VGB: Zelda Timeline For Dummies

[Valigarmander]

Some of you may have heard about the Zelda series timeline before. I certainly wasn't interested in it up until a few weeks ago. For those of you who don't know, every game in the Zelda canon occurs along a single, orderly timeline. The thing is, nobody's exactly sure what the timeline looks like. Only Nintendo knows, and as they've stated before, they aren't sharing the juicy knowledge with the fans for now. Until then, it's up to the fans to piece together which game goes where on the timeline.

Most of what is known about the placement of games on the timeline comes from information given in-game or in instruction manuals, and from interviews with Nintendo officials such as Miyamoto and Aonuma. With what we know, it's possible to piece together a very fragmented timeline of the series. It's certain that in the future new games will be created and be added to the beginning or end, or stuffed somewhere in the middle, of the timeline. Perhaps someday, the timeline will be made clear to everyone.

For now, let's construct a loose timeline using the knowledge we have. We'll start with the main body of the timeline, which begins with the most recent game in the series: Skyward Sword. According to Aonuma, Skyward Sword occurs before Ocarina of Time, making it one of the earliest games in the series, if not the earliest. (The other candidates being the Four Swords trilogy, which we'll come to in a little bit.) So to start off our timeline, we'll put Skyward Sword at the beginning.



Next up, we have Ocarina of Time. It was originally stated to have been a prequel to A Link to the Past, and we now know it occurs after Skyward Sword.

Now, here's where things get a little weird. Due to Link's actions in Ocarina of Time the timeline of the series actually splits in two, into the so-called "Adult" and "Child" timelines. The Adult Timeline features Ganondorf's conquest of Hyrule and Link's exploits as an adult in Ocarina of Time, including his defeat of Ganon and Ganon's subsequent imprisonment in the Sacred Realm by the Sages. The Child Timeline, on the other hand, continues from the end of Ocarina of Time after Link returned to the past, before the events of the game. In this timeline, Link was able to warn Hyrule of Ganondorf's impending coup and prevent him from ever taking power. Both timelines continue onward, resulting in different entries in the Zelda series.

Majora's Mask is a direct sequel to Ocarina of Time, occurring shortly afterward. It features the same Link as Ocarina of Time, and serves as the beginning of the Child Timeline.



Continuing on the Child Timeline several centuries after Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, we have Twilight Princess. This game's placement following Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Child Timeline has been confirmed by Aonuma.

Onto the Adult Timeline. The Wind Waker occurs in this timeline parallel to Twilight Princess, centuries after the events of Ocarina of Time. Phantom Hourglass is a direct sequel to The Wind Waker, taking place not long afterwards and featuring many of the same characters, including Link and Tetra. Spirit Tracks is a sequel to both games, but occurs a hundred years after Phantom Hourglass. The Zelda in Spirit Tracks is the granddaughter of Tetra.



It's a little strange, but still pretty cut-and-dried, right? Well, this is where it starts to get a little more difficult. The rest of the games in the series only have a very vague placement in the timeline. But we'll work with what we know.

First, there's the Four Swords trilogy. The first game in the series, Four Swords, was stated by Aonuma to have taken place prior to Ocarina of Time, thus making it chronologically the earliest game in the series at the time of its release. Four Swords Adventures is a direct sequel to Four Swords, featuring the same Link and Zelda. The Minish Cap is a prequel to Four Swords, having occurred many years prior. Trusting Aonuma, we can place all three games at some point before Ocarina of Time.

It's worth mentioning, however, that there is some controversy to the placement of these games before Ocarina of Time. In particular, the similarity in the setting and characters of Four Swords Adventures to A Link to the Past, as well as Ganondorf's appearance in the game, has led some to believe it must take place after Ocarina of Time. For now, though, we'll just go with what Aonuma has claimed.

Next, there's A Link to the Past. This game occurs after Ocarina of Time, as confirmed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Takizawa. Link's Awakening is probably a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, as supported by the game's manual, though there is a little room for doubt. The Legend of Zelda, and its direct sequel, The Adventure of Link, occur after A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, as stated by Miyamoto and described on the back of A Link to the Past packaging. It's unknown which post-Ocarina of Time timeline these four games occur on, however. It's only possible to speculate at this point.

