The Legend of Zelda Timeline

Written and compiled by Alex Plant of ZeldaInformer

Based on the article “A Legend and a Timeline”

Disclaimer: This is by no means an authoritative document. It has no official connection to Nintendo, includes no
special insider knowledge, and the timeline ideas discussed herein are only fan theory, and may not be accurate.
This is simply the work of a longtime fan for his fellow fans, meant to be enjoyed, learned from, discussed and
debated as such. Additionally, I often cite content from Nintendo's various publications and titles. Any such
content is property solely of Nintendo and used by me only for educational purposes.

Version History
Ver 3.0 – Begun 26 Jun 2010; finished 30 Jul 2010; edited for publication 31 Jul 2010
Ver. 2.0 – Begun 17 Jan 2010; unfinished, updated to Ver. 3.0
Ver 1.0 – Begun Feb 2007; finished Apr 2009

About Timelines
Timeline theories are the end result of most theorists’ efforts to piece together the puzzle that is the Zelda series
storyline. Whatever time and research they put into deciding how elements of the series fit together, whatever
ideas and concepts they come up with and connect, all of them can be put to the ultimate use of determining how
the series fits together as a whole.

Traditionally Hyrulean scholars have examined the Legend of Zelda as a historical narrative. Under this view, the
various stories are themselves solid fact and therefore to piece them together into a single body of works means
that their chronological relationships to one another must be set in equally unmovable stone. Amidst a sea of
evolving and oftentimes conflicting tales, however, grows a deep-seated skepticism that perhaps what these
stories put forth as truth is not in fact the truth at all, but just what they have always advertised themselves to be:
the stuff of legend.

One needs only to look at the magical powers attributed to the titular princess herself. With each new story it
seems her magic has a different origin altogether. The earliest tales gave the credit to the all-powerful Triforce or
the bloodline of the Hylians; more recent stories have cited various spiritual groups such as the Picori or the
ancient spirits of the Lokomo. Since reason dictates that these stories cannot all be equally true at once, we must
conclude that some of them must result from some craft of fiction. This by itself is not particularly troubling, but
given that this curious case of contradiction is far from an isolated incident, others including the many origins of
the hero's green garb, the numerous alternate versions of popular stories such as the Imprisoning War, and the
ever-changing landscape of Hyrule itself, the possibility that we to take these accounts as truly historical seems to
have all but diminished into obscurity.

If we take the stories as mythological, however, we find that a world of possibilities has opened up for us. The
problems of conflicting legends are not problems at all but rather the natural result of a greater epic narrative
being handed down and continued by future storytellers who may see individual stories differently. This use of
creative license is particularly evident when examining the origin tale Ocarina of Time, which started as a
retelling of the Imprisoning War backstory that set the stage for A Link to the Past but has since spawned
numerous sequels derived from its additions to the original tale. These sequels, rather than adhering to the
established chronology of the classic tales, offered their own individual resolutions to the Ocarina story.

Of course it is still quite evident that these stories draw heavily from a collective narrative tradition, featuring
common threads such as Link the hero, the Master Sword, the kingdom of Hyrule, Princess Zelda, and Ganon, as
well as a common mythical history centering on the three goddesses and the Triforce. We can compare this greater
heritage to that of Ancient Greece, where we can see that while each city-state had legends and stories of its own
about various gods and heroes they all generally accepted the Olympian pantheon. Similarly, the Romans adapted
the collective of Greek myths into a new creation which, while based in a common set of stories, took on a life of
its own.

The Greek stories were not without contradiction, either, often especially in the cases of mythical genealogies.
Various stories cite Aphrodite as the mother of Eros; others offer their own possibilities. Some versions of the
Hercules myth say that Hera is his mother; others say he is a bastard child of Zeus. The stories of many of the epic
heroes vary based on the storyteller as well.

But despite the many different and divergent stories, the Greek tales do have a chronology of sorts. They begin of
course with the creation of the world, continue to the feud between Chronos and Zeus, into the age of the
Olympians, and so on. Naturally this is an oversimplification of the story, for there are many other legends that
fall in the interim, but the general picture is clear. In much the same way, even though it does not depict historical
fact, the Legend of Zelda still has its own general chronology.

This model divides the overall mythos into five distinct story arcs (listed here in order of their debut): the Classic
tales, the Ancient tales, the Child and Adult tales, and the Four Sword tales.

The Classic tales are the very first entries in the Legend of Zelda, and provide the building blocks for many of the
stories to come. The Ancient tales arc set out to expand the origin stories set down in the classics but has since
spawned numerous sequels with their own spins on how the history of Hyrule followed from there. The Child and
Adult tales tell the stories of what happened after Link returned to the past as a child and what happened after he
defeated Ganon as an adult at the end of Ocarina of Time, respectively. The Four Sword tales foray into their own
story of the Four Sword, a blade that has the power to split its wielder into four beings.

Even though Ocarina tells the backstory of both the Classic tales and the split stories, no conclusive
determination has surfaced indicating whether any relationship exists between these stories and the Adult or Child
tales. Like with the Classic tales it has also so far been difficult to determine the relevance of the Four Sword tales
to the other story arcs. Until reasonably demonstrated otherwise this model will consider the Classic and Four
Sword tales as standalone arcs.

Under the traditional historical model, these arcs often intersect with one another, and stories in newer arcs often
butt heads with those maintained by the classic arc, making it hard to decipher the overall timeline. Treating the
various arcs as separate legends reveals the most telling advantage to the mythology model: there is no ambiguity
as to the chronology of the various arcs. Each arc is for the most part self-contained, preventing other arcs from
interfering with their established progression. This is particularly important for the Classic and Four Sword arcs.

The style in which I present my timeline is one that I have coined for the purposes of telling the timeline as
though it were a real mythical narrative. As much of the story summary text as possible is directly cited from the
source, with material filling in the gaps where appropriate. You will probably recognize many quotes from
characters and stories from officially-recognized Zelda legends as you read. At times, several quotes from varying
sources are compiled seamlessly to provide as complete a picture of the information essential to the timeline as
possible.

Though the release order of the stories often differs from their relative timeline placements, I will present the
stories themselves in sequential order in order to most fairly depict their narrative progression. Please read the
introductions to each individual story for detailed information regarding their original release and the
determination of their chronological placements.
 The Ancient Tales
The Ancient tales chronicle the ancient history common to all legends, such as the creation of the Triforce and the
forging of the Master Sword. It is during the Ancient tales era that Ganon makes his debut and becomes the Evil
King. The Ancient tales are characterized by the fact that their stories set the stage for all the other story arcs,
while the other tales usually have a linear impact limited mostly to their direct sequels.

These stories begin with the Creation of the World, where the gods build the world and leave behind the Triforce
to govern it. From there, the tale continues to the works of the ancient sages to protect the Triforce from evil ones,
namely the construction of the Temple of Time and the creation of the Master Sword. Then follows the Prolonged
War among greedy people who hope to claim the Triforce, which lasts all the way to the start of Ocarina of Time,
when Ganondorf enters the Sacred Realm and claims the Triforce.

Creation → Ancient Sages → Prolonged Wars → Ocarina of Time

The recently-announced Skyward Sword is also set in the ancient era, telling the story of the Master Sword’s birth
in more detail. Aonuma has confirmed that the new title will fall before Ocarina of Time, thus setting it as the
oldest full legend in the chronology. Until we can see it for ourselves, however, we know little about where
Skyward Sword fits into the full picture of the ancient myths, which only allows us to place it relative to Ocarina:

Skyward Sword → Ocarina of Time

As you can see, currently only two full legends feature as Ancient tales as defined above. The rest are common
legends which we often hear in several of the main entries in the story. The story summaries for such common
legends will feature several accounts drawn from their various references throughout the entire body of myths,
presented in the order in which the accounts appeared.

When drafting this document, I was somewhat compelled to include The Minish Cap among these stories due to
the many symbolic origin stories it presents. I decided instead to include it alongside the other Four Sword tales
because of its close continuity with those stories. Let it be known, however, that I acknowledge The Minish Cap’s
potential to be one of the “Ancient tales.”

The Creation of the World

Also known as “The Genesis Preface”1
Placement: At the very beginning of everything
Text Source(s): “The History of Hyrule” (A Link to the Past's instruction manual), Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess

Despite setting the stage for the series, Hyrule’s creation myth did not appear in the first two Legend of Zelda
entries, which gave only sparse information about the history of its world and characters. When A Link to the Past
finally revealed the fantasy land’s origins it shunned the heavy Christian influence of the original tales in favor of
an entirely new religion and culture. There were many gods in Hyrule, and the Triforce was now not only a
magical relic, but a holy creation marking the covenant between the creator goddesses and their creation.

Ocarina of Time slightly expanded the myth, identifying the goddesses by name, and Twilight Princess followed
suit by adding that they bestowed power to all who lived in the world they had created. However, the content of
the original story has remained more or less untouched by any of the tales that followed. Perhaps the upcoming
Skyward Sword, set to be the earliest full myth among the Ancient tales, will retell the story more ambitiously.

The Creation in “The History of Hyrule”

According to the Hylian scrolls, the mythical gods descended from a distant nebula to the world and created order
1
The fictional text from which the story as told in A Link to the Past was “cited.”
and life. The Goddess of Power dyed the mountains red with fire and created land. The Goddess of Wisdom
created science and wizardry and brought order to nature. And the Goddess of Courage, through the kindness of
her strong heart,2 created life: the animals that crawl on the land and the birds that soar in the sky.

The goddesses breathe order and life into the world

After finishing their work the goddesses left the world, but not before creating a symbol of their strength: a golden
triangle known as the Triforce. They left the Triforce to guide the intelligent life on the world of Hyrule.

The Triforce had the power to bestow three titles which gave the person who received them great powers: “The
Forger of Strength,” “The Keeper of Knowledge,” and “The Juror of Courage.” From its hiding place in the so-
called Golden Land where the gods placed it, the Triforce beckoned people from the outside world to seek it in the
hope that someone worthy of these titles would find it.

The Creation in Ocarina of Time

Before time began, before spirits and life existed, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was
Hyrule: Din, the goddess of power; Nayru, the goddess of wisdom; Farore, the goddess of courage. Din, with her
strong flaming arms, cultivated the land and created the red earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth and
gave the spirit of law to the world. Farore, with her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law.

The goddesses depart for the heavens

The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens. Sacred golden triangles remained at
the point where the goddesses left the world: the Triforce. Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis
of our world's providence. And the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm.

The Creation in Twilight Princess

When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world. They granted power equally to
all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The lands where the goddesses descended came to be
known as the Sacred Realm.

2
The English and Japanese texts are synthesized here for accuracy
The Ancient Sages
Also known as “The Construction of the Temple of Time” and “The Forging of the Master Sword”
Placement: Generations before Ocarina of Time
Text Source(s): TEMPLE OF TIME: Ocarina of Time; MASTER SWORD: “The History of Hyrule,” A Link to the Past

After the creation, the next event in the grand history of the Triforce and the Sacred Realm involves the ancient
sages, the priestly protectors of Hyrule. The ancient sages chronicle has two major components: the story of the
Temple of Time and the origin of the Master Sword. While these tales first appeared separately, the creation of
both the temple and the sword is credited to the ancient sages, and as such, since these two elements share a
pivotal role in safeguarding the entrance to the Sacred Realm, the both stories appear together here.

Skyward Sword promises to depict the origin tale of the Master Sword in more detail. Although we know little
about the content of Skyward Sword, should the information it presents prove to conflict with what I suggest here,
I intend to revise my chronology of the Ancient tales to fit.3

The Construction of the Temple of Time

If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity. If someone with
an evil mind has his wish granted, the world will be consumed by evil. So, the ancient sages built the Temple of
Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones. The entrance was sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time.

The Door of Time and the Spiritual Stones

The Forging of the Master Sword

The Triforce itself cannot judge between good and evil. That is because only the gods can do that. However, it
could not be assumed that only a good person would get their hands on the Triforce. For that reason, the people of
Hyrule were told by the gods to make a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch that would repulse any evil
that may kidnap the Triforce.4

This mighty weapon became known as the blade of evil's bane or the Master Sword. It was so powerful that only
one who was pure of heart and strong of body could wield it. According to the tales handed down by the Hylians,
only the Hero who has destroyed three great evils and won three crests can wield the sword.

