Highlights
- The Legend of Zelda timeline reveals the intricate connection between each game and the recurring main characters.
- Skyward Sword establishes the curse that ensures Link, Zelda, and Demise are destined to be reborn and engage in an eternal cycle of conflict.
- The Hero of Time from Ocarina of Time is the most important version of Link as his actions shape the rest of the games in the canon.
Thanks to the reveal of the official Legend of Zelda timeline as part of the series' 25th anniversary and the release of the Hyrule Historia compendium, the complex and intricate history of the series is now laid bare for all fans to peruse through. For years, the official timeline was shrouded in secrecy, a "for Zelda team members only" document that never saw its way outside the internal Nintendo offices. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword's place in the timeline as the first game in the series' chronology gave cause for Nintendo to finally reveal how each game in The Legend of Zelda was connected, complete with a revelation about its recurring main characters.
Each game in the Zelda series features its own unique version of the series' main protagonists and their eternal antagonist. The events of Skyward Sword confirm that, thanks to a curse placed by the Demon King Demise, Link, Zelda, and Demise are doomed to an eternal cycle of rebirth and conflict. Whether he's the Hero of Time, the Hero of Legend, or simply "Link", the series' iconic green-clad hero is guaranteed to be reborn and stand against the forces that would corrupt the Triforce.
Skyward Sword
The original Link and first of the legendary heroes to appear in the timeline, Skyward Sword's version of Link is an aspiring knight and a fellow resident of Skyloft with Zelda. Thanks to his daring rescue of Zelda and battles against first Ghirahim and then Demise, he saves the land that would become Hyrule, only to be cursed to be reborn time and again to face off against Demise (who continually reappears as Ganon henceforth).
The Minish Cap
The Kingdom of Hyrule is established not long after the events of Skyward Sword, leading to an age known as the "Era of Prosperity". A diminutive people known as the Picori, called the "Minish" by many Hyrule residents, are celebrated at a festival every year thanks to a legend where they saved the fledgling Hyrule during its infancy. When the evil sorcerer Vaati attempts to steal the Picori Blade (and turns Princess Zelda to stone as a result), a young hero named Link appears to take up the legendary sword and stop Vaati.
Four Swords
Decades later, Vaati is resurrected and begins to kidnap every young girl in Hyrule in hopes of imprisoning Princess Zelda once again. A new hero named Link appears, wielding the legendary Four Sword. With this blade in his possession, Link splits into four identical versions of himself that venture forth to stop Vaati. Once successful, Link puts the Four Sword back in its rightful resting place, causing the four Links to again become one.
Ocarina of Time
In the years following the events of Four Swords, a fleeting peace gives way to a terrible conflict between Hyrule and the Gerudo. During this war, a lone refugee wanders into the Kokiri Forest, carrying an infant child with her. The Great Deku Tree takes them in and raises the child as a fellow resident of the forest. This child is, of course, none other than Link, who is informed by the Deku Tree that he is the Hero of Legend. This version of Link travels back and forth through time to stop Ganon from obtaining the Triforce and bring peace back to Hyrule. This version of Link is arguably the most important in the series' canon because the rest of the games branching off from the result of his actions in Ocarina of Time.
The Hero is Defeated - A Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages & Seasons, and Link's Awakening
While most of the games in The Legend of Zelda series feature a unique version of Link, Zelda, and Ganon across each entry, the first several games in the "Hero is Defeated" branch of the timeline all feature the same Link across multiple adventures. This Link first appears in A Link to the Past as a young adventurer who is acquainted with Princess Zelda after communicating with her telepathically. Following his rescue of Zelda and defeat of Ganon, restoring the Dark World into the Sacred Realm, he sets off on multiple subsequent adventures in Holodrum and Labrynna (Oracle of Ages/Seasons) as well as Koholint Island (Link's Awakening).
