Just What Exactly Does the Triforce in Zelda Do?

[Jacked Assassin]

The Try Force was magical enough to be an emblem in Halo.... But then again so was the Fleur-De-Lis....

Meh....

I never paid attention to the official Zelda Timeline as its more of a selling point for people who are obsessed with continuity. If I had to consume it like that I'd be more angry about all this filler with no end.

 

[Link Satonaka]

The Try Force was magical enough to be an emblem in Halo.... But then again so was the Fleur-De-Lis....

Meh....

I never paid attention to the official Zelda Timeline as its more of a selling point for people who are obsessed with continuity. If I had to consume it like that I'd be more angry about all this filler with no end.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[CaitSeith]

What did the Triforce ever do?

-In Link Between world, it restored a whole parallele world who was decaying and about to die.

-In Link to the past, it brought back dead people that Ganon's minions had killed to the life and undo all the evil Ganon had do.

-In Skyward Sword, it killed Demize (at least its Imprisoned form the one where he look lik a giant Scally Thumbs monster). Ghirahim had to go back in time before he was killed by the triforce to sacrifice Zelda and reawoken him before getting killed (don't ask about the time paradox that might have caused).

It's worth mentionning that Ganon almost never get the full triforce but only the shard of power, this shard alone is able to maintain him alive while other have to reincarnate to come back and kill him. (when a person of evil intention touch the Triforce for the first time he only get one shard and the two other go to the one it fit the most). To have the full Triforce, the one with evil intention has to hunt down and take the two other shards. This is what happens in wind Waker where he finally reunite the Triforce and its only after the reunification porcess that he can get his wish (the king outrun him while he was gloating).

The only time Ganon really get in full possession of the Triforce was before Link to the past and at this point the only way to stop him was to seal him in the sacred realm where the Triforce is usually stored when not possessed by bearers. This way he couldn't affect Hyrule's world.

Don't forget Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, where he used the triforce to wake up Zelda from a 100 years long coma.

 

[Flaery]

You know, Yahtzee... The smallest amount of research could answer your question for you. However, you apparently are too busy criticizing the Zelda series to actually play it and find out or even do a simple Google search on the Triforce; the Zelda wikia probably has all the information you could ask for.

The Triforce, to put it roughly, fulfills wishes. It's a gift from the immortals to the mortals as explained most notably in Skyward Sword. It tends to only allow a single wish per person but I don't believe that rule is completely set in stone as a person who wants to keep the Triforce for themselves seems to have little problem in doing so. I don't think the extent of what it can do has been explored in the series but one can assume that there are limits to its power.

There are times when I question whether or not Yahtzee has ever played any Zelda games other than Wind Waker, OoC, and Skyward Sword, and with this article I find it further harder to believe he finished Skyward Sword. It's fine if he hasn't played any others but I think he should forfeit his right to talk about the series as a whole if he's played so little and is so willingly ignorant of it.

 

[Link Satonaka]

You know, Yahtzee... The smallest amount of research could answer your question for you. However, you apparently are too busy criticizing the Zelda series to actually play it and find out or even do a simple Google search on the Triforce; the Zelda wikia probably has all the information you could ask for.

The Triforce, to put it roughly, fulfills wishes. It's a gift from the immortals to the mortals as explained most notably in Skyward Sword. It tends to only allow a single wish per person but I don't believe that rule is completely set in stone as a person who wants to keep the Triforce for themselves seems to have little problem in doing so. I don't think the extent of what it can do has been explored in the series but one can assume that there are limits to its power.

There are times when I question whether or not Yahtzee has ever played any Zelda games other than Wind Waker, OoC, and Skyward Sword, and with this article I find it further harder to believe he finished Skyward Sword. It's fine if he hasn't played any others but I think he should forfeit his right to talk about the series as a whole if he's played so little and is so willingly ignorant of it.

You've not said anything that wasn't discussed in the article. You also seemed to have missed the entire point of the article as well, which was to discuss what these limits on the triforce are.

 

[Zerotwo]

But uncle Peter is my favourite uncle ;(

Actually though I think that the problem with the Zelda series being judged in a category of its own is just as much a problem stemming from gaming media as it is from nostalgic fans. Of course this is something common among many long running game franchises like Call of Duty, FIFA and much of Nintendos catalogue to name a few. But the Zelda franchise is certainly one of the worst cases, in articles and arguments growing steadily further and further from comparison to other games into some kind of weird introspective and cyclical meta-debate. Writing witty articles about franchise extravagances notwithstanding =)

The problem as I see it is that most of the time when I read new Zelda related articles or reviews they are decisively focused on the games as parts of the franchise, not individually in comparison to other games of the time. In general nowadays this tends to be from a negative point of view, focusing on the to some people apparent 'stagnation', 'lack of innovation' and 'backwardsness'. Most new Zelda games are first and foremost citicized for being just that, "Oh god not another" Zelda game.

