There are so many games in The Legend of Zelda franchise that the timeline can get a little muddled. Here is the full story explained.

RELATED: Why Amazon Should Have Made a Legend of Zelda TV Series (& Not Rings of Power)

When it comes to The Legend of Zelda and the game franchise timeline, it immediately gives fans everywhere a migraine. It is safe to assume that the creators of the games did not have a particular storyline in mind when creating the games. That, or they decided it would be fun to provide Steins Gate-level confusion with their various (and inconsistent) timelines. With 20 official games (including the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of Kingdom), many have veered from the initial timeline established in Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Minish Cap, Four Swords, and Ocarina of Time. But from here, the storyline breaks into three different timelines, and this is where it becomes complicated.

The first clarity fans of the franchise received regarding the timeline were published in The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. And while it manages to puzzle everything together nicely, another problem arises with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, we will try and decipher the complicated timeline here and give you some semblance of a timeline. While there are some prequel and sequel games, we will try and focus on the main timeline and the three they branched off into. From there, we will try to figure out where The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of Kingdom fits into the timeline.

RELATED: AI Program Flawlessly Casts Tom Holland as Link From Legend of Zelda

The Main Legend of Zelda Timeline

Okay, so the first video game that reveals the origins of the franchise timeline is the 2011 instalment, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Here, it is explained that three goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore, created the universe out of chaos. However, upon completing their mission, they disappear, leaving behind the Triforce with the goddess, Hylia. Who knows why these goddesses left the Triforce behind, but it is powerful enough that anyone who touches it can have their wish granted. Of course, the catch is that they have a balance of the three virtues that each of the creation goddesses left behind: Power, Wisdom, and Courage.

So, what happens if someone doesn’t have an equal balance of these virtues? Well, the Triforce splits apart, leaving the toucher with the piece they embody most, and the other two parts are given to two random people. And this does not necessarily mean those will be good individuals, as the Triforce does not distinguish between good and evil. But anyways, Triforce exposition aside, a bunch of demons and evil people want to get their hands on the Triforce. A full-on war breaks out when the Demon King, Demise, awakens to take the Triforce from Hylia. Naturally, Hylia creates Skyloft to send the remaining humans with the sacred relic to live in the sky so they are not caught up in the war. Hylia defeats Demise and seals him away in the Temple on the Isle of the Goddess.

Since the seal is not strong, a Sheikah is enlisted to guard it, a job passed down through generations of Shadow Folk. Unfortunately, Hylia cannot use the Triforce herself and, instead, has her soul reincarnate into a young girl named Zelda. How many years later is this? We cannot tell you. But this is where Zelda heads down to the surface from Skyloft (well, more like dragged down by one of Demise’s cronies, Ghirahim) with her childhood friend and our chosen hero, Link, following close behind. And this is also where the events of Skyward Sword begin. Together, Link and Zelda defeat Demise, who uses his last breath to curse them to repeat the cycle of having to defeat him. Basically, the demon king would be reincarnated along with his thirst to take over the world and his hatred for anyone with Hylia’s blood in their veins. From here, Link absorbs Demise into Master Sword and leaves it in the Temple of Time.

RELATED: The 7 Worst Game Bugs And Glitches Of All Time

Now we have reached the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (2002). Although the events are unimportant, they help bring the timeline together. Both games focus on Vaati, an evil sorcerer who wants to use the Light Force inside Princess Zelda. At this point, she had already established the Kingdom of Hyrule, with the Temple of Time now protected by the kingdom walls. Vaati opens the Bound Chest by breaking the Picori blade in search of the Light Force. He frees a bunch of evil, turns Zelda to stone, and then is defeated by Link with the Four Sword.

And this, of course, leads to the events of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, taking place a century later and seeing the return of Vaati. Here, Zelda is kidnapped by the sorcerer, and fairies instruct Link to unsheathe the Four Sword. As the lore of the magical sword states, Link is split into four warriors and they head to the Palace of Winds where Zelda is being held. They defeat Vaati, seal him in the Four Sword and then it is returned to its place in Hyrule. Link merges back into one person, and this takes us to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Now, Nintendo throws a random centuries-old Hyrule civil war at us. The reason for the wars is not stated, but it can be assumed that it was a necessary conflict to kick off the events of this game. As such, we see a woman entrusting her baby to The Great Deku Tree and, surprise-surprise…the baby happens to be Link. Fast forward by a decade, and then we are introduced to Ganondorf, who turns out to be the demon king, Demise (the logic). And this is where it gets complicated. Link goes to the Temple of Time, opens the Door of Time, and then uses the sword OG Link placed in Skyward Sword to open the door to the Sacred Realm.

