Theory: Ocarina of Time is A Link to the Past

Ocarina of Time shares many similarities with A Link to the Past. I am here to show you that they are in fact the same story, after all, they are just legends. Many have claimed that Nintendo had tried to replicate A Link to the Past when creating Ocarina of Time, but yet still in the December of 2011, Nintendo created an official timeline, clearly showing that A Link to the Past is a sequel to Ocarina of Time. But could the timeline be false? Could the games be the same story just told differently, similar to how legends change as they are passed down? Lets dig deeper into the games and see how Ocarina of Time is just a 3D remake of A Link to the Past!

A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time have one major element in common. This is that both games feature two hellish versions of Hyrule. A Link to the Past features the Dark World, an alternative twisted version of the Light World. Similarly, Ocarina of Time has Adult Link’s world, a demented monster filled version of Hyrule, created after Ganondorf had possessed the Triforce of Power. The Dark World is truly the Sacred Realm, just mirroring the Light World, with evil in its control. The adult Link version of Hyrule on the other hand is truly the same world as Child Link’s world, except it is ruled by Ganondorf. Here lies a similarity. The two worlds could be the same place, just told to be in different locations. They both are ruled by evil, they both are copies of a more peaceful version of themselves. Considering the Sacred Realm is featured in both of the games plots, the change of location could have been simply to simplify the story, keeping a more logical reason for the maps to be the same.

The two games also feature the same weapon, the Master Sword. This blade is found before the hero enters the parallel Hyrule in the games, and is used to kill none other than Ganondorf/Ganon. But there is a major difference between the Master Swords of the two games. In A Link to the Past, the sword is found in the Lost Woods, an area also in Ocarina of Time, meanwhile in Ocarina of Time, the sword is found in the Temple of Time, a location that is not in A Link to the Past. In both games however, three artifacts, the Spiritual Stones and the Pendants of Virtue, in Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past respectively, are needed in the games to be able to get the Master Sword.

This leads to what seems a dead end in this aspect of the theory. Well this dead end is broken down by a location in another game in the series, Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess has a location called the Sacred Grove, a forest that contains the Pedestal of Time, the resting place of the Master Sword, and the Temple of Time. The Sacred Grove however is actually the ruins of the Temple of Time. This leads to a major point in the process of legends, over time they are changed. Ocarina of Time could have actually been told before A Link to the Past, back when the Temple of Time was still standing strong, and A Link to the Past could have been told after the Temple of Time had long been destroyed, the ruins buried underground, nothing but the Pedestal of Time, the resting place of the Master Sword, had been left.

My last piece of evidence is Bunny Link. In A Link to the Past, when Link first enters the Dark World, he is turned to the creature that is most like his personality, a bunny. This rendered his items unusable, and him in general, helpless. This lack of ability has a similarity to Ocarina of Time. In the game, when Link wakes up from his seven year slumber in the Light Temple, and finally has been given his quest and must explore the world for himself, he is starts off with barely any gear. All he has is the Master Sword, his bombs, his shield, Deku Nuts, and what ever quest items he had. The rest of his weapons are too small for him to use.

This seems like a difference that can not be solved using Zelda lore, and that is just what it is. But remember, stories are passed down in real life, and this is a pure example of the relationship between the series and the real world. When the legend of Link was still young, he was still considered a true fearless warrior, and one would never have thought of him as a weak bunny, but rather a resourceful young man, but as the centuries go on, the story becomes more casual, and Link is viewed as a hero of the past, so he is scaled down, and instead of him being resourceful, he is viewed as weak and helpless at that time. This is similar to how in real life, stories made popular by the Grimm Brothers, back in the 1700-1800’s, were gory, and showed true sacrifice, but as the years go on, these stories portray less sacrifice, but rather a much more happy cheerful feel. This could explain how the difference presented in the two games, could actually just be evidence of an aging story.

But let me know what you guys think! Do you think this makes sense, or do you think this is just a ton of nonsense? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading!