The Legend of Zelda series is one of the longest-running Nintendo franchises to date, with the first entry releasing for the NES all the way back in 1986. Whenever a new Nintendo console is released, it's safe to say that there will be at least one new entry in the series. This a large and impressive catalog of Zelda games.However, Nintendo has made a point stating that every game within the Legend of Zelda franchise is interconnected, existing within a branching timeline that can be found within Hyrule Historia. With such a large assortment of games, even with the official timeline in mind, several things about the series don't line up. Here, we explore several inconsistencies found within the lore of the series.
6 Darmani's Statue
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is filled with easter eggs that reference characters and locations from prior entries in the series. Some of these references are cute nods, such as locations named after characters from varying games. However, other references directly contradict the established canon.
Most notably, this can be seen with the statue of Darmani in Goron City. While Darmani is indeed a notable Goron from The Legend of Zelda lore, he has only appeared in Majora's Mask, a game set within the alternate reality of Termina. As Darmani has never been featured in Hyrule, it's nearly impossible that depicting his likeness would exist in this game.
5 The 100-Year Gap Before Wind Waker Isn't Nearly Enough Time
One of the easiest games to place on the timeline is Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. This game takes place in the distant future of the adult Link timeline, following Ocarina of Time. However, there's a problem with the supposed time gap between these two games: 100 years. It is expected in a mere century, not only was the entire land of Hyrule flooded, but not a single living Hylian nor their ancestors remembered anything about this flood or the world's history.
Additionally, it is stated that within this same time frame the Kokiri evolved into the Koroks and the Zoras evolved into the Rito. It should go without saying that such drastic evolutionary changes would require quite longer than one century to transpire. Speaking of which…
4 The Evolution Of The Zora
As mentioned, the lore of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker states that the Kokiri evolved into Koroks, and the Zora evolved into the bird-like Rito. Unfortunately, there is one major world-building issue here.
The Zora were an amphibious race that were able to comfortably live within the water. If there were any race that would prosper within a flooded world like that of Wind Waker, it would be the Zora. Why would the species have "evolved" to lose their ability to breathe underwater? The species would not have seen a change in traits, if those traits allowed them to thrive. What, then, spurred their evolution into the Rito?
3 Termina, Lorule, & Parallel Worlds
While there are several fictional universes that sell themselves as being multiverses, the world of The Legend of Zelda seems to have become one such setting inadvertently. The games introduced Termina in Majora's Mask, Lorule in A Link Between Worlds, the Twilight Realm in Twilight Princess, and even the Dark World in A Link to the Past.
This gives a sense that the franchise is constantly introducing alternate universes. Adding to the sense of inconsistency, once a world is introduced, their existences are never referenced in world again, nor are they compared or equated.
2 The Ever-Changing Map
One of the most blatantly obvious inconsistencies is the ever-changing layout of Hyrule. While some games are able to establish a similar general shape of the land of Hyrule, many entries in the series give Hyrule an entirely different layout, making it feel like a completely different setting between games.
Sometimes Hyrule features a desert; other times its more mountainous. Sometimes it's adjacent to the ocean; other times it's land-locked. This is the most glaring when locations from one game are included in a later entry, but within a completely different part of the country. One example is the Temple of Time, which shows up in completely different locations in every game in which it appears.
1 Breath Of The Wild's Timeline Position
While the official Legend of Zelda timeline was created prior to the release of Breath of the Wild, it has been stated that the game's location on this timeline is at the end of all three of the splits. This blatantly contradicts several pieces of information found within Breath of the Wild itself.
Firstly, the game is home to both the avian Rito and the Koroks. These two species had only appeared within the Adult Link timeline up to that point in Zelda lore, with no prior evidence showing their presence in any other timelines. Additionally, there are several locations such as lakes, islands, and mountains named after characters that are exclusive to each of the three splits of the timeline. Ironically, by referencing each timeline, the game doesn't particularly fit within any of them well.