So now, Link ends up taking a seven-year-long nap because he sealed himself in the Temple of Time and leaves the door of the Sacred Realm wide open. Obviously, Ganondorf shoots his shot and tries to obtain the full Triforce while simultaneously conquering Hyrule. He is only able to obtain the Power triforce while the Wisdom triforce goes to Zelda, and the Courage triforce ends up with Link. After Ganondorf takes over Hyrule and corrupts the Sacred Realm and the Temple of the Sages, he kidnaps Zelda. When Link finally wakes up, he rescues Zelda at Ganon’s castle and wins the battle against Ganondorf. This is where the ridiculous timeline split comes into play.

RELATED: The Real Cost of Gaming In 2023

How The Legend of Zelda Timeline Got Triforced

It is the outcome of the battle between Link and Ganondorf, as well as the odd choices made by Princess Zelda after that messed things up. First, Ganondorf uses the last of his Triforce power to turn himself into Ganon, the Demon King. However, Link and the Seven Sages trap him and his third of the Triforce in the Sacred Realm once again. Once Hyrule is restored, Zelda feels guilty for Link losing seven years of his life. So she uses the Ocarina of Time and sends him back in time to relive his childhood. Not only is this a wild decision on her part, but it also creates two out of the three split timelines: the Adult Timeline and the Child Timeline.

The Child Timeline is everything that happens to Link after Zelda sends him back in time. Here, Link is able to stop Ganondorf from breaking free from the Sacred Realm. In the Adult Timeline, it follows the events of what happened in Hyrule after Link was sent back. Because the hero is no longer present, Ganondorf breaks free from the Sacred Realm and wreaks havoc across the kingdom. It is so bad; the three creation goddesses are forced to intervene. Then, the Fallen Hero timeline sees Link losing to Ganondorf in the final battle of Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf claims all three pieces of the Triforce and becomes the Demon King. For the sake of coherence and chronology, we will first look at the Child Timeline.

The Child Timeline

The events of this timeline begin with the events of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. When Link arrives back in his original time, he puts the Master Sword back on its pedestal and warns Zelda of the events to come. So, the princess hands him the Ocarina of Time and tells him to leave so Ganondorf does not awaken in this timeline, which means the Seven Sages also do not awaken in this timeline. With his trusty horse, Link enters a parallel world known as Termina, where some bad things are going on. An Imp possesses the Majora’s mask and uses it to bring the moon crashing down on the world. Link uses the Ocarina of Time and a series of masks and defeats the imp, saving Termina. He continues his journey, depressed that no one will remember his deeds.

After another 100-year time skip, we now get to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Ganondorf is finally set to be executed, but the Ancient Sages cannot kill him because he possesses the Power triforce, a third of the Triforce. At that, Ganondorf kills one of the Ancient Sages (apparently, his cuffs were for display only), and the remaining Sages send him to the Twilight Realm. Here, the demon makes a friend named Zant, and they plot to create one large Dark World out of the Light and Twilight realms. Long story short, another version (apparently a direct ancestor) of Link is found in this realm and can turn into a wolf when entering the Twilight Realm. Doggo-Link and the princess of the Twilight realm defeat Ganondorf and Zant.

Fast forward another 100 years, and we see Ganondorf resurrected once again in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. Or rather, he reincarnated with all the memories of his predecessor. Anyways, he resurrects Vaati, who has been trapped in the Four Sword all this time. To summarise the events of this video game instalment, Vaati, Ganondorf and a shadow clone of Link team up to destroy Hyrule yet again. The actual Link splits into four versions of himself, and the team heads over, kills Vaati, and traps Ganondorf in the Four Sword. All the Link duplicates go away, and everything is supposedly tied up with a neat little bow. Well, until you realise, there are two more timelines to go.

RELATED: Why The Nintendo Switch 2 Could Be A PS5 Killer

The Adult Timeline

Starting with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Link no longer exists in this timeline and goes down in history as a great hero, becoming a legend. As mentioned before, Ganondorf escapes and wreaks havoc across Hyrule before the three goddesses interfere and stop him by burying him at the bottom of the ocean. So there is another big time skip spanning 100 years, and we are now in an island setting. Ganondorf escapes his watery grave and searches for Princess Zelda. He cannot find her, so he grabs the first girl he sees with blonde hair and pointy ears. Lo and behold, it is none other than Link’s sister, Aryll. So, of course, he follows after with the help of pirate Zelda, rescues his sister, reassembles the Triforce of Courage and defeats Ganondorf once and for all.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass takes place directly after the events of Wind Waker and sees the heroes continue their adventures at sea. Setting out in search of a new world (despite the islands they currently reside on being perfectly fine) and encounter the Ocean King and his ghost ship. The Ocean King’s waters are in a different dimension, and Link manages to get hold of the Phantom Sword and then take him down. When he returns to his own dimension, only ten minutes have passed, and we are all just as annoyed as Link. Anyways, at some point after this, Zelda establishes a new Hyrule on a continent they discovered during their adventures at sea.

