As many of you know, all games in the Legend of Zelda series are actually connected by a large and somewhat convoluted timeline. Basically, there's one timeline up to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and then it splits into two parts based on whether the hero was defeated or was victorious. The defeated hero timeline is uniform, but the successful hero timeline splits again into two parts. All told, the timeline is relatively unimportant to enjoyment of the games, but it's still interesting to see where each new game takes place.
Nintendo of America recently gave fans the option to ask the developers a few questions related to The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, and the first question asked was where the game falls in the timeline. The response is that Tri Force Heroes takes place several years after The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and stars the same hero. "Certain events" bring him to Hytopia and he dresses differently to hide his identity. Here's the tweet:
What do you think? Is the whole Zelda timeline really necessary? Where do you think Zelda U will fall? Drop us a comment in the section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 59
You know for a game like this, I don't see the timeline being all that important.
I mean what about Four Swords and its sequel?
@Artwark do you mean where they are in the time line? before Ocarina of Time and after twilight princess http://static02.mediaite.com/themarysue/uploads//2011/12/ztime.jpg
if you mean plot then there is probably something completely unintentional, a design coincidence in Four Swords that places it there
"Is the whole Zelda timeline really necessary?"
No.
For some reason I get irrationally annoyed about this. The Zelda timeline is the silliest attempt to hamfist a series of otherwise unconnected games that I've ever seen.
Hmmm. Not sure I like this. Now the hero from ALBW looks completely different and dresses up like an idiot? Hm. And it happens that you often control Blue or Red... so only one in every game is the actual hero we know? Weird.
Just played some online after downloading and it's a really, really not bad game :]
Where''s the Mario Time Line? I really need to know where Super Princess Peach fits in.
@Incognito_D I always held the belief that the "legend" in the title of every game was meant to reflect how every game is like a retelling of the same legend. The timeline's cool and all, but I think that it seems like a bit of a stretch in some parts.
The lack of purple Link mean probably that the Purple Link is Ravio.
@MitchVogel that's an interesting idea. My own view was always that Zelda was like Final Fantasy - just a series of unrelated games. (Except of course the obvious direct sequels like Ocarina of Time -> Majora's Mask)
That doesn't really make any sense.
Link Between Worlds and Link to the Past follow the "Hero is defeated" timeline split, which doesn't feature any of the Toon Link incarnations past that point.
It would really make more sense for a title like this to be placed after Spirit Tracks on the "Adult Hero success" timeline.That is at its core the Toon Link timeline.
Trying to say that the non-Toon Link hero is present in a Toon Link hero game is weird though.
Part of me wants Zelda U to be set sometime after Skyward Sword.. where you get to actually explore the surface
Since not many single players will bother with this game it's not really relevant where it falls. It's also not real its just a game. And with a shortage if Nintendo games its not the best time for Nintendo to be experimenting.
Also why is the only two real Zelda 3d games old ones. Where are the new 3d games?
Four Swords happened before OoT then after the Split continued on the Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask Path. This game could be the incarnation of Four Sword Heroes in the Defeated timeline. There's still no Four Sword Links in the Wind Waker timeline.
So since everyone is controlling the true Hero in their own copy of the game, we're looking at a multiverse. Nice way to complicate a timeline that was an afterthought to begin with. xD
@LinkSword
This goes even deeper than that.
We're into into the MIIVERSE.
I think the reason they decided this timeline was for a business decision to push albw sales :/
I like that they made a timeline and it's a bit complicated. The Hero of Time was never going to have an easy history to follow.
I get the feeling ZeldaU will land under the defeated timeline, right after Adventures of Link. But there's always the chance that ZeldaU will have time travel and will unite all timelines.
Wait, I thought they stated TriForce Heroes wouldn't be canon, at least not to the timeline we know. I think it was around E3 when they said so.
@LinkSword Oh my god that hadn't even occured to me! What can of worms have these people unleashed??
Hogwash. This is just an advertisement for A Link Between Worlds. Seriously, not EVERY game has to fit in the timeline.
If it's so "irrelevant", then why did so many ask the question?
This only makes sense from a marketing point-of-view since ALBW is still the latest Zelda game before TFH. By saying it's the same hero than in ALBW means they can get new fans to the series buy ALBW too in order to get the full story, not that there was any clear connection between the two in the first place.
It really makes no sense otherwise, especially since Nintendo already confirmed the game takes place in another dimension/world where there's no clear single hero. Nintendo definitely should have kept TFH outside of the time line or treat it as a parallel dimension game.
Hopefully the timeline for Zelda U is somewhere in 2016.
@RupeeClock I think it's just an artstyle choice for the game. but overall it's still the same Link, kind of like how Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's Ganondorf is the exact same person but looks different.
So for those not caught up, that would put Tri Force Heroes in the timeline where Link is defeated by Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. So in this branch that would make the official timelike Ocarina of Time > The Sealing Wars where Ganon is imprisoned by the seven sages > A Link to the Past in which the seal is destroyed by Agahnim > A Link Between Worlds > Tri Force Heroes > Oracle of Ages and Seasons in which Ganon is revived again > Link's Awakening which takes place a few months after Oracles of Ages and Seasons > Hyrule enters a rapid decline due to a lack of a proper successor of the triforce, Zelda is sent into an eternal slumber by a wizard associated with her brother and ANOTHER Zelda is kidnapped by the revived Ganon > The Legend of Zelda (original) > Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (taking place only 4 years later)
@Dr_Lugae That's a fair point, it is the exact same Ganondorf.
Cool, this is good to know. It wasn't necessary to place this game in the time line, but it's still very interesting.
It's pointless to even follow the timeline. Treat every game as it's own Zelda story/timeline where some elements might overlap. I'm putting this Zelda title in the garbage timeline.
Seems about the right place for the game.
