Table of Contents• Introduction• The Legend of Zelda• Zelda II: Adventure of Link• A Link to the Past• Link’s Awakening• Ocarina of Time• Majora’s Mask• Oracle of Ages/Seasons• Four Swords• Wind Waker• The Split Timeline• Four Swords Adventures• Minish Cap• Twilight Princess • Phantom Hourglass• Spirit Tracks• Skyward Sword

Introduction• The most cheriched

videogames of all time have spiraled into long lasting franachises.

• Many of these series evolved into legends of their own.

• Few sparked more interest, mystery, and imagination than the Legend of Zelda.

• Released in 1987• Very basic plot• Save Zelda from the evil Ganon• Most of the story is told through the

manual

• Ganon, weilding the Triforce of Power invades Hyrule looking for the Triforce of Wisdom

• Zelda sends Impa to look for a hero valiant enough to defeat Ganon and save Hyrule

• Splits the Triforce into 8 pieces

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

• Link sets out to find the triforce of courage to awake the slumbering princess Zelda (which is not the same as that of the last game)

• Sequel to the Legend of Zelda• Ganon’s minions are out for Link’s

blood which could be used to revive him.

• The manual tells more of the tale.

• Paints a broader picture of the Kingdom of Hyrule and its history.

• The manual hints to several mysteries spread throughout Hyrule, but does not reveal it.

• Prequel to the Legend of Zelda

• Established much of the foundational lore the rest of the series would eventually explore.

• The creation of Hyrule• The Master Sword• The origins of Ganon• Its prequel nature complicated the

timeline

• Sequel to A Link to the Past• Simple sidestory, does not

advance the overall chronology• Link sets out to hone his skills,

gets shipwrecked in Koholint Island

• Link learns that the only way to leave the island is to wake the Wind Fish

• Koholint was a dream of the Wind Fish

• Ship in the game’s ending would eventually help piece the timeline together

• Origin story• Link sets out to stop Ganondorf from

claiming the triforce with the aid of Princess Zelda

• Their actions unintentionally led to the downfall of Hyrule

• Link gathered the courage to travel between 2 time periods in order to awaken 7 sages and obtain the strength to defeat Ganondorf.

• Ocarina of Time provided deeper insight into the series’ mythos.

• Three godesses created Hyrule, when they departed they left behind the Triforce a relic that could grant one’s wishes

• The triforce is hidden away in the Sacred Realm

• Ganondorf, king of the Gerudo, eventually learned about the Triforce’s resting place and tried to take it for himself

• After Link defeats Ganondorf, Zelda decides to send Link back to his original time period

• The implications of this action would not be fully realized until later entries in the series

• Side story to Ocarina of Time• While searching for a friend, Link is

drawn into Termina, an alternate dimension.

• Termina is terrorized by the Skull Kid a forest imp from Ocarina of Time who stole an evil mask granting him great power.

• Link had 3 days to stop Majora’s Mask from bringing the Moon crashing down.

• Delivered an important clue concerning the timeline

• Took place after link was sent back in time to his original time period

• Link is sent by the Triforce to Holodrum and Labrynna two lands distant from Hyrule.

• Evil forces terrorized each land and Link set out to restore order before they fell into chaos.

• Behind the scenes, Ganon’s followers attempted to revive him.

• Story elements pointed towards other games in the series

• The triforce was unified in the game’s intro.

• Ship in the game’s ending pointed to Link’s Awakening’s beginning.

Four Swords

• Link is on a quest to defeat an evil Wind Mage named Vaati

• Plot was too ambiguous to place strictly anywhere in the timeline

• Eiji Aonuma confirms the game the oldest tale in the franchise

The Wind Waker

• Took place hundreds of years after Ocarina of Time

• Introduction told the tale of the downfall of the kingdom and the return of Ganon after being sealed in Ocarina of Time

• The Gods decide to flood Hyrule• Ganondorf uses the Triforce of

Power to break free from below the waves and seeks for a way to unify the Triforce to grant his wishes

• A new Link and Zelda rise to stop Ganondorf

• In the end, the Triforce washed the remains of Hyrule along with the Master Sword and Ganondorf

• The ending left plotholes in the timeline

• No Hyrule, no Master Sword, and no Ganon made it tough to place Wind Waker on the Timeline

The Split Timeline

• Eiji Aonuma confirms what fans had been speculating to be a split timeline as a result of Ocarina of Time’s ending

• Ocarina of Time’s ending had created two realities

• Majora’s Mask followed the events after Zelda sent Link back in time and he warned Zelda about Ganon

• Wind Waker followed what transpired after Link went back in Ocarina of Time in the future

Four Swords Adventures

• Sequel to Four Swords Vaati broke free from the Four Sword and Link defeated him once again

• Ganon is revealed as the true culprit• Link and Zelda seal him inside the

Four Sword

• Contained references to A Link to the Past and Ocarina of time, making it difficult to place in the timeline.

Minish Cap

• Prequel to the Four Swords games• Explains the origins of Vaati and the

Four Sword

Twilight Princess

• Before the game, Ganon is banished to the Twilight Realm, but manages to break free

• A new Link and Zelda join forces with Midna, the deposed Princess of the Twilight Realm and together, they vanquish Ganon

• Nintendo maintained that both the Wind Waker and Twilight Princess were sequels to Ocarina of Time

• Due to their drastically different settings it was clear that they took place in different timelines albeit on the same time period

Phantom Hourglass

• Direct sequel to Wind Waker• Link and Zelda set out to look for a

new Hyrule once the old one had been flooded

• They get cut up in a mysterious world which was threatened by an evil being called Bellum

• Link saves Zelda an they continue their journey

• Link and Zelda eventually found a new land which is the setting of this game

• Several generations passed and a plan was hatched to free an ancient evil from the Spirit Tracks that dotted the land

• A new Link and Zelda rise and defeat the demon called Malladus and return peace to Hyrule

Skyward Sword

• Skyward Sword takes place at the beginning of the timeline.

• Origin story of the Master Sword• The origins of Ganon are explained

in the form of Demise

• After being defeated, Demise cursed Link and Zelda into a cycle in which he would be reincarnated.

• Explains the story behind the godess Hylia who after a great war gave up her divine powers and became the mortal Zelda.

Hyrule Historia

• In 2011, Nintendo released Hyrule Historia which contained the official Zelda Timeline

• Nintendo revealed that there were not two timeline, they were actually three