This is a timeline I mainly made for my site: Zelda Temple
I've decided to make a timeline theory of my own and that is using games I have played thus far. Note that this is all my own theory and is not in anyway affected much by Nintendo’s timeline or their theories, but mainly my own thoughts and what I have seen in this timeline. Please do note as well that I have decided to post my main time in the beginning to show you my thoughts and the paragraphs following are describing how two parts in the timeline are connected and how the possibly affect one another.
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
First off, this is what all people put down as the first Zelda, which is Ocarina of Time. The events of OOT split the timeline into two parts, the events covering after the defeat of Ganondorf, and the events after which Link puts the Master Sword away. The sequel to OOT is Majora’s Mask, which takes place in a new country or dimension and also happens to take place when Link is a child. This is called the Child Timeline, or whatever happened after the events of Link’s departure in OOT. The other part of this timeline is the Adult Timeline, which are the events after Ganondorf is sealed in the Sacred Realm.
OOT and MM: Obviously the two are connected because of the events in the beginning of the game. The game starts of telling a story of a boy who traveled through time and now is searching for a lost friend, with the hint of a fairy noise possibly showing that Link is looking for Navi, his fairy partner from OOT. As well, many of the characters in MM are the same characters from OOT. You have Cremia and Romani who are both the child and adult Malon, Anju is the Cucco Lady from Kakariko, Sakon the guy who prances in Hyrule Castle Market, the Gerudos who are pirates, and other similar characters.
MM and TP: Nothing much really connects the game together, but the events and speeches of Ganondorf really play a role in this. Notice that Ganondorf doesn’t know the Master Sword and only says: “Impressive looking blade, but nothing more.” Furthermore, Ganon doesn’t even recognize the tunic of the hero.
What could possibly have happened between MM and TP is this (please note this is my own theory and you don’t have to accept this): Link could have possibly returned to Hyrule after the events of MM. After which he spent sometime fighting monsters until his untimely death, and became the Hero’s Shade. This Shade would teach someone from his bloodline, which possibly after a hundred years or so, would become the Link from TP. The Hero’s Shade says “These do not leave our bloodline” which hints that the Shade and TP Link are connected.
Not only that, but the bow Link wields is called called the Hero’s Bow, the similar bow name to the one in Majora’s Mask. It could be that HoT used this same Hero’s Bow at one point or another and entrusted it to the Goron’s near the time of his death and it eventually was given to TP Link after defeating the Miniboss, Dangoro. The Fused Shadow also looks like Majora’s Mask, so possibly it was an artifact that was used in rituals similar to Majora’s Mask.
TP and ALTTP: Once again not much is connecting these two, but I have reason to believe that they are connected due to the placement of the Master Sword. As well, there is no possible way for ALTTP to be connected with the Adult Timeline, being as the Master Sword is stuck in Ganondorf’s head at the end of WW, and removing the blade would only unseal him again.
What I can theorize here with the Master Sword is the fact that both TP and ALTTP’s Master Swords are both in forests. Perhaps by the time that ALTTP happens, the Temple of Time would have crumbled to almost nothing and been covered by plant life. The only thing that would have kept together was the Pedestal of Time.
TMC & FSX and ALTTP: The reason I put these games together is due to the extreme similarity between the geography of ALTTP and the FSX games. As well, TMC leads up to what has happened in the FSX games, being with the sealing of Vaati and the story of the Four Sword. FSX and ALTTP also both have very similar geographies. Both have a desert to the southwest end of the map, and mountains to the north.
ALTTP to AOL: I haven’t played these games much, so I don’t really know what I can say about this just yet. I may change this later.
ALTTP and OOX: These games are connected because of the end of ALTTP where Link is in control of the Triforce. In OOX the Triforce is present in the Castle. Perhaps at the end of ALTTP, Link and Zelda decided it would be best to leave the Triforce in the Castle, under the care of the royal family. That would give the reason as to why the Triforce is in the Castle in OOX in the beginning of the games.
OOX (OOA and OOS) and LA: These games I put together purely because of the ending of the Oracle Series Linked Quest. At the end, it shows Link sailing off into the sea, waving goodbye to his friends and heading off to an adventure. In the beginning of LA, an older looking Link is seen on the seas, caught in a massive storm. His ship sinks and he awakens on Koholint Island, an island made by the dreams of the Windfish.
