Above is my version of the Legend of Zelda timeline. Please note that no official timeline has been released by Nintendo, although they have promised one day that this will be revealed. Below I explain my version of the Zelda timeline. WARNING: Extremely long post.

Timeline Zero:

1st Hero: Gustav

This would be a game that would explain the coming of Hyrule. That is that Gustav Hyrule, a blonde-haired hero clad in green, no hat, with the Picori Sword in hand would bring about order to the war-torn land. Because of this, he becomes the first hero of the land that would bare his name. What little thus far is known about him was explained in the Minish Cap prologue.

1st Link

It would seem appropriate that this chapter would exist since the Link in Minish Cap was the first to don the trademark hat. While Gustav did the hair and outfit, the Minish Link was already named Link. This doesn't explain why all heroes that would follow would be named Link instead of Gustav. Like Zelda II that explains why all the princesses are named Zelda, there needs to be one that explains why all the heroes are named Link. This would most likely take place around the time of the Master Sword creation, perhaps the first hero to wield the legendary sword.

Minish Cap

The first hero since Gustav to wield the Picori blade, thus the reincarnation of the true hero. Unlike the 'hero of time' or the 'hero of the winds,' Gustav and subsequent reincarnations are simply the 'hero.'

Split Timeline

Ocarina of Time

This broke the timeline in two. The first was created at the end in the dark devastated land of Hyrule that contained Adult Link. When Zelda sent him back in time to his youth Zelda remained in this world. Ganon was sealed away by the Sages and the people of Hyrule would rebuild. They would rebuild their homes, their villages, and the magnificant Hyrule Castle. The second was created with Link returning to his youth. He and Zelda would alert the king to Ganondorf's plan. This would cause Ganondorf to flee or face imprisonment by the king of Hyrule.

Timeline One:

Wind Waker

About 100 years after Ganon was sealed away by the Sages in the Adult Link world, the land has since been flooded and is faced once again with Ganon's terror. The thing was that with Hyrule rebuilt, the citizens were enjoying a time of peace. Ganon broke the seal and returned to the land of Hyrlue, but when hero showed (no Link), Hyrule was defenseless. Ganon would soon have the Triforce until King Hyrule prayed to the Goddesses. They flooded the land and prevented Ganon from acquiring the Triforce. Fast forward to a new Link battling Ganon with a fully restored Master Sword. By driving the blade straight into Ganon's head, he turned to stone thus becoming the new Master Sword pedestal. Link and Tetra (Zelda) set sail to look for a new land of Hyrule, to look for 'their' land.

Phantom Hourglass

Shortly after Wind Waker, the 'hero of the winds' and Tetra came across the Ghost Ship which transported them to the realm of the Ocean King. Upon defeat of the great evil Bellum, the Ocean King took its true form. Appearing much like a tattoo-less elder Wind Fish, it transported Tetra and Link back to the realm of Hyrule. Having an argument with her pirate crew, it appeared much like Link's Awakening of 'did it happen' or 'was it just a dream?' New character Linebeck was actually from the realm of Hyrule since in the background at the end, you can see his ship sailing away from Tetra's pirate ship.

Timeline Two:

Majora's Mask

Starting from the Young Link timeline, the youthful 'hero of time' began patrolling Hyrule. With Ganondorf on the run, Link would prevent him from returning. Enter mask-wearing Skull Kid. After an ordeal in Termina, with the clock resetting the 3-day period, Link spent a long time in Termina. While the clock reset to relive the same 3-day period here, Hyrule continually, moved forward in time. It is unknown if the 'hero of time' ever returned to the land of Hyrule.

Twilight Princess

Ganondorf on the run, cornered by the Sages out in the desert, they are able to subdue him. The Triforce of Power, which was thought that with time returning to before he touched that he wouldn't have it, but since he had it, then time returned prior, he still had it despite this. The Sages would imprison him in the Twilight realm. Ganon would taint the Twilight Realm and have it spread to Hyrule. A new Link would rise and stop Ganon with the Master Sword. Ganon would pull the sword from his stomach and flee again, although seemingly powerless without the Triforce of Power. Link would return the Master Sword to its pedestal in the Temple of Time, return to Ordon to see Ilia and inform her what he must do, then he sets off to bring about the end of Ganon.

TP Sequel

Picking up where TP left off, Link would pursue a fleeing Ganon, hopefully with the new Crossbow weapon in tow. Due to TP's darker theme, Link would probably only be able to stop Ganon and seal him away by sacrificing his own life, thus the first time that a Link 'died,' at least that was visible. Ganon would also ascend to the blue pig/Moblin form, dumping his 'human'-like form for good. Hopefully this would be released on the Wii, although if not would likely be released on the next Nintendo home console, the Wii's successor.