Finally, there's Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. There's no easy way to place these two games on the timeline. The two games aren't linked to any others in the series aside from each other, as they're stated to occur parallel to one another.



So there you have a very tentative timeline of the Zelda series. Yet even this fragmented, ambiguous timeline is debated by fans of the series. We may never know for sure where each game is placed until Nintendo decides to reveal the official timeline. Until then, the best we can do is theorize.

[Dizzy]

They all happen at the same time, and Link has an extreme reality-perception disorder.

[Luigiman7]

i always thought minish cap was one of the earliest, mainly because it explains how everything got under all the rocks and bushes and stuff

[CuccoLady]

Wouldn't LttP be on the same timeline as TP because of the location of the Master Sword?

I feel like they wouldn't bother making a point of placing it in the sacred grove both times unless there was a connection between them. Or is there some reason it's still unsure that I'm not aware of?

Like, OoT temple of time falls to ruin and becomes TP sacred grove in temple ruins becomes LttP sacred grove.

I guess that is just speculation though

[Cravdraa]

But the problem with that is Ganondorf never got sealed away in the sacred land in that timeline. Of course, in the other timeline he broke out in windwaker, got killed/tuned to stone and Hyrule was destroyed. Even taking new Hyrule into account with ST, it still doesn't work for multiple reasons.
Basicly, none of the timelines work for LttP.
The backstory for AoL makes absolutely no sense with ANY other game the triforce shows up in.

Basicly, Nintendo sucks at making timelines. If they wanted the games to make any sense in relation to eachother, they shouldn't have kept making prequals and stilling games inbetween the other games that already existed.

[X-3]

But Ganon is the true villain of FSA. How can it be before OoT?

The golden truth, ultimately, is this:

Originally Posted by Cravdraa

Basicly, Nintendo sucks at making timelines.

[CuccoLady]

True nuff. My belief is that Nintendo has a general idea of continuity but doesn't actually put much thought into the details, focusing on each game as its own individual.

This may be a stupid question but why do most fans deny the possibility of a linear timeline? I know a lot about the split timeline theory, but not why it originated. I find it interesting but also a bit too convoluted to believably be what Nintendo had in mind making the games

[X-3]

People started talking about it in 2002 when Aonuma said in an interview that OoT essentially had two endings.

Then Aonuma confirmed it in 2006.

Originally Posted by Interview

–When does Twilight Princess take place?

Aonuma: In the world of Ocarina of Time, a hundred and something years later.

–And the Wind Waker?

Aonuma: The Wind Waker is parallel. In Ocarina of Time, Link flew seven years in time, he beat Ganon and went back to being a kid, remember? Twilight Princess takes place in the world of Ocarina of Time, a hundred and something years after the peace returned to kid Link’s time. In the last scene of Ocarina of Time, kids Link and Zelda have a little talk, and as a consequence of that talk, their relationship with Ganon takes a whole new direction. In the middle of this game [Twilight Princess], there's a scene showing Ganon's execution. It was decided that Ganon be executed because he'd do something outrageous if they left him be. That scene takes place several years after Ocarina of Time. Ganon was sent to another world and now he wants to obtain the power...

[CuccoLady]

Well I am wrong then.

I still like LttP in TP timeline though regardless of Ganon status :{P

[Loot]

Could have sworn LttP is the final game since the Master Sword was laid to rest forever and all that

Then again I suppose the Magical Sword and super-deluxe-ultra edition arrows would suffice

[X-3]

LttP is supposed to be a prequel to the NES games. The NES games just came before they decided to have a sword that wrecks the **** of evil.

[Marilink]

I always like to think that Ganondorf split his soul, Voldemort-style, so that part of it is in Ganon and part of it is in Ganondorf.

So after the Adult Timeline, you kill Ganon, but then later down the line in WW, Ganondorf is still around (but no Ganon, that's why he uses that stupid puppet). After the Child timeline, both Ganondorf and Ganon are still alive which is why they're both present in TP, but after you totally kill GanonDORF in TP, from then on only Ganon appears (LttP, LoZ, AoL).

