Zelda's Timeline

The Legend of Zelda has thrilled many gamers for over two decades, and the series is still going strong. The game premiered in Japan on the NES in 1986 and in the United States and Europe in 1987. So over the past 20 years we have all followed Link in his quest to do battle with the evil wizard Gannon, but are all the games in the series connected? This question has plagued gamers and fans of the series since questions first started popping up with the release of the third installment A Link to the Past, released on the SNES in 1991.

The timeline of the series has always been in dispute. Older gamers like to think the games ran in order, but evidence has surfaced to disprove those theories. We know only a few things for sure, like Zelda is always the name given to the princess of Hyrule as part of the royal lineage and Link in many games is another incarnation of the hero. The original Link from 1986's game is not the same Link that appears in Ocarina of Time. The following is a list of the main games featured in the Zelda series for the home based consul systems and approximately where they should be placed on a correct timeline. The games are in order from their release date.

The Legend of Zelda - 1986 - We find our young hero Link summoned to defend Hyrule from the evil wizard Gannon
who has ambushed the palace, captured Zelda and has begun a search for the second Triforce. This game is obviously later on in the series. Gannon has escaped the sacred realm, and is already in his pig like beast form which we see him take at the end of Ocarina of Time. Also, the world is not in a period of deluge like in Windwaker, so it would stand to reason that this game must come at a later date than others in the series. Also there is no mention of the Triforce of Courage in this game.

The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventures of Link - 1987 - This is confirmed to be the Link form the original game, only a few years older. Link is now 16 years old and a mark appears on his hand, he travels to the nurse maid ,Impa for advice. Impa relays a legend about the Triforce, the relic handed down from one royal generation to the next. In this legend we find a king, who has died, and passes the relic to his son. But the son is a greedy Prince who might abuse the power of the ancient relic, so before the Prince receives all three pieces of the Triforce (Power, Wisdom and Courage) the king hides the fragment of courage. The Prince receives the other two pieces, but is displeased. He then questions his sister, Princess Zelda abut the final Pieces whereabouts, but she is unwilling to relay that information. A magician accompanying the Prince curses the Princess to eternal slumber. The magician dies from the strain of the curse and the Prince is left in a state or remorse for his sister. He declares that all first born daughters of royal lineage will be named Zelda after that point.

This story is never again mentioned in any game in the series, but we can assume that it would have happened in the first generations of Hyrule since the Princess Zelda must have been the first. This game also mentions the complete defeat of Gannon from the original game and his minions pursuit of Link and his blood in order to resurrect their fallen leader. It seems this Link was the one who got it right by utterly killing Gannon, and he has stayed dead to date. This game is considered to be the most recent in the timeline for home based consuls.

The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past - 1991 - Here we see a game based before the original Zelda and Windwaker, but after Ocarina of Time. Gannon is already in his pig like form and is actually referred to as "Gannondorf" for the first time. A name that his goes by for games that appeared later in the series. The instruction Manuel is the key component for placing this game as it tells of a thief named Gannondorf who comes across the ancient relic known as the Triforce in what is known as the Golden Land. He uses this power to conjure up an army and take over Hyrule, but seven sages seal the golden land and Gannon within. Gannon uses his powers to control a wizard form Hyrule and continue instigating his attack. Link is summoned by Zelda to save her and Hyrule by defeating Gannon with the "Master Sword" in its first appearance in the series. This sword was said to have banished evil in the past when wielded by a true hero, and we can assume that this refers to the Link from the game Ocarina of Time.

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time - 1998 - Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Zelda series has confirmed that this game was indeed the first in the timeline. In its story Gannondorf is still a dessert thief, and king of a race known as the Gerudo. There is mention of a sacred realm in which the Triforce is held and the Door of Time that is the gateway to this sacred realm. During the course of the story Gannondorf finds his way into contact with the Triforce and attempts to use it; however his heart is unbalanced so the Triforce splits into its famed three pieces Courage Wisdom and Power, and the recipients of these pieces are Link, Zelda and Gannon. Only by reuniting the three of them can the Triforce be whole again. Links mission is to use the Master Sword to slay Gannon and restore Hyrule to its glory.

