This document provides a summary of the main games in the Legend of Zelda video game series. It discusses the plotlines of each game and how they relate to and build upon one another chronologically. It describes how the series explores the origins of characters like Ganon and artifacts like the Master Sword. It also explains how the game Ocarina of Time resulted in the series splitting into three parallel timelines.

2. Table of Contents
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Introduction
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II: Adventure of Link
A Link to the Past
Link’s Awakening
Ocarina of Time
Majora’s Mask
Oracle of Ages/Seasons
Four Swords
Wind Waker
The Split Timeline
Four Swords Adventures
Minish Cap
Twilight Princess
Phantom Hourglass
Spirit Tracks
Skyward Sword

3. Introduction
• The most cheriched
videogames of all time have
spiraled into long lasting
franachises.
• Many of these series
evolved into legends of
their own.
• Few sparked more
interest, mystery, and
imagination than the
Legend of Zelda.

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Released in 1987
Very basic plot
Save Zelda from the evil Ganon
Most of the story is told through the manual

6. • Ganon, weilding the Triforce of Power invades
Hyrule looking for the Triforce of Wisdom
• Zelda sends Impa to look for a hero valiant
enough to defeat Ganon and save Hyrule
• Splits the Triforce into 8 pieces

7. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

8. • Link sets out to find the triforce of courage to
awake the slumbering princess Zelda (which is
not the same as that of the last game)
• Sequel to the Legend of Zelda
• Ganon’s minions are out for Link’s blood which
could be used to revive him.

9. • The manual tells more
of the tale.
• Paints a broader picture
of the Kingdom of
Hyrule and its history.
• The manual hints to
several mysteries spread
throughout Hyrule, but
does not reveal it.

11. • Prequel to the Legend
of Zelda
• Established much of
the foundational lore
the rest of the series
would eventually
explore.

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The creation of Hyrule
The Master Sword
The origins of Ganon
Its prequel nature complicated the timeline

14. • Sequel to A Link to the Past
• Simple sidestory, does not advance the
overall chronology
• Link sets out to hone his skills, gets
shipwrecked in Koholint Island

15. • Link learns that the only way to leave the island
is to wake the Wind Fish
• Koholint was a dream of the Wind Fish
• Ship in the game’s ending would eventually help
piece the timeline together

17. • Origin story
• Link sets out to stop Ganondorf from claiming
the triforce with the aid of Princess Zelda
• Their actions unintentionally led to the downfall
of Hyrule

18. • Link gathered
the courage to
travel between 2
time periods in
order to awaken
7 sages and
obtain the
strength to
defeat
Ganondorf.

19. • Ocarina of Time provided deeper insight into
the series’ mythos.
• Three godesses created Hyrule, when they
departed they left behind the Triforce a relic that
could grant one’s wishes

20. • The triforce is hidden
away in the Sacred
Realm
• Ganondorf, king of the
Gerudo, eventually
learned about the
Triforce’s resting place
and tried to take it for
himself

21. • After Link defeats Ganondorf, Zelda decides to
send Link back to his original time period
• The implications of this action would not be
fully realized until later entries in the series

23. • Side story to Ocarina of Time
• While searching for a friend, Link is drawn into
Termina, an alternate dimension.

24. • Termina is terrorized by the Skull Kid a forest
imp from Ocarina of Time who stole an evil
mask granting him great power.
• Link had 3 days to stop Majora’s Mask from
bringing the Moon crashing down.

25. • Delivered an important clue concerning the
timeline
• Took place after link was sent back in time to his
original time period

27. • Link is sent by the Triforce to Holodrum and
Labrynna two lands distant from Hyrule.
• Evil forces terrorized each land and Link set out
to restore order before they fell into chaos.
• Behind the scenes, Ganon’s followers attempted
to revive him.

28. • Story elements pointed towards other games in
the series
• The triforce was unified in the game’s intro.
• Ship in the game’s ending pointed to Link’s
Awakening’s beginning.

29. Four Swords

30. • Link is on a quest to defeat an evil Wind Mage
named Vaati
• Plot was too ambiguous to place strictly
anywhere in the timeline
• Eiji Aonuma confirms the game the oldest tale
in the franchise

31. The Wind Waker

32. • Took place hundreds of years after Ocarina of
Time
• Introduction told the tale of the downfall of the
kingdom and the return of Ganon after being
sealed in Ocarina of Time

33. • The Gods decide to flood Hyrule
• Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to break
free from below the waves and seeks for a way
to unify the Triforce to grant his wishes
• A new Link and Zelda rise to stop Ganondorf

34. • In the end, the Triforce washed the remains of
Hyrule along with the Master Sword and
Ganondorf
• The ending left plotholes in the timeline
• No Hyrule, no Master Sword, and no Ganon
made it tough to place Wind Waker on the
Timeline

35. The Split Timeline

36. • Eiji Aonuma confirms what fans had been
speculating to be a split timeline as a result of
Ocarina of Time’s ending
• Ocarina of Time’s ending had created two
realities

37. • Majora’s Mask followed the events after Zelda
sent Link back in time and he warned Zelda
about Ganon
• Wind Waker followed what transpired after Link
went back in Ocarina of Time in the future

38. Four Swords Adventures

39. • Sequel to Four Swords Vaati broke free from the
Four Sword and Link defeated him once again
• Ganon is revealed as the true culprit
• Link and Zelda seal him inside the Four Sword

40. • Contained references to A Link to the Past and
Ocarina of time, making it difficult to place in
the timeline.

41. Minish Cap

42. • Prequel to the Four Swords games
• Explains the origins of Vaati and the Four
Sword

43. Twilight Princess

44. • Before the game, Ganon is banished to the
Twilight Realm, but manages to break free
• A new Link and Zelda join forces with Midna,
the deposed Princess of the Twilight Realm and
together, they vanquish Ganon

45. • Nintendo maintained that both the Wind Waker
and Twilight Princess were sequels to Ocarina
of Time
• Due to their drastically different settings it was
clear that they took place in different timelines
albeit on the same time period

46. Phantom Hourglass

47. • Direct sequel to Wind Waker
• Link and Zelda set out to look for a new Hyrule
once the old one had been flooded
• They get cut up in a mysterious world which was
threatened by an evil being called Bellum
• Link saves Zelda an they continue their journey

49. • Link and Zelda eventually found a new land
which is the setting of this game
• Several generations passed and a plan was
hatched to free an ancient evil from the Spirit
Tracks that dotted the land
• A new Link and Zelda rise and defeat the
demon called Malladus and return peace to
Hyrule

50. Skyward Sword

51. • Skyward Sword takes place at the beginning of
the timeline.
• Origin story of the Master Sword
• The origins of Ganon are explained in the form
of Demise

52. • After being defeated, Demise cursed Link and
Zelda into a cycle in which he would be
reincarnated.
• Explains the story behind the godess Hylia who
after a great war gave up her divine powers and
became the mortal Zelda.

53. Hyrule Historia
• In 2011, Nintendo released Hyrule Historia
which contained the official Zelda Timeline
• Nintendo revealed that there were not two
timeline, they were actually three