Ten years had passed since that fateful war, and the races of Hyrule united to form the Kingdom of Hyrule, with the Hyrulian Royal Family in charge. Each race acknowledged that the Triforce was not among them, but was locked safely within the Sacred Realm.

At the Gate to the Sacred Realm stood a large marble structure called the Temple of Time. The Temple was built by the chief Sage Rauru to keep the unworthy out of the Golden Land and away from the Triforce. The opened the Gate to the Golden Realm, one must open the Door of Time. The Door of Time required four artifacts to open, the Spiritual Stones of Fire, Water, and Forest and the Ocarina of Time. The young King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf Dragmire, now an adult, sought out those sacred keys by manipulation and cursing of each race.

In the middle of these happenings, a young Kokiri lad named Link was going through some tough times. Link was unlike the rest of the Kokiri, for he had no fairy to call his own. Link was especially teased by another Kokiri named Mido, who considered himself the "boss" of the Kokiri. One day while Link was trying to get some sleep, a fairy woke the boy up. A fairy! Link learned that the Great Deku Tree, guardian of the Kokiri, had summoned him. Link rushed off for the Great Deku Tree's meadow along with his new fairy, Navi. To the distress of Link, Mido was waiting for him at the entrance to the Great Deku Tree's Meadow. Mido would not Link through without a sword and shield to protect himself. Feeling that the "strange" Link would have no access to a sword (the Kokiri being a peaceful race) or shield, Mido scoffed and returned to his post.

Determined to see the Great Deku Tree, Link learned that the Kokiri kept a small sword in a protected grove. Link penetrated grove and borrowed the sword. With a spare fourty rupees (the Hyrulian currency) Link purchased a shield made of Deku Wood. Link showed the two items to the disdainful Mido and gained access to the Meadow. Link encountered the Deku Tree and learned of the Tree's plight. It seems a vile man named Ganondorf Dragmire, a thief from the distant desert had cursed the Great Deku Tree in search of the stone. Link answered the Tree's plight and defeated the spider that dwelled in the tree.

But it was too late. The Tree soon died after bestowing the Kokiri Emerald upon Link. With a sad glance, Link and Navi left the Kokiri forest to save Hyrule from Ganondorf's plagues.

After meeting the Princess of Destiny, Zelda, with whom he hatched a plan to get the Triforce before Ganondorf could, and retrieving the Goron's Ruby and Zora's Sapphire, Link returned to the Castle to show Zelda. Unfortunately, Ganondorf got there first, seeking the fourth key to the Door of Time, the Ocarina of Time. Link encountered the Gerudo thief and barely escaped with his life. When Ganondorf left, Link retrieved the Ocarina of Time, which Zelda had thrown to him in her escape with her nursemaid, Impa. Link used the Ocarina and three Stones to open the Door of Time. Beyond the Door of Time lay the legendary blade that had the holy power to smite all evil, the Master Sword. Approaching cautiously, Link put his hands upon the sword and lifted. A blue light surrounded him and Link disappeared from the Hyrule he knew.

By some cruel twist of fate, Link had unwittingly open the Gate to the Golden Realm for Ganondorf, and Ganondorf capitalized on this. The thief entered the Sacred Realm and soon became the first mortal to lay both hands and eyes upon the Golden Sacred Triangles, the Triforce.

Hyrule would never be the same again as Ganondorf became the King of Evil.