In the beginning, three goddesses created the world.  When they left, they left behind a small piece of their power in 3 mystical triangles called the Triforce.  Many different races evolved on Hyrule, and the strongest and most powerful was the Hylian race.

Many years later, a group of sages found the Triforce and gave it too the king.  He ruled wisely with it, but eventually died.  His son, the new king, could only inherit the Triforce in part.  He searched for the missing parts.  Believing his sister Zelda knew about it, he interrogated her.  A wizard put her in a deep sleep and then died.  The original founders, now called sages, gathered up the Triforce and placed it back into the Sacred Realm.  They sealed the realm with 5 keys, including thenewly forged Master Sword.  The prince, in his grief, placed Zelda in the North Castle hoping she could be awakened someday.  He also ordered that all females born in the royal household be named Zelda.

Time passed.  A great war was fought between the races, but was ended peacefully by the new king.  Meanwhile, a Gerudo thief named Ganondorf Dragmire began a hunt for the Triforce.  While that happened, a young Hylian named Link, living with the Kokiri, went off to meet the princess Zelda.  She knew of Ganondorf's plans, and asked him to gather up the keys.  He did so, and finished just as Ganondor attacked the castle.  Fearing the worst, Link opened up the Door in the Temple of Time.  Ganondorf, who was following, entered as well and took the Triforce.  Link was too young to face Ganondorf, and so was put to sleep for seven years.  While that happened, Ganondorf became the undisputed ruler of Hyrule.  But he only held one piece of the Triforce.  Eventually, Link woke up.  He awakened seven sages, including Zelda, who had the power to recreate the seal, this time with Ganondorf inside.  Link challenged Ganondorf and won.  However, the Triforce transformed Ganondorf the man into Ganon the beast, and they were forced to fight again.  Link won again, and Ganondorf was sealed in the Sacred Realm along with his Triforce piece.  Eventually, the other two pieces found their way into Ganondorf's greedy hands.

As time passed, the Hylians drifted apart from the other races.  The term Sages was replaced by Wise Men, and no other races could be found in the little kingdom.  Hyrule was in a sorry state.  There were blights, droughts, and other disasters that plagued the land.  A wizard, Agahnim, appeared and ended these plagues.  He was proclaimed a hero and became a close advisor to the king.  Yet he eventually took control of the kings mind, many soldiers' minds, and started to send the daughters of the wise men to the Dark World, the former Sacred Realm.  There, Ganon could use their power to break the seal.  Link II stopped Agahnim and killed him, but not before both he and the last daughter, Zelda, were sent to the Dark World.  Yet Link managed to rescue all of the daughters and fought Ganon.  Defeating the beast, Link brought the Triforce back to Hyrule and completely severed the link between the corrupted Sacred Realm and Hyrule.  Yet Ganon managed to escape and hid in Death Mountain to recover.  Also, the Wise Men realized that none could effectively use the Triforce.  Thus, they hid the Triforce of Courage in the Valley of Death and cast a spell.  This spell would allow one who could use the Triforce to recognize his destiny.

As time passed, the kingdom thrived.  Yet disaster struck again when Ganon once again attacked the land.  He succeeded in destroying the land and stealing the Triforce of Power, but Zelda managed to save the Triforce of Wisdom.  She split it and hid it among eight labyrinths.  Ganon captured and imprisoned her, but not before she managed to send her nursemaid, Impa, out to search for a hero.  Impa found Link III.  Link gathered up the remaining Triforce pieces and challenged Ganon.  This Link was finally able to destroy Ganon entirely, and regained the Triforce of Power.  As Hyrule started to rebuild, a strange mark appeared on Link's hand.  He and Impa discovered that it was the mark made by the Wise Men to signify that Link was the one who could use the Triforce.  Link learned where the Triforce of Courage was hidden and set out on his quest.  He proved himself worthy of it, and finally reunited the Triforce.  With the united Triforce, he awakened the sleeping princess.  The Triforce had returned to Hyrule, and it seemed nothing would change that.