The Great Sea is the main setting of the events of The Wind Waker[1] and Phantom Hourglass. For the latter game, it only makes a brief appearance during the introduction and ending sequences. The ocean as a whole, as revealed by the Great Flood event and when Link enters Hyrule Castle for the first time in the former installment, is actually a tremendously flooded world by the Golden Goddesses, with its many islands being the highest mountaintops of Hyrule far below its depths.
In-game, the Great Sea is restricted to an area of 7x7 1000-unit squares, each containing an island of its own.
History and Mythology[]
Centuries before the events of The Wind Waker, the land of Hyrule was flooded by the Gods as a last resort to stop Ganon's forces when the Hero of Time (the Link from the Nintendo 64 games) did not return to destroy them. Its surviving people fled to the mountaintops and tried to restore their peaceful lives. These summits became the many islands of the Great Sea. Many years passed, and the people forgot about the history of "Old" Hyrule, except as a bedtime story told to children, and in a coming-of-age ceremony for young boys. But the legendary Hero's legacy managed to survive the winds breath.
The Great Sea is "illusory", and its waters from the heavens are different from Hyrule's native waters. Because of this, only monsters and Fishmen are able to live in the Great Sea.[2][3] It is because of these ethereal waters that the Zora race had become the Rito.[4] Meanwhile, the Kokiri also become the Korok.
Governance[]
The majority of the islands in the Great Sea are actually uninhabited, meaning that no one governs them. Neither Outset Island nor Windfall Island are governed officially, despite their dense population. Only Dragon Roost Island (with a Rito Chieftain and the Sky Spirit Valoo), Forest Haven (with the Great Deku Tree as the Earth Spirit), and Greatfish Isle (with Jabun as the Sea Spirit) are known to have guardian deities. In addition, certain islands are owned by individual characters for private purposes.
Economy[]
Like in most lands in The Legend of Zelda universe, and because of the fact that the Great Sea is born from Hyrule, Rupees are the means of currency, which is accepted in every inhabited island in the game. However, the economy is a bit more diverse than in the former land of Hyrule, given the different businesses run; for example, Traveling Merchants fuel trading sequences by selling their goods to travelers and also sending them to major shops and retails to give townspeople access to them. Auctions are run in Windfall Island every night, and Beedle's Shop Ship can be seen sailing around numerous islands as well.
Technology in the Great Sea[]
The weaponry in the Great Sea is more advanced than it was in Hyrule before its flood. Navigating across the waters are Warships capable of shooting at enemies from long distances. It's unknown whether these boats are piloted manually or work automatically (in the latter case, it would indeed prove how much advancement is shown in regards to technology in the Great Sea). Mounted in coral reefs and high platforms are cannons that can shoot bombs to distant enemies, and operate on their own.
Advanced tools and devices can be found as well, such as the Tingle Tuner (which allows communication between the user and an assistant for various purposes), color-recording Picto Boxes (used to take pictographs that become important for figurine making), and pieces of ancient technology (as seen in the Tower of the Gods and the Wind Temple). Aside from this, it is unknown how much Hyrule had progressed in this aspect before being flooded, thus it is unknown how much was lost before the aforementioned divine intervention.
Geography[]
Link navigating the Great Sea
The Great Sea serves as the overworld of The Wind Waker. Most of the islands in the Great Sea are quite small, with little intelligent life inhabiting them. The chief island is Windfall, which houses various shops and attractions, and has the only major human village, except for a small settlement on Outset Island, another important location. Aside from these islands, some of the more prominent ones in the Great Sea include:
- Dragon Roost Island, home of the Rito tribe, where the Great Sea's main messenger company is located.
- Forest Haven, home of the Korok tribe, whose inhabitants are dedicated to traveling across the Great Sea to cultivate trees in order to create new forests.
- Forsaken Fortress, former home of a clan of pirates, and source of the evil present throughout the events of The Wind Waker, as it is Ganondorf's stronghold.
- Greatfish Isle, formerly the home of numerous people and the Water Spirit Jabun, it is destroyed by Ganondorf at a point in the game.
- Tower of the Gods, hidden fortress said to wait for a Hero to raise it from the Sea's depths.
- Headstone Island, which houses the Earth Temple where a Sage prays to ensure the power of the Master Sword to remain. It is located directly east of Outset.
- Gale Isle, which houses the Wind Temple where a Sage prays for the power of the Master Sword to remain like its Earth counterpart. It is located directly north of Windfall.
Among the remaining islands, abandoned triangle-shaped isles, sacred seashell-shaped islands, giant reefs, and archipelagos adorn the vast territory of the Great Sea. Additionally, it is told by Fishmen that other islands guard charts leading to the location of sacred golden fragments referred to as Triumph Forks, as well as other legendary treasures (notably in Fire Mountain, Ice Ring Isle, and Mother & Child Isles).