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Ganon returned with Power sought Zelda's Triforce of Wisdom. She shattered it, was captured and had her hand maiden Impa go in search of a new hero. A new Link with shield and sword in hand would rescue Impa then would take upon the challenge to defeat Ganon. He fought and killed Ganon.

Link's Awakening

After the destruction of Ganon, Link set sail to further explore. Against a mighty storm he crashed on Koholint Island which was actually within the realm of the Wind Fish. Link conquered the many challenges including facing his fear of the return of Ganon.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

Zelda and Impa decided that Link maybe the reincarnation of Gustav, so Impa told Link the true 'legend' of Zelda. Taking up this true test of courage, Link made his way to face his greatest fear, a fear that he didn't even know about, himself. Much like Luke Skywalker seeing himself as Darth Vader, Link came face to face with the reality of if he turned to evil. With the defeat of Dark Link, Link became infused with the Triforce of Courage and awakened the sleeping Zelda of old, thus proving that he was without a doubt the true reincarnation of Gustav. Ganon's minions would use this fight to secure some blood of Link, thus enabling them to resurrect Ganon.

Four Sword Adventures (GCN)

With the call to duty, Link pulled the Picori blade ( the Four Sword) from its pedestal. Defeating Vaati revealed the true puppet master as Ganon. Now with the powerful Trident weapon Ganon was far more challenging, but so was Link. With the Four Sword, Link wouldn't kill Ganon again, but he would seal him away.

A Link to the Past

A new Link would challenge the wizard Aghanim, who was actually a puppet of Ganon, whose seal had weakened. Link would travel to the Dark World and in the Temple of Power, face a Trident-wielding Ganon. With Silver Arrows, this Link would kill Ganon and then return the Master Sword to its pedestal in the Lost Woods. Was this the true end of Ganon? Only time will tell.

Non-canon Zelda

CD-i Zeldas

Not much to say here but nightmare-inducing tragedies. So lets say no more.

Oracle of Ages/Seasons (GBC)

These two titles that would serve as each other's sequel were great homages to the Zelda franchise. With the Master Sword broken, Triforce leaving the land of Hyrule, and Twinrova seemingly alive and well (she died in Ocarina of Time), the Oracle games were great fan service, but not story canon.

Four Swords (GBA)

On the same game cartridge as A Link to the Past for its GBA rerelease, this served as the first multiplayer Zelda game. Four Swords Adventures (GCN) would replace it in the timeline and expand on the story.

Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)

Packaged with the Wii Zapper, this served as a shooting game demo. No story here, although hopefully the crossbow will return in the sequel to Twilight Princess.

~Strscrm2006

 

I know I've read in official Nintendo cannon that "Link's Awakening" takes place after "A Link to the Past" and that these two games happen before the original "Legend of Zelda"


Still nice put together. An original setup compared to others I have seen.

 

For me, the timeline is in the order they were released.

 

Looks good. God, I remember how much I loved the Oracle games...  

 

Gametrailers.com, or one of those sites did a video timeline for the zelda franchise awhile back. Was pretty good.

 

Yeah, I know that a lot of stuff is unofficial, but as someone posted above, Link's Awakening has the same link as ALTTP, which both take place before the original.

I would say that Four swords is very early on, as it heavily hints that that is the origin and first appearance of Ganon but then again, so did OOT.

Nice effort, but some serious flaws there.

 

Link's Crossbow training isn't non-canon, it's the same Link and locations as Twilight Princess.

 

I took Four Swords to take place after A Link to the Past, on the grounds that it was originally included with the GBA release.
Also, in the link up mode, the Seasons / Ages games have a final shot on the ending which kind of implies that they feature the same Link as Link's Awakening, and fit into the continuity right before that title. Impa in those games is a large motherly looking woman, so presumably it can't be any other part of the continuity since most of the other parts show Impa in different guises (you could almost arrange a continuity by how Impa looks in each of her appearances - from young swordswoman, to the plump motherfigure, to the old woman in the cloak shown in the manual to the first Zelda. Maybe being a sage granted her some form of slow aging?)

Apparently there is an official Nintendo chronology for all the Zelda games, they just never made it public.

I do like the way you have your chronology set up, though. The beauty of the Zelda series is that while the titles are tied in, they leave the connections open enough for someone with no real knowledge of the series to pick up a title and understand the basic history.