3
Frankly, I consider this possibility to fall somewhere in the realm of “very likely.”
4
A translation of the Japanese text is used here for accuracy
Skyward Sword
Release date: Early 2011
Platform(s): Wii
Director/Writer: Hidemaro Fujibayashi
Placement: Generations before Ocarina of Time

Even though we have known about the impending arrival of the next Zelda epic for quite a while, only recently
have we heard or seen anything about it. We know very little so far, save for that Skyward Sword begins in a
cloud-borne realm known as Skyloft, and that the titular Skyward Sword, which later becomes the Master Sword,
will lead Link on a quest to the evil-filled lands below the clouds. The mysterious female figure first seen in last
year’s promotional artwork has been said to be a personality attached to the sword. Aside from these small tidbits,
most of the story’s internal workings remain unknown.

Link faces off against a Stalfos

Recently Aonuma confirmed that the game is set before Ocarina of Time, but with this confirmation came a
disclaimer:

This title [Skyward Sword] takes place before Ocarina of Time. If I said that a certain title was 'the first
Zelda game', then that means that we can’t ever make a title that takes place before that! So for us to add
titles to the series, we have to have a way of putting the titles before or after each other.

Other than its chronological relationship to Ocarina of Time, however, we can still only guess how Skyward
Sword will relate to the other Ancient tales. As stated elsewhere, what we see in the final product may ultimately
require that I change my current chronological setup for the Ancient tales. In any case, expect that this section will
expand as we learn more.

The Prolonged Wars

Placement: Fighting continues until less than a decade before Ocarina of Time
Text Source(s): “The History of Hyrule,” Ocarina of Time, Four Swords Adventures, Twilight Princess, Spirit Tracks

Stories of ancient struggles among the people are among the most common myths in the entire Hyrule
legendarium. We hear several times of a period, not long after the beginning times, when wars break out among
the people. This always marks the beginning of a period of greed and strife, of bloodshed and betrayal, and of
wicked magic and monsters.

The first mention of ancient conflicts appeared in the “History of Hyrule” backstory to A Link to the Past, and
explained that the legends of the Sacred Realm spurred many to hunt for it in their greed, leading in turn to
violence. Ocarina of Time, too, sets war in the background of the story of the Sacred Realm. More recently, Four
Swords Adventures introduced a dark tribe that threatened the land and was sealed away by a dark mirror, and
Twilight Princess expanded this story to connect to the infamous rivalries over the Sacred Realm. Spirit Tracks
offers a similar view of the coming of darkness, but throws the rise of the evil Demon King into the mix.
When taken together, these stories’ common threads allow them to be easily reconciled, with each story told and
resolved in its own way. Regardless of this divergence, however, it is clear these stories all fall from the same
narrative tree. The discrepancies are surely due to the storytelling needs of the various myths to which these
particular accounts belong.

The Prolonged Wars in “The History of Hyrule”

If it were only a symbol of the gods, the Triforce would be coveted by many. But a verse from the Book of
Mudora (a collection of Hylian legends and lore) made the Triforce even more desirable:

“In a realm beyond sight,

The sky shines gold, not blue.
There, the Triforce's might
Makes mortal dreams come true.”

The Triforce shines from its resting place

Many aggressively searched for the wish-granting Triforce, but no one was sure of its location.5 Some said the
Triforce lay under the desert, others said it was in the cemetery in the shadow of Death Mountain, but no one ever
found it. That yearning for the Triforce soon turned to lust for power, which in turn led to the spilling of blood.
Soon the only motive left among those searching for the Triforce was pure greed.

The Prolonged Wars in Ocarina of Time

In the midst of the violence and bloodshed, a Hylian mother and her newborn baby boy wandered into the
forbidden Kokiri Forest. The mother was critically injured and soon passed away, and the Great Deku Tree,
sensing the boy was a child of destiny, whose fate was intertwined with that of the entire world, took the child in
and raised him as a Kokiri. The boy’s name was Link.

The Prolonged Wars in Four Swords Adventures

Long ago, a dark tribe invaded Hyrule. They were defeated and imprisoned within the Dark Mirror, which reflects
the darkness in people’s hearts. The tribe's mirror prison was then secreted away and hidden in the forest temple
to sever its connection to this world. That Dark Mirror must never fall into the hands of those with evil hearts.

The Prolonged Wars in Twilight Princess

For ages, the people lived at ease, content in mind and body. But then, word of the Sacred Realm spread
throughout Hyrule, and a great battle ensued. Among those living in the light, interlopers who excelled at magic
appeared. Wielding powerful sorcery, they tried to establish dominion over the Sacred Realm. It was then that the
goddesses ordered the three Light Spirits to intervene.

5
Edited for consistency with the Japanese manual
 A representation of the shadow clan that tried to conquer the Sacred Realm

They sealed away the great magic those individuals had mastered, and the tribe was banished, chased across the
sacred lands of Hyrule and driven into another realm, a world of shadows. The goddesses left behind but a single
link between the worlds of light and shadow: the Mirror of Twilight, which passed to the protectors of Hyrule.

The Prolonged Wars in Spirit Tracks

This is a tale from long ago. It’s the tale of the first settlers of this land. In the beginning, the people followed the
spirits of good, and all was peaceful. But that era of peace soon came to an end. The evil Demon King rose to
power, destroying everything in his path. The spirits of good had no choice but to face him in battle. The war that
ensued seemed to last an eternity, and much blood was shed. Finally, the spirits subdued the Demon King, though
they could not destroy him. Their powers were greatly depleted.

The Demon King's prison beneath the Tower of Spirits

With their remaining power, they buried the Demon King’s spirit in the ground. They built shackles to imprison
him and a tower that acted as a lock. These shackles cover the land to this day. With their power drained, the
spirits of good returned to the heavens. Suddenly bereft of both demons and spirits, this land was entrusted to us.

The Imprisoning War

Also known as the “Seal War”6
Placement: Some years after the Prolonged Wars
Text Source(s): “The History of Hyrule”

In the “History of Hyrule” narrative, the Imprisoning War was at the center of the story, and explained the origins
of the evil Ganon and his dominion, the Dark World. Continuing directly from the Prolonged Wars accounts, it
particularly focused on Ganon’s theft of the Triforce and his consequential rise to power, and inevitably his
sealing. The Imprisoning War was the first look at many now-staples of the series: Ganon’s origins as a career
thief, the chief importance of the Master Sword as a tool to battle evil, and of course the sages and the Knights of
Hyrule.

The story of A Link to the Past of course picked up right where the Imprisoning War left off, with Agahnim trying
6
“Seal War” is a literal translation the Japanese name for the Imprisoning War that has gained common usage.
to break the seal in order to free Ganon. Ocarina of Time later retold the story in more detail, casting Link as the
driving force behind the events and introducing the division of the Triforce among its chosen wielders. After
Ocarina of Time, however, it seemed as though this original story track had all but passed away, as sequels The
Wind Waker and Twilight Princess each developed their own take on the aftermath. To this day, this new direction
for the story has brought about much confusion about the relevance of the Imprisoning War to the series at large.

As already discussed, however, looking at the Zelda series as a series of legends allows for some degree of
contradiction and the coexistence of an otherwise inordinate number of alternate storylines. Thus the Imprisoning
War can maintain its original purpose and integrity even while Ocarina retells it and The Wind Waker and
Twilight Princess ignore it.

Story Summary

One day, quite by accident, a gate to the Golden Land of the Triforce was opened by a gang of thieves skilled in
the black arts. This land was like no other. In the gathering twilight, the Triforce shone from its resting place high
above the world.

In a long running battle, the leader of the thieves fought his way past his followers in a lust for the Golden Power.
After vanquishing his own followers, the leader stood triumphant over the Triforce and grasped it with his blood-
stained hands. He heard a whispered voice: "If there is anything you desire, then I shall desire it too." And in
reply, the roaring laughter of the brigand leader echoed across time and space and even reached the far-off land of
Hyrule. The name of this king of thieves is Ganondorf but he is known by his alias, Ganon. Indeed, Ganon the
Evil King, the one who has threatened Hyrule, was born at this time.7

I do not know what Ganon wished for from the Triforce. However, in time evil power began to flow from the
Golden Land and greedy men were drawn there to become members of Ganon's army. Black clouds permanently
darkened the sky, and many disasters beset Hyrule. The lord of Hyrule sent for the seven sages and the Knights of
Hyrule, and ordered them to seal the entrance to the Golden Land. The sages first had to search for a valiant
person to take up the Master Sword, but as they did so, Ganon's evil army swarmed from the tainted Golden Land
into Hyrule and attacked the castle.8

The Knights of Hyrule battle against the demons

The sages and the Knights of Hyrule combined forces to wage war on this evil horde. The knights took the full
brunt of the fierce attack, and although they fought courageously many a brave soul was lost that day. However,
their lives were not lost in vain, for the sages completed the seal nonetheless.

All of Hyrule rejoiced at the victory that upheld peace and order over Ganon's evil and chaos. This war, which had
claimed many lives, became known as the Imprisoning War in stories told in later centuries.

7
Part of the Japanese text omitted from the English translation is included here
8
The English and Japanese texts are synthesized here for accuracy
Ocarina of Time
Also known as “The Imprisoning War”
Release date: November 23, 1998
Platform(s): Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii Virtual Console, Nintendo 3DS
Director/Writer: Toru Osawa
Placement: A few years after the final cessation of the Prolonged Wars and the unification of Hyrule; a few generations
before A Link to the Past

Ocarina of Time has gained a tremendous amount of well-earned credit as one of the best crafted adventures not
just of the Zelda series but of all video games period. The acclaimed entry was also one of the most eagerly-
awaited, with several years in development, the second-longest cycle after Skyward Sword. But beyond its critical
and hype-inducing impact, the story made tons of waves as far as the overarching chronology as well.

Ocarina is a prequel to A Link to the Past, and thus to the entire series at the time. Shigeru Miyamoto commented
on the timeline at the time in an interview9 in 1999:

Ocarina of Time → A Link to the Past, then comes the original and The Adventure of Link in turn.

More than that, however, Ocarina is a close retelling of the Imprisoning War narrative. It depicted very directly
the rise of Ganondorf, the birth of the Dark World, and the creation of the sages’ seal spoken of in A Link to the
Past. The script writer for Ocarina, Toru Osawa, as well as the character designer, Satoru Takizawa, explained the
relationship in a series of staff interviews:10

Osawa: In this game there are seven sages, but six of those appear in the NES game Adventure of Link as
town names. We were hinting that the names of the sages in the era of the Imprisoning War spoken of in
the SNES Zelda game became town names in The Adventure of Link. The events from that time became
what we have today.

Takizawa: The story in Ocarina of Time isn't actually original, it deals with the sages' Imprisoning War
from the Super Nintendo's A Link to the Past.

Despite all of Ocarina’s recent sequels, none of which fully embrace this original plotline, the official word on the
story11 still lays claim to a connection to the Imprisoning War:

There's an expansion to a similar folk tale to be told in A Link to the Past as a gimmick pleasing to those
who have enjoyed the series so far.

Ocarina’s most significant legacy, however, is as the founder of the split timeline, which has spawned most of the
major stories to appear since its creation.12

Story Summary

Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudos who hail from the desert far to the west, ceaselessly used his vile, sorcerous
powers in his search for the Sacred Realm. With his followers, he stole from women and children, and even killed
people. In the forest of Kokiri, he placed a death curse upon the guardian spirit of the forest, the Deku Tree; on
Death Mountain, the ancestral home of the Gorons, he sealed off the Dodongo’s cavern rock quarry, resulting in a
rock famine that threatened the very existence of the mountain people; he poisoned the water spirit Jabu-Jabu,
who resided in Zora’s Fountain, the sacred water source guarded by the Zoras.

Two individuals foresaw the coming danger: Princess Zelda of the Hylian royal family, the princess of destiny,
9
Miyamoto; Dengeki64, 1999
10
Osawa, Takizawa; 1998
11
Ocarina of Time’s Japanese Virtual Console game summary; 2007
12
See “The Split Timeline” on pages 22-23.
and the young Link, the boy without a fairy. The Deku Tree, as he neared death, decided that the time had come
for Link to accept his destiny, and so he sent Navi the fairy to summon and guide him. In order to test young
Link’s courage, the Deku Tree bade Link venture inside his hollow and break Ganondorf’s curse. Link did so
without hesitating, but, of course, his efforts were fruitless; the Deku Tree’s death was sealed before he even
began. With his last breath, the Deku Tree bestowed upon Link the spiritual stone of the forest and entreated him
to travel to Hyrule Castle to seek an audience with Princess Zelda.

