History of the Zelda Timeline

The History of the Zelda Timeline details how the chronology of the Legend of Zelda series has evolved throughout the series' history; both the official story, as well as the fan interpretations.

Overview
For long, the Zelda Timeline theory is perhaps the object of greatest debate amongst fans of the series. Nintendo's transcendental and thorough method of incorporating the tried-and-true formula of "gameplay first, story later" has arguably produced some of the greatest games of all time, but it has also resulted in an incoherent chronology - full of loose ends, contradictions, and general confusion. Fortunately, this has motivated fans to do all they can to sift, sort, and organize the Legend of Zelda canon. The December 2011 release of Hyrule Historia in Japan revealed a detailed and official chronology of the series. Hyrule Historia is a compilation of official sources with Eiji Aonuma as its chief editor and therefore it represents the developer's view of the chronology most accurately.

History of the official chronology of the Legend of Zelda series
Since the days of Pong, video game storylines have endured an amazing evolution, moving from simple "slay the dragon" conflict, through "save the princess" heroism, and into wonderfully deep epics. Early instalments of the Legend of Zelda series emerged at a very interesting point of this process; a point where the market was divided between casual platformers and plot-focused RPGs.

Zelda found a niche market somewhere in the middle. This is reflected in the storyline of such games as The Adventure of Link and A Link to the Past, which are simple and yet inspiring. Over the years, Nintendo has kept to this trend. Developers often focus foremost on gameplay and theme, and generally only decide on a definite storyline close to the completion of development. Resulting games are well-connected to the overall Legend of Zelda universe - and consider elements of games past - but do not often present immediate or obvious chronological connections.

In the early stages, this worked wonderfully. The first five Legend of Zelda releases were easily understood and organized. In 1998, the timeline had room even for the content of the Legend of Zelda television show and manga, as well as the mistakes of NoA, which would later be considered non-canonical.

Unfortunately, as time went on the sheer amount of information being introduced into the Legend of Zelda canon made a complete understanding less possible. Games such as The Wind Waker and Four Swords Adventures seemed to strain the connection between older games, and many fans began to wonder whether the Four Swords series had a place in the timeline at all.

Fans of the series wanting to learn more of the timeline began to discuss the concept on the Internet, slowly reaching conclusions on those issues which could be resolved and falling into bitter debate on those which could not. The debate continued for years, with fans dissecting Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Skyward Sword. On December 21, 2011, Nintendo of Japan published an official chronology of the Legend of Zelda series in Hyrule Historia, outlining how the games in the series are related to one another.

The Beginning
From the beginning, The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link were clearly linked in continuity, since the first game revolves around retrieving two of the major fragments of the Triforce, and Ganon is fought in order to rescue Princess Zelda; the second game revolves around finding the third major fragment in order to revive an incarnation of Zelda that was comatose for a very long time, and to impede the revival of Ganon.

With the release of A Link to the Past, it was placed at the then-beginning of the timeline, as the synopsis on the back of the original release packaging of A Link to the Past identifies Link and Zelda as the "predecessors" of the original characters. With the release of Link's Awakening in the following year, Miyamoto stated that Link's Koholint adventure could be placed anywhere after A Link to the Past.

Popular Timelines
Despite all the controversy, most Zelda fans only have a passing interest in the timeline beyond the most obvious of links between games. They care not for the endless debates, and wonder only after the final product, or, in this case, products:

(NOTE: Any of these lines may accommodate Kodai No Sekiban after A Link to the Past and the Game and Watch Zelda after Legend of Zelda)

2D Child Timelines


 * "Child" Line: SS >< (TMC) - OoT/MM - TP - (TMC) - FS/FSA - ALttP/LA - (OoS/OoA) - LoZ/AoL - (OoS/OoA)
 * "Adult" Line: SS >< (TMC) - OoT - TWW/PH - ST

2D Adult Timelines


 * "Child" Line: SS >< (TMC) - OoT/MM - TP "Adult" Line: SS >< (TMC) - OoT - TWW/PH - ST - (TMC) - FS/FSA - ALttP/LA - (OoS/OoA) - LoZ/AoL - (OoS/OoA)


 * "Child" Line: SS - OoT/MM - TP "Adult" Line: SS - OoT - TWW/PH - ST - (LoZ/AoL) - OoS/OoA(/LA) - TMC - FS/FSA - ALttP(/LA) - (LoZ/AoL)

2D Split Timelines

New 3D Story Timeline
 * "Child" Line: SS - OoT/MM - TP
 * "Adult" Line: SS - OoT - TWW/PH - ST
 * "2D" Line: TMC - FS/FSA - ALttP/LA - (OoS/OoA) - LoZ/AoL - (OoS/OoA)

