What Was the First Legend of Zelda Game

Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda is one of the longest-running series in gaming, and it's accumulated quite the complicated in-universe history over the years. Despite each game's perpetual re-telling of similar events (Link beats Ganon with the help of, or in order to save, Zelda), all Legend of Zelda games take place in a connected timeline. Still, it's not quite as simple as placing one after the other, as the timeline splits into multiple paths.

The Zelda series timeline strays far from the games' order of release. In fact, the first two games released - The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link - are some of the last in the chronology. For a long time, the series didn't even have a public timeline. Nintendo first published an official Zelda timeline in 2011's Hyrule Historia, 15 years after The Legend of Zelda's 1986 release. Being the first non-sequel Zelda game to release since Hyrule Historia, much speculation was had about where Breath of the Wild fit in the timeline, and Nintendo finally revealed Breath of the Wild's timeline placement in mid-2018.

The resulting chronology is a mess of events, names, and branches, confounded by reincarnations, a timeline split, and a timeline convergence. Here's each part of the Zelda series timeline, as told by Hyrule Historia, The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, and the games themselves, via the Zelda Gamepedia Wiki. [Spoilers ahead for most of the games listed.]

Legend of Zelda Timeline: Creation & Division

In the beginning, three goddesses - Din, Nayru, and Farore - descend from the heavens and create the world. They leave behind the Triforce, an artifact that can grant a mortal being's wishes. Another goddess, Hylia, serves as the keeper of the Triforce, until a demon called Demise attempts to take it from her. Hylia sends the world's people to live in the floating islands of Skyloft, where they are safe from Demise. She seals Demise away (a common defense against evil in the Zelda universe), but this weakens her greatly. Knowing she can't stop Demise if he breaks free, she transfers her soul into a mortal girl named Zelda, enabling her to instead use the Triforce's power to seal Demise away again. She also creates the spirit-imbued Goddess Sword, capable of bestowing itself upon a hero "who possesses an unbreakable spirit."

Skyward Sword (2011 - Wii)

In Skyward Sword, Hylia's prediction comes true. Demise breaks his seal, returning to bring destruction to the world. He is eventually defeated by Zelda and her heroic friend Link, but Demise bestows a curse on them before his death, promising his evil spirit will haunt those of the "blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero." This sets into motion the cycle of good vs. evil battles seen in almost every Zelda game. The spirits from the Zelda universe's creation story become the series' central characters, destined to play out different versions of the same struggle and continually manifesting themselves (whether by reincarnation or direct descent) in different versions of the same beings. Demise is reincarnated as Ganon and Ganondorf, Hylia is reincarnated as Zelda, and the hero is reincarnated as Link, wielding the Master Sword with the dormant Goddess Sword spirit inside.

Following Skyward Sword, a few important events take place: First, Zelda seals the Sacred Realm - a sort of holy dimension where the Triforce is kept - off from the mortal world. Second, she banishes to the Twilight Realm a group of sorcerers who sought to invade the Sacred Realm (this will become important in Twilight Princess). Third, with Demise gone, the surface is safe for the humans (a.k.a. Hylians) to descend from Skyloft, so they return to the surface world and establish the kingdom of Hyrule. Finally, the Hylians build Ocarina of Time's Temple of Time, which serves as the connection point between Hyrule and the Sacred Realm, locked by the Master Sword.

Minish Cap (2004 - GBA)

Not much of significance to the overall timeline happens in Minish Cap, other than the creation of the Four Sword - which can split its wielder into four copies - and the introduction of evil demon Vaati, who is defeated but returns in subsequent games.

Four Swords (2002 - GBA)

Vaati returns in Four Swords, only to be defeated by Link once again.

Ocarina of Time (1998 - N64)

Ocarina of Time's version of Link is raised by the Great Deku Tree and Kokiri people. Ganondorf, Demise's spirit reincarnated into a Gerudo man, curses the Great Deku Tree in an attempt to steal from it one of the three Spiritual Stones needed to access the Master Sword, which would allow him to break the seal on the Sacred Realm. In their effort to thwart him, Link and Zelda unwittingly assist Ganondorf in gaining the power he seeks, and Link is sealed away for seven years, allowing Ganondorf to take control of Hyrule and turn the Sacred Realm into the Evil Realm.

