Triforce Shard

Triforce Shards are recurring items in the Legend of Zelda series. They are pieces of the Triforce which have been broken down to prevent it from falling into evil hands.

The Legend of Zelda
Prior to the game Ganon invaded the land of Hyrule and stole the Triforce of Power. Fearing he would also obtain the Triforce of Wisdom, Princess Zelda shattered the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces and hid them in the Levels throughout Hyrule. Link sets off on a quest to reassemble the Triforce of Wisdom and defeat Ganon.

Link obtains a Triforce Shard at the end of every level of the game. After Link obtains a Triforce Shard his Hearts will be fully restored and he will be cured of any Jinxs placed on him. He will also be returned to the Level's entrance.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
In this game both the Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage are split into several shards in order to prevent Ganondorf from obtaining them when he returned to power. The Triforce of Wisdom was split into two shards, one was held by the King of Hyrule, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule while the other was held by Tetra and her ancestors. Link and Tetra encounter the King of Hyrule in the submerge Hyrule Castle after escaping Ganondorf. He tells them how the Golden Goddesses flooded Hyrule creating the Great Sea in order to stop Ganondorf. He then reunites the two pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom revealing Tetra's through identity as Princess Zelda.

Link is then told to revive the Sages of the Master Sword in order to return the power to the Master Sword so it can be used to defeat Ganondorf. After doing so Link is unable to return to Hyrule. He is instructed by the King of Red Lions to obtain the eight Sshards of the Triforce of Courage. To do so Link must search Hyrule to find the eight Triforce Charts which must be deciphered by Tingle. Using the Triforce Charts Link can find the location on the Great Sea where he must use his Grappling Hook to retrieve the Chest containing the Triforce Shard from the ocean's floor. Once Link assembles all eight Shards the Triforce of Courage is reassembled and accepts Link as it's owner allowing him to return to Hyrule and confront Ganondorf.

''The Legend of Zelda: Mystical Seed of Courage
Pre-release info for this game revealed that the Triforce of Power was intended to be split into a certain number of Shards, this time by Ganon in order to prevent Link from obtaining it. Presumably the Triforce Shards would have served as quest items similar to their appearance in The Legend of Zelda.