Great Sea

The Great Sea is a vast sea that covered the kingdom of Hyrule after it was flooded by the Golden Goddesses to protect it from Ganondorf. In order to survive the flooding, Hyrule's population was forced to quickly settle on the kingdom's mountaintops, and centuries afterward, the memory of Hyrule and the land below the sea was eventually forgotten. Some theorize that the Great Sea contains another realm, called the World of the Ocean King.

History
After sealing away Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm, The Hero of Time became a legend. He then left Hyrule, but before leaving, he split the Triforce of Courage and scattered its shards across the land.

Eventually, Ganondorf managed to escape and proceeded to wage war against Hyrule. Despite the land being overrun by his army, the Hero of Time did not appear. As a result, the Golden Goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore were forced to intervene and sealed both Ganondorf and his army within Hyrule by freezing them in time with the Master Sword. In order to ensure their imprisonment, the Goddesses cast never-ending downpours to flood Hyrule, burying Ganondorf and his army underwater and thus creating the Great Sea.

To avoid the flood, Hyrule's population fled to the mountaintops and rebuilt civilization upon the mountaintops-turned-islands after the flooding ceased. In addition to civilization, races also underwent major changes over the following centuries, as Humans became more prominent and both the Zora and Kokiri evolved in order to adapt to the new environment, resulting in the birth of the Rito and Koroks, respectively. The Gorons, however, appear to have dwindled to the point of near extinction, or perhaps left the area. A few traveling merchants are the only Gorons seen during the events of The Wind Waker.

Despite the Goddesses' efforts, Ganondorf managed to escape the seabed, albeit without his power and beast form due to the Master Sword holding them in place. Although there was still no Hero of Time to combat the returning King of Evil, a new hero would be born on Outset Island. While Ganondorf held the Triforce of Power, the Triforces of Wisdom and Courage were shattered into pieces and scattered throughout the waters. He then focused on finding the descendants of Princess Zelda by sending out his Helmaroc King to gather suspects, specifically young girls with pointed ears. During this search, the Helmaroc King inadvertently drew the attention of the new Link after accidentally kidnapping Link's sister, Aryll.

However, Ganondorf used this to his advantage and manipulated Link into opening the passage into Hyrule and drawing the Master Sword, which released both his power and his army. As 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. Upon restoring both the Master Sword's power and the Triforce of Courage, Link's newfound power opened the path to Ganondorf's tower under the ocean. It was there that the Triforce was united and Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule used its power to make the barrier over Hyrule collapse and allow the sea to flood. In a final duel atop Ganondorf's tower, Link, with assistance from Zelda, defeated Ganondorf after stabbing him in the forehead with the Master Sword, turning the King of Evil into stone as Hyrule 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 a bright future and a land that will be their own. With the last of his power, Daphnes sealed Link and Zelda within bubbles, allowing them to float to the surface while he and Hyrule were drowned by the flooding water.

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 barter system with the Gorons, who seemed to have moved off elsewhere.

Windfall Island is home to the only major town on the Great Sea. However, a large pirate base did exist in the far northwest until being taken over by Ganondorf. 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 for 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, such as the Rito Chieftain. The reason for this is that there are very few people in the post-flood world, although there are still many diverse races living in and around the Great Sea.

Inhabitants
Humans are now much more common than previously, differentiated from true Hylians by their lack of the latter's pointed, 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 of Hylian descent.

The Rito, an avian race 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, are fairly populous, and have a strong relationship with the Humans.

The Koroks, a plant-like race descended from the Kokiri, live on Forest Haven with the Great Deku Tree. Under the orders of the Great Deku Tree, the Koroks move throughout the Great Sea, planting seeds sprouted from the Tree in the hope that the seeds will create forests and allow the islands to expand in size. Before leaving to plant the seeds, the Koroks take part in an annual ceremony, and return to Forest Haven for the following year's ceremony.

Several pirate groups have sprung up around the Great Sea. One did have a large base in the northwest of the Great Sea before this was taken from them by Ganondorf. 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.

The Royal Family of Hyrule 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. He and Princess Zelda do, however, still hold the parts of the Triforce.

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.

The World of the Ocean King
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, and trade with the Hylianss left after the flood. The Anouki and the Yook inhabit the World of the Ocean King as well. Rival races living on the same island, they have been struggling with each other for some time.

New Hyrule
New Hyrule, the Kingdom Founded by Tetra, is presumably located somewhere in the great sea, though it's location compared to the remains of the original Hyrule or The World of the Ocean King is unknown. Various races from across the Great Sea inhabit this land, as well as new ones.

Judging by the location of the Ocean Realm in New Hyrule, it can be assumed that it is far to the north of the original one, but there is no evidence to support this other than this speculation.

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. Despite several characters in the game stating that the Great Sea has no Fish, many characters in the game are described as fishermen. However, this could mean that they hunt the monsters in the Great Sea rather than actual Fish.

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. This is done by connecting the Eastern, Northern and Southern Triangle Islands to make a small, upside-down triangle, and connecting Dragon Roost, Forest Haven, and Greatfish Isles to make a larger 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, there is a picture that has this Triforce shape on it. 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, who protected Din's Pearl, lives on Dragon Roost, which is where the Triforce of Power should be. The empty triangle in the center is occupied by the Tower of the Gods, the pathway to Hyrule.