Time Travel

Time Travel is a recurring element in.

Ocarina of Time
In, Link tries to gain access to the Sacred Realm, after retrieving the three Spiritual Stones and playing the "Song of Time" in the Temple of Time, so that he can take the Master Sword and can prevent Ganondorf from obtaining the Triforce. However, because Link is too young to use the sword, he is sealed in the Sacred Realm during seven years, thus awakening in a distant future as an adult. After he rescues Saria in the Forest Temple, however, he can return to his childhood by putting the Master Sword back into the Pedestal of Time. From this point, he can freely travel through time between his childhood and his adulthood. Certain tasks can only be performed as a child, and certain tasks only as an adult. Items such as the Slingshot can only be used by Link as a child, while items such as the Fairy Bow can only be used by Link as an adult.

Majora's Mask
In, Link arrives in Termina after the Skull Kid steals his Ocarina and kidnaps Epona. A few hours before a tragedy occurs in the land, he manages to recover the instrument from his enemy, and uses the "Song of Time" to travel back to the past. From this point, the young hero must explore Termina while keeping an eye on the day and the current time and, when a total of three days is about to pass, play again the Song of Time to restart time in order to restart the three-day cycle that will result in the apocalypse if Link doesn't find a way to prevent the Moon from crashing into Termina. Some variations of the Song of Time allow Link to slow down time and to make him travel a half day forward to the future.

Oracle of Ages
In, using the instrument of Nayru, the eponymous Oracle of Ages, Link travels between present day and 400 years previous with three temporal songs to open Time Portals or independently flit between eras.

Twilight Princess
As Link is looking for the missing pieces of the Mirror of Twilight in, which is vital to gain access to the Twilight Realm, he finds a portal that takes him to an ancient version of the Temple of Time. This portal is the Door of Time, the gateway between Hyrule and the Sacred Realm. It's the only way one of the fragments of the mirror can be retrieved, and when Link travels back to the future, an item he found in the dungeon (the Dominion Rod) is affected in that its magic is inactive in the present, so he has to retrieve that magic in order to find the following dungeon.

Skyward Sword
In SS undefined, the Lanayru Mines and Lanayru Desert, Link can hit Timeshift Stones to alter time within the immediate vicinity of the stone. When struck, the Timeshift Stones replenish the area in its range, reverting it back to when the region was prosperous.

Link also must use the Gate of Time to travel to Hylia's Realm, thousands of years prior to his own time.

Hyrule Warriors
The primary conflict caused by Cia, the War Across the Ages, occurs when the Dark Sorceress opens the Gate of Souls. This allows monsters from across time to congregate in the era of, so that Cia may possess Link's soul. To counteract this, the Hyrulean Forces launch an assault on the Valley of Seers in an attempt to close the Gate of Souls. However, this is a trap set by Cia, as the Dark Sorceress ensnares the Warriors and steals the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom from Link and Sheik, respectively. With all three Triforce pieces in her control, she opens three Gates of Time connecting the current era with the Eras of The Sky, Hero of Time and Twilight, causing key locations from those eras to impose over the normal landscape. Afterwards, the Warriors divide and set out for these three splits in the hopes of sealing the respective Gates of Times.

Once the Hyrulean Forces have done so and retrieved the Triforce pieces, they wish away the connection across time, sending home the allies that they employed in their journey.