Link and Zelda: The Children of Destiny

Zelda told Link of her dreams, that she had seen him come from the forest and break through the veil of darkness,
bearing hence a green and shining stone, accompanied by a fairy. She also warned Link of Ganondorf and his evil
intentions to steal the Triforce of legend, and insisted that Link track down the other spiritual stones so that they
might get to the Triforce first and put an end to his plot. Link set out for Death Mountain and Zora’s Domain,
where he assisted the Gorons and the Zoras in quelling the calamities that Ganondorf had wrought in his pursuits
and they bestowed upon him the other two stones.

He then returned to Hyrule Castle to inform Zelda of his success just in time to witness the second half of his
dream come to pass: Ganondorf attacked Hyrule Castle in an attempt to steal the Ocarina of Time, and Zelda was
forced to flee in order to keep the sacred relic from Ganondorf’s hands. She passed on the Ocarina to Link as she
made her way from the castle.

Link made his way to the Temple of Time and used the four keys to open the Door of Time. Behind it lay the
Master Sword, the blade of evil’s bane, resting in the Pedestal of Time. Link withdrew the blade, unlocking the
gateway to the sacred lands. But then something no one could have anticipated happened: the Master Sword,
though it accepted Link as its master, the chosen hero, sealed him away in the Sacred Realm.

Though the Door of Time had been opened in the name of peace, Ganondorf used it to enter the forbidden Sacred
Realm. The Triforce, the sacred triangle, is a balance that weighs the three forces: Power, Wisdom, and Courage.
If the heart of one who holds the sacred triangle has all three forces in balance, that one will gain the True Force
to govern all, but if that one's heart is not in balance, the Triforce will separate into three parts. Only one part will
remain for the one who touched the Triforce, the part representing the force that one most believes in. If that one
seeks the True Force, that one must acquire the two lost parts. Those two parts will be held within others chosen
by the gods, who will bear the Triforce marks on the backs of their hands.

When Ganondorf the King of Thieves laid his hands on the Triforce in the Temple of Light, the legend came true.
The Triforce separated into three parts, and only the Triforce of Power remained in Ganondorf’s hand. The
strength of the Triforce of Power enabled him to become the King of Evil. He went on to invade the Sacred
Realm, and it became a world of evil. But his dark ambitions were not satisfied. To gain complete mastery of the
world, Ganondorf started looking for those chosen by destiny to hold the two other Triforce parts.

His evil power radiated from the temples of Hyrule, and in seven short years, it transformed Hyrule into a world
of monsters. There was a prophecy: “When evil rules all, an awakening voice from the Sacred Realm will call
those destined to be sages, who dwell in the five temples. Together with the Hero of Time, the awakened ones will
bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world.” Because of the evil power in the temples, however, the
sages could not hear the awakening call from the Sacred Realm.

It was after these seven years that Link emerged as the Hero of Time, holding the mythical Master Sword. He set
out to awaken the sages: one in the deep forest, one on the high mountain, one under the vast lake, one within the
house of the dead, and one inside the goddess of the sand. He used the power of the Master Sword to travel back
and forth through time in order to succeed in his quest, and together the sages’ seals contained all the evil power
in the void of the realm. Then Link turned his sights to Ganon's Tower for the final battle.

Link faces the King of Evil

Without a strong, righteous mind, Ganondorf could not control the power of the gods, and so he was subdued at
Link’s hands. The sages, their power now awakened, cast the evil incarnation of darkness into the void of the Evil
Realm. Princess Zelda herself, the leader of the sages, then sealed the gateway, and thus Ganondorf the dark lord
vanished from Hyrule. Zelda then instructed Link to lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time, and
returned him to his original time.

The Classic Tales

The Classic tales are the original stories that make up the Hyrulean legends. Many of the stories they introduced,
such as the creation myth, the stories of early bloodshed over the Sacred Realm, as well the origins of the Hylians,
the Master Sword, and Ganon, would eventually become the Ancient tales we know today.

A Link to the Past begins this chronicle, following from the sealing of Ganon in the Imprisoning War. Next fall the
Oracles stories, which describe Link's adventures in other lands in order to stop the resurrection of Ganon. At the
end of Oracles, Link departs again from Hyrule on a seafaring voyage, leading to Link's Awakening, where he
shipwrecks on a mysterious island called Koholint. Next comes The Legend of Zelda, the first-ever entry in the
mythology, which features another epic struggle against the wicked Ganon, leading finally to The Adventure of
Link, which has Link reunite the Triforce in order to restore his kingdom to its former splendor.

A Link to the Past—Oracles—Link's Awakening → The Legend of Zelda—The Adventure of Link

Even though they are not the first stories in the Legend of Zelda myth from a fictional chronology perspective, it
is crucial to develop a working understanding of the Classic stories because most of the other stories have their
roots in the stories set down in the classics. It is especially important to note a certain quirk of the Classic stories:
namely that they contain very little in the way of an internal plot, instead telling their core stories mostly through
exposition of the scenario and leaving the rest up to interpretation.
A Link to the Past
Also known as “Triforce of the Gods”13
Release date: April 13, 1992
Platform(s): Super Nintendo Entertainment System, GameBoy Advance, Wii Virtual Console
Director/Writer: Takashi Tezuka/Kensuke Tanabe
Placement: During the time when Hyrule was one kingdom, generations prior to The Legend of Zelda

There have been many prequels throughout the history of the Legend of Zelda series, but the first of them was A
Link to the Past. As it chronicled many of the Ancient tales, from the creation all the way to the Imprisoning War,
A Link to the Past is perhaps the most significant story in terms of its contributions to the general Hyrulean
mythos. The story was also rich with references to the original fantasy world, from Ganon’s stronghold on Death
Mountain to the maze-like Lost Woods, which retained a sense of familiarity despite a strong degree of novelty.

Aside from close ties to the origin tales, there is little to connect A Link to the Past chronologically to its
predecessors, save for the descriptive text that adorns the back of the story’s official packaging:

This time, the stage is set long before Link’s adventures, during the era when Hyrule was one kingdom.

It is admittedly somewhat vague whether or not the placement indicator “long before Link’s adventures” refers to
this story preceding that of The Legend of Zelda, or to the Imprisoning War preceding Link’s adventure in A Link
to the Past. However, it is clear from more recent and more direct statements that A Link to the Past is definitely
set as a prequel to the originals, so perhaps both meanings hold equal weight.

Story Summary

The land of Hyrule healed its wounds and the people lived in peace for a long time. So it is no surprise that no one
was prepared for the new disasters that struck Hyrule. Pestilence and drought, uncontrollable even by magic,
ravaged the land. The king of Hyrule ordered an investigation of the imprisoned Dark World, but the Sages’ seal
was apparently intact. The people had nothing else to do but pray to the gods.

He offered rewards for anyone who could find the source of these troubles. In answer to these summons a stranger
named Agahnim came and quelled the disasters with a previously unseen form of magic. As a reward, the king
gave him a new position as chief adviser and heir to the Seven Sages. The masses proclaimed him their hero.
Once more, peace appeared to have returned to Hyrule.

Agahnim the evil priest

Left in charge of the country, Agahnim began to govern Hyrule in place of the King and abuse his political power
as he saw fit.14 Of late, rumors have traveled their whispering path with alarming frequency; rumors saying
Agahnim planned to remove the King and take the crown for himself; rumors of strange magical experiments in
the castle tower at night. He cast spells on the soldiers and kidnapped young maidens descended from the Sages in
order to break the seal. This destiny fast approached the final maiden, the princess, Zelda.
13
Triforce of the Gods is the Japanese subtitle for this story.
14
Part of the Japanese text omitted from the English translation is included here
The only weapon potent enough to defeat Agahnim was the legendary Master Sword. Legends say only the Hero
who has won the three Pendants could wield the sword:

“The Hero's triumph on Cataclysm's Eve

wins three symbols of virtue.
The Master Sword he then retrieves,
keeping the Knight's line true.”

That hero was supposed to emerge from the bloodline of the Knights of Hyrule who had aided the seven sages
during the battle against evil in which the sages’ seals were cast. But the Knights had nearly been wiped out in
that battle, and so it was thought that the hero would never rise again. Luckily, Link was the last remaining
member of their bloodline, the one destined to become the legendary hero, and he managed to obtain the three
pendants from the temples in Hyrule and found and withdrew the Master Sword from its resting place in the Lost
Woods.

Link draws the Master Sword

But Link claimed it too late, and by the time he arrived to challenge Agahnim at Hyrule Castle, the priest had
already offered Zelda to the Dark World, thereby breaking the sages’ seal, and opened a gate to link the worlds.

Link then learned that Ganon, the evil King of Darkness, had rediscovered the sacred land and claimed the
mystical Triforce. Ganon had wished to conquer the world, and so demonic power transformed the sacred land
into the Dark World. After building up his power, Ganon had planned to go on to the light world to completely
fulfill his wish, but he was unable to return from there. Now that the sages’ seals were broken, however, it was
only a matter of time before evil power covered the land. If Ganon was allowed to return to the world of light,
nothing would be able to stop him. As long as he remained in the enclosed space within the Dark World, however,
Hyrule’s hopes remained as well.

Using a magical mirror, Link traveled between the worlds of light and darkness and rescued the maidens from evil
monsters in palaces scattered throughout the Dark World. With their power, he was able to penetrate the barrier
surrounding Ganon’s Tower in the Dark World. He ascended the tower, where he again discovered the priest
Agahnim. This time he managed to defeat Agahnim, who finally revealed himself as possessed by Ganon.15

15
According to Ancient Stone Tablets, an apocryphal Legend of Zelda story, Agahnim was a priest possessed by Ganon
rather than simply a magical “alter-ego” as the story originally suggested.
 Link and Ganon face off in the final battle

Ganon fled to the Pyramid of Power, now ready to make his way to the world of light, but Link was hot on his
heels. Armed with the legendary Silver Arrows and the Master Sword, he faced off with the King of Darkness.
With the Silver Arrows, he was able to deal a fatal blow to Ganon and recover the Triforce. Thus the Dark World
vanished, and thus did Link become the new master of the Triforce of legend.

The Oracles Saga

Also known as “Fruit of the Mysterious Tree”16
Release date: May 14, 2001
Platform (s): GameBoy Color
Director/Writer: Hidemaro Fujibayashi
Placement: Some time before Link's Awakening

The Oracles saga has been one of the most confusing entries in the entire Legend of Zelda epic so far due to an
incredible lack of clarity about the story’s relationship to other titles. Originally the saga was set to have three
installments, with the first being an updated retelling of The Legend of Zelda, but eventually these plans fell by
the wayside leading to a completely different story arc. Now christened the “Triforce trilogy,” the stories were
supposed to each deal with one of the forces associated with the Triforce: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. This
idea, too, faded away as the creators found it too complicated to create a trilogy of stories that could be told in any
order.

The result was the Oracles games, a two-in-one adventure that began with independent stories but ultimately
culminated in a battle to stop the revival of Ganon. Along with it came a slew of references to past Zelda legends.
The artwork drew heavy inspiration from A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening, while there were more than a
handful of character cameos from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, and the mark of the hero evoked
memories of The Adventure of Link. These oftentimes conflicting references, coupled with a lack of any real
background to the villains, left Hyrulean scholars confused as to what place the Oracles chronicle had in the
timeline.

Only one word of commentary has survived, and the source is rather dubious:

Back in the early stages of development, yes, we did say to Dengeki64 that these games shared the same
timeline with Link to the Past. However in the Oracles endings there's a scene that shows Link setting sail
into the sea and it gives light to a connection to Link's Awakening.

The aforementioned scene certainly evokes memories of the prologue to Link’s Awakening, which had previously
established itself as a sequel to A Link to the Past, corroborating the presumed connections to both. However, a
major point of contention raised by many theorists is that when Princess Zelda encounters Link, she introduces
herself by name as though they have never met before. Were Oracles connected to Link to the Past and Link’s
Awakening as described, Link should already know Zelda, since the two fought Ganon together.

16
Fruit of the Mysterious Tree is the Japanese subtitle for this story.
Looking at this particular case as a mythological hiccup, however, we can see that even though a couple pieces of
the puzzle, cameos, as it were, did not receive the greatest of care and discretion, the overwhelming trend fits
perfectly with the implied intent of the story.

