The universe of The Legend of Zelda is a fictional universe depicted in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. It consists of a variety of lands, the most commonly appearing of these being . The universe was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, a video game developer for Nintendo.

Hyrule

The land of Hyrule, first depicted in The Legend of Zelda, released in February 1986 for the Famicom Disk System, is the backdrop for the adventures of the boy-to-hero protagonist Link. During the events of the game, Link progresses through Hyrule, and nine dungeons, the latter of which have become a staple of the series, appearing in every game since.

Many designated areas of Hyrule appear throughout the series, such as the Lost Woods, Kakariko Village, Death Mountain, and Lake Hylia. Several games in the series take place in lands other than Hyrule, including Link's Awakening, set on Koholint Island, Majora's Mask, set in Termina, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, set in Holodrum and Labrynna respectively, and The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, both set on the Great Sea, a flooded Hyrule.

Formation of Hyrule

Hyrule was formed by the goddesses Din, Farore, and Nayru. According to Hylian legend as depicted in Ocarina of Time, Din created the physical geography of the realm, Nayru set forth the laws that would govern the land, and Farore created the many races who would uphold the law, as well as the flora, and fauna that inhabit the world. Once the goddesses had completed their tasks, they departed for the heavens, and left behind them three golden triangles. Into these they put their power to govern all things; this relic became known as the Triforce. The realm itself was eventually named after its dominant race, the Hylia.

Hylian language

Hylian is also the name of the constructed language created by Nintendo to be used by the Hylians. The characters are composed mostly of square-like symbols and dots with a small number of curved or diagonal lines, and changes slightly from game to game. The written form of Hylian is derived from Japanese hiragana, katakana, and romaji in its first appearances (and also is reminiscent of Cyrillic languages), though is based on English in Twilight Princess.

Hylian first appeared in A Link to the Past, though just identified as "the ancient language of the Hylians". Its written form was made up of nonsensical symbols that had to be translated by Link using the mysterious "Book of Mudora" to progress in the game.

In Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, the scripting appeared on signs, gravestones and more. While no official translations or character sets have been released by Nintendo, some fans have created versions themselves by observing and translating the inscriptions in the game and on the game's box art. The script used in The Wind Waker (see below) is also used on the headbands of Kotake and Koume.