Great Sea

The is the setting of the events of. In, the Great Sea only makes an appearance during the introduction and ending sequences of the game.

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
Many years before begins, the land of Hyrule was flooded by the Gods as a last resort to stop Ganon's forces when the Hero of Time did not return to destroy them. Its surviving people fled to the mountaintops and tried to restore their peaceful lives. These mountaintops 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.

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. It is because of these ethereal waters that the Zora race had become the Rito.

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 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 Tower of the Gods and 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
The Great Sea serves as the overworld of. 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.
 * Greatfish Isle, formerly the home of numerous people and the Water Spirit Jabun, it is destroyed by Ganon 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. 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.

Enemies
A number of enemies are encountered solely or primarily on the Great Sea itself instead of inhabiting its islands:

The Great Sea appears in the Pirate Ship Stage in. 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.

Trivia

 * 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 turning around.