The Legend of Zelda series has a long, complex story and timeline that has been carefully planned and thought out. If you’re wondering, The Legend of Zelda is a video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto and Eiji Aonuma about a young swordsman named Link, who, throughout various games, does numerous things—whether he’s skyward bound or adrift in time. I will summarize this series’ timeline due to its length.
The timeline starts with an ancient battle between the goddess Hylia and the demon king Demise. The events of this battle lead to Goddess Hylia creating Sky Loft, an archipelago in the sky, which becomes home to the Hylian race, protected from all evil by a cloud barrier that prevents the citizens of Sky Loft from going to the surface. Skyward Sword is the 16th game made in this series, and the first in the timeline. While our protagonists, Link and Zelda, are flying in the sky with their bird companions, a tornado catches Zelda, causing them to separate. Because of this, Link has to explore what is now known as Hyrule for the first time to find Zelda. This leads to Link and Zelda trying to defeat the demon king Demise. When Link defeats Demise, it triggers a cycle of hatred and rebirth for Link and Zelda’s descendants, thus setting up the rest of the series.
After the events of Skyward Sword, the next game in the timeline is The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, a prequel to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords. In The Minish Cap, Link must deliver a sword being used in a royal ceremony to celebrate the Picori Festival. Everything goes smoothly until the evil wizard Vaati tries to steal the Picori Blade, a sword used to seal a kind of Pandora’s Box, releasing all the evils that were sealed inside. Vaati breaks the Picori Blade, turns Zelda into stone, and then runs away, trying to find the Light Force hidden within Zelda. After this occurs, the king of Hyrule orders Link to confront Vaati and repair the Picori Blade. This leads Link into the woods, where he meets a cap resembling a bird named Ezlo. Together, Link and Ezlo find the four elements needed to repair the Picori Blade and defeat Vaati. After visiting all of the elemental temples, the Picori Blade is repaired and becomes the Four Sword (there aren’t four swords; it’s one sword called the Four Sword). Link uses the Four Sword to defeat and seal Vaati.
Next in chronological order is The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords. What sets this game apart from other installments in the series is that it used randomized dungeons and, most importantly, was the first multiplayer Zelda game. The game begins with Link and Zelda visiting a shrine to check the seal placed on Vaati. However, the seal on Vaati has weakened over time, and he has broken free of his curse. Despite not remembering the events of The Minish Cap, Vaati kidnaps Zelda to make her his bride. Link consults the fairies for help, and following their instructions, he takes the Four Sword from its pedestal and splits into four. The great fairies advise Link to travel through dungeons in three different lands across Hyrule to reach the Palace of Winds, where Vaati awaits. Once Link and his three clones reach the Palace of Winds, they defeat Vaati and seal him back into the blade, rescuing Zelda.
The next game in the timeline is a major one, as it introduces the complexities that make the timeline so complicated: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, often considered the greatest game ever. Ocarina of Time involves time travel and three different outcomes, resulting in the timeline branching into three. Each of these branches is categorized as the Child Timeline, the Missing Hero Timeline, and the Fallen Hero Timeline. The story begins with young Link in Kokiri Forest, a sanctuary for the Kokiri (children of the forest). Link is called to the Great Deku Tree by a fairy named Navi to break a curse cast upon him by a “wicked man dressed in black,” as the Great Deku Tree describes him. Link tries his best to help, but the Deku Tree’s fate is to die before Link’s journey begins. Before passing, the Deku Tree gives Link the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, which is needed to open the Door of Time, and sends him to Hyrule Castle to meet Princess Zelda. After sneaking past the guards and knights defending the castle, Link meets Zelda in the courtyard, where she tells him of her prophetic dreams, which feature a “young hero” coming from the forest, breaking the veil of darkness with a fairy companion and the Kokiri’s Emerald. Zelda warns him about Ganondorf, an evil man bearing dark armor whom Zelda believes to be the figure in her dreams. She insists that Link acquire the other two Spiritual Stones so they can stop Ganondorf from finding the Triforce, an almighty object of wisdom, power, and courage. Link journeys to Death Mountain and Zora’s Domain to retrieve the Goron’s Ruby and Zora’s Sapphire by helping each area with their troubles. As he heads back to the castle, Link realizes it is too late: Ganondorf has attacked Hyrule Castle in search of the Ocarina of Time. While Ganondorf retreats on horseback, Link manages to take the Ocarina of Time and use it to open the Door of Time. With the Ocarina, Link gains the ability to travel to the future and save Hyrule.
The rest of the timeline after Ocarina of Time becomes even more complicated. There are three possible endings: one where Link is sent back in time to relive his childhood, one where Link stays an adult, and one where Link fails to defeat Ganondorf and dies. Each of these timelines merges into one at one of the more recent games: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. BotW made quite a difference as the first open-world Zelda game, allowing players to freely explore Hyrule at their own pace. The game features a great calamity mentioned in prophecies, with four champions from each land assisting a knight with “the sword that seals the darkness” and a “princess with the blood of the goddess,” as Impa, an ally of the Hyrule kingdom, describes them. As Link, Zelda, and their champions fight the calamity, the four champions lose their lives, Link is put into a chamber to rest for a hundred years, and Zelda is “swallowed by the calamity,” as NPCs in the villages say. When Link awakens, he must regain his memories, reclaim the divine beasts piloted by the four champions, and save Zelda from the calamity. As Link accomplishes all of this, he and Zelda work to rebuild Hyrule one step at a time. Breath of the Wild has a direct sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which begins with Link and Zelda exploring the catacombs beneath Hyrule Castle. As they venture deep underground, they find a dehydrated Ganondorf held in place by a glowing arm that doesn’t appear to be Hylian. Ganondorf notices them and attacks. Zelda is sent back in time by a mysterious stone, and Link wakes up on a sky island with his severely damaged arm, now replaced by the same limb that held Ganondorf in place. With Link on the sky island and Zelda over a thousand years in the past, a new timeline is created called the “Ancient Hero Timeline.” While Link rediscovered the new Hyrule created by the “Upheaval”—a nationwide event of climate change, earthquakes, and natural disasters—Zelda sets up the future for Link in the past to defeat Ganondorf, the scourge of Hyrule, in his quest for power.
The Legend of Zelda series is considered one of the greatest by fans and one of Nintendo’s best franchises. I’ve always been a big fan of this series, and learning about its history and lore brings me great joy! Each game and each branch of the timeline is very important to me, and I hope that I’ve made the timeline of this series clear, whether for a hardcore Zelda fan or someone who has never heard of the series.