The Legend of Zelda Timeline

The timeline of the Zelda series is notorious for being very unclear and potentially confusing. This is due to Nintendo's focus on gameplay over story as well as the vagueness of Nintendo officials as to the actual game order. Although Eiji Aonuma has mentioned the existence of a confidential document with the proper order of the Zelda games, he has to declined to reveal the official game order aside from the fact that the timeline splits into two timelines in the ending of Ocarina of Time, and he has mentioned the intended timeline placement for the games surrounding the timeline split. Most recent games have been assigned clear timeline placements, but the older games in particular (as well as the Four Swords subseries) remain unrevealed and subjects of debate. Ocarina of Time has been almost universally acknowledged as the earliest game in the timeline (aside from speculation that The Minish Cap takes place first), but it has been replaced since Skyward Sword was revealed to take place prior to Ocarina. For more details on the connections between games (both concrete and implied), see the "Continuity Notes" on each game's individual page.

Pre-Timeline Split

The following are backstory events that all seem to be set early in the Zelda canon, some of which possibly overlap due to the vagueness of the connections between each events' individual timeframe.

Creation Story

At the beginning, the world contained nothing but chaos. Then the Three Golden Goddesses (Din, Nayru and Farore) descended and created the world. Din, the Goddess of Power, used her fiery powers to shape the earth and made the mountains red. Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, brought order to nature by creating science and magic. Farore, the Goddess of Courage, then created all of the living creatures. The goddesses then departed from the world and left the Triforce behind at the spot where they left the earth as a symbol of their power. The land where they descended became known as the Sacred Realm.

Skyward Sword

Skyward Sword currently appears to be the first game in the canon. The details of the storyline remain unknown due to the game still being in development, but it is known that this game will show the creation of the Master Sword.

The Dark Interlopers

In Twilight Princess, it is mentioned that "a great battle" ensued when word of the Sacred Realm spread throughout Hyrule, which may refer to the fierce war. A mysterious tribe of dark interlopers who were skilled at magic appeared at this time and attempted to conquer the Sacred Realm. The goddesses had the three light spirits act on their behalf, and they sealed the interlopers' magic away in the form of the Fused Shadows. The tribe was then chased out of Hyrule's sacred lands and driven into another realm by the goddesses. This realm was the antithesis of Hyrule and was known as the Twilight Realm. The tribe was trapped there, unable to return to the world of light, and they eventually became the Twili Tribe. The Mirror of Twilight was left in Hyrule as a link to the Twilight Realm and passed onto Hyrule's protectors so that the worlds could be linked again in the future. The Twili Tribe lived a mostly peaceful existence until the time of Twilight Princess.

The Fierce War

It is known that a war was fought within Hyrule at some point and seemed to end within several decades of Ocarina of Time. The backstory of A Link to the Past also specifically mentions that wars broke out amongst people searching for the Triforce and the Sacred Realm. As for the war mentioned in Ocarina of Time, it ended with the King of Hyrule unifying the country. The mother of the Hero of Time was a casualty of the war, but she entrusted her child to the Great Deku Tree to be raised in safety at Kokiri Forest before she died.

The Legend of the Sleeping Zelda

This backstory for Zelda II seems to have been intended to take place early in Hyrule's history, but the way this story establishes with the canon that Ocarina has established makes this unclear.

At one point, Hyrule was a single country which the king maintained using the Triforce. When the king died, the prince was to be his heir, but he only inherited part of the Triforce. A shady magician confronted the prince with the information that his younger sister, who is intended to be the original Princess Zelda, knew the missing Triforce's location. The prince harshly interrogated Zelda, and the magician joined in when Zelda refused to speak. He put a spell on her which trapped her in an eternal slumber. The magician is said to have died at the same time. The prince kept the sleeping Zelda safe in hopes that she would one day be awakened and decided that all daughters of the royal family would be named Zelda in her honor.

The Temple of Time

It is uncertain exactly when this occurred, but it was at least several generations prior to Ocarina of Time (and had to end within a decade of the game taking place due to Link's age). The ancient sages decided to protect the Triforce by building the Temple of Time. This acted as the only entrance to the Sacred Realm, and it was sealed by several fail safes. Someone would first have to open the Door of Time by playing the Song of Time on the Ocarina of Time, an heirloom of the Royal Family, after all three Spiritual Stones, which were distributed to some of Hyrule's other species, were placed in the Altar of Time. Even after that, the portal to the Sacred Realm was only unlocked by drawing the Master Sword, which was held in the room beyond the Door of Time. This seemed to be so that only a true hero could reach the Triforce.

