Great Sea

The Great Sea is the main setting of both The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and its Nintendo DS sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It is a vast sea that covers the kingdom of Hyrule after it was flooded by the gods to protect it from Ganondorf. In order to survive the flooding, Hyrule's population was forced to quickly settle on the kingdom's mountaintops, and centuries afterward, the memory of Hyrule and the land below the sea was eventually forgotten, but the legend of the Hero of Time was still remembered.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, there is a stage named Pirate Ship that takes place on the Great Sea. The stage reappears in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U as a DLC stage and again in the base game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In Hyrule Warriors Legends, the Great Sea is introduced as a map in Adventure Mode. There are two stages of locations that take place in the Great Sea: Forsaken Fortress and a merged version of the Wind and Earth Temples. The stages were retained for Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition. For the original Hyrule Warriors, the stages are included in the Master Wind Waker Pack DLC.

Islands
The table below lists the Great Sea's islands and their respective coordinates. There are a total of 49 islands. Islands that are essential to the plot are listed in bold.

Geography
The Great Sea has flooded all of Hyrule. Only a handful of mountaintops are still visible above the water, and these form the 65 islands and archipelagos of the Great Sea. The largest of these are Outset Island, Windfall Island, the Forsaken Fortress, Mercay Island, Molida Island, and the Isle of Ruins. Some of these islands are references to locations in the Hyrule, and bear similarities to these places in their locations, cultures and inhabitants. Windfall Island has the only major town in the Great Sea. Local commerce is quite advanced in larger areas. Most of the food is gathered from fishing and small farms, though there are also active merchant, salvage, and shipbuilding businesses. Many of the islands have a relatively small size, which means that there are large expanses of ocean between each island.

Due to the vast nature of the Great Sea, most navigation requires the use of Sea Charts. In both The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, there is a main Sea Chart that maps all of the Great Sea that can be explored, but neither are initially filled in. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker requires Link to find and feed Fishmen, who fills out one of the 49 sections in return (though this is not required to progress in the game), while The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass forces Link to obtain the four sections of its chart by exploring the Temple of the Ocean King. This is a main part of the storyline, as unlike The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, these areas can not be explored without the Sea Chart's corresponding section.

There are also various other charts that Link can find as either treasure or through side-quests that reveal the locations of sunken treasure or important areas.

Demographics
On the Great Sea islands, there are many more humans than Hylians, who can be distinguished from their elf-like pointed ears. They work and live in small merchant vessels around the ocean, but are mainly based in Windfall Island, where they trade with the other races around the Great Sea.

The Rito have developed a strong culture on Dragon Roost Island. They have the appearance of beaked humanoid beings until they are given scales by the Valoo. A Rito grows a pair of wings once they receive their scales. The Rito serve as the postmen of the Great Sea, are fairly populous, and have a strong relationship with the Hylians.

The Koroks live on Forest Haven with the Great Deku Tree. Under the orders of the Great Deku Tree, the Koroks move throughout the Great Sea, planting seeds sprouted from the Tree in the hope that the seeds will create forests and allow the islands to expand in size. Before leaving to plant the seeds, the Koroks take part in an annual ceremony, and return to Forest Haven for the following year's ceremony.

A few pirate groups have sprung up around the Great Sea. One of them had the Forsaken Fortress as their large base before Ganondorf stole it from them. The pirates plunder the ocean in search of treasure, of which there is certainly an abundance. One group of pirates is led by a young girl named Tetra.

In the Great Sea, there are Fishmen, who are knowledgeable about the area they dwell near, being able to mark it down on a map and pass information about it. They like Beedle's All-Purpose Bait, though they tend to get sick of it.

The Great Sea's waters are inhabited by creatures such as Gyorgs, Octoroks and Big Octos. Seagulls and unfriendly Kargarocs inhabit the skies, and crabs live in some sandy areas. Seahats inhabit smaller islands in clusters. In addition, certain islands around the Great Sea have a ChuChu population. A lot of monsters appear on several of the islands. Despite several characters stating that the Great Sea has no fish, the game featured some fishermen.