Timeline

The Zelda Timeline is an ordering of the Zelda games as their events occur within the fictional universe. While it had previously been kept secret, left to fan speculation and theories, the official timeline was published along with a detailed history of the Zelda universe in The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia in December of 2011.

Ordering

The ordering of the games is as follows. Ocarina of Time has three different endings which spawn three branched timelines.

Skyward Sword
The Minish Cap
Four Swords
Ocarina of Time
Decline Timeline	Child Timeline	Adult Timeline
A Link to the Past	Majora's Mask	The Wind Waker
Oracle of Seasons	Twilight Princess	Phantom Hourglass
Oracle of Ages	Four Swords Adventures	Spirit Tracks
Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda
The Adventure of Link

The Legend of the Goddesses and the Hero

Creation

Main article: Creation

Hyrule was created by the three Golden Goddesses - Din, Nayru, and Farore. They then left their creation, leaving the Triforce as a symbol of their power which rested in the Sacred Realm, guarded by the goddess Hylia. The Great Deku Tree describes the process in Ocarina of Time:

"Before time began, before spirits and life existed...
Three golden goddesses descended upon the chaos that was Hyrule...
Din, the goddess of power...
Nayru, the goddess of wisdom...
Farore, the goddess of courage...
Din...
With her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth.
Nayru...
Poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world.
Farore...
With her rich soul, produced all life forms who would uphold the law.
The three great goddesses, their labors completed, departed for the heavens.
And golden sacred triangles remained at the point where the goddesses left the world.
Since then, the sacred triangles have become the basis of our world's providence.
And, the resting place of the triangles has become the Sacred Realm."

— Great Deku Tree

Era of the Goddess Hylia

"The old gods created a supreme power that gave anyone who possessed it the ability to shape reality and fulfill any desire. They called it the Triforce. In his thirst to make the world his own, Demise readied a massive army of monsters for war. He sought to take the Triforce for himself by force. The goddess feared for her people. She used her power to send both them and the Triforce into the sky on a slice of earth she cut away from the land. This floating rock became the new home of our people. In time, it came to be known as Skyloft.
After a long and fierce battle, the goddess, Hylia, succeeded in sealing away Demise.

However, soon after the demon king was imprisoned, it became clear that the seal would not hold long against his fearsome power. Hylia had suffered grave injuries in her battle with the demon king. She knew that if he broke free again, there would be no stopping him.
And if the demon king were to free himself, it would mean the end of the world for all beings of this land.

In order to put an end to the demon king, Hylia devised two separate plans and set them both into motion.
First, she created Fi. She made the spirit that resides in your sword to serve a single purpose: to assist her chosen hero on his mission. Her second plan...was to abandon her divine form and transfer her soul to the body of a mortal.
...She made this sacrifice, as you have likely guessed, so that the supreme power created by the old gods could one day be used. For while the supreme power of the Triforce was created by gods, all of its power can never be wielded by one.

Knowing this power was her last and only hope, the goddess gave up her divine powers and her immortal form."

— Zelda

Era of Chaos

Post Skyward Sword after the defeat of Demise, the surface world that the Goddesses created became known as Hyrule. In respect to the Goddess who ruled over the land previous, Hylia. The people who descended from the sky, previously protected by Hylia herself became to be known as Hylians. This ancient race were born with distinct features such as their known to be famous pointy ears. These features were said to enable them to hear messages from the Gods. Hylians were also said to be born with a mysterious power.

The Hylians became established on the surface after the defeat of Demise. It continued to be peaceful place for many years until a new Era was about to commence, an Era filled with Chaos. By old tales and folklore, word got about the sacred power known as the Triforce. Many people sought to claim domain over this great power and it seemed the chaos had no end.

One of the six Sages sworn to protect Hyrule Rauru, the Sage of light decided to put an end to the chaos. He decided to build the Temple of Time to seal the only known entrance to the Sacred Realm. Further protecting the entrance to the realm was the Master Sword and the three Spiritual Stones. The stones were the key to unlocking the Door of Time where the Pedestal to the Master Sword layed. Within the Sacred Relam itself was the Temple of Light, this is where the Triforce remained, guarded by Rauru himself.

Era of Prosperity

Those who shared the blood of the Goddess Hylia, became to be reborn as Zelda. They were the ones who established Hyrule. They intended to build a great castle in the center of the land. The castle was built here to watch over the Temple of Time, which is the only known connection to the Sacred Realm and the Triforce.

Within the established Royal Family, descendents in the bloodline were born with the special power that the Goddess Hylia held. The ones born of this bloodline and the Queen were often named after the historical legend that was Zelda.

References

1. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, June 2005
2. ↑ Official Nintendo Magazine, July 21, 2005
3. ↑ Camp Hyrule, August 15, 2005
4. ↑ GameTrailers, October 28, 2011
5. ↑ "The golden goddesses departed from the world they created and left the Triforce in care of the goddess Hylia.", Hyrule Historia
6. ↑ Ocarina of Time.
7. ↑ Skyward Sword.

Resources

• Interview:Game Informer October 2011 - The reason Aonuma didn't want to reveal an official timeline