Triforce

The Triforce is a fictional artifact and icon of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. It first appeared in the original 1986 action-adventure game The Legend of Zelda and is a focus of subsequent games in the series, including The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, The Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, and A Link Between Worlds. The Triforce consists of three equilateral triangles, which are joined to form a large equilateral triangle. In the fictional history of the series, it represents the essence of the Golden Goddesses named Din, Nayru and Farore who create the realm of Hyrule and is able to grant godlike power to the character who holds all three pieces. The Triforce also represents the three main characters of the series, Ganon, Zelda and Link, and their inherent qualities in the battle between good and evil. Due to its prominence and significance within the mythology of the Zelda series, the Triforce has become a widely recognisable symbol in gaming. Although the Triforce has become associated with The Legend of Zelda series, an identical symbol originated nearly 1000 years before in medieval Japan. The symbol takes historical reference from the Hōjō clan, a family that took control of Japan in the 13th Century. Its emblem (mon) was the mitsuuroko, or "three scales". Other prominent families' mon were based on this symbol in later years. In the 1800s, it was used as a publisher's seal and continues to be a prominent feature in Japanese graphic design. It has also been used in various company logos. Keiji Terui, who wrote the backstory in the manual of the original The Legend of Zelda, stated that the legend of the Triforce was written with inspirations from the battles of medieval Europe and initially given the working title "Death Mountain". The Triforce has become a recognisable icon of The Legend of Zelda series since the release of the original game in 1986. It has appeared in every game in the series in some form, particularly as part of the heraldry of the Kingdom of Hyrule.