Zelda Timeline

Legend Of Zelda Timeline theory is perhaps the object of greatest debate amongst fans of the series. Nintendo's unconventional 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.

Overview
Since the days of Pong, videogame storylines have endured an amazing evolution, moving from simple "slay the dragon" conflict, through "save the princess" heroism, and into wonderfully deep epics. Early installments 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.

English 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. They continue to argue, as they eagerly await the relase of Twilight Princess and Phantom Hourglass.

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 knowlege 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:

Canon
A canonical statement is one which cannot be reasonably denied within the context of the Legend of Zelda universe. To be more specific, when an official Zelda authority (i.e. a "canonical source") makes an informed, intended statement, that statement must be considered a fact in the timeline. Furthermore, when such a source makes such a statement, it is assumed to be intended and informed (and therefore canonical) unless an excellent argument is made to the contrary.

Those sources agreed upon as canon in principle are:
 * The Legend of Zelda Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * The Adventure of Link Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * A Link to the Past Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * Link's Awakening Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * Ocarina of Time Original release: textual game content and game manual
 * Majora's Mask: textual game content and game manual
 * Oracle of Ages: textual game content and game manual
 * Oracle of Seasons: textual game content and game manual
 * The Wind Waker: textual game content and game manual
 * Four Swords: textual game content and game manual
 * Four Swords Adventures: textual "Hyrulean Adventure" content and game manual
 * The Minish Cap: textual game content and game manual
 * Twilight Princess: as-of-yet uncontradicted developer announced placement
 * Phantom Hourglass: as-of-yet uncontradicted developer announced placement

Intent
When trying to understand a creation, one should always consider the creator. Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and their colleagues at Nintendo provide the best possible perspective on the Timeline because their own intention shape the series. When these intentions can be understood, they provide an excellent (albeit incomplete) blueprint for theorists and are followed with due care.

General Knowledge
Through the study of canon and intent, theorists have come to the following conclusions, which they claim to be almost as "true" as the canon itself.
 * LoZ and AoL center around the same Hero.
 * Alttp and LA center around the same Hero, and precedes LoZ/AoL.
 * OoT and MM center around the same Hero, and precedes AlttP/LA.
 * TP stars the newest Hero, and suceeds OoT
 * OoS and OoA center around the same hero.
 * tWW and PH center around the same hero, and succeed TP.
 * TMC, FS, and FSA occur in that order, and are a part of the timeline.
 * There is a "Fierce War" preceding OOT.
 * There is a "Seal War" preceding AlttP (which may or may not be represented in OoT)
 * There is a "Conquest War" preceding LoZ.
 * The curse of the "Legendary" Zelda of AoL succeeds AlttP/LA [possibly even featuring the same Princess Zelda from those games].
 * Vatti [presumably] attacks Hyrule a fourth time, between TMC and FS.

We can combine this information and conceive three timeline "arcs"


 * OoT/MM - TP - tWW/PH
 * TMC - FS/FSA
 * Alttp/LA - LoZ/AoL
 * OoS/OoA

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