TattooArtist
I'm the B and my boyfriend is the T in LGBT ❤
So, a brief summary of the timeline. It starts with Skyward Sword and remains linear which includes The Minish Cap, Four swords and Ocarina of time being at the bottom and splits in three. During OOT you use the master sword to travel between time, young in the past and adult in the future. At the end of the game, three timelines are created. One follows the adult timeline that you just saved from Ganon, the second timeline follows Link when he turns back into a child at the end of the game and finally the third one is where you failed to defeat Ganon and die and the pig man takes over the triforce.
So, now we know the timeline it's a bit tricky to sort out where BOTW stands on it. Though the creator specifically said that BOTW's placement is after OOT. Which isn't that helpful, so, I will get to digging. Just so this doesn't get confusing, I will only being using items and clothing physically found in the game, not ambiio since they kind of act as easter eggs. So, one of the most common things you will find when you smash rocks is rock salt. The in game description for rock salt was that it is crystallised salt from the ancient seas which immediately made people think that it was referring to the great sea in the overworld in Wind Waker. Which would pretty must place BOTW in the Adult era timeline. This is also supported by the two races from BOTW which is also in WW, rito and the korok. The creator exactly states this "We set it up so that the Rito tribe was the evolved form of the Zora tribe that appeared in Ocarina of Time. And the Kokiri tribe left the forest and became the Koroks. Their appearances are different but they have the same bloodline". Between the rock salt and the races it seemed that BOTW would place some time after WW, but it would of been if WW was the only game that had Rito and Koroks. Because the Rito race can be found in the other two timelines, so it doesn't match up. It can be found in Twilight Princess and Zelda II. But, even though the rock salt could be referring to the WW great sea, it could also refer to what used to be a sea in Lanayru ruins in Skyward Sword. Since a huge ship takes place in one of the "must do" quests in that region, it clearly shows that Lanayra ruins used to be filled with water. Which means, BOTW could still be in any of the three timelines (God help me.)
Another big clue we get from BOTW is from Link's memories. In memory number one, where Zelda is knighting Link, Zelda states "Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of Twilight" Skyward bound and adrift in time are obviously referring to Link's battles in Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time, which could easily say that BOTW is near the two in the timeline, but it mentions Twilight, referring to Twilight Princess, and it's the only game where Link deals with the twilight realm. The fact Zelda mentions this is a pretty big hint that BOTW could land in the child era timeline, which is supported by how similar the appearance of the two Hyrule castles look. But...that's about it. It doesn't seem enough. (This is hurting me, my God this is long.)
Going back to Breath of the Wild (I just nearly wrote Breast of the wild...) there is still a lot of physical clues, starting with Hyrules geography. In each game, the map of Hyrule looks clearly different. But BOTW have a lot of landmarks that make it fall into the failed hero timeline. Link to the past and BOTW's map have quite a lot of similarities. Death mountain is in the north, the desert is in the south west, lost woods also north and lake Hyrule is to the south on both maps. Also, BOTW's rock formation is only found in the Hero's Failed timeline (includes games Link to the past, Link between worlds, oracle of ages and seasons, Links awakening and Zelda I and II). Also, BOTW's Lynel enemy only appears in 5 other games in Zelda 1, Link to the past, Link between worlds and the Oracle games. You never see lynels in any of the other games in the other timelines. which strongly suggests that BOTW is in the hero is defeated timeline.
With Ganon, in both the child era and adult era Ganon is often seen in his Gerudo form, Ganondolf. Ganondolf has other incarnations of him like puppets or beasts, but Calamity Ganon is demon all the way through. He has no humanoid form. You never see his human form in the Hero Defeated Timeline, which is official. But the most convincing piece of evidence, is when you complete all 120 shrines in BOTW and you claim the tunic, trousers and cap of the wild. The outfit has one similarity to Link's green outfit in Zelda one, Zelda two, Ages and seasons, Link to the past and Link between worlds. The yellow stripe that goes across the hat. Every single game from the failed hero timeline, on his green outfit, a yellow stripe is on his cap that comes just before his head. In every other timeline, he doesn't.
