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In the
Legend of Zelda video game series, the Triforce
is a legendary relic consisting of three triangular fragments, called the
Triforce of Power, the Triforce of Wisdom, and the Triforce of Courage.
According to the story of
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the chronologically earliest of the
games, the Triforce was bestowed upon the Hylian people by the three
goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore, according to Hylian creation myth. Kept
safe in a realm parallel and reflective of the "normal" Hyrule, known as
the Golden Land or Golden Realm, the Triforce is the ultimate
representation of all power, wisdom, courage and magic in
Hyrule.
Ganondorf Dragmire, a Gerudo thief and the sole male of their tribe at
the time, heard of the legend of the Triforce and lusted after its power,
primarily as a tool to subjugate the kingdom of Hyrule and expand his
influence. Inadvertantly aided by a young hero known as
Link and the Hyrulian princess, Zelda, Ganondorf found his way into
the Golden Realm, but could only claim one fragment of the Triforce, the
Triforce of Power, typically associated with the color Red and the goddess
Din. The other two fragments split off and merged with Link, who recieved
the Triforce of Courage, associated with blue and Nayru, and Zelda, who
recieved the Triforce of Wisdom, associated with green and Farore. Each of
the three was marked with on the back of one of their hands with the mark
of the Triforce.
Eventually, Ganondorf was defeated, and the reunited Triforce and the
power of seven Hylian Sages (including Zelda herself) were used to seal
him in the Golden Realm, and the Triforce remained there as well.
Eventually the power of the Golden Realm twisted Ganondorf's form into a
porcine reflection of his greedy heart, and time forgot his original
moniker. Although Ganon struggled many times afterwards to rise to power
once more, each time a new incarnation of Link and a new Princess Zelda
are awakened to put him down and reseal or, eventually, destroy him.
In both
A Link to the Past and
The Wind Waker, it was revealed that one who touches the Triforce has
all of their wishes come true; the Triforce reflects the heart of the one
who touches it, whether good or evil. In A Link to the Past, Ganon
exploited this power to corrupt The Golden Land, turning it into the Dark
World, a realm of dark skies and evil creatures.
Triforce is also the name of an arcade board developed
as a joint-venture between
Sega,
Namco and
Nintendo. The hardware is based on the Nintendo Gamecube, but with
more RAM (48 MB instead of the Cube's 24). Sega ported it's Naomi
Development Kit, originally developed for the
Dreamcast game console, to the Triforce, making game development very
easy. Among the games known to run on the Triforce hardware are F-Zero AX
and Virtua Fighter 2002, both from Sega.
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