Oracle of Seasons Story Summary

One day in Hyrule, a strange force drew Link deep within Hyrule castle, where he found the Triforce resting,
glittering brilliantly as it awaited him. “Link, accept the quest of the Triforce!” Suddenly, Link was enveloped in a
circle of light, and the next moment, he vanished.

When Link awoke, he found himself in a forest he had never seen. Confused, he looked around blankly at the
unfamiliar surroundings. He heard pleasant music and laughing voices echoing from deep within the woods. Link
followed the inviting voices until he came upon a traveling troupe of actors. He was immediately struck by the
beauty of a young woman who was dancing about in circles. When the girl noticed Link, she smiled brightly, took
him by the hand, and he reluctantly began to dance.

Link meets Din, the Oracle of Seasons

Unfortunately, this blissful moment did not last long. The sky suddenly went dark, and there was a loud crash of
thunder, followed by a resounding, thunderous voice, which declared itself as the voice of Onox, General of
Darkness, and claimed Din as the Oracle of Seasons.

Then a great tornado dropped from the sky and drew near Din, as if to engulf her. Link was blown back by the
tornado as he struggled against its awesome force, and Din was swept away in the wind, and then strange things
began to happen throughout the land. When Onox carried off the Oracle of Seasons from the land of Holodrum,
the seasons fell into chaos and the land was deprived of the bountiful gifts of nature. Life was slowly being
drained from the land, and all living things began to wither. And so Onox set in motion his plan to gather the
power from the withering land and create a world of total darkness.

Link claimed a sword and shield and started on a quest to restore Holodrum. He found the mystical Rod of
Seasons and used its power to change the seasons, along with the power of the eight Essences of Nature, to defeat
the evil General Onox and rescue the Oracle of Seasons. Holodrum was saved, and the seasons returned to
normal. But this would not be the end of Link’s adventures.

Oracle of Ages Story Summary

Link awoke one day to find himself deep in a strange forest. As he started to walk through the woods, he heard
cries for help coming from just up ahead of him. Link hurried toward the voice, only to find a group of monsters
surrounding the woman who was screaming. When the monsters saw Link, they immediately fled.

The woman who had been attacked was none other than Impa, nurse to Hyrule's Princess Zelda. Impa said she had
come to the forest to search for a singer named Nayru, and she requested Link’s assistance. Despite the strange
look she gave him, Link could not refuse her request.
As they traveled even deeper into the forest, they found a young woman singing. Invited to sit by the group of
animals that listened to the girl's song, Link joined in the circle and let the beautiful song fill his ears and
penetrate his heart. This was surely Nayru, the singer Impa was searching for.

Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, singing in her grove

Just then, Impa erupted in a cackling laugh and a frightening shadow lifted from her body. The shadow called
itself Veran, Sorceress of Shadows, and began swooping about the forest before flying straight into the body of the
frightened singer. Her face became veiled in shadow, and her bright smile had vanished—a piercing, evil gaze had
replaced it. Veran had taken over Nayru’s body, and before vanishing into the ether, she declared that she planned
to thrust the world into an age of darkness.

It was soon revealed that Nayru was actually the Oracle of Ages who controlled time in this land of Labrynna.
When the Oracle was kidnapped, the flow of time in Labrynna was distorted, and strange things began to happen.
Veran’s plan was to travel to the past and gather power from the sorrows of the people of Labrynna so that she
could create her age of shadows. Link set out to stop her, and, in his trials, he found Nayru’s Harp of Ages, used it
to travel back in time and restore Labrynna’s past, and with the eight Essences of Time at his command defeated
Veran atop her Black Tower. Labrynna was saved from Veran’s plan to spread the power of the Dark Realm and
begin a new age of darkness.

But soon thereafter Princess Zelda was kidnapped by the evil Gerudo witches, Twinrova. Twinrova had used
Onox and Veran to light the Flames of Destruction and Sorrow. Now, with Hyrule’s princess captured, the Flame
of Despair burned, and she would be sacrificed to complete the dark rites of the Gerudo. The Evil King Ganon
would return!

Link defeated Twinrova and halted the completion of the rites that would have revived Ganon. Since they could
not sacrifice Zelda in their final rite, the powers of darkness could only revive a mindless, raging Ganon, whom
Link had defeated with the guidance of the Triforce and become a legendary hero. Now hope and peace could
return to the hearts of the people.

Link’s Awakening
Also known as “Island of Dreams”17
Release date: August 1, 1993
Platform(s): GameBoy, GameBoy Color
Director/Writer: Takashi Tezuka/Kensuke Tanabe
Placement: Six years after A Link to the Past18

Link's Awakening broke new ground among Zelda stories since it did not take place in Hyrule, did not feature
Princess Zelda or the Triforce, and yet still found a way to mesh in elements from A Link to the Past. Like the first
side story, Adventure of Link, Link's Awakening involved Link's adventures following the most recent defeat of
Ganon. This time, however, there was a twist, as a tumultuous storm thrust Link into the dream world of Koholint
17
Island of Dreams is the Japanese subtitle for this story.
18
Ancient Stone Tablets is set six years after A Link to the Past.
Island.

The quirky landscape and inhabitants of Koholint seemed eerily similar to the Hyrule of A Link to the Past,
complete with telling landmarks such as the Rooster's Windmill and Turtle Rock. A number of monsters also
appeared: the Moldorm, Lanmola, and Armos Knights, as well as nightmarish shadows of Agahnim and Ganon.
Besides these homages, however, there was little to indicate the timeline placement of Link's Awakening. The
story's release not long after that of A Link to the Past seemed fairly telling, but because Koholint Island was only
a dream world, the story was self-contained, having no importance to the main Hyrule tales. Until the stated
relationship to the Oracles,19 the only direct indicator appeared in the apocryphal Ancient Stone Tablets.

When approached and spoken to, the enigmatic Cukemen would sometimes say that “the Hero cannot leave the
dream.” Since Ancient Stone Tablets was set a few years after A Link to the Past, it was clear the hero was Link
and his dream was the events of Link's Awakening. This reference is consistent with most of the indicators of
Link's Awakening's placement, but the relevance of Ancient Stone Tablets comes into question since the story did
not receive an international release and has been left out of most official compendiums.

Because of the scarcity of solid and accessible information about its spot in the timeline, the placement of Link's
Awakening is still a subject of debate amongst theorists. This theory, however, relies on the weight of the
evidence, all of which points to continuity with A Link to the Past and the Oracles tales.

Story Summary

But the people of Hyrule were still apprehensive. They feared the dangers that could arise from Ganon’s ashes.
Ever vigilant, Link left on a journey of enlightenment, in search of wisdom that would help him better be able to
withstand the next threat to his homeland.

After months of difficult but fruitful travel, Link was returning home to Hyrule when a squall suddenly struck his
ship. Link valiantly fought off the waves, but a lightning bolt reduced his ship to splinters. Link drifted with the
wreckage of his ship, and awoke in the care of: Zelda? No, Link discovered, he was on Koholint Island, in the
care of a woman named Marin.

In the distance, on Koholint’s central mountain, loomed a gigantic egg. Link learned from a mysterious owl that in
order to get off the island he had to recover eight sirens’ instruments and awaken the Wind Fish sleeping in the
giant egg. The owl also gave him a warning: “The isle of Koholint is but an illusion. Human, monster, sea, sky, a
scene on the lid of a sleeper's eye. Awake the dreamer, and Koholint will vanish much like a bubble on a needle.”

A tablet describing the true nature of Koholint Island

Link gathered the instruments from all over Koholint and approached the egg, and when he played them before it,
it opened to admit him. Inside he challenged DethI, the ruler of a band of demons known as the Nightmares. DethI
took on the forms of many of his most powerful enemies, but Link’s courage persevered, and he defeated the
fiend.

19
See “The Oracles Saga” on pages 15-17.
With DethI gone, the Wind Fish awoke, and it spoke to him: “I am the Wind Fish. Long has been my slumber. In
my dreams, an egg appeared and was surrounded by an island, with people, animals, and an entire world! But,
verily, it be the nature of dreams to end! When I awaken, Koholint will be gone. Only the memory of this dream
land will exist in the waking world. Someday, thou may recall this island. That memory must be the real dream
world.”

The two dreamers awoke, and Link found himself adrift off the coast of Hyrule, the Wind Fish flying overhead.
His adventures on Koholint were finally over. A seagull passed by, and he wondered what became of Marin when
the Wind Fish’s dream ended.

The Legend of Zelda

Also known as “The Hyrule Fantasy”20
Release date: August 1987
Platform(s): Nintendo Entertainment System, GameCube, GameBoy Advance, Wii Virtual Console
Director/Writer: Shigeru Miyamoto
Placement: Some generations after A Link to the Past

The Legend of Zelda was the first Zelda story to emerge. Like many of the other stories of its time, it was very
simple as far as its plot, describing first the mythical Triforce and its respective parts and then immediately
proceeding to its theft by Ganon, the Evil King. It also introduced the infamous Link, that swordsman in green
who always challenges Ganon whenever he appears, as well as the beautiful Princess Zelda. Though we only have
a very limited picture of Hyrule as conceptualized during the creation of The Legend of Zelda, we know that it
also featured the recognizable Death Mountain and Lost Woods, which would later become staples for the series.

Story Summary

The world entered an Age of Chaos. Among this chaos, in a tranquil little kingdom in the Hyrule region, the
legend of the Triforce—golden artifacts holding untold mystical powers—was handed down over generations.

One day, a dark army attacked the peaceful kingdom and seized the Triforce of Power. This army was led by
Ganon, a powerful warlock bent on reigning over a dynasty of fear and darkness. Fearing his nefarious designs on
the throne, Zelda, the princess of Hyrule, split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and scattered them
throughout the realm to keep them out of Ganon’s reach. She then commanded her trustworthy nursemaid, Impa,
to flee the castle and seek a champion with the courage to battle Ganon. Ganon, infuriated by the news of Impa’s
escape, imprisoned the princess, and ordered a horde of henchmen to hunt down the elderly nursemaid.

Link comes to Impa's aid

Desperately running through forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life. Just as her strength began to fail, Impa
found herself surrounded by Ganon's underlings. She was certain all hope was lost, but a young lad appeared and

20
The Hyrule Fantasy is the Japanese subtitle for this story.
drove off the wicked attackers, saving her from a fate worse than death. The boy explained that his name was
Link, and that he had stumbled across Impa and her attackers as she traveled through the area. Grateful for his
assistance, Impa told young Link the story of Princess Zelda’s predicament and Ganon’s vile grip on the kingdom.

Upon hearing this heart-wrenching tale, Link vowed to save Zelda, but he knew that as long as Ganon held the
Triforce of Power, he was a fearsome foe that could not easily be defeated. In order to vanquish him, Link set out
to travel the land to collect the scattered Triforce fragments.

He set out first to the withered tree on an island in the middle of Hyrule's largest lake, where he found a
boomerang and an ancient bow. Next he wandered the eastern forest, where he earned a magical boomerang. His
journeys took him west to the Moblin woods, where he found a small raft. With his raft in hand, he returned to the
lake and drifted out to another large island, where he found a magical stepladder. Then he headed to the north and
climbed the Lost Hills to another underworld dungeon, where he found the recorder.

Link's journey leads him to every corner of Hyrule

A strange force then called him through the Lost Woods and to Hyrule's graveyard, where he found a magical
sword and wand. An abandoned fairy fountain drained at the sound of his recorder, revealing a seventh
underworld dungeon containing an ever-burning candle. The last underworld labyrinth was in the eastern woods
beneath a tree, and there Link found a key that could open any door as well as a book of spells for his wand.

With the eight shards in hand, he approached Spectacle Rock at the very height of Death Mountain and fused
them into the Triforce of Wisdom. With the Triforce of Wisdom, he was able to bypass Ganon's barriers and claim
the mighty Silver Arrows, which he used to slay Ganon and become the Hero of Hyrule.

The Adventure of Link

Release date: December 1, 1988
Platform (s): Nintendo Entertainment System, GameCube, GameBoy Advance, Wii Virtual Console
Director/Writer: Tadashi Sugiyama
Placement: A few years after The Legend of Zelda

As the first sequel in the Legend of Zelda epic and a side-story detailing Link's adventures after defeating Ganon,
Adventure of Link gave its audience the first look outside of the fantasy kingdom's borders. Set in the northern
territory of Hyrule, on a large continent bordering the Death Mountain range, this story chronicled Link's
adventures to find the hidden third fragment of the Triforce, the piece of Courage, in order to awaken an ancient
princess from her eternal slumber.