This huge detail proves that Breath of the Wild is apart of the Hero Defeated Timeline and that Nintendo have been keeping track of Links outfit since the very first game. And there you have it. My fingers are hurting now..heh. What are your opinions? It'd be nice to read some while my fingers are recovering, heheh.
Theory goes to The Game Theorists.
So, now we know the timeline it's a bit tricky to sort out where BOTW stands on it. Though the creator specifically said that BOTW's placement is after OOT. Which isn't that helpful, so, I will get to digging. Just so this doesn't get confusing, I will only being using items and clothing physically found in the game, not ambiio since they kind of act as easter eggs. So, one of the most common things you will find when you smash rocks is rock salt. The in game description for rock salt was that it is crystallised salt from the ancient seas which immediately made people think that it was referring to the great sea in the overworld in Wind Waker. Which would pretty must place BOTW in the Adult era timeline. This is also supported by the two races from BOTW which is also in WW, rito and the korok. The creator exactly states this "We set it up so that the Rito tribe was the evolved form of the Zora tribe that appeared in Ocarina of Time. And the Kokiri tribe left the forest and became the Koroks. Their appearances are different but they have the same bloodline". Between the rock salt and the races it seemed that BOTW would place some time after WW, but it would of been if WW was the only game that had Rito and Koroks. Because the Rito race can be found in the other two timelines, so it doesn't match up. It can be found in Twilight Princess and Zelda II. But, even though the rock salt could be referring to the WW great sea, it could also refer to what used to be a sea in Lanayru ruins in Skyward Sword. Since a huge ship takes place in one of the "must do" quests in that region, it clearly shows that Lanayra ruins used to be filled with water. Which means, BOTW could still be in any of the three timelines (God help me.)
Another big clue we get from BOTW is from Link's memories. In memory number one, where Zelda is knighting Link, Zelda states "Whether skyward bound, adrift in time, or steeped in the glowing embers of Twilight" Skyward bound and adrift in time are obviously referring to Link's battles in Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time, which could easily say that BOTW is near the two in the timeline, but it mentions Twilight, referring to Twilight Princess, and it's the only game where Link deals with the twilight realm. The fact Zelda mentions this is a pretty big hint that BOTW could land in the child era timeline, which is supported by how similar the appearance of the two Hyrule castles look. But...that's about it. It doesn't seem enough. (This is hurting me, my God this is long.)
Going back to Breath of the Wild (I just nearly wrote Breast of the wild...) there is still a lot of physical clues, starting with Hyrules geography. In each game, the map of Hyrule looks clearly different. But BOTW have a lot of landmarks that make it fall into the failed hero timeline. Link to the past and BOTW's map have quite a lot of similarities. Death mountain is in the north, the desert is in the south west, lost woods also north and lake Hyrule is to the south on both maps. Also, BOTW's rock formation is only found in the Hero's Failed timeline (includes games Link to the past, Link between worlds, oracle of ages and seasons, Links awakening and Zelda I and II). Also, BOTW's Lynel enemy only appears in 5 other games in Zelda 1, Link to the past, Link between worlds and the Oracle games. You never see lynels in any of the other games in the other timelines. which strongly suggests that BOTW is in the hero is defeated timeline.
With Ganon, in both the child era and adult era Ganon is often seen in his Gerudo form, Ganondolf. Ganondolf has other incarnations of him like puppets or beasts, but Calamity Ganon is demon all the way through. He has no humanoid form. You never see his human form in the Hero Defeated Timeline, which is official. But the most convincing piece of evidence, is when you complete all 120 shrines in BOTW and you claim the tunic, trousers and cap of the wild. The outfit has one similarity to Link's green outfit in Zelda one, Zelda two, Ages and seasons, Link to the past and Link between worlds. The yellow stripe that goes across the hat. Every single game from the failed hero timeline, on his green outfit, a yellow stripe is on his cap that comes just before his head. In every other timeline, he doesn't.
This huge detail proves that Breath of the Wild is apart of the Hero Defeated Timeline and that Nintendo have been keeping track of Links outfit since the very first game. And there you have it. My fingers are hurting now..heh. What are your opinions? It'd be nice to read some while my fingers are recovering, heheh.
Theory goes to The Game Theorists.