This seven-year time jump, combined with Link's time-traveling Ocarina, creates three separate branches for the Zelda series timeline, each of which is discussed below.

Legend of Zelda Timeline: Hero Defeated Branch

The "Hero Defeated" timeline seems to be based on the possibility of the player giving up, failing to finish Ocarina of Time. Ganondorf defeats Link, giving him free reign to rule the world. This timeline consists of constant reincarnations, defeats, and resurrections of Demise's spirit, and it's therefore the most repetitive and nonsensical of the timeline branches.

A Link to the Past (1992 - SNES)

Immediately after Link's defeat in Ocarina of Time, the powerful Seven Sages who assisted Link in Ocarina seal Ganondorf inside the Sacred Realm, which becomes known as the Dark World. In A Link to the Past, Ganon (a more beastly incarnation of Demise's spirit than Ganondorf) attempts to gain control of both the Dark Wrold and Hyrule by deceiving Hyrule's people in the form of a wizard named Agahnim. He is eventually defeated by Link in the Dark World, and Link uses the Triforce to restore the ruined Hyrule back to normal.

Link's Awakening (1993 - GB)

The same Link from A Link to the Past embarks on an adventure on Koholint Island in Link's Awakening, only to discover it was all a dream.

Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (2001 - GBC)

The Oracle games star the same Link from A Link to the Past, once again. He is transported to the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna by the Triforce, where he defeats an even beastlier Ganon revived by two witches. At some point following the Oracle games, the Triforce is split into three parts - the Triforces of Courage, Wisdom, and Power.

A Link Between Worlds (2013 - 3DS)

The story of A Link Between Worlds closely mirrors that of A Link to the Past, but it takes place long afterwards. Hyrule begins to be overcome by an invasion from Lorule, a dark version of Hyrule that resembles the Link to the Past's Dark World but is actually a separate place. Lorule's princess, Hilda, attempts to steal Hyrule's Triforce to restore Lorule to its former glory, but she is unsuccessful. Link and Zelda return the Triforce to Hyrule, and Link wishes for both Hyrule and Lorule to experience peace and prosperity.

Tri Force Heroes (2015 - 3DS)

In what is probably the least consequential of mainlineZelda games,Tri Force Heroes takes the Link from A Link Between Worlds to the land of Hytopia for a fashion-filled journey .

The Legend of Zelda (1987 - NES)

Years afterA Link Between Worlds, a worried king of Hyrule separates the three parts of the Triforce and hides them away. The king's daughter, a particular reincarnation of Zelda, is put into a magical sleep after failing to inform her brother of the Triforce of Courage's location. Without the full power of the Triforce, Hyrule declines until it is"reduced to a small, regional power." Later still, Ganon returns once again in the original The Legend of Zelda and steals the Triforce of Power. A second Princess Zelda, descended from the first princess' brother, splits the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces to protect it from Ganon. A new Link then recovers these Triforce of Wisdom pieces and defeats Ganon.

The Adventure of Link (1988 - NES)

The same Link from The Legend of Zelda hears of that game's first, long-slumbering Princess Zelda and sets out to recover the Triforce of Courage and save her. He does so, and peace is brought to Hyrule.

Legend of Zelda Timeline: Hero Triumphant - Child Branch

Both the "Hero Triumphant - Child" and "Adult" timelines occur after the true ending of Ocarina of Time. Link's adult form successfully defeats Ganondorf, and Zelda returns Link to his childhood to let him live out his lost years in peace. The games in the Child timeline explore what happens in a reality where Ganondorf never controlled Hyrule but still lived on, as well as the reality where Link was just like any other kid.

Majora's Mask (2000 - N64)

In Majora's Mask, the Ocarina of Time Link leaves Hyrule on a search for his fairy friend Navi, who departed at the end of Ocarina. He arrives in a land called Termina, which he saves from Skull Kid's falling moon. This Link's death is never shown, but his ghost later appears as the Hero's Shade, who teaches combat to Twilight Princess' Link.