Through the story of the Sleeping Princess, The Adventure of Link also had the first-ever ancient backstory seen in
the series and gave the first-ever indication of what has since become one of the Legend of Zelda's most cherished
features: multiple incarnations of Princess Zelda. It also made reference to days of yore, before the Age of Chaos
that left the world divided, when Hyrule was one country. Most of the games to follow take place in that era.
Story Summary

Though the hero, Link, defeated Ganon and rescued Princess Zelda, Hyrule remained plagued with evil. In the
passing seasons, the powers that Ganon had left behind, as well as his remaining underlings, were causing chaos
and disorder throughout the kingdom. Ganon’s servants hoped to revive their master by sacrificing Link and
sprinkling his blood on Ganon’s ashes.

One day, as Link approached his sixteenth birthday, a strange mark shaped like the crest of the kingdom appeared
on the back of his hand. The worried Link consulted Impa, Princess Zelda's elderly nursemaid. Shocked and
frightened, Impa took Link to the North Castle to explain the legend behind the mark. Only the descendants of the
Impa family who had served under the king knew how to open the door to the North Castle. On an altar in the
middle of the room lay a beautiful woman, the sleeping Princess Zelda. Impa began to explain the legend of
Zelda: “Long ago, when Hyrule was one kingdom, a great ruler maintained peace in Hyrule using the Triforce.
After the king died, the prince of the kingdom should have become king and inherited everything, but he could
only inherit the Triforce in part. The prince searched everywhere for the missing parts, but could not find them.

Impa shows Link the Sleeping Princess

“A wizard close to the king said that, before he died, the king had said something about the Triforce to the
younger sister of the prince, Princess Zelda. The prince immediately questioned the princess, but she revealed
nothing. The wizard threatened to cast the princess into eternal sleep if she did not talk, but, still, Princess Zelda
said nothing. The wizard, fighting off the startled prince, cast his spell. The princess fell on that spot, entering a
deep sleep, and at the same moment the wizard collapsed, too.

“In his grief, the prince placed the princess in the North Castle. The prince hoped that someday Zelda would
awaken from her slumber. So that this tragedy would never be forgotten, he ordered every female child born into
the royal household be given the name Zelda.”

From the stand next to the sleeping princess, Impa gave Link six crystals and a scroll with the same crest as the
one on his hand. She explained that the items had been given to her ancestors by the King and handed down for
generations in their family for when a time of need would come. The scroll, which contained the key to uniting
the Triforce, was written in an ancient script that only those with the crest would be able to read.

Link examines the King's scroll

Link glanced at the scroll doubtfully, but found that he understood the words as clearly as if they were being
spoken to him. The scroll revealed that the key to unlocking the Triforce’s power was uniting all three: Power,
Wisdom, and Courage. The king had left Power and Wisdom in the kingdom, but had hidden Courage, because
only an individual with a strong character and special inborn qualities could use it without disastrous results.
Because the king had not found such a person during his reign, he cast a spell on Hyrule so that the crest would
appear on the chosen one. But, if it were used beforehand, the Triforce would produce many evils.

The scroll went on to reveal that the Triforce of Courage was in the Great Palace in the Valley of Death on the
largest island in Hyrule. To enter the Great Palace, however, Link would fight have to fight the guardians
protecting each of the six temples in Hyrule, place the crystals in crystal statues, and undo the binding force
protecting the Valley of Death.

Surely with the Triforce of Courage Link could awaken Princess Zelda from her eternal slumber. With a magical
sword in his left hand and a magical shield in his right, he set off alone on his travels. At that very moment,
Ganon’s underlings were calling up new allies from the realm of evil and working devilishly towards the revival
of their leader. With the help of Power and Wisdom, and with his magical sword, Link set out to journey across
the land.

After wandering the harsh deserts, thick bogs, and rough mountains of the west continent and unlocking the three
seals there, he found a ferry that took him to the east. There he traversed a deep maze, found a way to walk across
the sea, and awoke a fierce demon in order to release the remaining seals. With the seals broken, he walked
through the treacherous Valley of Death and into the Great Temple, where he fought his own shadow.

Link battles Shadow Link

After a battle that shook the world, the Triforce of Courage came into his possession. With the full Triforce at his
disposal, Link awakened the Sleeping Princess and brought an end to the Age of Chaos, and the kingdom of
Hyrule was restored to its original glory.

The Split Timeline

Previously a subject under intense debate, now commonly accepted as the authors’ authoritative word, the split
timeline is the fruit of time travel in Ocarina of Time’s ending. At the end of that story, Princess Zelda sends Link
back in time to make up for the loss of his childhood years in the fight against Ganon. This resulted in two
endings: one where Ganon is defeated by the Hero of Time, and one where Link “laid the Master Sword to rest
and closed the Door of Time” as instructed by Zelda. This caused the “road between times” to disappear, thereby
separating the two histories into separate timelines.

The idea of different storylines following the two endings was first posed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma
during an interview in the spring of 2002,21 just following the release of The Wind Waker in Japan:

Question: Where does The Wind Waker fit into the overall Zelda series timeline?

21
Aonuma, Miyamoto; GamePro, March 2002
 Aonuma: You can think of this game as taking place over a hundred years after Ocarina of Time. You can
tell this from the opening story, and there are references to things from Ocarina located throughout the
game as well.

Miyamoto: Well, wait, which point does the hundred years start from?

Aonuma: From the end.

Miyamoto: No, I mean, as a child or as an...

Aonuma: Oh, right, let me elaborate on that. Ocarina of Time basically has two endings of sorts; one has
Link as a child and the other has him as an adult. This game, The Wind Waker, takes place a hundred
years after the adult Link defeats Ganon at the end of Ocarina.

Miyamoto: This is pretty confusing for us, too. (laughs) So be careful.

Some fans may notice that, in this transcript, Aonuma and Miyamoto never expressly confirm that the two
endings lead into different histories. There was even a story released by this time that followed the Child ending
and took place while Link was still a child, Majora's Mask, and its events are referenced in The Wind Waker. So
the idea of “two endings” could perhaps have meant that there are two points in history that can be considered the
“ending” of Ocarina of Time, with any number of sequels stemming from each. This quote by itself, while
certainly intended to express the idea of two parallel histories, did not fully convey that idea.

Four years later, Twilight Princess appeared and Aonuma yet again made mention of the different endings of
Ocarina of Time. Previously, we had heard that Twilight Princess was to fall in between Ocarina and Wind Waker,
but the tides of its development had shifted. Instead, the new story was to fall after the Child ending, and would
follow a different course of history that stemmed from Link's return to the past. He described the scenario in some
detail:22

Question: When does Twilight Princess take place?

Aonuma: In the world of Ocarina of Time, a hundred and something years later.

Question: And The Wind Waker?

Aonuma: The Wind Waker is parallel. In Ocarina of Time, Link flew seven years in time, he beat Ganon
and went back to being a kid, remember? Twilight Princess takes place in the world of Ocarina of Time, a
hundred and something years after the peace returned to kid Link’s time. In the last scene of Ocarina of
Time, kids Link and Zelda have a little talk, and as a consequence of that talk, their relationship with
Ganon takes a whole new direction. In the middle of this game, there's a scene showing Ganon's
execution. It was decided that Ganon be executed because he'd do something outrageous if they left him
be. That scene takes place several years after Ocarina of Time.

Among theorists, these two alternate histories became known as the “Child Timeline” and the “Adult Timeline,”
or in this case the “Child tales” and “Adult tales.” These twin story arcs make up the bulk of the major legends
released since Ocarina of Time.

22
Aonuma; Nindori, January 2007
 The Child Tales
The Child tales explain what took place after Link returned to the past at the end of Ocarina of Time. His
conversation with Princess Zelda changes the course of history, and with peace ensured for Hyrule's future, Link
sets out on a journey to find a lost friend, dragging him into the bizarre world of Termina and the events of
Majora's Mask. Meanwhile, Ganondorf is apprehended and banished to the Twilight Realm by the sages, leading
to the events of Twilight Princess about a hundred years later.

Ocarina of Time—Majora's Mask → Twilight Princess

So far the Child story has built heavily off of the elements set down in Ocarina of Time, with one side-story
following Link's adventures as a child and Twilight Princess exploring the Ancient tales in more depth while
simultaneously setting down the alternate course of Ganondorf's history in the new timeline. It remains to be seen
whether the Child timeline will forge beyond these few first steps as its parallel stories in the Adult history have
done. Nevertheless, just as light and shadow are two equally-important sides of the same coin, so too are the Child
and Adult stories alternate sides of the same timeline.

Majora’s Mask
Release date: October 26, 2000
Platform(s): Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii Virtual Console
Director/Writer: Eiji Aonuma/Mitsuhiro Takano
Placement: A few months after the Child ending of Ocarina of Time

After Ocarina of Time's unparalleled success among its audience, rumors of a possible gaiden, or side-story,
began to flow. This new story would follow Link out of Hyrule on yet another trip through time, and have him
transform into various figures using magical masks. Thus, Majora's Mask became the first (of many) sequels to
Ocarina of Time.

The story was a sandbox, and how Link would interact with the denizens of the wonderland-world of Termina
was left largely up to the audience to decide. Would Link work to heal all the sorrows plaguing the land, or would
he focus only on defeating the Skull Kid and recovering the stolen Majora's Mask?

Delving into all of the sideplots introduced by the Bomber's Notebook, while it would certainly prove interesting,
is not necessary to convey the core story of Termina and its place in the timeline, so this section focuses mainly on
the story of the imp and the four giants, and Link's quest to set their troubles to rights.

Story Summary

This tale is from long ago when all the people weren't separated into four worlds like they are now. In those times
all the people lived together, and the four giants lived among them. On the day of the festival that celebrates the
harvest, the giants spoke to the people:

"We have chosen to guard the people while we sleep... 100 steps north, 100 steps south, 100 steps east, 100 steps
west. If you have need, call us in a loud voice by declaring something such as 'the mountain blizzard has trapped
us' or 'the ocean is about to swallow us.' Your cries shall carry to us."

Now there was one who was shocked and saddened by all this: a little imp. The imp was a friend of the giants
since before they had created the four worlds. "Why must you leave? Why do you not stay?" The childhood friend
felt neglected, so he spread his anger across the four worlds. Repeatedly, he wronged all people.

Overwhelmed with misfortune, the people sang the song of prayer to the giants who lived in each of the four
compass directions. The giants heard their cry and responded with a roar. "Oh, imp. Oh, imp. We are the
protectors of the people. You have caused the people pain. Oh, imp, leave these four worlds! Otherwise, we shall
tear you apart!"

The giants depart to the four lands

The imp was frightened and saddened. He had lost his old friends. The imp returned to the heavens, and harmony
was restored to the four worlds. And the people rejoiced and they worshiped the giants of the four worlds like
gods.

Each year, the season of harmony begins when the sun and moon are in alignment. Paying homage to the way that
nature and time both tirelessly progress, the Carnival of Time is when the peoples of the four worlds celebrate that
harmony and request fruitfulness for the year. For ages, people have worn masks resembling the giants who are
the gods of the four worlds. Now, it has become a custom for each person to bring a handmade mask to the
Carnival of Time.

It is said that if a couple united on the day of the festival and dedicated a mask as a sign of their union, it would
bring luck. The centerpiece of the carnival is the clock tower, and on the eve of all the festivities, the doors to its
roof are opened. From atop the clock tower roof, a ceremony to call the gods is held and an ancient song is sung.
All of these festivities for the Carnival of Time are held so that the people may ask the gods for a rich harvest in
the year to come.

In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend held dearly by the royal family that tells of a boy who, after battling
evil and saving Hyrule, crept away from that land that had made him a legend. Done with the battles he once
waged across time, he embarked on a secret and personal journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend
with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took his place among legends.

Princess Zelda, with whom he had become close friends, gave him the Ocarina of Time with a promise that, if he
used it in time of need, the Goddess of Time would come to his aid. She also told him that she knew, deep in her
heart, that no matter where his journey led him, their paths would someday cross again.

While in the midst of his new journey, an imp wearing a mystical mask appeared by chance before Link. Hidden
within that mask was a mysterious power that not even he understood. The imp took Epona, the faithful young
horse that had journeyed with Link throughout his adventures, and placed a curse on Link that transformed him
into a Deku Scrub. As he gave chase, a young fairy named Tatl, one of the imp's friends, joined him.

