The Official Legend of Zelda Timeline Has Been Updated

So where is Wii U Zelda going to be placed.....seems like many think it is related to Skyward Sword? Maybe it is a sequel of sorts. Maybe it's a new branch

Already knew this stuff! I hope we get an updated Hyrule Historia for Zelda's 30th anniversary, though. I would love that!

Interesting but the timeline is messed up enough I at least personally didn't feel the need for it. Still cool for the people who like knowing when the games take place.

As a huge Legend of Zelda fan, I really don't care about what game fits where. It's fun to look at and have a general overview, but some fans look way too hard into things and get so worked up over nothing. I still find it funny when fans say the official source is wrong and they have it all figured out.

I still don't see why a timeline is necessary. Nintendo basically made one because fans demanded one.

I still consider Zelda games different universes with similar characters unless there is a direct link made with another game within the game like Windwaker - Phantom Hourglass - Spirit Tracks.

There is no need for a time line.

''A story to take back the world of Light which was lost, consumed by the world of Darkness.''

Man that's edgy.

I'm much in the same frame of mind as you lot - I love the speculation but ultimately it's not important so long as the games are fantastic.

they only added one game. That's hardly a huge update

When you get down to it, all timelines ever do is make things confusing.

I'm betting Zelda U unifies the timelines back again- a convergence in the Hyrule present where three pasts combine.

The "Hero Defeated" timeline is still the stupidest thing the Zelda series has ever done.

I'm excited to see where Zelda U will fit into this!

Not a fan of the official timeline at all. The benefit of having a timeline and continuity though should be obvious. It adds to the story and more of the series, while also highlighting similarities and differences between each game.

I don't think a timeline is necessary, but the fans like it, so whatever.

The update sadly doesn't bring anything new to the table though, as the big question left was, if ALBW/TH plays before or after ALTTP. Since this timeline skips every game that doesn't had a new release since 2011, it also skips ALTTP, leaving this question open :/
(I think ALBW/TH plays before ALTTP, since some sages still resemble their OoT ancestors and the realm of the sages is still untouched, but both variations are possible, so I'd really love a clear statement on it.)

I'm not against the timeline, but a few of the games (namely both Four Swords entries and Tri Force Heroes) seem kind of shoehorned in. The timeline is interesting, but I don't get worked up over its accuracy. Unless a game is an obvious sequel, I treat them almost as though they're their own adventure.

@Trinexx Same goes for me, I play a Zelda game for the experience of that game alone, not to compare it's story to every other Zelda game out there.

@Rutana It's been confirmed that ALBW and TFH take place after Link's Awakening, which itself succeeded ALTTP (with the Oracle games in between ALTTP and LA)

@Squidling Where has that been confirmed? Does this source say whether they take place before or after the NES games?

@ueI http://www.zeldadungeon.net/2013/07/a-link-between-worlds-is-centuries-after-a-link-to-the-past/ https://mobile.twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/657330612064399360

The only Zelda timeline that is of consequence is the order you played the games in and experienced the wonder of what a Zelda game has to offer. Otherwise it is meaningless.

Nintendo do not humour the calls for "realistic voice acting GTA style, innit", yet they humour this pointless timeline. Never understood it personally. Just enjoy the games. They are friggin awesome.

skyward sword is the only previous one in that timeline not currently available on the eshop. dataminers dug up a twilight princess hd remake, and mario galaxy entry for the eshop last year which came to fruition. skyward sword, and metroid otehr m entries were also found but haven't come out yet. i suspect/fearlessly predict that skyward sword will come out before or with the twilight princess remake.

@Squidling Thanks for clearing that up!
I wonder if it's really an official statement of japan, or if Bill Trinen just made that up on his own...
Not that I want to disprove him, but evolutionary it makes not that much sense.
In ALTTP, it's stated that the seven maidens are the descendants of the seven sages, and don't inherit their strength in total - which is a sign for the power of the seven sages being weakened. Also, the Dark World is the Sacred Realm, but corrupted by Ganondorf.
But in ALBW, the seven sages are still, well, sages. With their full power. Also, we have Oren, the Zora Queen, as a sage, which means that the Zora line is still strong within the sages, and Rosso could very well be a halfbread Goron judging on his appearence (it's a strech though), showing the slow transition between mixed-raced Sages and Human-Only sages/maidens.
Also, the Realm of the sages, which is part of the sacred realm, is still in tact and free from Ganondorf's clutches. It also looks exactly like the sacred realm of Ocarina of Time, which further undermines this connection.
If the power of the sages is really passed along by bloodline, which is highly suggested by ALTTP, it would make a lot more sense, if ALBW played before that.

Again, if that's really official (as in, Miyamoto, Anouma, or someone else who's actually highly involved in the development of the Zelda series actually passed that information along to Trinen), then it's fine and I'll accept it.
But until then, I still see ALBW before ALTTP ^^

@Trinexx
I agree with Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures seeming to be shoehorned in, though to be fair, both games don't give a lot of story to go by, especially Four Swords, so I don't see their place in the timeline as impossible
Triforce Heroes though makes good sense as the green Link being the same as in A Link Between Worlds.
It's not the first time, that Link ventures into another country/world after his original journey is complete (Majoras Mask, Oracle of Ages/Seasons), and with these games, not the first time that Zelda sent him out in order to help another country in despair (again, Oracles of Ages/Seasons)

Does this mean all the pre-2011 games are now non-canon?

So the last original Zelda on a console was 2011? Wow time flies. (I'm not saying the other games are bad in any way shape or form)

Lol, LoZ is a bit of a joke lately...

