Canonical Material

Timeline Principles are those basic, priori-like concepts upon whcih the timeline is built. Generally, all theorists honestly beleive in the core truths on which they base their work. They do not, however, consitently agree on the inclusion or exclusion of certain "fringe facts", or the weight which they hold.

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.

Sources universaly considered canonical

 * The Legend of Zelda (LoZ) Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * The Adventure of Link (AoL) Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * A Link to the Past (ALttP) Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * Link's Awakening (LA) Original release: properly translated textual game content and game manual
 * Ocarina of Time (OoT) Original release: textual game content and game manual
 * Majora's Mask (MM) textual game content and game manual
 * Oracle of Ages (OoA) textual game content and game manual
 * Oracle of Seasons (OoS) textual game content and game manual
 * Four Swords (FS) textual game content and game manual
 * The Wind Waker (tWW) textual game content and game manual
 * Four Swords Adventures (FSA) textual "Hyrulean Adventure" content and game manual
 * The Minish Cap (tMC) textual game content and game manual
 * Twilight Princess (TP) textual game content and game manual
 * Phantom Hourglass (PH) as-of-yet uncontradicted developer announced placement

Sources considered non-canonical

 * The Legend of Zelda promotional material, such as the cartoon series and comic books.
 * Fan-based Internet sources, such as online forums.
 * The Legend of Zelda games that were not produced by Nintendo, including the Phillips CD-i Games (Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, Link: The Faces of Evil, and Zelda's Adventure) as well as fan-produced games.

Nintendo-licensed games that are arguably canon

 *  The Legend of Zelda. This game is considered non-canonical since it replaces the hero (Link) with a different character and still tells of the same adventure.
 * BS Zelda: Kodai no Sekiban. This game is arguably canon. It takes place in Hyrule during Link's absence after ALttP and tells of a hero from another world that vanquishes Ganon shortly after he is resurrected. This story is never contradicted so it can be canon.
 * Zelda: Game & Watch. This game is almost never thought of story wise by fans but its intended place is after AoL. Dragons steal the Triforce and kidnap Zelda and Link stops them. Like BS Zelda: Kodai no Sekiban, this game is not contradicted and can thus be considered canon.
 * The Legend of Zelda: Game Watch. Thought of even less than its Game & Watch cousin, this game is an undetailed retelling of LoZ and is thus redundant to the timeline.

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 intentions 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 precede LoZ/AoL.
 * OoT and MM center around the same Hero, and precede ALttP/LA.
 * TP stars the newest Hero, and succeeds 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 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 "Demon War" preceding ALttP (which may or may not be the same as the "Seal War", and may be represented in FSA).
 * There is a possible battle against Ganon as he seizes the Triforce of Power before LoZ
 * The curse of the "Legendary" Zelda of AoL succeeds ALttP/LA [possibly even featuring the same Princess Zelda from those games].
 * Vaati [presumably] attacks Hyrule again between TMC and FS (meaning FS's backstory may or may not be TMC).