Great Sea

Once Hyrule was flooded by the Gods to protect Hyrule from Ganondorf, it was turned into a vast sea known as the Great Sea. The inhabitants of Hyrule were forced to quickly settle on the mountaintops, and eventually they forgot about the Hyrule and the land before the sea. This huge sea with many islands became the new home of all life in Hyrule. The Great Sea also extists in another world 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, and, 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, and the Hero of Time would not appear. To seal away Ganon and his army, Din, Nayru, and Farore, the Goddesses, cast never ending downpours. Hyrule became the Great Sea, with Ganon and his army sealed away and frozen in time underwater during The Great Flood.

Much of the inhabitants of Hyrule fled to the mountaintops, and, after the flood, started towns and civilization on the mountaintops, now islands.

Human Geography
As Hyrule is imprisoned beneath the ocean, there is no activity on the sea bed.

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 north-west, up until recently. A large tower, the Tower of the Gods, is erected someway throughout the game 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 Island, but if so it was destroyed before Link ever visited.

Races and governments
The governments of this time are not very powerful nor large, usually limited to nothing larger than 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.

Koroks
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. The Great Deku Tree claims their appearance changed to adapt to living on the Great Sea.

Humans and Hylians
Normal humans are now much more common, 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.

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

Hyrule Royal Family
The Hyrule 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.

Rito
A strange race of avians, apparently descended from the Zora, the Rito have developed a strong culture on Dragon Roost Island. They also may be descended from Hylians or a mix of Hylian and Zora. 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, but are fairly populous. They have a strong relationship with the Humans. They are merely 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.

Pirates
Several pirate groups have sprung up around the Great Sea. They 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 a way to recover these ancient and valuable relics.

Fishmen
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.

Ganondorf
Ganondorf seems to have somehow broken free from the seal which the sages placed on him in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He still has control of the Triforce of Power, and is actively seeking the other two pieces, with a large army of Moblins and other minions. He has taken over the Forsaken Fortress, and is scouring the Great Sea for Princess Zelda.

Phantom Hourglass
Although Phantom Hourglass does take place on the Great Sea, the area it's in is another world called the called the World of the Ocean King. The sea here is smaller, has four sections and less islands, but more islands show 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.

Anouki and the Yook
The Anouki and the Yook make their debut in Phantom Hourglass. Rival races living on the same island, they have been struggling with each other for some time.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Great Sea in The Wind Waker has 49 known islands.


 * Angular Isles
 * Bird's Peak Rock
 * Boating Course
 * Bomb Island
 * Cliff Plateau Isles
 * Crescent Moon Island
 * Cyclops Reef
 * Diamond Steppe Island
 * Dragon Roost Island
 * Eastern Fairy Island
 * Eastern Triangle Island
 * Fire Mountain
 * Five-Eye Reef
 * Five-Star Isles
 * Flight Control Platform
 * Forest Haven
 * Forsaken Fortress
 * Four-Eye Reef
 * Gale Isle
 * Greatfish Isle
 * Headstone Island
 * Horseshoe Island
 * Ice Ring Isle
 * Islet of Steel
 * Mother and Child Isles
 * Needle Rock Isle
 * Northern Fairy Island
 * Northern Triangle Island
 * Outset Island
 * Overlook Island
 * Pawprint Isle
 * Private Oasis
 * Rock Spire Isle
 * Seven-Star Isles
 * Shark Island
 * Six-Eye Reef
 * Southern Triangle Island
 * Southern Fairy Island
 * Spectacle Isle
 * Star Belt Archipelago
 * Star Island
 * Stone Watcher Island
 * Thorned Fairy Island
 * Three-Eye Reef
 * Tingle Island
 * Tower of the Gods
 * Two-Eye Reef
 * Western Fairy Island
 * Windfall Island

Phantom Hourglass
There are sixteen islands in Phantom Hourglass.


 * Bannan Island
 * Cannon Island
 * Dee Ess Island
 * Goron Island
 * Harrow Island
 * Isle of Ember
 * Isle of Frost
 * Isle of Gust
 * Isle of Ruins
 * Isle of the Dead
 * Maze Island
 * Mercay Island
 * Molida Island
 * Spirit Island
 * Uncharted Island
 * Zauz's Island

Items and Events
While traveling the Great Sea, Link can happen upon all kinds of interesing 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 little game will start where Rupee Barrels of increasing value appear. The game ends when Link misses one of the rupees.

Another random event that happens on the Sea is monster attacks. Bomb-spitting squids or jumping sharks will appear and attack the boat. The squids are easy to sail away from, but the sharks will jump and knock Link out of the boat. Both of these threats can be defeated with bomb or the boomerang. Small boats with cannons are also a threat and can be dispatched by a few hits with bombs.

Three other, more major, events occur around the sea. Big Octos, cyclones, and the Ghost Ship. (Each of these are detailed on their individual pages.)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Great Sea makes an appearance as part of Toon Link's home stage.