The Hero of Time

The thief Ganondorf learned about the method to reach the Sacred Realm and set it into motion in order to unlock the way to the Temple of Time. He threatened the three races who held the Spiritual Stones, causing the death of the Deku Tree in the process. This motivated Link, who was still just a child, into action, as well as his meeting with Princess Zelda, who told him the secrets about the Temple of Time. Link was able to collect all three of the Spiritual Stones, but Ganondorf than staged a coup in which he killed the king and chased Zelda from Hyrule. The princess was still able to leave the Ocarina of Time with Link, so he was able to use it to open the Door of Time. He also was able to draw the Master Sword to unlock the gate, but due to being too young to be the Hero of Time, he fell into a hibernation for the next seven years. Ganondorf was able to step through the portal and grab the Triforce, but because he was impure, it separated into three pieces. Ganondorf received only the Triforce of Power, while the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom went to Link and Zelda, respectively.

Over the next seven years, Ganondorf took control of Hyrule, and his influence called the Sacred Realm to become a realm of darkness (possibly the Dark World from A Link to the Past). While Zelda began operating in secret as Sheik, Link was held in the Chamber of Sages within the Sacred Realm by Rauru. When Link awakened as an adult, he was truly ready to become the Hero of Time. Rauru told him everything he needed to know and sent him out to find the six sages. In the process, Link was also able to travel through time, as he was returned to the Hyrule of his childhood (and de-aged) whenever he returned the Master Sword to the Temple of Time. Within the adult timeline, Link was able to gather all six of the sages, at which point Zelda revealed herself as the seventh sage. Together, they were all able to defeat Ganondorf, and they sealed him within the Dark Realm while he still had the Triforce of Power. Princess Zelda then played the Ocarina to send Link back in time so that he could live through the childhood that he had missed out on, which marked the beginning of the child timeline while also causing Link to no longer be part of the adult timeline.

Child Timeline

Link's Childhood

Within this timeline, Link was returned to his childhood self following his adventures in the "future" and left the Master Sword in the Temple of Time, closing the entrance to the Sacred Realm. However, in the ending it was shown that he still had the Triforce of Courage due to the mark on his hand. He confronted Zelda in the garden, which implies that this occurs prior to Ganondorf's coup and possibly even prior to their original first meeting. It is unknown what they say or what exactly happens next, due to Ganondorf presumably still being active in this time, but it is implied that whatever happens leads to the events described under "The Divine Prank". The Hero of Time then set off in search of Navi, which resulted in his three-day time loop adventure in the parallel world of Termina. He seemed to be restored to the Lost Woods afterwards, but his activities afterwards are unknown.

The Divine Prank

Ganondorf was "exposed, subdued and brought to justice" through unspecified means, and he was unable to complete his quest to reach the Sacred Realm. He was brought to the Arbiter's Ground by the Seven Sages (who looked very different from the sages in other games), where they decided to execute him by impaling him on the Master Sword. However, Ganondorf survived due to suddenly gaining the Triforce of Power. This inexplicable event was chalked up to being some "divine prank" of the gods. In a desperate attempt to stop him when he broke loose, they activated the Mirror of Twilight, which trapped Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm.

Twilight Princess

Within the Twilight Realm, Ganondorf was eventually awakened by the Twili people, the disgruntled royal servant Zant in particular. Ganon took on a godlike form and appeared before Zant, filling him with his power in order to use him as a pawn to escape the Twillight Realm. With Ganondorf's power, Zant was able to take control of the Twili tribe and exiled Princess Midna after turning her into an imp with her dark magic. He then began merging the Twilight Realm with the world of light. A new Hero named Link arose and worked with Midna to awaken the three light spirits in order to drive away the Twilight Realm while collecting the Fused Shadows to stand a chance against Zant. The power of the Fused Shadows was nothing compared to the Triforce of Power, but Link soon was able to claim the Master Sword, which was held within the Temple of Time's ruins (which acts as a transition between the Master Sword's resting places in Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past).

Zant broke the Mirror of Twilight to prevent Link and Midna from reaching him, but they were able to put the Mirror together and kill Zant after attacking the Palace of Twilight with the help of the Master Sword as well as the Fused Shadows. However, Ganondorf had been able to escape into Hyrule at some point and was able to take over Hyrule Castle. Link, Midna and eventually Zelda as well engaged Ganondorf in combat, and it ended with Ganondorf being impaled on the Master Sword. Ganondorf's Triforce mark disappears, and he appears to die. Link and Zelda also both have Triforce marks in this game, which is never explained or clearly addressed. Ganondorf's apparent death finally undoes his magic, which restores Midna to her true form. She returns to the Twilight Realm through the Mirror of Twilight and permanently destroys it in the process, seemingly sealing off the Twilight Realm forever.

