Triforce

The Triforce is a powerful artifact and one of the most important items in the Legend of Zelda franchise. Within Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the player obtains a single piece of the Triforce during the story, but the Triforce itself is otherwise entirely absent from the game. However, earlier in development, there were several references to the Triforce being collectible, and in the inventory screen, a seemingly blank icon for the Triforce can be seen. These factors lead many players to believe that the Triforce can somehow be obtained, and crossing over has made these dreams a reality.

Description
The Triforce is made up of 3 yellow triangles formed together into a bigger triangle shape with an empty upside-down triangle slot in the middle. The Triforce is split up into 3 pieces: The Triforce of Courage, which tends to fall into Link's possession, the Triforce of Power, which is commonly stolen by Ganon, and the Triforce of Wisdom, which is usually possessed by Princess Zelda. The Triforce of Courage is obtained during Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but does not effect the inventory slot for the Triforce, and early footage shows Link collecting the Triforce in it's entirety.

The reward for collecting the Triforce is commonly a new ending, though what this ending depicts is usually inconsistent. Some say it unlocks new powers such as the Sword Beam, or that it does nothing at all and simply fills in the inventory slot as a sign of completion. Others have even said that it functions as a Key Item, though this is uncommon and the reward is also extremely inconsistent, though it does usually tie in with Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, as it is Ocarina of Time's sequel.

Obtaining
The most versatile part of the Triforce's manifestation is by which the player is supposed to find it. One of the most common ways of unlocking the Triforce is by playing a hidden song known as the "Overture of Sages" to be warped to the Temple of Light, where the Chamber of Sages within Ocarina of Time is located. Presumably, clearing this dungeon would unlock the Triforce. However, the first documentation of the Overture of Sages turned out to be an elaborate prank, so unless it was somehow based off of a real unused song, any other people claiming to have found this song would likely also have lied. Other dungeons and locations have also reportedly contained the Triforce, most notably being the Sky Temple, Desert Pyramid and the Unicorn Fountain. Some say that you can find the mysterious "blue dungeon" location seen in a trailer depicting Link obtaining the Triforce, but this location has never actually been reported with any consistency. Others say that the Triforce is simply obtained upon beating the game to signify the ending, or by beating Ganon or whatever other final boss that may have been encountered without taking any damage.

There are also some rather unorthodox ways reported to unlock Triforce, likely the result of playground rumors instead of legitimate manifestation. These include beating the Running Man in a race, which is impossible, or by throwing a bomb into the center of the lava pit below Ganon's castle, which would apparently trigger something to unlock the Triforce. Others say that completing a Key Item Stop N' Swop would unlock the Triforce, but this appears to be just as improbable as the Triforce is too relevant to the story and franchise at large to simply be a reward for owning another game.

Theorizing
Despite the Triforce seemingly having been planned for some time, it is unknown why it was removed. Some say that they decided that for story's sake, the player shouldn't obtain the entire Triforce and instead only obtain the Triforce of Courage, or that they removed and replaced the dungeon it was within and simply changed their minds instead of re-adding the Triforce into the dungeon. However, the latter option doesn't make much sense, as the Triforce is a rather important object in the world of Legend of Zelda.

If it was removed after already being added to the game for some time, that would explain it's presence in the pause menu, even though the developers claimed it was just there for decoration. However, why they wouldn't change it upon obtaining the Triforce of Courage or remove it all together is unknown. Some suggest that the Triforce was scrapped so late into development that they didn't have the time to update the texture, but this is also questionable.