As for the Nightmare Bosses, I believe some of them are a mix of OOX Link’s memories and the Windfish’s. That explains why Link knows the Final Nightmare’s Agahnim form, since he was a miniboss in Oracle of Seasons, as well as Façade, Smasher, and Ghoma. Other bosses could have been caused by Link’s own fears of another similar creature.
OOT and WW: “When I get back, I will exterminate your descendants!” Ganondorf shouts as he is hurled into the Sacred Realm. In WW, Ganondorf knows a lot more of the boy in green, Link, as well as the Master Sword than his other self, TP Ganondorf. WW Ganondorf says he’s been waiting for the hero, mainly for the Triforce of Courage which seems to be in nearly every Link (OOT, WW, TP, OOX [more as a mark not actual ToC]. Furthermore, Ganon knows of the Master Sword which was keeping his magic sealed. Once Link pulled it out, Ganon’s Magic was released. It was sometime before the sword was pulled out that the Sage of Wind, Fado, and Sage of Earth, Laruto, were killed, thus rendering the sword no different than Link’s sword he got from Orca. Once Ganon was killed, the Master Sword was put through his skull and it never washed up from the fully flooded Hyrule.
WW and PH: After the events of TWW, PH came along. According to Nintendo, PH’s events happen a good few months after TWW, thus making both of them sequels. Not only that, but PH also has Tetra’s entire Pirate Crew on board as well.
I am sorry if this sounds rushed, but I worked on it this morning and I often changed it a few times. This is the "evolution" of my timeline as I was working on it:
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
....../
OOT
......\
.......MM - TP
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA - LOZ - AOL
....../
OOT
......\
........MM - TP - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA
....../
OOT
......\
........MM - TP - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
My current timeline stays as followed, but if you wish to comment on it, I may just change it according to certain information.
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
I've decided to make a timeline theory of my own and that is using games I have played thus far. Note that this is all my own theory and is not in anyway affected much by Nintendo’s timeline or their theories, but mainly my own thoughts and what I have seen in this timeline. Please do note as well that I have decided to post my main time in the beginning to show you my thoughts and the paragraphs following are describing how two parts in the timeline are connected and how the possibly affect one another.
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
First off, this is what all people put down as the first Zelda, which is Ocarina of Time. The events of OOT split the timeline into two parts, the events covering after the defeat of Ganondorf, and the events after which Link puts the Master Sword away. The sequel to OOT is Majora’s Mask, which takes place in a new country or dimension and also happens to take place when Link is a child. This is called the Child Timeline, or whatever happened after the events of Link’s departure in OOT. The other part of this timeline is the Adult Timeline, which are the events after Ganondorf is sealed in the Sacred Realm.
Child Timeline:
OOT and MM: Obviously the two are connected because of the events in the beginning of the game. The game starts of telling a story of a boy who traveled through time and now is searching for a lost friend, with the hint of a fairy noise possibly showing that Link is looking for Navi, his fairy partner from OOT. As well, many of the characters in MM are the same characters from OOT. You have Cremia and Romani who are both the child and adult Malon, Anju is the Cucco Lady from Kakariko, Sakon the guy who prances in Hyrule Castle Market, the Gerudos who are pirates, and other similar characters.
MM and TP: Nothing much really connects the game together, but the events and speeches of Ganondorf really play a role in this. Notice that Ganondorf doesn’t know the Master Sword and only says: “Impressive looking blade, but nothing more.” Furthermore, Ganon doesn’t even recognize the tunic of the hero.
What could possibly have happened between MM and TP is this (please note this is my own theory and you don’t have to accept this): Link could have possibly returned to Hyrule after the events of MM. After which he spent sometime fighting monsters until his untimely death, and became the Hero’s Shade. This Shade would teach someone from his bloodline, which possibly after a hundred years or so, would become the Link from TP. The Hero’s Shade says “These do not leave our bloodline” which hints that the Shade and TP Link are connected.