However this game throws a wrench in the whole story/timeline of them game. You as Link travel back a fourth in time to accomplish missions, but at the games end, Gannondorf is sealed by the seven sages to the sacred realm a place made to seal away the power of the Triforce and Gannodorf. The questions raised her are numerous, like if this game takes place in two different time periods, then are there two separate timelines? If so where exactly do these games fall into those timelines? Also the events of this game like Gannon's army being summoned and his decent into the sacred realm as well as the seven sages, do they reflect events mentioned in A Link to the Past? I will not speculate on this any further, because I don't want to make a mistake with the absolutes of this timeline thus far. But this game is the first in the timeline to feature Gannon in is alternate form, as a beastly pig. This is also seen in games like A Link to the Past and The original Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda Majors Mask - 2000 - This game is a direct sequel of Ocarina of Time and has little or nothing to do with the true story or timeline as a whole. Link in his younger form is jumped by Skull kid and thrust into an alternate world known as Termina. This world is about to be destroyed by a falling moon, and it's up to Link to save the day yet again. Once reclaiming his stolen property and saving the world Link returns to Hyrule no worse for wear. Princess Zelda is not even in this game at all, she is only briefly mentioned in a flashback, and no other clues in this game allow us any insight on what has become of Gannon in the Sacred Realm or the events after his demise.

The Legend of Zelda The Windwaker - 2002 - Hyrule is no more, it was flooded because of a mighty army massed against its civilization. The only way for Hyrule to survive was to freeze itself in time and in doing so the kingdom was flooded up to its highest mountain tops. These tops are all that remain in what is known as the Great Sea which is the world that the Link from this game lives in. People sail from island to island over this vast sea and little is known about the kingdom that leis beneath the waves. Due to this lack of information in the world it is assumed that this game on the timeline must be hundreds of years after Ocarina of Time.

Gannondorf has escaped the Sacred Realm, although how remains unclear, and is attempting to take over the land yet again. During the course of this game you find Zelda's descendent and wither or not Link is a descendent of his predecessor from Ocarina of time is unclear. On one hand according to some elements of the story like ancient text and writings and accounts from prophecies he is indeed a true descendent of the "Hero of Time" however other in game dialog would suggest otherwise. At the end of the game Hyrule is still buried at the Great Sea's floor and we see our heroes sailing off to find a better future. The question arises about the placement of this game in the timeline; it fits best however after A Link to the Past and before the original game. At the end of Windwaker Gannon is turned to stone, not sealed away by any means so the only plausible solution would be this game being placed far after the events of A Link to the Past.

The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess - 2006 - Little has been discussed about this games placement on a timeline so I am treading lightly when speaking. It takes place approximately 100 years after Ocarina of time and mentions the twilight realm, a place that will reflect your inner self. We see this theme in A Link to The Past with the alternate realms as well. Aside from that fact we can also gather that Gannon has returned to his former Gerudo form because it was the last form seen in Ocarina of Time, and since this is the first game since then (on the timeline anyways) we know he must have reverted to this form. We can also assume its place on the timeline due to the ruins of the Temple of Time.

I may also note that many gamers and fans believe that the Legend of Zelda is nothing more then a story retold in different ways, after all the game is called the LEGEND of Zelda. So you would just be playing as the same characters over and over again, in a re-telling of an age old legend, much in the same way that stories and urban legends that are popular. You hear tales that have similar features but the actual stories themselves are misinterpreted from person to person. Zelda, Link Gannon and Hyrule appear in each game, as well as some sub characters like The Sages, Gerudo, and many other elements, but the whole story has been slightly altered for each installment of the series.

This timeline is loosely based and can easily be disputed. More information is available but I did not include anything I saw to be of too much speculation. All these incidences on this proposed timeline are fact based on instruction booklets and common knowledge based in each game, or information gathered during game play. I hope this offered a good insight and cleared up some issues anyone might have had with the story. It has also been announced that the current director of the Zelda series Eiji Aonuma is going to do his best in the next installment of the series currently in development to try and clear up further mysteries surrounding the Zelda timeline. I'm sure many fans look forward to his revelations about the series. Maybe in the next few years we as gamers and fans can find some definitive answers to these questions about the timeline of Zelda, but until then we'll just do the best we can, and keep playing and solving the mysteries of the incredible series known as Zelda