Adult Timeline

The Flood

This timeline follows from the "future" of Ocarina of Time. Once the Hero of Time was sent back in time (or apparently in actuality, to the other timeline), he lost the Triforce of Courage for this timeline, which separated into eight pieces which scattered across Hyrule. Hyrule lived peacefully for some time until Ganon was able to breach the seal on the Dark Realm through unspecified means and began a new campaign on Hyrule. This time, there was no Hero to save them, so the people of Hyrule resorted to prayer. The goddesses heard these prayers and decided to flood Hyrule, while commanding the populace to seek refuge and build a new country in the mountains, which became islands in the Great Sea once the flood was complete. The old Hyrule was actually preserved in a bubble at the bottom of the sea, but it was frozen in time to prevent Ganon from escaping. The mechanism for this was the Master Sword itself, which was kept in the cellar of Hyrule Castle. King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule stayed in Hyrule and was frozen with part of the Triforce of Wisdom in his possession. The other half was passed down to his daughter, who lived on the Great Sea as a pirate and passed the Triforce piece down her family line. The Master Sword also sealed Ganon's full power away. Two sages, Fado and Laruto, were appointed to strengthen the Master Sword using their prayers at the Wind and Earth Temples, respectively. However, Ganon was somehow able to find and kill them, which caused the Master Sword.

The Hero of Winds

Ganondorf eventually escaped to the surface (possibly due to the Master Sword weakening) and resumed his search for the remainder of the Triforce and sent out the Helmaroc King to hunt all Hylian girls, knowing that one of them could be the Royal Family's heir, who would have the Triforce of Wisdom. At the same time, King Daphnes was able to use a Gossip Stone to posses a boat on the Great Sea called the King of Red Lion in order to search of a new Hero. This hero was Link of Outset Island, who was drawn into the conflict and met Ganondorf after his sister was among the girls captured by the Helmaroc King. With the guidance of the King of Red Lions, Link was able to use the three pearls to access the Tower of the Gods and was confirmed as the Hero of the Winds after he passed its tests. This allowed him to enter Ancient Hyrule, and he drew the Master Sword which unfroze time in Hyrule. However, the Master Sword had become dull without the prayers of sages to sustain it, so Link recruited Makar and Medli as the new Sages of Wind and Earth, and together they were able to bring the Master Sword to full strength.

Link also managed to gather the pieces of the Triforce of Courage by fishing for them. The pirate Tetra, whom had accompanied Link, was brought to the king at one point and was told of her true lineage as Princess Zelda, and she was given the other piece of the Triforce of Wisdom. Ganondorf was later able to capture Zelda and also managed to grab Link when he attacked his castle, and with both of them beaten Ganondorf was able to summon the Triforce. King Daphnes beat him to the wish, though, and he wished for hope for the future as well as for Hyrule to finally be consumed by the flood. This caused the protective bubble surrounding Hyrule to dissipate, and the Great Sea's waters flooded Hyrule. Link managed to plant the Master Sword in Ganondorf's head, which turned his body into stone. King Daphnes used the last of his power to return Link and Tetra to the surface of the sea, and he himself stayed behind to die. Link and Tetra heeded King Daphnes's last words by setting out on Tetra's pirate ship to find a new land that they could call their own.

New Hyrule

After spending some time traveling, Tetra's group eventually found a new land and settled there. This land was named the new Hyrule, despite the king having suggested otherwise. During the settlement's early days, they were plagued by the Demon King Malladus. The spirits of good that protected the land waged a war against Malladus which dragged on and caused much bloodshed. In the end, they succeeded in subduing Malladus and, although they could not destroy them, they were able to use their remaining power to seal Malladus's spirit in the ground. The SpiritV Tracks were built covering the land as shackles to imprison him, and the Tower of the Spirits was erected as its lock. This left the people of the new Hyrule completely in control of their land, for the time being. The Lokomo Tribe, who were connected with the spirits of good and were implied to have inhabited the land prior to the settlers, were entrusted with protecting the seal.