Not only that, but the bow Link wields is called called the Hero’s Bow, the similar bow name to the one in Majora’s Mask. It could be that HoT used this same Hero’s Bow at one point or another and entrusted it to the Goron’s near the time of his death and it eventually was given to TP Link after defeating the Miniboss, Dangoro. The Fused Shadow also looks like Majora’s Mask, so possibly it was an artifact that was used in rituals similar to Majora’s Mask.
TP and ALTTP: Once again not much is connecting these two, but I have reason to believe that they are connected due to the placement of the Master Sword. As well, there is no possible way for ALTTP to be connected with the Adult Timeline, being as the Master Sword is stuck in Ganondorf’s head at the end of WW, and removing the blade would only unseal him again.
What I can theorize here with the Master Sword is the fact that both TP and ALTTP’s Master Swords are both in forests. Perhaps by the time that ALTTP happens, the Temple of Time would have crumbled to almost nothing and been covered by plant life. The only thing that would have kept together was the Pedestal of Time.
TMC & FSX and ALTTP: The reason I put these games together is due to the extreme similarity between the geography of ALTTP and the FSX games. As well, TMC leads up to what has happened in the FSX games, being with the sealing of Vaati and the story of the Four Sword. FSX and ALTTP also both have very similar geographies. Both have a desert to the southwest end of the map, and mountains to the north.
ALTTP to AOL: I haven’t played these games much, so I don’t really know what I can say about this just yet. I may change this later.
ALTTP and OOX: These games are connected because of the end of ALTTP where Link is in control of the Triforce. In OOX the Triforce is present in the Castle. Perhaps at the end of ALTTP, Link and Zelda decided it would be best to leave the Triforce in the Castle, under the care of the royal family. That would give the reason as to why the Triforce is in the Castle in OOX in the beginning of the games.
OOX (OOA and OOS) and LA: These games I put together purely because of the ending of the Oracle Series Linked Quest. At the end, it shows Link sailing off into the sea, waving goodbye to his friends and heading off to an adventure. In the beginning of LA, an older looking Link is seen on the seas, caught in a massive storm. His ship sinks and he awakens on Koholint Island, an island made by the dreams of the Windfish.
As for the Nightmare Bosses, I believe some of them are a mix of OOX Link’s memories and the Windfish’s. That explains why Link knows the Final Nightmare’s Agahnim form, since he was a miniboss in Oracle of Seasons, as well as Façade, Smasher, and Ghoma. Other bosses could have been caused by Link’s own fears of another similar creature.
Adult Timeline:
OOT and WW: “When I get back, I will exterminate your descendants!” Ganondorf shouts as he is hurled into the Sacred Realm. In WW, Ganondorf knows a lot more of the boy in green, Link, as well as the Master Sword than his other self, TP Ganondorf. WW Ganondorf says he’s been waiting for the hero, mainly for the Triforce of Courage which seems to be in nearly every Link (OOT, WW, TP, OOX [more as a mark not actual ToC]. Furthermore, Ganon knows of the Master Sword which was keeping his magic sealed. Once Link pulled it out, Ganon’s Magic was released. It was sometime before the sword was pulled out that the Sage of Wind, Fado, and Sage of Earth, Laruto, were killed, thus rendering the sword no different than Link’s sword he got from Orca. Once Ganon was killed, the Master Sword was put through his skull and it never washed up from the fully flooded Hyrule.
WW and PH: After the events of TWW, PH came along. According to Nintendo, PH’s events happen a good few months after TWW, thus making both of them sequels. Not only that, but PH also has Tetra’s entire Pirate Crew on board as well.
I am sorry if this sounds rushed, but I worked on it this morning and I often changed it a few times. This is the "evolution" of my timeline as I was working on it:
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
....../
OOT
......\
.......MM - TP
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA - LOZ - AOL
....../
OOT
......\
........MM - TP - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
........TWW / PH - ST - TMC - FS/FSA
....../
OOT
......\
........MM - TP - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA
My current timeline stays as followed, but if you wish to comment on it, I may just change it according to certain information.
.........TWW / PH
......./
OOT
.......\
........MM - TP - TMC - FS/FSA - ALTTP - LOZ - AOL - OOX - LA