 

Very good timeline, but I made a few tweaks to add in what I know:

The Minish Cap manga (which is considered cannon), states that the Picori blade that was used by Gustav is the Master sword at full power, and that it can only be wielded by Gustav's bloodline or those seen fit by the Sages (which explains why Zelda can use it).

In Minish cap, Link's Grandfather mentions that they come from a long line of heroes. I don't know if this means he's a reincarnation of Gustav or not, but he must be a descendant at least. I lean towards no, since he doesn't have Gustav's name.

Something happened between Minish Cap and Ocarina because the Master Sword lost its power to split the hero at will. This ability was not restored until Ganon was defeated at the end of the Oracle saga of Timeline 2. This ability has not been regained in Timeline 1, and may not be able to be due the damage the blade took during the flooding of Hyrule.

The biggest issues are why Four Swords seems to point to the origins of Ganon, and why the resting place of the Master Sword was moved to the Mysterious Woods even though Hyrule castle took no damage in Timeline 2.

 

Found the Timeline that Gametrailers made on the subject


Part 1

Part 2

Pretty ineteresting (This was made just before TP and Hourglass were released)

 

Miyamoto has stated that A Link to The Past is supposed to take place after the original two games, not before. Nintendo's marketing has occasionally contradicted this, but they didn't make the games. Moreover, Nintendo of America has messed with the Zelda stories at least once before, so their timeline was already screwed up before the third game was even released. When choosing between the people who made the games and the people who sell them, I'll prefer the word of the creators.

 

There have been many Impas. The first notable Impa was the Sheikah who served as Zelda's bodyguard in Ocarina of Time. She became a Sage and did a lot of work for the homeless. Much like the names of Link and Zelda, after OoT Impa, all handmaidens of Hyrule Castle would be named Impa as a great honor, although not all were Sheikah.

 

Do you have a link to an article where he says that. I just have a hard time understanding why they named the game A Link to the Past if it took place in the future.

 

I gave up on a timeline a while back. Too much contradicts in order to make one seamless world. It looks like there is likely more than one Zelda universe with similar individuals existing, but whom take differing paths.

For instance, clearly A link to the Past, and Link's Awakening are connected games. It's possible that the oracle games are an interquel between the two games.

Compare that however to the four swords series. The Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Four Swords Adventures. These games give totally different facts about the world in which they occur, for instance, there is no Triforce, and instead there is a "light Force" which seems to be an invisible magic that Zelda controls, rather than any physical artifact, there is no Master Sword and Ganon's origin is significantly different, being in this universe a Desert nomad, rather than the Gerudo King.

Then you've got the 3D games which seem to have started all over at Ocarina of Time. Of course then it gets complicated since it seems it branches off between Windwaker and Twilight Princess.

Seeing as Miyamoto will likely only ever tease at there being any timeline at all, it probably doesn't exist. Miyamoto himself has always said that the game comes before the story anyway.

 

Yeah, I'll go with that answer.  

 

Yes, I do.

quoted from this interview: http://www.miyamotoshrine.com/theman/interviews/111998.shtml originally from Nintendo Power.


Incidentally, the original title of the game is "Kamigami no Triforce" or "Triforce of The Gods". NoA changed it to "A Link To The Past," probably to avoid offending religious nut parents at first glance. Besides being an obvious play on the name of the hero Link, the title, to me, seems to come from the history of Hyrule and the backstory on Gannon that we are given for the first time in the series. The story provides a link to the past, rather than taking place in it. Regrettably, that title, however clever and appropriate, does have the unfortunate side effect of implying sequelhood to many people, including quite a few at Nintendo.

 

Thank you for sharing that. I was wrong.  

 

It will be interesting to see where they take the Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass timeline from here. At the end of WW, Ganon became the new Master Sword pedestal, all stone with the sword sticking out of his head underneath the sea. Then Phantom Hourglass was great and showed how well the DS can properly support a Zelda game and have all the right elements to tell a great story. Its interesting that it was a Timeline One version of Timeline Two's Link's Awakening. It had nothing to do with Ganon or the Master Sword, so it will be interesting how Nintendo brings back both seeing how they are buried below tons of water.

 

Maybe they won't. The Zelda universe has potential to give rise to some other villains, like Vaati. I'd personally like to see some Timeline one versions of guys like him, Onox and Veran.

(bearing in mind I'm only halfway through Phantom Hourglass right now, two dungeons cleared and one more to go (?))

 

So where did the name Gustav come from? Was that something in Minish Cap that I just forgot about? Or is that from some obscure source that I just haven't heard of before? I have to admit, as much as I absolutely love the Zelda series and trying to piece together the storyline, I haven't found any Zelda sites that I like enough to frequent, so I could have missed some stuff.