village mayor or elder. Part of the reason is that there are very few people in the post-flood world, but there are still many diverse races living in and around the Great Sea.

Inhabitants
The Koroks live on a small island with the Great Deku Tree, who may have been the Deku Sprout in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Under the orders of the Great Deku Tree, the Koroks move throughout the archipelago, planting forests in the hope that it will allow the expansion of the mountaintops to create larger islands. The Koroks are descended from the Kokiri, a race of forest children seen in Ocarina of Time. The Great Deku Tree claims their appearance changed to adapt to living on the Great Sea.

Normal Humans are now much more common than previously, differentiated from true Hylians by the fact that they do not have pointy elf-like ears. They work and live in small merchant vessels around the ocean, but are mainly based in Windfall Island, where they enjoy trade with the other races around the Great Sea. Although humans are far more common than before, the majority of the Great Sea's inhabitants are still Hylian.

The Gorons now live in some unspecified place on or near the Great Sea area, and trade with the Hyruleans left after the flood.

The Hyrulean Royal Family still exists, but has no influence whatsoever on day-to-day affairs, as Princess Zelda is unaware of who she is, and the ancient Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule generally stays at the bottom of the ocean, though he can possess a boat known as the King of Red Lions to conduct business above the waves. It is unknown whether this is a form of telekinesis or if the King is able to transfer his essence to and from the boat itself. Regardless of how he inhabits the King of Red Lions, Daphnes is chained to Hyrule. The King of Hyrule and Princess Zelda do, however, still hold the parts of the Triforce.

The Rito, an avian race seemingly descended from the Zora, have developed a strong culture on Dragon Roost Island. They appear to be beaked humanoid beings until they are given scales by the Sky Spirit Valoo. Once a Rito receives a scale from Valoo, he or she grows wings. The Kogoli statue says he's descended from a great postman ages past, possibly referring to the age of Termina. They mainly serve as the postmen of the Great Sea, and are fairly populous. They have a strong relationship with the Humans.

Several pirate groups have sprung up around the Great Sea. One did have a large base in the north-west of the Great Sea before this was taken from them by Ganon. They plunder the ocean in search of treasure, of which there is certainly an abundance. One group of pirates is led by a young girl named Tetra. She has some knowledge of the ancient past of Hyrule and is searching for a way to recover these ancient and valuable relics.

Strange creatures called Fishmen live in the ocean. They are quite knowledgeable about the area they dwell near, being able to mark it down on a map and pass information about it. They like Beedle's All-purpose Bait, though they tend to get sick of it.

Although Phantom Hourglass does take place on the Great Sea, the area is in another world called the World of the Ocean King. The sea here is smaller, having four sections and fewer islands, but more islands show higher amounts human activity than in The Wind Waker.

The Gorons' home island, Goron Island, is apparently in this part of the ocean, in the southeastern quadrant. They live similarly to how they did in The Ocarina of Time, headed by a Chieftain.

The Anouki and the Yook inhabit the other world, as well. Rival races living on the same island, they have been struggling with each other for some time.

Wildlife
The Great Sea's waters are inhabited by creatures such as Gyorgs, Octoroks and Big Octos, making travel extremely dangerous. Seagulls and unfriendly Kargarocs inhabit the skies, and crabs live in some sandy areas. Seahats inhabit smaller islands in clusters. In addition, certain islands around the Great Sea are famous for their ChuChu population. Much of the rest of the wildlife consists of various monsters, some perhaps set loose by Ganondorf to keep watch over certain areas. Several characters in game state that the Great Sea has no Fish. However many characters in game are described as fishermen. However they could hunt the "Monsters" in the Great Sea.

Activities
While traveling the Great Sea, Link can happen upon all kinds of interesting things: Items appear at random, places to explore crop up, and other more important (or dangerous events) occur. Two of the more random and "unimportant" of the special events are Rupee Barrels and Light Rings. Light Rings are stationary spots where treasure can be found.

Rupee Barrels are generated randomly as Link sails around and are marked by a large barrel floating in the water with a Rupee floating above it. These Rupees come in a variety of the normal colors and are collected by sailing or jumping over them. The barrels either appear individually or part of a mini-game of sorts. Occasionally, two barrels with white flags will rise out of the Sea; if Link sails between them, a game will start where Rupee Barrels of increasing value appear. The game ends when Link misses one of the Rupees.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Pirate Ship, Toon Link's home stage, takes place on the Great Sea. This stage was originally set to be called Great Sea, though it was later renamed "Pirate Ship".

Triforce in the Great Sea
Link can connect six islands in the Great Sea to make the shape of the Triforce: Dragon Roost Island, Forest Haven, Greatfish Isle, Eastern Triangle Island, Southern Triangle Island and Northern Triangle Island. It is done by connecting the Eastern, Northern and Southern Triangle Islands to make a small, upside-down triangle and then connecting Dragon Roost, Forest Haven, and Greatfish Isles to make a bigger triangle. Both of these triangles together form the Triforce. It also shows this in-game in Wind Waker. When Link goes to Tetra's room on her ship and looks at the picture that has the Triforce on it, it shows this on the picture. Also, the three islands where the spirits live are in correct position to the Triforce, based on which pearl the three spirits guard. Jabun, who protected Nayru's Pearl, lived on Greatfish, which is where the Triforce of Wisdom should be. The Great Deku Tree, who protected Farore's Pearl, lives on Forest Haven, which is where the Triforce of Courage should be. Valoo protected Din's Pearl, who lives on Dragon Roost, which is where the Triforce of Power should be.