Anything before 2011 is now non-canon

Boy....can't we just think about them as games instead of stories?

I know that its fun to figure out the timeline but the problem is that Nintendo wasn't even bothered to deal with that sort of thing.

Really, all this showed is my jealousy for the box art. Four of the games here got smothered with gold in North America.

@cheesesteak7 I think Nintendo just created this version to specifically highlight their latest releases since the last original console game (the one that kicks-off the timeline) - Skyward Sword. OoT, MM, WW, and TP are in the graphic (albeit their remasters), so definitely not!

@Rutana
But Oren is a different kind of Zora, a River Zora, than Ruto, a Sea Zora.

To me, the lore is still important, but I don't really care for the official time line anymore.

@SM4SHshorts well, it could just be a reboot that includes previous stories. The ones they chose to re-master.

It's like DC's New 52 reboot. They (unofficially, but kinda officially) picked and choose what was still canon.

@Yrreiht that's how i'm gonna interpret it lol. I'm somewhat new to the LoZ series anyway (only played 2 games...WW and PH). So this is a nice soft re-boot for me. I already have SS and MM3DS. Just need to get OOT3DS and TP HD and I'll be set (I don't mind skipping the Hero loses timeline).

I think Tri Force Heroes is fun with a couple friends, but does it need to be in the timeline at all? What relevance does it have to the overall plot? Also, the fact that a separate timeline exists for a universe where Link falls to Ganon makes it a multiverse. That said, I can't see why Hyrule Warriors can't be considered canon in its own separate universe, especially given how well its story was written.
Sometimes Nintendo chooses the wrong games to call canon.

Please Nintendo, stop timelining and give us a date or at least some information about Zelda WiiU! From what Anouma once said, that they are taking inspiration from Hyrule Warriors, having fights going on even when the player is not there and a land of hyrule that looks not very populated, I guess the new game will tell the story of the war in Hyrule that ended with the goddess creating skyloft... It would be great to be in a Zelda world where NCP's are more actively involved!

Smart Nintendo XD;;;

Fans keep talking of the timeline, so they rightly updated it by "accidentally" using all the recent games' boxes, including the upcoming TP HD that by "total mistake" is showed with a bigger picture on the timeline.
They only forgot to add "March 2016- you go in the store buying the game" and the timeline would have been complete XD

Does anybody care about the timeline? It's just a load of made up BS anyway.

"A story about a princess who loves fashion but was forced to wear a jumpsuit"

That fun aside, I love the Zelda narrative - piecing together the Zelda timeline was my favourite metagame way back when, and it's still fun now.

IMO, Zelda U only make sense in two places. It's either directly after Skyward Sword or it's set between Phantom Hourglass and Sprite Tracks. Either way it based on the establishment of Hyrule/New Hyrule.

@PigmaskFan
....what? o.O
Ruto is a River Zora just as much. Heck, I never even seen a difference in "River" or "Sea" Zora for that matter.
How would she be a Sea Zora? There's no Sea in Ocarina of Time!
There's a Lake, a River and a fountain, and that's where the Zoras live.
The only Zora we've seen so far that actually live in a sea are the Zoras of Majoras Mask - that's it o.O

What a dumb article, to be blunt.... There's nothing new being said here.

See, I don't view the Zelda games as a time line. After all, it's called "The LEGEND of Zelda" not "The Chronicles of Zelda."

Each game is a re-telling of events passed down through generations, and adapted to whatever setting it's being told in. This is why you see re-occurring elements between the games, but a lot of differences as well.

@Rutana The Zoras in Oracle of Ages live in the sea.

@Rutana Link used the Triforce to restore the Sacred Realm at the end of ALttP, so there's no contradiction in ALBW's Sacred Realm resembling OoT's. As for the Seven Maidens, they may not be direct descendants or true successors to the Seven Sages and so they don't inherit as much of their power.

But yeah, ALBW definitely takes place afterwards. The game directly states that it takes place after the events of ALttP.

I really hope that Zelda U is set before Wind Waker. I'd like to know more about how, "after many years, Hyrule collapsed," and why the world was flooded and covered by a huge ocean.

Oh come on guys, the first two Zelda games aren't even related story wise. The whole story of the Triforce and Ganon are completely different and Link doesn't even use the Triforce of Courage in the first Zelda game, he reassembles the Triforce of Wisdom.

By all means the second Zelda game explains why the title is refered to as "The Legend of Zelda".

@DoctorWily I've always said this too, but often been replied to with somewhat vague/uninterpretable answers from hardcore theorists. Not sure if there is an official answer?! I'd love it if Zelda U was placed immediately before WW/after OoT for this very reason!

Love the timeline, always had put together one, and due to fan demand, glad Nintendo made one The only thing I still kinda question, is how TriForce Heroes can have the artwork of Wind Waker, yet, it doesn't take place anywhere on the Wind Waker timeline, but it's ok lol. For the new Zelda, I've been hoping for 2 things: one, to reunite the timelines leading to two, a Zelda story finally in the "future" (post Zelda II in other words). We've dug so hard in the past which is fine, but it's time to see what happens after Link defeated Ganon once and for all. It needs to happen.

@DarkKirby Most of them are connected though, with or without the timeline. Wind Waker intro obviously talks about the events of OoT for example.

I thought that Tri-Force Heroes would be after Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks because the description on the Linebeck costume say that Linebeck was a sailor who always got what he wanted.

Still about as canon as a crazy guy shouting tidings of the apocalypse on Times Square being the Pope, by the way.