Great Flood

This name is conjectural, decided by fans in lieu of an official source.

Great Flood

Games	Described in The Wind Waker
Location	Hyrule
Occurrence	After Era of the Hero of Time Before Era of the Great Sea
Key Characters	Ganon Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule Golden Goddesses
Related	Era without a Hero

The Great Flood occurs hundreds of years after the Adult Ending of Ocarina of Time, after Ganon returns but no hero appears to oppose him. In desperation, the people of Hyrule pray for deliverance. The Golden Goddesses respond by sealing Ganon along with all of Hyrule beneath the newly created Great Sea.

Synopsis

Ganon returns from the Sacred Realm after being sealed by the Hero of Time in Ocarina of Time. With the departure of the hero, the strength of the Seven Sages weakened, allowing Ganon to return.

Due to Ganondorf's uprising, the people of Hyrule desperately prayed that the Hero of Time would return and save the Kingdom, but he was nowhere to be seen, due to the Hero of Time having returned to his own time and not returning. Left hopeless, the current King of Hyrule, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, left the fate of the Kingdom to the gods. Ganondorf's armies infiltrated Hyrule Castle, but Ganondorf fled the scene, literally abandoning his army. The Goddesses, in turn, ordered an evacuation to the mountaintops. Some, including Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, however, refuse. Hyrule Castle is buried beneath the waves and drained of its color. Civilizations later developed on the islands, which were the mountaintops from before. New technologies developed, giving the new people that arose on these mountaintops a new way of life. The Great Flood changed the series drastically through the evolutionary processes of many species and destroying the cultures, technologies, and ideologies that developed within Hyrule before the flood itself. Mostly no one remembers the events that took place in the Era of the Great Sea, considering the Flood occurred hundreds of years ago and there are no vital sources of information to prove such an event. Ganondorf later rose back in full force, settling on the Forsaken Fortress and creating a massive army that would terrorize the waters of the Great Sea for many, many years until the appearance of the Hero.

A few islands on the Great Sea are chronicled to be past landmarks from the places before the Great Flood, like how Dragon Roost Island might be Death Mountain and Windfall Island might be Kakariko Village.

Many theories are posed regarding the tribes of Ocarina of Time and their current situation in The Wind Waker. The Zora are missing. Some argue that they should have survived, considering they are excellent swimmers and thrive well in aquatic environments. But because the Zora's Domain had fresh water, the salt water in the Great Sea made them unable to live, later dying. Although this is the disputed theory, the most widely accepted theory among all the proposed theories is that they evolved into the Rito, a tribe that excels in flying and delivering goods, rather than swimming. The Gorons managed to survive, yet very few remain. The Kokiri developed into the Korok, from humanoid forms to wooden forms. Very little things remained from the Flood, but some things that did remain include the Great Deku Tree and Ganondorf.

References

1. ↑ "Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace." — Prologue, The Wind Waker.
2. ↑ "But one day a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself... With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand... ...a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time." — Prologue, The Wind Waker.
3. ↑ "Ganondorf, who had once been sealed away, returned from the depths of the earth and covered Hyrule in darkness once again." — Hyrule Historia, pg. 123
4. ↑ " The people hoped that the legendary hero would show up to save them a second time, but because the Hero passed already, he did not appear." — Hyrule Historia, pg. 123
5. ↑ "The boy's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend... But then...a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all thought had been forever sealed away by the hero... ...once again crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs. The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them. ...But the hero did not appear." — Prologue, The Wind Waker.
6. ↑ "Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew nigh, they left their future in the hands of fate. What became of that kingdom...? None remain who know. The memory of the kingdom vanished, but its legend survived on the wind's breath." — Prologue, The Wind Waker.
7. ↑ "With no hope of salvation left, King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule decided to entrust the fate of Hyrule to the Goddesses." — Hyrule Historia, pg. 123
8. ↑ "The Goddesses instructed the chosen people to flee to the mountaintops before drowning both Hyrule and Ganondorf in a massive flood and sealing it at the bottom of the ocean with endless rainfall." — Hyrule Historia, pg. 123
9. ↑ "The King was to be sealed along with Hyrule" — Hyrule Historia, pg. 123