The Legend of Zelda series takes place in a fantasy land called Hyrule. Hyrule has developed a deep history and wide geography over the series's many releases. Much of the backstory of the creation of Hyrule was revealed in the games A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Hyrule's principal inhabitants are elfin humanoids called Hylians, which include the player character, Link, and the eponymous princess, Zelda.
According to the in-game backstories, the world of Hyrule was created by the three golden goddesses: Din, Farore and Nayru.[13] Before departing, the goddesses left a sacred artifact called the Triforce, which could grant the wishes of the user. It consisted of three golden triangles that each embodies one of the goddesses' virtues: Power, Courage and Wisdom.[14] However, because the Triforce had no will of its own,[15] it could not judge between good and evil, and so would grant any wish indiscriminately.[16][17] Because of this, it was placed within an alternate world called the "Sacred Realm" or the "Golden Land" until one worthy of its power could obtain it. The Sacred Realm can itself be affected by the heart of those who enter it: those who are pure will make it a paradise, while those who are evil will transform it into a dark realm.[18]
In Skyward Sword, the Triforce was sought by a demon named Demise,[19] and after a long battle, Demise was sealed away within the Temple of the goddess Hylia, guardian of the Triforce.[14][20] Hylia, placing the Hylians on a floating island (called Skyloft) in the sky to protect them, orchestrated a means to stop the demon from escaping: creating the Goddess Sword (later becoming the Master Sword) for her chosen hero[21] and discarding her divinity to be reborn among the people of Skyloft.[22] In time, Zelda and Link (the reborn Hylia and her predestined warrior), enacted the goddess' plan and Demise was destroyed. However, Demise vowed that his rage would be reborn and forever plague those descended from Link and Zelda.[23] That prophecy came to fruition in Ocarina of Time, when Ganondorf's attempt to get the Triforce scattered it with him gaining the Triforce of Power. The Triforce of Wisdom ended up with the Hylian princesses descended from Zelda, each named after her, while the Triforce of Courage is passed to a youth named Link across generations.
While the Triforces of Power and Wisdom have been part of the series since the original The Legend of Zelda, it was only in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that the Triforce of Courage was first introduced, being obtained by Link at the end of his quest. The Triforce, or even a piece of it, is not always distributed as a whole. Such as in The Wind Waker, Link must find all the pieces (called Triforce Shards) of the Triforce of Courage before he can return to Hyrule. Even in the original The Legend of Zelda, Zelda breaks her Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces for Link to find, before she was captured by Ganon. The fictional universe established by the Zelda games sets the stage for each adventure. Many games take place in lands with their own back-stories. Termina, for example, is a parallel world[24] while Koholint is an island far away from Hyrule that appears to be part of a dream.[25]