Link's pursuit of the imp led him into the mysterious world of Termina, a kind of parallel world that was similar to
and yet different from the land of Hyrule, where he heard a frightful rumor that in just three days, the moon would
fall from the heavens onto that land.

Clock Town rested at the heart of the world, and Link learned that heading any direction from there would take
him to the mysterious regions beyond. The centerpiece of Clock Town, the clock tower, was the symbol of the
town and the center of activity, as the townsfolk were busy with preparations for the annual carnival, despite the
ominous rumors. The people Link met there looked vaguely familiar at first glance.
 Link arrives in Clock Town in the center of Termina

First he met the Happy Mask Salesman, who begged that Link recover a precious mask that the imp had stolen
from him. The mask was called Majora's Mask. It was an accursed item from legend that was said to have been
used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. An evil and wicked power was bestowed on the one who wore the
mask. According to legend, the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great that the ancient ones, fearing such
catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing its misuse. The tribe from the legend had vanished, so
no one knew the nature of the mask's power. Link had to retrieve the mask before something horrible happened. In
return for his help, the Mask Salesman offered to restore Link to his original form.

With only three days until the moon fell, Link first set out to recover his Ocarina, stolen by the imp, and once it
was back in his possession gratefully took advantage of the divine protection of the Goddess of Time,
manipulating the flows of time in order to stop the moon from destroying Termina. As promised, the Mask
Salesman returned Link to his human form, teaching him a song that could heal sorrowed souls. From there, Link
resolved to travel to the four lands, the Southern Swamp, Northern Mountain, Western Ocean, and Eastern
Canyon, in order to unite the four giants who rested there.

From Tael, Tatl's younger brother, Link learned that the imp had already set disaster upon the four lands: poisoned
waters flowed from Woodfall, the Gorons on Snowhead were in the grips of an unusually fierce cold snap while
the Zora tribe also suffered from severe environmental changes, and the Ikana Kingdom had fallen victim to a
terrible curse that annihilated its people. After defeating four demons and awakening the giants, Link played the
song to summon the gods to the Clock Tower to confront the imp and the power of Majora's Mask, obliterating
that accursed moon and saving Termina from ruin.

Twilight Princess
Release date: November 19, 2006
Platform(s): Wii, GameCube
Director/Writer: Eiji Aonuma/Aya Kyogoku
Placement: A hundred years after Ocarina of Time's Child ending

As one of the most anticipated Zelda stories of all time and a spiritual successor to Ocarina of Time, Twilight
Princess had large shoes to fill when it arrived on the scene. With a controversial setting and scenario to match
that of its predecessor, it did all this and more. Though Aonuma’s conversation about Twilight Princess has
already been discussed in some detail,23 the story summary in this section will expand on that scenario using as
much text cited directly from the source as possible.

Bear in mind that Twilight Princess is primarily Midna's story, and focuses on her road to redemption from the
curse placed upon her by Zant. As such, Midna plays a much larger role in the core story than previously-
mentioned partners such as Navi, Tatl, and even Zelda.
23
See “The Split Timeline” on pages 22-23.
Story Summary

When Link returned to the past, he traveled to Hyrule Castle and warned Princess Zelda of what he feared would
come to pass. With the knowledge of Ganondorf’s invasion of the Sacred Realm exposed before he can attack
Hyrule, he was subdued and brought to justice in an attempt to put an end to his evil magic.

But Ganondorf’s abiding lust for power turned to purest malice and, realizing they were no match for
Ganondorf’s power of the gods, the sages were forced to seal him away in the Twilight Realm using the Mirror of
Twilight. Little did they know that, in the Twilight Realm, the greedy Zant sought out power such as that which
Ganondorf possessed.

After being denied the kingship of the Twili, Zant, in a thrall of hatred, encountered Ganondorf, who appeared to
him as a god, Ganon, who bore power with which Zant could become a king. As long as Zant obeyed him, Ganon
promised to revive Zant without cause. And so Ganon’s evil power was passed on to Zant.

Ganondorf pierced by the sages' sword

The Mirror of Twilight was fragmented by this mighty magic. Only the true leader of the Twili can utterly destroy
the Mirror of Twilight, so Zant could merely break it into pieces. Once broken by magic, the Mirror of Twilight
became fragments, which lay hidden across the land of Hyrule. Zant, now a king of darkness, transformed the
blessed kingdom of Hyrule into a world of shadows, ruled by creatures who shun the light. Zant’s goal was that
his tribe might take back the world of light when light and darkness met at last and darkness blotted out the light.
The Light Spirits in Hyrule had had their light stolen by fell beasts, and the entire kingdom was reduced to a
netherworld ruled by the cursed powers of darkness.

Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people became as spirits. Within the twilight, they
lived on, unaware that they had passed into spirit forms. All the people knew was fear, fear of a nameless evil. The
blight would not stop with Hyrule. Before long, the entire world of light would fall into the hands of the king who
ruled the Twilight. To save the land from the king of Twilight, the lost light had to be recovered. The three light
spirits who had lost their light needed to be revived. There was but one who could revive them and redeem the
land: the hero chosen by the goddesses.

Those transformed by twilight usually cannot recover their original forms, but a young man named Link
transformed into a blue-eyed beast. It was a sign that the powers of the chosen one, the powers of the ancient hero
chosen by the gods, rested within him, and that they were awakening. Link had need of the forbidden power that
the spirits of light locked away: the Fused Shadow. Because of its nature, it was a power that should never be
touched by any who dwell in the light. But the world wept beneath a mantle of shadows, and so there was no
choice; he had to match the power of the king of shadows.
 Link and Midna battle shadow beasts in the Twilight

With the help of an imp named Midna, he restored light to the three Light Spirits and gathered the Fused
Shadows. Even with the power of the Fused Shadow behind them, however, Link and Midna were no match for
Zant. The evil power granted Zant by his ‘god’ was too powerful to overcome. In a show of his might, Zant
mortally wounded Midna. In his wolf form, Link bore Midna to Hyrule Castle to seek the aid of Princess Zelda,
who bestowed her power upon Midna in order to save her from death. Before she passed her power to Midna,
however, Zelda bade Link collect the Master Sword, the blade of evil’s bane, the only sword that could cleave the
evil power that threatened the land and shrouded Link in darkness.

After he drew the Master Sword from the pedestal in the Temple of Time, as the hero of old once had, Midna
asked him to help her find the Mirror of Twilight. Midna was a descendant of the Twili, the tribe that was
banished to the Twilight Realm. The Mirror of Twilight served as the link between the worlds of light and shadow
that might help her to save her people from Zant. Together they traveled to the Arbiter’s Grounds in the ancient
desert, where they discovered only a single shard of the Mirror. The sages told them of what transpired at that
place during the execution of Ganondorf and charged Link with recovering the shards of the Mirror before their
dangerous power wrecked havoc on the land.

Link and Midna gathered the shards of the Mirror of Twilight and returned them to Arbiter’s Grounds,
reassembling the ancient relic. The sages revealed Midna’s true identity as the princess of the Twilight Realm,
transformed into an imp by Zant’s evil magic, and apologized for unleashing Ganondorf on her world. Midna then
confessed to Link that she had intended to use him to help her save the Twilight Realm alone, but that over time
she had decided that the world of light deserved to be saved, too.

She and Link entered the Twilight and confronted Zant, breaking the curses on all the Twili in the process. After
defeating Zant, the two of them discovered that Ganondorf himself had managed to escape to the world of light,
and that he now held Princess Zelda captive in Hyrule Castle. Using the magic of the Fused Shadow, Midna
penetrated the magical barrier Ganondorf had constructed around the castle, and she and Link proceeded to scale
the royal palace and face Ganondorf. After subduing Ganondorf in a series of trying struggles, Zelda was revived,
and after breaking his defenses with the Light Arrows and delivering a killing blow with the Master Sword, Link
gave Ganon his last breath.

The light spirits revived Midna, breaking the final curse that Zant had cast on her, and together she, Link, and
Princess Zelda departed for the Arbiter’s Grounds so that she could return to the Twilight Realm. Before she left
the world of light, Midna used her power as the true ruler of the Twilight to utterly destroy the Mirror of Twilight,
severing the link between light and shadow and ridding the world of the Mirror’s cursed power.
 The Adult Tales
The Adult tales explain what happened after Ganondorf's defeat at the hands of the Hero of Time in Ocarina of
Time. Ganondorf breaks free of his prison and, without a hero to stop him, the gods intervene by sealing Hyrule
away, leading into The Wind Waker. After a new hero arises to defeat Ganon in The Wind Waker, Hyrule is
destroyed forever, prompting Link and Tetra to sail off to find a new land. Their travels take them to the cursed
seas of the Ocean King, where they are drawn into a struggle that takes place in Phantom Hourglass. Some time
afterwards, Link and Tetra make landfall on an ancient land where they see fit to establish a new Hyrule kingdom,
and a hundred years later evil forces threaten the land, leading to Spirit Tracks.

Ocarina of Time → The Wind Waker—Phantom Hourglass → Spirit Tracks

As expansions of the story laid down in Ocarina of Time, the Adult tales stirred up a lot of controversy due to
their drastic departure from Ocarina's roots in the tales told in A Link to the Past. Instead of indicating further
follow-through with that plotline or clearing up some of the inconsistencies, The Wind Waker and its sequels
instead put forth an entirely new story of Ganon's escape, leading to the catastrophic flood that created the Great
Sea.

The introduction to The Wind Waker, however, included the disclaimer that it was “but one of the legends,”
perhaps indicating that these different story paths exist simply due to the many tales in the grand Zelda
mythology.

The Wind Waker

Release date: March 24, 2003
Platform(s): GameCube
Director/Writer: Eiji Aonuma/Mitsuhiro Takano
Placement: Hundreds of years after Ocarina of Time's Adult ending

When The Wind Waker appeared, most people were not quite sure how to react. The artistic presentation seemed a
massive step back from the more detailed anime-style art that accompanied Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask,
instead stepping into a more traditional cartoon style. This coupled with the story's new oceanic setting brewed
tension so thick not even the Master Sword could slice through it. Perhaps as a way of reaching out to fans of
Ocarina in order not to alienate them, the story wound up being a sequel to the adventures of the Hero of Time.24

Though the story followed Ocarina it distanced itself from the Classic tales, focusing exclusively on the story of
the Hero of Time and ignoring the sages’ roles in the conflict altogether. For years, many theorists thought of this
narrative direction as an attack on Ocarina's status as the Imprisoning War story, but this particular approach to
Zelda theory has no difficulty reconciling The Wind Waker and A Link to the Past as separate story arcs branching
from the same core.

Story Summary

This is but one of the legends of which the people speak.

Long ago, there existed a kingdom where the golden power of the gods lay hidden.. It was a prosperous land,
blessed with green forests, tall mountains and peace. The people who lived in this blessed rich land were
called the Hylians, and were said to be able to hear the voices of the gods. Together with the people of
the plains; the Gorons, the people of the mountains; the Zora, the people of the water; the Gerudo, the people of
the desert; and the Kokiri, the people of the forest, they carried out unique lives. But even in this rich land, the
footsteps of destruction began to creep in.

24
See “The Split Timeline” on pages 22-23.
One day, a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself. With its strength at his command, he
spread darkness across the kingdom, and the once beautiful land fell into ruin. But then, when all hope had died,
and the hour of doom seemed at hand, a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the
blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This boy, who traveled through time to
save the land, was known as the Hero of Time. The boy's tale was passed down through generations until it
became legend.

A day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all thought had been forever
sealed away by the hero once again crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs.
Ganondorf returned to Hyrule in a red wrath. He attacked the temples and stole the sages’ souls, knowing he had
to remove the power within the enchanted blade of evil’s bane. The land of Hyrule was once again turned into a
world of shadows.

The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them, but the hero had put the country
behind him and journeyed into the flows of time, and did not appear. Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people
could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew nigh and evil power drew near to the
royal palace, they left their future in the hands of fate.25

The people bring pleas to the gods

When the gods heard their pleas, they chose to seal away not only Ganon, but Hyrule itself, and so, with a
torrential downpour of rains from the heavens the fair kingdom was soon buried beneath the waves, forgotten at
the bottom of the ocean. Yet all was not lost. For the gods knew that to seal the people away with the kingdom
would be to grant Ganon's wish for the destruction of the land. So, before the sealing of the kingdom, the gods
chose those who would awaken Hyrule and build a new country and commanded them to take refuge on the
mountaintops.