Multiple Continuities
 * "First development" SS - OOT - ALttP/LA - (OoS/OoA) - LoZ/AoL - (OoS/OoA)
 * "Second Development" SS - OOT - TWW/PH - ST
 * "Third Development" SS - OOT/MM - TP

(NOTE: TMC, FS, and FSA have many possible placements within Multiple Timelines, including the possibility of a line of their own)

The Literal Legend Theory

This theory posits that the legend of Zelda is literally what it claims to be, a legend. For this reason a timeline is unnecessary. The value is in the lessons imparted to the audience, not in maintaining chronological or internal consistency. One line of evidence supporting this theory is seen in the way many games in the series appear to be re-tellings of the same story. This would reflect the natural evolution that all legends undergo. As the legend of Zelda is passed down from person to person, it changes, it evolves.

Timeline Principles
Timeline theory is often accused of being a collection of irrelevant fan-fiction with no real truth to it. In actuality, a large part of our timeline knowledge is strictly canon; a good deal more consists of simple, well supported inferences based on this canon and the intentions of Zelda's creators. These principles are held to be true by almost all Timeline theorists. We can combine all this information and conceive six timeline "arcs":


 * SS - OoT/MM - TP
 * SS - OoT - TWW/PH - ST
 * TMC - FS/FSA
 * ALttP/LA
 * OoS/OoA (in either order)
 * LoZ/AoL

Beyond that, all timeline theory is an attempt to combine these arcs and achieve a final chronology.

Time and the Timeline
Understanding the Legend's Timeline may require an understanding of the Legend's concept of time itself. Essentially, time is sequence; first, second, third, and fourth. A very basic concept at first glance, but one that takes on a whole new dimension when "fourth" comes between "first" and "second" and stops "third" from ever occurring.

In four games, the precise nature of time has never remained constant. OOT contains at least two very different mechanics, which theorists often find irreconcilable (and downright strange). OoA's mechanics only begin to make sense when one sacrifices logic to storyline completely, and MM's Goddess of Time throws it all into chaos by drawing questions of omnipotence into the debate.

Generally, it is not an issue most theorists need worry over, and should only be explored by those with a strangely deep interest in the OOT/MM connection.

Common Points of Debate
Beyond these simple arcs, the amount of helpful canon begins to decrease. At this point, disagreements inevitably arise between various theorists who have naturally formed differing interpretations of the small amount of "truth" they have to work with.

Split Timeline
The Split Timeline theory was a major point of contention in timeline discussion for many years, but is now generally accepted following a confirmation in an interview with Eiji Aonuma. These theories were effectively the same as what is now known: the ending of Ocarina of Time resulted in two timeline branches, depending on whether or not Link drew the Master Sword. One of these was the Child Timeline, which was created at the end of the game when Link was returned to his original time, but closed the Door of Time, preventing the original events of the game. The other was the Adult Timeline, which contained the original events of Ocarina of Time up to Link defeating Ganon and returning to his own time.

Detail Related Arguments
Shapes of boats, common attributes of revered whales, the proliferation of the term 'force' throughout the series... theorists have a tendency to argue about pretty much anything. Many minor details of the series have come under scrutiny for their possible timeline relevance, and, since the release of Twilight Princess, have become the principle focus of many theorists.

Studying minor elements complicates theory greatly, both because of the enormous number of interpretations that can rise from analysis of Zelda's style (as opposed to its narrative) and the general debate as to whether such small objects have any relevance in the first place. Some theorists are critical of this approach of over interpreting possible connections, as they believe many supposed connections are random coincidences, and were not actually intended by the creators of the games.

Time Related Arguments
Time travel is a principal element of the Zelda series, and is a prominent factor in three of the games. In developing the game mechanics for OoT, MM, and OoA, Nintendo was far more concerned with making the mechanics fun and interesting than being scientifically sound (or even consistent).

Some loose ends or uncertainties produced by the unclear nature of time travel were clarified by Nintendo's confirmation that the events of Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess occur on a parallel timeline to the adult portion of Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker. Debate on these issues, once among the most common of arguments, has faded away, replaced by a general acceptance and understanding of the split timeline theory.

Ganon Related Arguments
Ganon is, by and large, the most constant element in the Zelda Universe. Unlike the incarnations of Zelda, Who may not appear in every game, the King of Evil has persisted through two decades of development. As a result, tracking his personal course through Hyrule's history has provided our deepest insights and created some of the largest debates. The 'Ganon Conflicts' are a cornerstone of Zelda theory.

Timeline Display
In order to save space and typing time, fans discussing the broader timeline issues developed a system by which to convey theorized game placements in as little text as possible. Understanding this shorthand is pivotal to understanding timeline jargon. The Timeline Abbreviations page contains a comprehensive list of this shorthand style of writing.