The Legend of Zelda Timeline Revealed

UPDATE 12/24
When we first wrote our story, we erred on the side of caution, not wanting to completely commit to reports of Zelda's timeline without seeing visual proof. Good news! Through new online sources and one handy YouTube user, we now have all of that in hand.

Our below story stands, but we'll do you one better, including a video that will give you a tour of the "Hyrule Historia" book as well as a diagram that features full descriptions courtesy of the amazing folks at GlitterBerri.

Here's the video of the encyclopedia, which was, according to the cover of the Historia book, produced by Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma.



Here's the diagram:

The much-discussed Timeline A, which deals with Link's hypothetical failure to stop Ganon at the end of Ocarina of Time, is detailed further in the Historia book. With Link dead, Ganon is able to obtain the entire Triforce, but is still locked away in the Sacred Realm by the Seven Sages. Over time the Realm is corrupted by evil, creating a Dark World that eventually erupts in a Sealing War as the Sages attempt to further banish Ganon and his forces. This war is referenced in A Link to the Past, which is the first game on this timeline's branch.

A couple cool details have emerged regarding the naming of characters. We've all heard that Zelda was named after F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, but what about Link and Impa? The Sheikah warrior was apparently named as a reference to the word "impart," as the character is the one to first reveal the legend of Zelda to Link, and players, in the first game. As for Link, since he is the common element, or link, between all of the Zelda games, the naming seems obvious.

The whole thing is still a bit of a headache, but that almost seemed inevitable given how often the games seemed to contradict each other. Did anyone expect all of this to resolve easily?

Stay tuned for more as we hear it. Folks are still digging through the encyclopedia for details, and it's possible we'll get a few updates to the timeline as well.

ORIGINAL STORY
The much-anticipated, just-revealed Legend of Zelda encyclopedia/art book is starting to make its way into Japanese shops. Naturally, details are starting to make their way online, particularly concerning the "official timeline" for the series.

For decades, fans have wondered how the Zelda games fit together. Some seemed to obviously tie together, others seemed to contradict each other. Through all the speculation, Nintendo remained quiet, stating that it knew the timeline but had little interest in revealing those details. It appears as though the company has changed its mind, and this new book has the answers.

Keep in mind this is based on reports from Japan that have then been translated. We have not seen direct scans or pictures of this information in the book (so far). There is some room for error.

With that in mind...

The Zelda series starts with a simple progression. The first four games in the timeline, from earliest to latest are:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
3. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Here's where things get complicated, because Ocarina deals with a leap in time and technically only spells out one of those timelines with its ending. However, if these reports are to be believed, Nintendo has generated three scenarios based on Ocarina of Time.

The first, which we'll call Timeline A, assumes Link actually fails to stop Ganon. How or why this is a logical storyline path is a bit lost on us, because the game resolves that battle, but regardless, here are the games that follow Timeline A:

5-A. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
6-A. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages
7-A. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
8-A. The Legend of Zelda
9-A. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

So there's that - many games based on an odd presumption. Regardless, the next path, Timeline B, works from the presented ending of Ocarina of Time, featuring Link returning to live through his childhood. As we all know, Majora's Mask picks up shortly after Ocarina's ending, leading to these games:

5-B. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
6-B. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
7-B. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

One more timeline for you. This one starts with Ganon's defeat in the Ocarina of Time era, and progresses from there - from the time that Link advanced and eventually left so he could be a child once again. Here are the games in Timeline C:

5-C. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
6-C. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
7-C. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

So there you go. Again, treat this with a slightly skeptical eye for the time being, as there could be errors or, perhaps, this might not be fully sanctioned by Nintendo (though we are under the impression that's the case). We'll bring you updates if something changes.

For now, we're sure many of you are a bit stunned. We'll admit we never supposed THREE timelines - most of the office discussed how one or two would make sense.

Sound off in the comments, and chat away on Twitter. You can find Rich at @RichIGN and Audrey at @GameOnAminka.

Thanks to Kotaku for the translation.

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