Triforce Shards

A Triforce Shard is a fragment of a shattered Triforce. In order to hide the Triforce from evil, it has been broken into pieces and scattered throughout Hyrule. Splitting the Triforce not only protects it from evil hands, it also ensures that whoever manages to assemble all the pieces is worthy of possessing it.

Shards of Legend of Zelda
In The Legend of Zelda, the peaceful kingdom of Hyrule held the two known Triforces; the Triforce of Courage's whereabouts were unknown. One day, Dark Prince Ganon attacked the kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. Hyrule's knights held off the attack long enough to evacuate the Hylians north to safety. In an attempt to keep Ganon from obtaining the remaining Triforce, Princess Zelda divided the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and scattered them throughout the land. She then sent Impa to find a man courageous enough to defeat the evil monster. Ganon captured the land of Hyrule and kidnapped Zelda. He set up his base within Death Mountain and imprisoned the princess there, under his watch. Meanwhile, Impa had been attacked by monsters and her mission was endangered. She was cornered and there seemed to be no hope. Then, the young adventurer, Link, found and saved her. He courageously fought to protect the old nursemaid. Impa saw the potential to save the land in this boy, and decided he would be the hero to end her search. She presented him with a mission: Find the eight Triforce Shards and rescue Zelda. Link set out to end Ganon's reign of evil and recover the two Triforces.

Shards of The Wind Waker
In the flooded land of Hyrule in The Wind Waker, a great evil threatened the peace. Ganon, holder of the Triforce of Power, sought the Triforce of Wisdom. However, it was lost when the land was flooded, along with the royal family. To find it, he needed to find Princess Zelda. In his efforts, he accidentally abducted Aryll, sister of Link. Link set out to save his sister, and in doing so, became the Hero of Winds. In order to defeat Ganon, he needed to summon the Tower of Gods, prove his worth, draw up the Master Sword from beneath the sea, and empower it with the ability to slay evil. He also needed the Triforce of Courage, which was hidden beneath the ocean in 8 pieces. With help from Tingle's calligraphy skills, he sets out to find Triforce Charts that would show him the location of the Triforce Shards.