So long as Ganondorf was not revived, Hyrule would remain below, never waking from its slumber. Hundreds of
years passed. The memory of the kingdom vanished, but its legend survived on the wind’s breath. On a certain
island, it became customary to garb young boys in green when they come of age. Clothed in the green of fields,
they aspire to find heroic blades and cast down evil. The elders wished only for the youths to know courage like
the hero of legend.

On that island, a young boy named Link finally came of age to wear the green of the hero. Unfortunately, his
birthday plans were about to be dashed. A giant bird flew over his island, carrying a young girl in its talons. Hot
on its tail was a pirate ship, sending a catapult barrage after it in an attempt to force it to touch down. One of the
projectiles caused the bird to drop the girl, who landed in a tree in the forest atop the island.

Link grabbed a sword and rushed off to find the girl. Her name was Tetra, and Link learned that she was captain
of that band of pirates. As Link led her back to her ship, the bird swooped down and kidnapped Link’s younger
sister, Aryll, mistaking her for Tetra. A Rito postman informed the stunned Link and the unsympathetic Tetra of
stories of a large bird who kidnapped young girls with long ears and took them back to the cursed Forsaken
Fortress. He charged Tetra with helping young Link rescue his sister from that wicked place.
25
Much of this section of the text is synthesized with a translation of the Hylian script that decorates the scrolls that appear
in the background of these scenes.
The two began traveling together, and with Tetra’s help, Link was able to infiltrate the fortress and reach the cell
where his sister was being kept. But the great bird discovered him, and at the command of a sinister shadowy
figure it hurled him into the sea.

Tetra lands on Outset Island

Link washed up on the nearby Windfall Island, recovered by the enchanted boat called the King of Red Lions.
From the King, Link learned that the seal of the gods had failed, and Ganon had returned, which meant that the
world was once again in danger. Ganon could not be defeated by human hands. The key to defeating him was
locked away in a great power that could only be wielded after much toil and hardship.

Only one who was able to overcome the trials that awaited him in the Tower of the Gods, a place that the gods of
the ancient world prepared so that they might test the courage of men, would be acknowledged a true hero. Only
then would that hero be permitted to wield the power to destroy the great evil. That power was none other than
that of the Master Sword, the blade of evil’s bane, and it could banish Ganon from the world above.

Before entering the Tower of the Gods, Link had to gather the three pearls from various islands scattered across
the Great Sea, which he accomplished with the help of an ancient conductor’s baton called the Wind Waker. But
by withdrawing the blade, Link had broken the seal on Ganondorf’s magic, stirring all the monsters frozen in
time. The blade no longer sparkled with the power to repel evil. Its power was useless, and its edges dull.

He learned also that Tetra possessed the Triforce of Wisdom, none other than the sacred power of the gods that the
royal family had kept from Ganon’s clutches for so many long years. Her mother had instructed her to keep it
close, and to safeguard it always. The Triforce of Wisdom was proof of her birthright; Tetra was the true heir to
the royal family of Hyrule, the last link in the bloodline. Tetra was Princess Zelda.

The Triforce of Wisdom had been kept within the Royal Family of Hyrule by Princess Zelda to protect it from
evil’s grasp. The Triforce of Courage had similarly been given to the Hero of Time and he kept it safe, much as
Zelda kept hers When the Hero of Time journeyed through the flows of time and left the land of Hyrule, he was
separated from the elements that made him a hero, and the Triforce of Courage remained behind.

Tetra is Princess Zelda

To complete his task, those who carried on the blood of the sages had to be found to take the stead of the old in
the temples and ask the gods for their assistance. With their power and prayers, he was able to restore the blade of
evil’s bane. He then hunted down the scattered shards of the Triforce of Courage and brought the completed piece
back to the Tower of the Gods to present it to the gods. The Triforce piece then took up residence within him,
proving that he was the true hero, the Hero of Time reborn.

Because Link had used the power of the Wind Waker to travel the Great Sea, the King of Red Lions declared him
the Hero of Winds.

Link discovered that Ganon had kidnapped Zelda and taken her to his headquarters, Ganon’s Tower, a daunting
fortress that even the legendary Knights of Hyrule could not hope to assail. Ganon was waiting for him there in
order to gather the three crests and summon the Triforce. His wish was that the rays of the sun might expose
Hyrule anew so that the kingdom, nay, the world, might be his.

But the King touched the Triforce first. The King’s wish was that Hyrule might be buried beneath the waves and
that the ancient land might drown under the torrents. He also wished for hope for his descendants, that they might
be able to create a better world.

Link duels with Ganon, assisted by Zelda

Enraged by this turn of events, Ganondorf attacked Link. With the blade of evil’s bane at its full power, Link dealt
the final death blow to Ganon. He and Tetra were spirited away to the surface as the floodwaters came crashing
down, burying Hyrule beneath the sea. Tetra and Link set out to find the land that would be the next Hyrule.

Phantom Hourglass
Release date: October 1, 2007
Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Director/Writer: Daiki Iwamoto/Hajime Takahashi
Placement: A few months after The Wind Waker

After publishing The Wind Waker in 2002, Aonuma expressed his interest in creating further tales that
documented the adventures of Link and Tetra across the sea. His interest would soon become reality, when
Phantom Hourglass appeared a few short years later. Told as a side-story after the pattern of Link’s Awakening and
Majora’s Mask before it, Phantom Hourglass took place far from Hyrule, in a distant sea haunted by an ominous
Ghost Ship. After a series of events left Tetra prisoner within the hold of the evil vessel, Link, in traditional heroic
fashion, set out to rescue her.

There was never much mystery surrounding Phantom Hourglass’s timeline placement. Tetra had only appeared
previously in The Wind Waker and Tetra’s Trackers26 as the secret identity of Princess Zelda while in hiding as a
26
Tetra’s Trackers (known as Navi Trackers in Japan) was a treasure-hunting game that was supposed to be on the same disc
as Four Swords Adventures. In territories outside Japan, however, the segment never saw release.
pirate on the Great Sea, so her existence in Phantom Hourglass alone proved its relationship to The Wind Waker.
When the story released, the events of The Wind Waker were recapped in the opening scene, confirming the
connection absolutely. These events, however, will not be recapped here.27

Story Summary

In their travels, Link and Tetra happened upon seas protected by a great spirit, the Ocean King. In these seas, the
locals whispered rumors of a mysterious Ghost Ship. Suddenly a thick fog surrounded Tetra’s vessel and the
pirates spotted a creepy, rickety old ship. Brave Tetra leaped on board to investigate, but the Ghost Ship began to
sail away. Link made a valiant attempt to follow Tetra into the Ghost Ship, but he lost his grip and plunged into
the ocean.

He awoke on an unfamiliar island with a curious fairy fluttering overhead. Her name was Ciela and she had lost
her memory. The only person she seemed to know was a mysterious old man named “Oshus,” who she called
“Grandpa.” Oshus pleaded with Link not to pursue the Ghost Ship, but Link was determined, and so Oshus lent
him a sword and bade him good luck on his travels. He suggested that Link find a sailor named Linebeck who
shared his desire to hunt down the Ghost Ship.

Link and Linebeck set sail across the Great Sea

The two struck up an agreement to set out to pursue the Ghost Ship, traveling to many islands and slaying the
monsters in the temples there. In each temple, Link freed one of the servant spirits who helped protect the seas,
and absorbed a sacred power known as the Sand of Hours into the mysterious Phantom Hourglass. If they could
free all three servant spirits, perhaps they could track down the Ghost Ship. In the end, Ciela turned out to be one
of the spirits, one who lost her memory by cloning herself to escape capture, and when she was reunited with her
other half she was able to use her power to help them.

Link infiltrated the Ghost Ship and rescued Tetra from its depths. She had been turned to a lifeless form, her Force
stolen by the Ghost Ship. Oshus appeared as if from nowhere and explained that a demon named Bellum was
responsible, that the demon sought to devour all the Force in the Ocean King’s sea. The Ghost Ship had been
drawn to Tetra because of her bold, vibrant soul. He also revealed that he was in fact the very Ocean King
himself, who like Ciela had cloned himself to escape imprisonment by Bellum.

To defeat Bellum, Link would need the power of a sacred blade, the only weapon that could harm the Phantoms.
Bellum dwelt in the lowest depths of the Temple of the Ocean King, and if Link purged it of the demon’s evil, the
Ocean King would be restored to his former glory. Link hunted down the three Pure Metals required to forge such
a blade and brought them to the swordsmith, Zauz. He forged a blade for Link, which he took to Oshus, who
blessed it with the power of the Phantom Hourglass, creating the Phantom Sword.

27
For information about the story of The Wind Waker, see the corresponding section beginning on page 29.
 Link raises the Phantom Sword as Tetra and Linebeck look on

With the Phantom Sword in hand, Link challenged Bellum in the depths of the Temple of the Ocean King. After a
trying battle, Link restored Tetra and the Ocean King to their original forms and brought peace back to the Great
Sea. The Ocean King returned Link and Tetra to the moment they boarded the Ghost Ship, and they continued
their journeys in search of new lands. The only evidence they had of their adventure was the now-empty Phantom
Hourglass and the sight of Linebeck’s ship sailing in the distance.

Spirit Tracks
Also known as “Train Whistle of the Earth”28
Release date: December 10, 2009
Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Director/Writer: Daiki Iwamoto/Hiromasa Shikata
Placement: About a century after the founding of New Hyrule after Phantom Hourglass

Spirit Tracks did what many theorists at the time thought unthinkable: it introduced a new Hyrule kingdom,
founded by Link and Tetra after the events of The Wind Waker. This new land bore close resemblance to the old,
even featuring the Lost Woods and the volcanic mountain home of the Gorons. The Lokomo clan also reminded
us of the ancient sages, both due to their association with the title by the royal family and their role as guardians
of the land, the temples, and the seals holding evil at bay.

While its timeline relationship to The Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass is pretty clear, it is hard to say whether
this new Hyrule is supposed to have some connection to the setting of other stories such as the original Zelda or
the land as depicted in Four Swords. Some have focused on the story’s connection to Force, the magical power
held within each living thing, as a tie to the Four Sword stories, but so far there have been no confirmed
relationships.

Story Summary

In a peaceful village in the countryside lived a young boy named Link, who was an apprentice about to become an
official train engineer. On the day of his graduation, he went to the castle to receive his certificate from the
kingdom's ruler, Princess Zelda. In a secret meeting after the ceremony, Zelda told him of the sudden
disappearance of the Spirit Tracks that lined the kingdom, as well as other strange occurrences. To get to the
bottom of the mystery, she asked Link to take her to the Tower of Spirits.

On their way to the tower, they ran into Chancellor Cole. Using dark magic, Cole separated Zelda's body from her
spirit and stole her body. In spirit form, Zelda, along with Link, eventually made it to the tower. Upon arriving,
they met the wise Lokoko Anjean, who told them that if all the Spirit Tracks were to disappear, the imprisoned
Demon King Malladus will be freed. Zelda's body would serve as a suitable vessel for the Demon King's return
due to the sacred power flowing through its veins, passed down from the royal line of ancient Hyrule.

28
Train Whistle of the Earth is the Japanese subtitle for this game.
Zelda and Link embarked on a journey to retrieve Zelda's body and save the kingdom from ruin. They ascended
the tower in order to claim a relic that would help them begin their quest. The guardians of the tower, the
Phantoms, had been possessed by evil spirits, but with the power of the spirits of good, Zelda was able to take
control of them to aid Link.

Once they completed their objective at the tower, their first task was to restore the Spirit Tracks, which they did
with the aid of a sacred train entrusted to the Lokomo by the spirits. Using the Spirit Train, they traveled to the
many realms of the kingdom, enlisting the other Lokomo and their sacred instruments to assist them in reaching
the temples and defeating the evils there.

Link and Zelda travel on the Spirit Train

With the tracks restored by the Force of the land, Link and Zelda ascended the Tower of Spirits and confronted
Byrne, a mysterious man who had allied himself with Cole. Together they managed to subdue Byrne, but they
were too late to stop Malladus's revival. Cole summoned the evil Demon Train to spirit Malladus away, leaving
Byrne behind as his assistance was no longer required.

