Hyrulean Civil War

The refers to the war that occurred prior to the events of Ocarina of Time. Little is known about this conflict, such as who began the fighting or how long it lasted.

The War
The war was first referenced by the Great Deku Tree Sprout to explain Link's origins after he lifted the curse on the Forest Temple. The presumed results of this war were the alliance of the Zora tribe and the Hylian Royal family, as well as the unification of Hyrule.

To escape from the fires of the war, a Hylian mother and her baby boy went to the Kokiri Forest. Before passing away, the mother left her child under the guardianship of the Great Deku Tree. The child was raised a Kokiri and seventeen years later became the Hero of Time.

Finally the war ended and resulted in the unification of Hyrule under one banner. The peace was short lived however, as some years after an evil power began to issue forth from the dark portal to the Sacred Realm. Shortly afterward, Ganondorf's theft of the Triforce and conquest of Hyrule began.

Theories

 * It is possible that the war may have been fought over the Triforce and the entrance to the Sacred Realm. The conflicts described in the opening of A Link to the Past seem to also describe the war that broke out before Ocarina of Time.
 * It is also possible that Ganondorf aided the King of Hyrule during the Hyrule Unification War. This could be concluded from the King's trust in him at the beginning of Ocarina of Time, who chose to not even believe his own daughter when she told him she didn't trust Ganondorf.
 * In Twilight Princess, it is stated that the ancestors of the Twili tried to invade the Sacred Realm, and as such, their actions might have been what triggered the civil war. This would mean that the Interloper War was the same conflict as the Civil War.