One hundred years later, Chancellor Cole began secretly working to remove the Spirit Tracks and split the Tower of Spirits in order to revive Malladus. He also separated Zelda's soul from her body and took her body away to be used to revive Malladus. Zelda's spirit than worked with Link in his quest, and with the help of the Lokomo Tribe, they traveled across Hyrule and restored as much of the Spirit Tracks as they could, eventually fixing the Tower of Spirits as well. Cole was still able to revived Malladus in Zelda's body, however. Link and Zelda worked together to force Malladus out of Zelda's body, and she finally was reunited with it. The two of them then worked together to destroy Malladus once he assumed his true form. The Lokomo Tribe ascended to the heavens at this time.

Other Events

These events could potentially take place in either timeline (but most likely within the child timeline), and their order is uncertain aside from several connected games. Note that some of these games could even potentially take place prior to the timeline split, although this is highly unlikely for most of these games with the exception of The Minish Cap.

The Adventures of Link

Several generations prior to the events of these games (The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, some unidentified figure (possibly the king or prince from The Legend of the Sleeping Zelda, depending on the game order) found that no one in Hyrule was worthy of wielding the full Triforce. To protect it, he decided to hide the Triforce of Courage within the Great Palace in Northern Hyrule, and the path there could only be unlocked by placing six crystals in different temples which were protected by special guardians. This figure also cast a spell over Hyrule so that someone worthy of wielding the Triforce would develop a Triforce mark on their hand. These instructions were kept within a scroll that was passed down Impa's family for generations. As for the Triforces of Wisdom and Power, they were kept within Hyrule.

Ganon eventually made his move and captured the Triforce of Power, then he moved in to capture Princess Zelda, who had the Triforce of Wisdom on her. She split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces, which were hidden in the various labyrinths of the Underworld. Link was drawn into this conflict after rescuing Impa and managed to unite the Triforce of Wisdom, with which he was able to enter Ganon's Death Mountain lair and destroy him. He claimed the Triforce of Power from his ashes. Things remained peaceful until Link's sixteenth birthday, when he developed the Triforce crest. Impa then sent him on the quest to revive the sleeping Zelda. At the same time, Ganon's minions sought him so that they could use his blood to revive Ganon. Link successfully defeated all his enemies, reached the Great Palace and found the Triforce of Courage. The sleeping Princess Zelda was then finally awakened by the complete Triforce.

Ganon in the Dark World

The Seal War

The "seal war" or "War of Imprisoning" is described in the backstory of A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time was intended to be the story of the Seal War, but there are enough differences between the two accounts for it to be debatable whether or not Ocarina of Time was the seal war.

The search for the Sacred Realm caused strife and conflict throughout Hyrule. Ganondorf's group of thieves eventually stumbled across the entrance of the Sacred Realm purely by chance. Ganondorf managed to reach the Triforce first and is implied to have killed his followers in the process. This is when Ganondorf became the King of Evil, Ganon. No one knows what Ganon wishes for, but his evil spread through the Sacred Realm (corrupting it to make it the Dark World) and out to Hyrule in the form of noxious gas, consuming various greedy people. The King of Hyrule called for the seven sages and the Knights of Hyrule for help in stopping Ganon. They first sought someone to wield the Master Sword, but they found no one. Instead, the Knights of Hyrule gave their lives protecting the seven sages as they sealed the entrance to the Dark World. This trapped Ganon within the Dark World, seemingly forever.

The Cataclysm

It is uncertain if the Palace of the Four Sword which was included in the GBA remake of A Link to the Past and seems to be connected to the Four Swords subseries is intended to be canon.

Ganon had a sorceror named Aganhim who functioned as his alterego in Hyrule. Aganhim earned the trust of the king of Hyrule and managed to act in his place after doing away with him (it is unclear whether or not Aganhim killed him). Aganhim captured the seven maidens who were descended from the seven sages and sacrificed them to the Dark World in order to break the seal and free Ganon. The seventh maiden was Zelda, who was able to bring Link to save her. Link managed to gather the three pendants and used them to draw the Master Sword, which was kept within the Lost Woods. While he was there, Zelda was captured by Hyrulian soldiers and was sacrificed by Aganhim just as Link arrived. Aganhim than cast Link into the Dark World. There he managed to rescue the seven maidens who were trapped within crystals at the end of separate dungeons within the Dark World. The maidens were able to break the barrier surrounding Ganon's Tower. Link was able to destroy Aganhim, with Ganon flying out from his body. He finally battled Ganon within the Pyramind of Power and, with the help of the Silver Arrows, he was able to destroy Ganon. Link finally found the full Triforce in the room behind and used it to restore Hyrule to a peaceful place, notably restoring even people who seemed to have died. The Dark World was also reverted to being the Sacred Realm, and Triforce is implied to have drifted apart afterwards.