Population[]
There are many people in the Great Sea, but the main group is Hylian. They live on Windfall Island and Outset Island, but some are also scattered around the Sea. The Rito live on Dragon Roost Island with the Sky Spirit Valoo, and the Koroks reside on Forest Haven with the Great Deku Tree. Gorons in this game are in the form of Traveling Merchants. No signs of the Kokiri or the Zoras remain, as they gradually evolved into the aforementioned Korok and Rito, respectively. Also, a fish creature called Jabun, the aforementioned Water Spirit, is in this game, resembling Jabu-Jabu and the Fishmen (the latter inhabiting the waters of the Sea). Finally, there is at least one group of pirates, Tetra's Pirate Crew, along with other seafarers, such as the Salvage Corp. Link, the main protagonist, lives on Outset Island, where his adventure would begin.
Other Appearances[]
The Great Sea from Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[]
The Great Sea appears in the Pirate Ship Stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The stage features a scale version of Tetra's Ship floating across various locations from the Great Sea. These include a Lookout Platform that shoots bombs at the players, a Cyclone that throws the ship into the sky, later descending back to the Sea, and a rocky island where the ship crashes, forcing the players to use the island as a new platform.
The King of Red Lions makes a cameo appearance floating behind the ship every once in a while, creating an extra platform.
Themes[]
Normal
Ganondorf's curse
Trivia[]
- The Great Sea being a majorly flooded environment, with earth (Hyrule) far below the ocean waters due to the Golden Goddesses' Great Flood, and sailing as the only means of travel is a reference to the Great Flood of Noah from the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible.
- If Link decides to leave the Great Sea, the King of Red Lions prevents it by telling him that it is too dangerous and then immediately turning around.[5] It is possible, especially with cheats, to continue to swim in this direction, but this will eventually lead to going out of bounds.
- In the original Nintendo GameCube version of The Wind Waker, because the Great Sea itself is a rather large overworld, due to limited processing power, the console can only properly load one grid of the map - specifically Link's current location, requiring the slower sailing speed to mask loading times. In its HD remaster, the Wii U, being more technologically advanced, is capable of fully loading the entire Great Sea at once and allow the Swift Sail's increased speed, though this does, however, result in occasional framerate issues, especially during rainfall.
- The Great Sea has two different themes. One is the normal overworld theme, which is similar to the franchise's main theme, and another darker version which occurs during Ganondorf's endless night rainstorm curse when Link must search for Jabun and the Nayru's Pearl.
- If one uses a cheating device to obtain the Nayru' Pearl prematurely and trigger the Tower of the Gods during the curse, due to a glitch, it is possible to continue sailing the Great Sea with the dark theme still playing for the rest of game, even during daytime.
- The sailing gameplay of the Great Sea is considered a major departure from the traditional adventuring of most games of The Legend of Zelda series and is met with controversy.
Link obtaining a fragment of the Triforce of Courage from beneath the Great Sea
- Eight shards of the Triforce of Courage are hidden deep within the Great Sea. This is because during the ending of Ocarina of Time, when Princess Zelda sends the Hero of Time to the past permanently, his piece of the Triforce ultimately shatters and is scattered throughout the land, as Link no longer exists in the Adult Timeline (despite the King of Red Lions claiming he went to another journey and left Hyrule, referencing Majora's Mask in the Child Timeline). It is unknown who stored them inside Treasure Chests for the Hero of Winds to eventually restore the sacred triangle like the Master Sword in order to defeat Ganondorf.
- During the final battle in The Wind Waker, King Daphnes Hyrule makes a wish with the completed Triforce to wash away the Kingdom of Hyrule via the Great Sea pouring down onto the entire land through its sealed barrier.
Gallery[]
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The Wind Waker artwork of Link sailing away from Forsaken Fortess and into the Great Sea -
Link pulling a Treasure Chest from the Great Sea's depths in The Wind Waker -
Link sailing through the Great Sea with the Swift Sail in The WInd Waker HD -
Link pulling a Treasure Chest from deep within the Great Sea in The Wind Waker HD
==References==
- ↑ "When the Hero of Time was called to embark on another journey and left the land of Hyrule, he was separated from the elements that made him a hero. It is said that at that time, the Triforce of Courage was split into eight shards and hidden throughout the land. Even I do not know where they rest, but this much I do know: they lie hidden somewhere in this Great Sea." — King of Red Lions (The Wind Waker)
- ↑ "The Great Sea in The Wind Waker is an illusory ocean created by a torrential downpour from the heavens. Its ethereal "water" is unlike the water natural to Hyrule, and so only monsters and Fishmen are able to live there." (Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 65)
- ↑ "Oceans... Oceans... Oceans... Oceans as far as the eye can see. They are vast seas... None can swim across them... They yield no fish to catch..." — Ganondorf (The Wind Waker)
- ↑ "The Zora, unable to live in the Great Sea's ethereal waters, evolved into the Rito, who are able to fly in the skies." (Encyclopedia, Dark Horse Books, pg. 69)
- ↑ "It is too dangerous to go any further in this direction! We must turn back!" — King of Red Lions (The Wind Waker)
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