I treat every game as its own unless it's obviously related to another entry. (Such as the Oracle games and Link's Awakening) The timeline is a cool concept, but I don't treat it as actual fact.
Tri Force Heroes seems kind of shoehorned into the timeline. They at least need to provide a better explanation as to where the other Links came from. Is there a kind of "three sword"? Are there two lookalike cousins? Is there some sort of magical paradox where Link can exist more than once in the same time and place?
@Incognito_D I feel the same way about the timeline. Let only the games that are obviously connected be connected. Majora's Mask clearly comes after Ocarina of Time. Wind Waker is clearly in the far future of Ocarina of Time. As far as I'm concerned, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword are not connected to any of the games besides the characters.
@TheRavingTimes Not quite. A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes take place after Link's Awakening, as they said that ALBW takes place about a century after ALttP. Here's the tweet that confirms that:
https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/403707162645372928/photo/1
@RadioShadow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGTddc62fXc Super Princess Peach is there .
"Where do you think Zelda U will fall?"
Within the NX timeline.
So can someone tell me which links are the same Links and NOT incarnations?
hey gus Sub me on yt:LetsPlay Feli
I like the idea of the Zelda Timeline, but I think games like this and Four Swords Adventures don't really belong in the timeline.
@HawkeyeWii I believe that they originally said that this game wasn't canon, so I'm treating it as such. I was surprised the "official" timeline included the Four Swords games, because I always thought of those as more of a spin-off like Mario Kart
@RupeeClock Hahaha that's funny, next thing you know it we'll be connecting the Mii's into this....oh good God almighty!
@MoonKnight7 Ugh, it really looks like that's going to happen. At least we may still get it for the Wii U right?....right.....
"the same hero"
Wow, as medieval-ish as it may be, Hytopia is far more advanced than our Earth in terms of eye surgery.
@MoonKnight7
Spot on.
@RupeeClock The "Toon Link" games are really just a difference in graphical style on a per game basis. It's all the same universe, so how would the Zelda universe suddenly magically transform from a realistic style to a toon style like you suggest? It's no different that the style difference between a griity game like "Twilight Princess" versus a colorful game like "Skyward Sword."
zelda triforce heroes is a spiritual successor to the zelda regular timeline....its purpose is completely different than any other zelda game.
@RupeeClock Link and Toon Link are the same spirit. They never exist at the same time and Toon Link is just referred to as Link.
@Shigmin Can't happen. The bridge of Eldin is there.
@Trinexx Single player is the only canon mode. The additional Links are puppets in single player.
@JustJulyo Its coming to the Wii U. That's the only thing that's fact. The only fact about the Nx is that it's a game console.
Yeah.... I'm not even going to count this, personally, in the timeline... If that's the case, they might as well put the CD-i Zeldas in the timeline if they're gonna start considering spin-offs timeline worthy.
@JesWood13
I came up with an opening narration that makes the CD-i games canon, working the term "Youtube Poop" into it. Have fun.
"Once upon a time, the Mushroom Kingdom and the land of Hyrule were guarded by... their gods. [Cue a panning shot showing Miyamoto and Aonuma.] But one fateful day, they looked away, at which point [the characters now starts morphing into their CD-i counterparts] chaos broke loose. Thankfully, the benevolent deities came back and undid the damage, but they felt it wasn't enough and wanted to seal those memories altogether, by banishing them to another universe: a Youtube server, hidden within a toilet in the site's headquarters. All was well until a Super Yoshi [YTP pioneer, FYI] ate some Electric Cheese [also a pioneer] and rushed to the bathroom as a result. However, his waste ended up in the toilet-server, opening a rift in the banished dimension's fabric of reality, spawning several other alternate dimensions. Thus began the madness nowadays known as... Youtube Poop."
@japongt According to the timeline, there are currently 11 distinct green Links: SS, TMC, FS, OoT-MM, TP, FSA, WW-PH, ST, LttP-OoA-OoS-LA, LBW-TFH, and LoZ-AoL.
I think of all long running game franchises, Legend of Zelda is the most deserved of not needing a timeline to try to weave together every game. I agree with @MitchVogel in that "Legend" being the key word reflects how every game is like a retelling of the same legend. I don't think the games ever referenced a previous 'hero' until the timeline became established, aside from connected sequels such as Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Links Awakening to the Oracle games, the 4 Swords games, Majora's Mask and A Link Between Worlds, which was released after the timeline was introduced.
I don't even think it was implied in Twilight Princess that Hero's Shade was intended to be the Hero of Time originally. I could be wrong, but I really don't see all of them being connected through a bloodline without later characters not knowing of their ancestor's deeds.
@MitchVogel My first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time and now I'm playing A Link to the Past on Wii U. It makes a lot of sense to think that they are both based on the same legend. It doesn't make much sense that Link is saving the world looking for the Triforce every few years, but it made sense in Ocarina of Time that he was travelling through time to save it. I'd say that The Legend of Zelda is always a vision of the same legend, excluding weird entries and spin-offs, because each game is like a whole circle.
The Legend of Zelda chronology came late and it was just an afterthought to shut up fans' speculation.
@amiiboacid The only thing I do not want to see is that it will be release with the NX and it would be the better version
how are you the same link from albw ?!?!?! Has link studded down in growth in several years???? and looked less mature and more cartoony??"?"?"?
I wouldn't say the timeline is necessary. But it is nice to have as a little side note, since some games do make pseudo-references to other games.
Interesting. So the true hero, from Zelda: ALBW, is the one playing. So the world in the game is a multiverse node where multiple versions of the hero collide. In other news, I can only hope Zelda U would finally take the series beyond The Adventure of Link and/or unify the timeline once and for all.
What nonsense. The Link from Albw looks very different from the Triforce heroes one.
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