The Oracles of Seasons and Ages

These take place in a time when the three pieces of the Triforce seemed to be held in Hyrule Castle (although they did not seem to be united), and Ganon had been killed. The Triforce pieces spoke to a young Link, who notably had a Triforce crest on his hand and sent him away to adventures in Holodrum and Labrynna. Link defeated General Onox and Veran in order to rescue the oracles Din and Nayru, respectively, within these two subsequent adventures. However, this was a plot organized by Twinrova to revive Ganon. Two of the three torches they needed were lit, and they kidnapped Princess Zelda to light the third one. They then were ready to sacrifice her in order to revive Ganon, but Link arrived and defeated them. The fused Twinrova instead sacrificed herself out of desperation. This caused Ganon to be revived as a mindless beast, whom Link was able to destroy with relative ease.

Four Swords series

It should be noted that The Minish Cap and its backstory are considered to be capable of taking place at nearly any point in Hyrulian history, including prior to the Ocarina of Time. However, this could change in the near future depending on the storyline of Skyward Sword.

The Coming of the Picori

There was a time "a long, long time ago" when the world was nearly consumed by some vague shadow, but the tiny Minish creatures appeared from the sky to help. They brought a sword known as the Picori Blade and a "golden light" to the "hero of men" (who is depicted as another Link). With this, the hero was able to drive out the darkness. The people of Hyrule then enshrined the Picori Blade, which was planted within the Bound Chest. It kept the Bond Chest shut and trapped various evil creatures within. As for the mysterious light force (which is represented as a golden triangle in a stain glass window but is apparently separate from the Triforce), it was was put within Princess Zelda and was passed down the bloodline of the Royal Family's females, granting them exceptional magical talent.

The Rise of Vaati

A Minish named Vaati stole the Minish Cap, a hat designed by Ezlo that contained great power. With it, he assumed human form and went to Hyrule in search of the Light Force. He opened the Bound Chest, breaking the Picori Blade in the proccess, but he found only monsters within. Vaati turned Princess Zelda into stone in the process and left to continue his search, eventually imprisoning and impersonating the king of Hyrule to meet these ends. Zelda's childhood friend, the latest Link, then set out on a journey to repair the Picori Blade with the guidance of Ezlo, whom Vaati had transformed into a talking hat. Link was able to empower the Picori Blade with four different elements, which reforged it into the Four Sword and gave him the ability to temporarily form multiple copies of himself. Once they found out the truth about the Light Force, Vaati began draining it from Princess Zelda. Link and Ezlo intervened before he could finish and seemingly destroyed him in the following battle. Princess Zelda and Ezlo was restored, and Zelda was able to use the Minish Cap combined with the Light Force that she still had to restore Hyrule to peace.

The Legend of the Four Sword

Some uncertain amount of time later, Vaati rose again. In this time, he was known as the Wind Mage and kidnapped various maidens seemingly out of peversion while terrorizing Hyrule. Various heroes tried to stop Vaati, but they all failed until an unnamed boy appeared. He wielded the Four Sword, using it to split into four and defeat Vaati. Vaati was sealed within the Four Sword, which was enshrined in the Four Sword Sanctuary, and it was watching over by the Princess Zelda. Some time after bthe original sealing, Vaati was able to break his seal and captured Princess Zelda when she came to check up on the sword. Her friend Link then drew the Four Sword and used it to defeat Vaati, sealing him away again in the same manner.

The Rise of Ganon

Princess Zelda and Link regularly checked Vaati's seal at the Four Sword Sanctuary with the shrine maidens. However, the evil Gerudo thief had ambitions to take over Hyrule and used Vaati for his own means. He found the mysterious Dark Mirror, which a dark tribe had been imprisoned within long ago, and he used it to create various Dark Links. The Dark Link captured Princess Zelda and the shrine maidens, imprisoning them within crystals that were held in seven areas. Link was goaded into drawing the Four Sword by the Dark Link, which freed Vaati. The four Links then traveled across Hyrule and slowly rescued the shrine maidens, ending with Princess Zelda, while collecting Force Gems to strengthen the Four Sword. Ganondorf operated on his own at the same time and stole the Trident of Power, which was held in the desert. This caused him to become the Demon King Ganon. The Links and Zelda were able work together to seal off the Dark Mirror to cut off production of Dark Links, destroy Vaati seemingly permanently and then defeat Ganon. Ganon was sealed within the Four Sword instead of Vaati, which was kept at the Four Sword Sanctuary.