Of course to people like me who like uncle Peter, the fact that there are many recogniseable characters, that the gameplay is similar and that "it's just Dungeon-Overworld-Dungeon-Overworld, the tired Zelda structure" is part of the core concept and will seem like quite asinine criticism. For example me criticizing the Silent Hill series formula of 'enter area-check all doors-solve a puzzle, rinse repeat', the stereotypical psychological horror imagery and claiming that the personal trauma driven story is boringly predictable by this point would be equally dense.

It doesn't surpise me that it often comes to this. If I was doing video games coverage for a living (or as a hobby) and had to write about gaming franchises I didn't really care about over and over again because they were overwhelmingly popular I wouldn't be too happy about it either. Especially since many franchises never seem to die in this industry. Focusing more on the individual games and how they compare to others in the genre at present and more descriptions of the actual game per se(game reviews seems to assume I am versed in the gameplay and standards of every genre) will make it easier for everyone.

No one enjoys being called out as a rabid fan or to be demoralized for liking something. Even though the opinion is the same, directing the criticism against aspects of a game instead of the franchise and its associated sub-culture is more clear, poignant and simply nice. Though its not neccesarily more fun and does not grant more page views, unfortunately.

Of course expressing personal opinion is important too, but this can be done in more or less belittling ways. Going back to the series first in question; some people feel that the Zelda series not aiming for a higher aged target audience with more challenging content and story is a big issue for them. Expressing that through "Zelda games are only for children" for example, is not a very constructive way.

So this block of text got alot more bloated then I meant it to be, sorry about that!
TLDR: Lack of constructive criticism surrounding gaming franchises. Flaming is bad ;( Kittens are cute Feel free to flame me for being Captain Obvious, naive or both (open goal, yes).

 

[GUIGUI]

Don't forget Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, where he used the triforce to wake up Zelda from a 100 years long coma.

Oh, yeah. I didn't brought out Zelda 2, because that Princess Zelda just rise further questions, continuity-wise. First, it's a different Zelda From Zelda 1 (what happened to the Zelda of Zelda 1, nobody knows) Second, it is said to be the first Zelda, as it is said that when she was set asleep, Her brother made it a tradition to name every firt girl of the royal family "Zelda", hence why there is always a princess named Zelda in the zelda game.

Does this means She is actually the Zelda from Skyward Sword (also labelled as being the first mortal Zelda), having been put to sleep by a lately born brother? And meaning that SS Link and Zelda never ended up together and she had to sleep up until Zelda 2 to finally be awoken by an other Link (and smooch him as soon as she woke up)? This hardly make sense...

 

[Oskuro]

we don't know what they do with the Triforce, as it is not mentioned in Zelda 2.

DAFUQ?!


There you see the Triforce de-distressing the damsel, and leading to a make-out session, probably the most powerful display for the Triforce yet (considering the barrier of Nintendo prudishness on the subject). But, alas, as someone on the gamefaqs forums stated:

The one time Link does get a kiss from Zelda, she (most likely) has horrendous morning breath. Fantastic.

 

[Enlong]

Yeah, I myself just ignore all the parts of WindWaker and the other games that treat the triforce like a trinket anyone can dig up with a boat and map. It's a symbolic representation of the virtues of three people, dammit! It has no physical form that can be thrown around like an empty beer can, or worse, broken into pieces (seriously wtf windwaker)!

*cough*

Um.

Wind Waker didn't come up with the idea of a piece of the triforce being broken into pieces that then have to be gathered to re-form the triangle.

Zelda 1 did that [http://zachpallen.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/31368-the-legend-of-zelda-nes-screenshot-the-inventory-screens1.jpg].

 

[GUIGUI]

we don't know what they do with the Triforce, as it is not mentioned in Zelda 2.

DAFUQ?!

There you see the Triforce de-distressing the damsel, and leading to a make-out session, probably the most powerful display for the Triforce yet (considering the barrier of Nintendo prudishness on the subject). But, alas, as someone on the gamefaqs forums stated:

Oops, indeed, turin out I remembered Zelda 1 and 2 completly wrong. I corrected that.

I think we have reached a point where we can completly rule out thhe Zelda from Zelda 2 being the first Zelda.

 

[Noble_Lance]

The Triforce in Twilight Princess kept Zelda and Link from becoming the Ghostly things when they were trapped in areas of darkness that had to be purged with the vessel, in Link's case instead becoming a wolf instead of a ghostly thing.

 

[Fasckira]

Well, a long time ago (like 20 years ago) I read a comic book of Nintendo characters including Link from Legend of Zelda (the "excuuuuuse me princess one. Does that count?).

While those old cartoons are hilarious, I dont think its safe to count them as lore - that was pretty much during Nintendo's "Lets sell everything we can under our name in all shapes and forms" phase so I wouldn't be surprised if the storylines for the comic and cartoon were pretty much agreed by Nintendo waving their hands in dismissal at the cartoonist while saying, "Yeah whatever mate, just make it look good" as they watched the money roll in.

 

[Enlong]

The Triforce in Twilight Princess kept Zelda and Link from becoming the Ghostly things when they were trapped in areas of darkness that had to be purged with the vessel, in Link's case instead becoming a wolf instead of a ghostly thing.