A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes
Although A Link Between Worlds takes place in the same Hyrule as A Link to the Past, it's a follow-up that features new incarnations of Link and Zelda. Attentive players can see the story of LttP in paintings in Hyrule Castle. Link Between Worlds' Link later goes on to star inTri Force Heroes as well.
The Legend of Zelda and Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
The first two games in the series also feature the same Link across multiple years, although they don't feature the same Princess Zelda. The very first Link that fans met back in 1987 in The Legend of Zelda is a young adventurer that comes across a desperate Impa seeking to find the Hero that will collect the Triforce and rescue Princess Zelda. Several years later, Link is now 16 years oldwhen the Triforce mysteriously appears on the back of his hand, causing him to seek guidance from Impa once again. She informs Link of the Tragedy of Princess Zelda I, and he sets off to break the curse placed on her centuries before, releasing her from an eternal slumber.
The Hero is Triumphant (Child Link) - Majora's Mask
In the version of the timeline where Link is successful in stopping Ganon at the end of Ocarina of Time, there are two potential realities. The first is one where Link travels back in time to be a child again, returning to Hyrule at the moment he met Princess Zelda. He informs her of Ganondorf's intentions and departs Hyrule for his own safety. After winding up in a mysterious forest, Link is transported to Termina, where a terrible fate awaits its residents.
Twilight Princess
With Zelda aware of what will transpire following the false peace between Hyrule and the Gerudo, Ganondorf is tried and sentenced to execution. However, his possession of the Triforce of Power prevents the execution from being successful, and the Seven Sages seal him away in the Twilight Realm as a last-ditch effort. Centuries later, a young boy named Link mistakenly wanders into the Twilight Realm, where the displaced Twilight Princess realizes he is the Hero of Legend that can stop Ganondorf.
Four Swords Adventures
Hundreds of years after Ganondorf's defeat in Twilight Princess, the evil Demon King is resurrected and subsequently awakens Vaati. A new Princess Zelda, having learned about the evil sorcerer and his thwarting by a Legendary Hero wielding the Four Sword, calls on a young hero named Link to take up the Four Sword and stop Vaati once again.
The Hero is Triumphant (Adult Link) - The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass
In the final of the branching timelines from Ocarina of Time, Link successfully defeats Ganon and returns the Master Sword to its resting place, sealing the Temple of Time. Hundreds of years pass in which Hyrule enters a lasting peace, but of course, this peace eventually ends. Hatred begins to creep into the hearts of the people, and desperate for a solution, the King of Hyrule pleads to the gods who in turn flood Hyrule to seal Ganon.
Centuries later, a young boy named Link witnesses his sister get kidnapped by a large bird and then runs across the King of Red Lions, who is the spirit of the former King of Hyrule trapped inside a seafaring vessel. Across the events of The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, this version of Link partners with the pirate Tetra (who is actually Princess Zelda) to both stop Ganondorf and find land to establish a new Kingdom of Hyrule.
Spirit Tracks
Exactly 100 years after the founding of the new Hyrule, a reincarnated Princess Zelda calls on a young engineer by the name of Link to investigate mysterious events at the Tower of Spirits. Link dons the legendary green tunic of the Hero and sets off to stop a new Demon King, Malladus, from taking over the new Hyrule. Following his success, the kingdom enters a lasting era of peace and prosperity.
The Age of Calamity - Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom
Regardless of the branching realities that emerge from Ocarina of Time's conclusion, the end of the official Zelda timeline enters a period known as the Age of Calamity. This era's Link is a young knight of Hyrule sworn to protect Princess Zelda and assist the four Champions in beating back Calamity Ganon. After Ganon is able to turn the four Divine Beasts against the Champions and Hyrule, Zelda places Link in a restorative slumber and hides away the Master Sword. 100 years later, Link wakes up and sets off to find Zelda and stop Ganon in the adventure fans know as Breath of the Wild. This Link is the same Link that players control in Tears of the Kingdom as well.