So another 100 years have passed, and we have reached the final events before this timeline ends. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks sees an entirely new Link and a ghost version of Zelda team up to fight against a demon named Malladus (bet you were expecting to hear Ganondorf’s name again, weren’t you?). They defeat him in the Dark Realm, and then Zelda gets her body back, and the tribe who was protecting Hyrule decides their watch is over and heads back to the Heavens. This brings the Adult Timeline to a close and brings us into the most depressing timeline from The Legend of Zelda.

RELATED: What If Nintendo’s Metroid Was Turned Into A Live-Action Movie?

The Fallen Hero Timeline

Okay, so it will be significantly easier to list the names of the titles of each game in chronological order and then explain the events that occurred for each, as there are quite a few titles for this timeline. As already stated, this timeline picks up after the Ocarina of Time instalment and has Ganondorf defeat Link and Zelda and obtain all three pieces of the Triforce.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991) & The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993)

Here, Ganondorf was able to take control of the Sacred Realm and transform it into the Dark World. He controls Hyrule by parading around as a wizard named Agahnim. He is quickly defeated when a new incarnation of Link shows up. A little while later, Link goes on a cruise and shipwrecks on Koholint Island in Link’s Awakening. All the events of this game turn out to be a dream, which is ironic considering the game is called ‘Link’s Awakening’. This version of Link is not heard from again.

RELATED: Nintendo Microsoft Game Pass Deal Could Be Competition For Steam Deck

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (2001)

A new version of Link is reincarnated and faces off against Ganondorf yet again. Long story short, Link defeats Ganondorf once again. It would seem the only depressing part of this timeline so far is the infinite loop we are all stuck in.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)

Taking place several centuries later, the mirror world of Hyrule named Lorule sees a sorcerer named Yuga try to steal the Triforce to restore Lorule to its former glory. However, after some time frolicking through paintings, Link and Zelda return the Triforce to Hyrule and use it to bring peace to both worlds, leaving all parties satisfied.

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015)

This game just sees Link try on different outfits in the kingdom of Hytopia. So, you could just consider this game to be filler. None of the events is significant to the overall timeline.

The Legend of Zelda (1986)

This takes us to the OG game, which, weirdly enough, also does not have as much exposition as other games. Essentially, Hyrule is peaceful for a while until a king decides to hide the Triforce of Courage, only revealing the location to his daughter, Zelda. Unfortunately, the king dies shortly after, and a new prince is next in line to take over Hyrule.

With the help of a rather suspicious wizard, the new prince tries to get the information from her, but instead, she is put in eternal sleep. But, before doing so, she split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight shards and scattered them across the kingdom. And then, guess who shows up? Yes, Ganondorf. And he wreaks havoc across the land. So, of course, this begins Link’s adventure to collect the eight shards and eventually defeat Ganon.

RELATED: Is The Nintendo Switch Getting A New Operating System?

The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link (1987)

However, Link saved a different version of Princess Zelda in the previous game, with the OG version still in a deep sleep. Her caretaker, Impa, tells him of the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Power, which he sets out on an adventure to find, hence the title of the game. He returns with the full Triforce and wakes the sleeping Zelda. And this brings us to the end of the third timeline.

What about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom?

Well, it can be argued that Breath of the Wild was an attempt to merge all the timelines into one central narrative. We are yet to explore the events of Tears of the Kingdom, but we are clear on the fact that Breath of the Wild takes place 10 000 years after the events at the end of each of the three timelines. The narrative sees some technological advancements (just giant war robots) and Ganondorf rising from the dead yet again. He uses the robots to destroy Hyrule (which, funnily enough, still exists). Zelda seals him away while they wait for Link to appear and destroy Ganon. This eventually happens 100 years later, and finally, we have reached the end of The Legend of Zelda timeline.

This game and its upcoming sequel are assumed to merge all the timelines because all the events from the different timelines are canon in the game. Simply put, the characters in the game reference events from the other timelines, such as the names of tribes from different dimensions in an alternate timeline, to give you an example. There is no way for this to occur without the characters being aware that there was a split in the timelines. And it would make sense that they knew about the three timelines, as these are regularly reincarnated characters. Not to mention, they also would know that time travel has its consequences. And in a world where magic is real, is it really that far-fetched for them to somehow gain access to this knowledge from a random wizard or sorcerer?

RELATED: Producers Say Zelda Sequel Will “Change The Game World”

Which game from The Legend of Zelda franchise is your favourite?

The Legend of Zelda Timeline: The Full Story Explained Written by Jesse Jacobs for Fortress of Solitude