I also have a lot of theories how Hyrulian oral tradition ended up chaning and eventually causing a lot of problems, but I don't really have time to type that up right now.

[CuccoLady]

I find it interesting that Nintendo has CONFIRMED that Skyward Sword comes before Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess comes after Ocarina of Time, and yet these two games have the providence names [also the names of specific holy beasts], Eldin, Lanayru, and Faron that are absent in the other games. Food for thought.

I also will probably have a lot more interesting things to say about pre-OoT time when I have beaten SS. mmmm.

[Blake]

Sorry if I sound cynical, but I always thought the timeline theories were kind of stupid. Just reading this topic alone points out a lot of flaws of why it doesn't make sense for x to occur because of y.

I've always just been a firm believer that because the Legend of Zelda is a Legend, it was simply that and nothing more. Each witness has their different perspective of how the story went down, some would stretch the truth a little too much, some would bend the story a particular way, some would get the 'facts' wrong, some may favor one character/group of individuals over another, etc.

And assuming these legends are being told generations after generation each teller or author would change a few details in their version of the story, whether it be due to preference or a vague memory of what they've been told.

Despite that being said, Val did an impressive job of visually allowing me to see how and why a timeline could work.

[CuccoLady]

To me, it's clear that there is some sort of temporal relationship between the games-- TP shows the decaying ruins of what was the Temple of Time in OoT, WW tells the legend of OoT link at the beginning, OoT serves as a prequel to LttP, explaining the events that are mentioned in the opening. I don't believe that every single game was made with every detail adhering to this timeline, but I do believe that the developers have some sort of idea-- at the very least, where each game fits in relationship to one or two other games [ST after PH, PH after WW, etc]

That said, I'm pretty sure [like I said before] each game stands on its own individually just fine, and each game's individuality is more important than exactly where it fits on the timeline.

[Cosmonautical]

No matter how you try to split OoT, Ganondorf only existed once between the two timelines. Because Ganon exists independent of the paradox through his imprisonment in the Gods' realm, one can assume that the Hyrules or alternate histories he finds his way into are not the same as his previous history. He was sealed with the Gods' power via the Triforce, keeping him from the same timeline in which he conquered OoT Hyrule through.

There are two direct conclusions to be made from this, with one important indirect conclusion derived therein, as the split was observed by the director of the series himself:

1. Ganonondorf is potentially capable of traveling between realities.
2. Due to this, Ganondorf may exist plurally. There may be multiples of him.
3. Multiples of Ganondorf may also travel between realities. In an instance where Ganondorf was imprisoned in the Sacred Realm, other iterations of Ganondorf may appear.

One thing to note that coincides with this is that Ganondorf has a plurality of names and titles. He is Ganon. He is the king of evil. Thieves, etc.

According to both WW, OoT, LttP, and TP - Ganon has been imprisoned in many alternate planes of reality. This should not be incidental, if one is to take the potential for a single coherent timeline seriously. It should be intentional.









EDIT: And I've said this at other sites before, but it's my personal opinion that referential content between games is not intended to be taken is direct cause-and-effect. I believe it's intended as referential content. Fanservice.

[Bomby]

I remain adamant that the order is LoZ, AoL, LttP, LA, OoT, MM, OoS & OoA, FS, WW, FSA, MC, TP, PH, ST, and finally SS.

[CuccoLady]

^ Link used the Master Sword so much that it broke, and as a result evil took over the world and the goddess was like "really guys" so she made a new one that could talk so that the hero would be less dumb and feel bad if he broke it again

[Chaos Deviot]

Where does Tingle's game fit in all this? I'm guessing somewhere during Skyward Sword, but in an alternate reality.

Yes, I believe it's Canon. ...No, the CD-i games are not. :<

[The Missing Link]

Tingle's game would have to fall canonically before Skyward Sword. Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland talks about the transformation of [fill in your character's name] to a Tingle... but yet there's a Tingle doll hidden somewhere within Skyward Sword.

Therefore it stands to reason that TRR is the first Zelda game.