Anjean sent Link and Zelda to find the Bow of Light, the only weapon that could separate Malladus's spirit from
Zelda's body. She also gave Link the Lokomo Sword, a sacred blade previously wielded only by the spirits. Byrne
suggested that they also retrieve the Compass of Light from the Tower of Spirits in order to track down the
Demon Train. With these tools of the spirits in hand, Link and Zelda plunged into the Dark Realm and destroyed
the Demon Train. The Bow of Light's power succeeded in freeing Zelda's body, and she reclaimed it, calling out
to the power of the spirits that had been handed down from her ancestors.

With his choice vessel gone, Malladus, in an act of desperation, seized control of Cole. Since Cole's body was
rejecting his spirit, he tried to ruin the world in what little time he had. Using the Bow of Light and the Lokomo
Sword in tandem, Link and Zelda successfully felled the Demon King and restored peace to the kingdom.

The Four Sword Tales

Designed as a tale that would be separate from the Triforce myths, the Four Sword tales follow a new legend
about the wind mage Vaati and the Four Sword, a blade with the power to split its wielder into four beings. The
Minish Cap opens this story by describing the origins of both Vaati and the Four Sword, ultimately depicting the
mage's original defeat. Four Swords continues the story by showing Vaati break his seal and kidnap Princess
Zelda, leading Link to face and recapture him. Four Swords Adventures brings Ganon into the story as the
mastermind of a wild series of events leading to Vaati's second release and the spread of darkness across the land.

The Minish Cap → Four Swords—Four Swords Adventures

Altogether the vast majority of their inspiration draws from the classics and The Wind Waker, leading many to use
the Four Swords titles as a bridge between the New Hyrule myth lined out in Spirit Tracks and the classic Ganon
stories. Others cite that there is no reason for the classic stories to take place in the New Hyrule. They argue that
strong ties to A Link to the Past indicate that the homages to The Wind Waker exist purely to build off of its
popularity rather than as for reasons related to chronology.

The only relevant sources as to the role of Four Swords in the timeline indicate something entirely different,
however:

The GBA Four Swords Zelda is what we’re thinking as the oldest tale in the Zelda timeline.

When the only installment in the subseries was the original Four Swords, this would have been easy for theorists
to accept. Of all the tales in this story arc, Four Swords relied the least on connections to previous titles, exploring
previously unseen regions of Hyrule and pitting Link against mostly new enemies. There was little reason to place
it anywhere. At present, however, with development of the Four Sword series split between Capcom’s Flagship
studio and Nintendo EAD and differing timeline implications posed on both sides, it is difficult to decipher the
true holistic intent for the saga. As such, until this relationship is clarified, this theory classifies it as a standalone
story separate from the Classic, Adult, and Child tales.

The Minish Cap

Release date: January 10, 2005
Platform(s): GameBoy Advance
Director/Writer: Hidemaro Fujibayashi
Placement: A few generations before Four Swords

There are no definitive statements about The Minish Cap's place in the timeline. Nevertheless, as a prequel to
Four Swords, and with only homages linking its story to any other, The Minish Cap could easily fall in place
before Four Swords as the “oldest tale” in the timeline. Several details supported this: the story appears to treat
the 'origin' of Link's trademark pointy cap, the first gift of magic to the Royal Family of Hyrule, and the original
Japanese ending of the game even concluded by saying that “Link's first adventure drew to a close.”

However, later versions of the story weakened the sense of antiquity by implying that the royal family had another
power at their disposal and by removing the “first adventure” line altogether. Since these edits were made by
Nintendo's writers to the script produced by Capcom, it is reasonable to take them to be an authoritative overwrite
of the original intent for Four Swords (and consequently The Minish Cap) to be the “oldest tale.” That Aonuma’s
recent comments about “first tales” leave out The Minish Cap and Four Swords corroborate this conclusion also.

Story Summary

Long, long ago, evil spirits descended upon the land of Hyrule. Just when it seemed that the world was to be cast
into the darkest of shadows, the tiny Picori appeared from the skies and bestowed on a courageous human a
shining golden light and a single sword. This bravest of men used his wisdom and courage, his golden light, and
his sword to fight off the demons and restore peace to the world. The people were so grateful for the Picori’s help
that they held an annual celebration in their honor.

Monsters attack the people of Hyrule

The tradition of the Picori Festival continued, but over the generations, the Picori themselves passed into legend.
The legend of the Picori tells of a mystic doorway that opens just once every hundred years. When the door is
open, the Picori can cross from their world into Hyrule.

One year, on that year in one hundred, the festival was unusually grand. Hyrule Castle was hosting a tournament
of sword-fighting skill, recalling the great battles of legend. That year’s champion was a man by the name of
Vaati. He won the tournament with an almost magical ease, and all of Hyrule was abuzz with rumors about this
shadowy figure. The young Link, who attended the festival that year with his childhood friend, the princess,
Zelda, was charged by his grandfather, a Master Smith, with delivering a sword that would be presented to the
champion.

During the ceremony following the sword competition, Vaati shattered the sacred Picori blade and opened the
Bound Chest, which, for an age, had been sealed by the Picori blade, trapping evil monsters within. Vaati was
after the sacred Force, that golden light that was once wielded by the hero of the Picori legend. He subdued the
castle guard and turned Princess Zelda to stone before making a speedy departure. Link was then asked by Master
Smith to seek out the Picori and ask them to reforge the sacred blade, and traveled to the Minish Woods.

Ezlo and Link arrive at the Minish Village

There he met Ezlo, a curious creature who he rescued from a group of monsters. Ezlo hopped on his head like a
hat and offered to help him find the Picori. He also helped Link shrink down to the miniscule size of the Picori
people, who called themselves the Minish. Link met with the elder of the Minish village, who told him that in
order to reforge the sacred Picori sword he would require the four Elements, sacred jewels which embodied the
power of the elements: earth, fire, water, and wind.

Once he had gathered the four Elements, he brought the Picori blade, renamed the White Sword by a Minish
swordsmith, to the Picori Shrine beneath Hyrule Castle. There he infused the White Sword with the Elements,
turning it back into the full sacred blade: the Four Sword. It had the power to split one warrior into four.
Meanwhile, Vaati had brainwashed the King of Hyrule and shrouded Hyrule Castle in darkness. He had
discovered that the sacred Force had actually been passed down through Hyrule’s princesses, and so he prepared
to extract the Force from Princess Zelda. Link rushed to her rescue, and, after subduing Vaati, he used the Four
Sword’s power to restore Zelda. He then proceeded to destroy Vaati.

Link duels one of Vaati's monsters

Vaati had been a Minish, an apprentice of Ezlo, who was also a Minish. Ezlo had made a magical cap with the
power to grant wishes, but Vaati had stolen it and used it to become a powerful sorcerer. He had transformed Ezlo
into a hat and then proceeded to hunt down the powerful Force mentioned in the legends. Now that Vaati had
fallen, the wishing cap could be used to restore Hyrule. Princess Zelda put on the cap and wished with all her
heart that Vaati’s cruelty might be undone. With her righteous wish and the power of the Force that still dwelled
within her, many miracles happened as a result.

Now that the land of the humans had been saved, Ezlo ventured back into the world of the Minish, not to return
until perhaps the next day, on that year in one-hundred, when the doorway to their world opens once again.

Four Swords
Release date: December 2, 2002
Platform(s): GameBoy Advance
Director/Writer: Hidemaro Fujibayashi
Placement: A few generations after The Minish Cap

Story information, timeline placement sources, and even background for Four Swords are all extremely scarce
due to the minimalist structure of the tale. See “The Four Sword Tales” on pages 35-36 for more information.

Story Summary

Vaati was a wind sorcerer who could bend the wind to his will. He used this awful power to terrorize many
villages of Hyrule. In his assaults on the villages, Vaati would kidnap any beautiful girls who caught his fancy.
Many knights from the castle and other brave men set out to subdue the sorcerer and rescue the girls, but each one
fell to Vaati’s awesome power. Just as the people had begun to lose hope, a lone young boy traveling with little
but a sword at his side appeared.

When the young lad took out his sword, he split into four separate beings. The legends say these four beings
worked as one and defeated Vaati. The wanderer, united once again, imprisoned Vaati deep in Hyrule and sealed
the prison with his own sword. This place became known as the Realm of the Four Sword. The boy then went
deep into the forest and disappeared. The people did not believe the story, but they called it the Four Sword
nonetheless. As rumors of the blade’s power to divide a person into four entities spread, the people built a shrine
to protect it.

The Shrine of the Four Sword

Princess Zelda of the land of Hyrule was a beautiful young girl born with the mysterious power to sense
approaching forces of evil. For this reason, she was assigned with the sacred duty of protecting the shrine of the
Four Sword and the blade itself. One day, Zelda was in Hyrule Castle when she sensed that something unusual
was occurring at the Four Sword Shrine. She asked a boy named Link, whom she trusted above anyone else, to
accompany her to investigate the happenings at the shrine.
Then, the wind sorcerer Vaati broke out of his prison and then snatched Princess Zelda. Link claimed the strange
power of the Four Sword and fought Vaati fiercely. In the end, he succeeded in sealing Vaati away once again.
And so, peace was restored to Hyrule once again. Or so everyone thought...

Four Swords Adventures

Release date: June 7, 2004
Platform(s): GameCube
Director/Writer: Toshiaki Suzuki/Aya Kyogoku
Placement: A short time after Four Swords

Despite the original trends indicating an early placement for the Four Sword stories, Four Swords Adventures
paved new ground, instead focusing its story and overworld on that of A Link to the Past. Link travels to many
familiar spots from A Link to the Past, encounters shrine maidens who take on the roles traditionally held by the
sages, and even Ganon’s appearance bears a resemblance. Every facet of the story of Four Swords Adventures is a
love letter to the classics.

Even considering this, however, much of Four Swords Adventures fails to translate directly to A Link to the Past’s
story. The Triforce and the Sacred Realm, both of which were at the forefront of A Link to the Past’s story, are
eerily absent, and with Ocarina of Time already sufficiently covering most of the bases, it is difficult to reconcile
Four Swords Adventures with the rest of the picture. However, it is possible that A Link to the Past may someday
be updated to mesh with the groundwork set in this title. Until such a day comes this theory sets Adventures aside
with the rest of the Four Sword stories.

Story Summary

Swiftly and suddenly, ominous clouds that filled all those who saw them with fear covered all of Hyrule, and a
sense of dread swept across the land. Princess Zelda, worried about the seal that bound the wind sorcerer Vaati,
called Link and the six maidens who guard Hyrule and the Four Sword Sanctuary to make sure Vaati’s seal
remained strong. Princess Zelda and the six maidens were taken by dark forces, and, in order to save them Link
drew the mystic blade, accepting the destiny of the hero even if it meant setting Vaati free once more.

The four Links traversed the land as a team, tackling the enemy everywhere they could, from the tiptops of
Hyrule’s tallest waterfalls to the halls of Hyrule Castle, from the summit of Death Mountain to the deep and dark
Lost Woods, from the southern coast to the harsh Desert of Doubt to the west. As they went, they fought the evil
Shadow Link, a mimic of Link spawned by the Dark Mirror, which had the power to reveal the wickedness within
a person and bring it to life, in order to free the maidens from their crystal prisons.

The Four Links combine their efforts to battle evil

They also encountered the Knights of Hyrule, who had been twisted by a dark and sinister force and become
monsters. The team of Links used the light of the Four Sword to release the knights from their curse, and they
rewarded the group with the four jewels needed to reveal the Tower of Winds.
Rumors of an evil king named Ganon began to swirl about the land. Further investigation revealed that Ganon
was a pseudonym for Ganondorf of the Gerudo Tribe. Once destined to be the mighty guardian of the Gerudo and
the desert, his heart had grown wicked over the passing years. He was the one who had stolen the Dark Mirror,
cast the Knights of Hyrule into the Dark World, and used the power of darkness granted to him by an ancient
trident to smother the light of Hyrule.

Driven onward to defeat Ganon, the Links rescued the remaining maidens, including Princess Zelda, and defeated
the wind sorcerer Vaati in his fortress in the heavens. But there were still monsters about, the tower was
crumbling, and Zelda sensed a tremendous power approaching. It was Ganon, King of Darkness, ancient demon
reborn. His goal had been to use Vaati to remake Hyrule into a land of darkness. The four-who-are-one combined
their forces with Zelda and the other maidens and sealed Ganon away from the world.