Having Wisdom passed to her also cured Midna of her light poisoning.

 

[Nixou]

The Triforce does grant wishes, but since it is made from the essence of the Goddesses, to wield its full potential, you need to be a god yourself.

Actually, Skyward Sword stated exactly the contrary: only mortals can wield the triforce to its full potential, a fact which angered Demise so much that he started a genocidal war against the very mortals who worshipped his race of demigods... So actually, the whole Zelda series storyline stems from a spoiled aristocrat throwing a huge, destructive tamper tantrum and being stopped by his more cool-headed fellow semigoddess who eventually train and manipulate a mortal to become the instrument of his final humiliation. Although I consider it largely inferior to Twilight Princess in every other domains except perhaps for the art style I actually really like the way Skyward Sword affected the series mythos.

Ganondorf failing to control the Triforce might come from the fact that he carries the Id of Demise, or simply because his very wish is to become a god, a thing against which the Triforce seems to have built-in failsafes.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

I can just see it now; Tingle is Love, Tingle is Life. You're welcome.

The Zelda IP is what you get if you tried to string every Mario game ever made into a single continuity - messy and dissonant, to begin with.

Would that make Mario some omnipresent being, wherein' every game is simple another Universe (the characters never aging or dying and old rivalry's put aside for party games and go-karting)?!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I can just see it now; Tingle is Love, Tingle is Life. You're welcome.

The Zelda IP is what you get if you tried to string every Mario game ever made into a single continuity - messy and dissonant, to begin with.

Would that make Mario some omnipresent being, wherein' every game is simple another Universe (the characters never aging or dying and old rivalry's put aside for party games and go-karting)?!

Well we have an origin story (Yoshi's Island). I suppose everything else would string more or less lineally, dropping the "alternate universe" thing whenever things get a little too hectic to follow. Or just don't follow at all, from a logical POV.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Before the Hyrule Historia made the timeline continuity canon, there was an interesting fan theory that the Zelda games were all the same story told through the lens of different cultures. I agree that creating the official continuity detracted from many of the games.

I agree. Before the official timeline (which I haven't read) was published I aways considered each game to be independent of all the others with the exceptions of direct sequels like Majora's Mask and Phantom Hourglass. it just made more sense that way, since there were so many conflicting details.

 

[Link Satonaka]

Yeah, I myself just ignore all the parts of WindWaker and the other games that treat the triforce like a trinket anyone can dig up with a boat and map. It's a symbolic representation of the virtues of three people, dammit! It has no physical form that can be thrown around like an empty beer can, or worse, broken into pieces (seriously wtf windwaker)!

*cough*

Um.

Wind Waker didn't come up with the idea of a piece of the triforce being broken into pieces that then have to be gathered to re-form the triangle.

Zelda 1 did that [http://zachpallen.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/31368-the-legend-of-zelda-nes-screenshot-the-inventory-screens1.jpg].

Oh I know, however my argument that "story was put aside for the purposes of gameplay" amplifies ad infinitum if you want to talk about the earliest titles. More accurately though, "The Legend of Zelda" is a NES game with a simple backstory. You don't have much depth of mechanics or story there. I would argue that, upon entering the world of 3D games, the Zelda franchise had a soft reboot in terms of lore. As well as gaining a 3rd visual dimension, the plot in the first 3D Zelda also gained some depth. WindWaker was a revisit to the concept of it being fallible material. Something I hoped they would just forget about.

 

[Lagslayer]

In short, the Triforce is a physical manifestation of the Goddess Hylia's power. But it needs some context.

In Skyward Sword, it is stated that there was a great war with the Goddess and the mortal races (Hylians excluded) against Demise (basically the Devil) and his demons. Demise was sealed away, but not truly defeated. Afterwards, the Goddess Hylia split her power up, so that it would be harder for the forces of Demise to effectively counter it. The first part is her avatar, Zelda and her reincarnations. The second part is the Goddess Sword (later to become the Master Sword), a specialized weapon for countering demon magic. The third part is the Triforce, which is in turn, composed of 3 separate pieces, and designed to split apart if anyone other than a paragon of good were to touch it. Each piece, power, wisdom, and courage, conveys certain powers separately, but when all 3 are gathered together, they form a greater power than it's constituent parts; the power of a god, to create and destroy at will.

When Demise is defeated by Link, he loses most of his power, but still has enough left to create his own avatar, Ganondorf. Not having been able to make his own anti-Triforce, he must now obtain the Triforce of the Goddess to bolster his power, and to prevent it from being used against him, again.

 

[JimB]

The Triforce exists to ensure that Hyrule will always have a future. It does so by hanging around waiting for Ganon to steal it so Nintendo will make another game.

Nintendo's "Let's sell everything we can under our name in all shapes and forms" phase

I remember Nintendo breakfast cereal. It had two half-bags in the box, one of Mario-themed cereal and one of Zelda-themed cereal. I can't remember what it tasted like, but I'm pretty sure the Link on the box had a word balloon saying something like, "It's an adventure in breakfast flavor!"