Twilight Princess (2006 - GameCube, Wii)

Although he never rose to power, the jump back in time at Ocarina of Time's conclusion meant that game's Ganondorf lived to see the events ofTwilight Princess. The Seven Sages were aware of his evil spirit and his future-timeline crimes, however, so they attempted to execute him. But the gods had granted Ganondorf the Triforce of Power, enabling him to survive the execution, and the Sages were forced to instead banish him to the Twilight Realm. There, Ganondorf granted his powers to Twilight Princess villain Zant, a Twili descendant of the sorcerers Zelda banished to the Twilight Realm after Skyward Sword. Zant takes the Twili throne from Princess Midna, who travels to Hyrule and seeks Link's assistance. The two defeat the invading Twilight Realm Shadow Beasts, Zant, and Ganondorf, and Midna shatters the Mirror of Twilight that connects the two realms.

Four Swords Adventures (2004 - GameCube)

Long after Twilight Princess, another Ganondorf is reincarnated in Four Swords Adventures. He uses the Dark Mirror (different from the Mirror of Twilight, apparently) to create an army of demons, causing Link to inadvertently set the demon Vaati free when drawing the Four Sword from its pedestal. Link then destroys Vaati and seals Ganondorf in the Four Sword.

Legend of Zelda Timeline: Hero Triumphant - Adult Branch

The "Hero Triumphant - Adult" timeline's name is a bit misleading. Since Link is always sent back to his childhood at the end of Ocarina of Time, there's no version of that story where adult Link carries on after defeating Ganondorf. Rather, the Adult timeline explores what happens in the reality adult Link left behind - one where Ganondorf corrupted Hyrule but was sealed away in the Sacred Realm, and one where there's no more hero to be reincarnated.

The Wind Waker (2002 - Game Cube)

With Link returns to his childhood in a different reality, the hero's spirit ceases to be passed down to other Links, so there is no one to stop Ganon from escaping the Sacred Realm. He eventually does so, and he uses the Triforce of Power to corrupt Hyrule, forcing the gods to flood the kingdom in order to seal him away beneath the ocean. This creates the Great Sea and the islands that dot it. In The Wind Waker, Ganondorf emerges from his ocean seal, and Link - a heroic Hylian boy not descended from the blood of the hero but still able to wield the Master Sword - embarks on a quest to defeat him. Eventually, Ganondorf is vanquished, and the sunken Hyrule is washed away forever. Link and a royal-blood Zelda, disguised as Tetra, then travel the ocean to find a new continent to settle.

Phantom Hourglass (2007 - DS)

In Phantom Hourglass, Link and Zelda's voyage is interrupted when they arrive in the World of the Ocean King. There, they eventually defeat the demonic Bellum, return the Ocean King (who may be one of Breath of the Wild's leviathan skeletons) to his true form, and continue on their quest.

Spirit Tracks (2009 - DS)

At some point, Link and Zelda discovered New Hyrule, a continent covered in the train tracks that giveSpirit Tracksits name. One hundred years after their discovery, a different Zelda and Link defeat a villain named Malladus, who possesses Zelda's body after separating her spirit from it. Peace is then restored to New Hyrule.

Legend of Zelda Timeline: Breath of the Wild Placement

After much speculation, Nintendo finally revealed how Breath of the Wild fits into the timeline in mid-2018. The answer confused many fans, however, since Nintendo announced Breath of the Wild (2017 - Wii U, Switch) takes place at the very end of all three timeline branches. This raises more questions than it answers: Which Ganondorf is mentioned in Breath of the Wild, and which Ganondorf returns in Breath of the Wild 2? How can a Hyrule with the Temple of Time exist in all three timelines, when old Hyrule was washed away in The Wind Waker? And, most importantly, how is it even possible for three separate timelines to converge?

One way of looking at it is that the previous games' stories are really just stories. It's called The Legend of Zelda , after all, not The Truth of Zelda, so there's room for some murkiness. Maybe all the games before Breath of the Wild are just representations of the good vs. evil cycle Hyrule is stuck in, and the exact details of how events played out are up to the imagination. Still, it's difficult to believe Nintendo would so carefully craft its three-paths timeline if it didn't have an exact continuity in mind. A better explanation might be that, in a universe with three different realities running parallel to each other, there's a possibility for infinite, subsequent realities to be created by the choices of the characters in each timeline. Nintendo, then, is just showing fans the realities it finds most interesting among these infinite timelines. Maybe Hyrule's cyclical death and rebirth is so real and so unending that it repeated long enough to bring all three timelines into the same, final reality. And perhaps that means it will soon be time for Ganon to be defeated once and for all, too.

Next: Why The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Is Getting A Sequel

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