Tri-Island Area
From MIwiki
The Tri-Island Area is, broadly speaking, the area of the Caribbean in which the Monkey Island series takes place. The term is not used before Curse of Monkey Island, when the Voodoo Lady mentions to Guybrush that Elaine is the governor of the entire "Tri-Island area, comprised of Melee, Booty, and Plunder Islands". However the in-game map showing these three islands also includes other nearby islands, such as Phatt, Scabb and even Monkey Island.
In the next game, Escape from Monkey Island, the map is specifically labeled "Tri-Island Area", and includes yet more islands: Lucre, Pinchpenny, Spittle, and Jambalaya. On the other hand, Scabb, Phatt and Blood Island have all been dropped from the map (since they aren't depicted in the game).
The term gets used much more widely in this game: for instance, Lucre Island is identified as the largest urban center in the Tri-Island area, and Ozzie Mandrill's plan is to expose "every pirate in the Tri-Island area to the devastating affects of the Ultimate Insult". It is not made clear if Elaine is Governor of all these islands, or just the three identified in Curse of Monkey Island.
Meaning
The idea of the Tri-Island Area was introduced in the third game as a way of explaining how Elaine Marley could be simultaneously the governor of several islands, although Elaine is said to have resigned from her governing duties on Mêlée in MI2. The Tri-Island Area may have it's counterpart in reality as the Tri-state Areas of the United States, points at which three States are connected. Due to the inclusion of several more islands in the fourth game the Tri-Island Area seems to have lost its meaning syntactically, now referring to more than just the three main islands.
