Nintendo Places Skyward Sword in Zelda Timeline

[k-ossuburb]

One of the most fun I could have is going to a Zelda chatroom somewhere and asking someone to explain what order the games go in as politely as I can and then just watch the ensuing chaos as someone tries to answer the question.

To be honest, I don't even know why they even need a time line, Final Fantasy gets by without one. Granted FF is always a different story set in a different world, but that's what my point is; why not just enjoy the games for what they are instead of arguing about them?

 

[Urgh76]

well links awakening is probably the first zelda game, as you can tell be the name then it's Minish Cap (he obtains his cap)... But then again he had his cap in Links Awakening so Minish Cap could be before... see its an amazing game but there is no real story line. but thats why its called LEGEND of Zelda, its about a princess being captured or an evil being appearing (like all those mario games) and a HERO emerging and searching for a magical item to save her. it like Mario pretty much but more than searching towers to save the princess.
I love zelda im not bagging it out (i even own an ocarina and play it) but there's no real story line, it just a child or teen/adult going out of there way to save a princess and save whatever world there in on that game. pure fantasy fun, why rack your brain trying to MAKE a story line for these amazing games and just enjoy them for what they are instead of making topics and having Zelda fans fight over what game came first? just enjoy the games and have fun with them.

Oh...................

So it's a mystery timeline!

Cookie for reference

 

[BehattedWanderer]

At least they give a good reason for it no official time line. Though, I love the amount of fanboyism that arises when one looks for the actual time line. I remember hearing about one sucker who sent Nintendo his "real" Zelda time line, claiming that it was the correct one, that offered two separate time lines, parallel to each other. And I remember the whole in his theory, when you realize that Majora's Mask kinda has to come between the young and adult stages of Ocarina of Time--because Young link teaches the guy with the record player the Song of Storms, which the old man has to teach Adult link back in OoT...it's an odd cycle...

 

[TG MLPDashie]

well links awakening is probably the first zelda game, as you can tell be the name then it's Minish Cap (he obtains his cap)... But then again he had his cap in Links Awakening so Minish Cap could be before... see its an amazing game but there is no real story line. but thats why its called LEGEND of Zelda, its about a princess being captured or an evil being appearing (like all those mario games) and a HERO emerging and searching for a magical item to save her. it like Mario pretty much but more than searching towers to save the princess.
I love zelda im not bagging it out (i even own an ocarina and play it) but there's no real story line, it just a child or teen/adult going out of there way to save a princess and save whatever world there in on that game. pure fantasy fun, why rack your brain trying to MAKE a story line for these amazing games and just enjoy them for what they are instead of making topics and having Zelda fans fight over what game came first? just enjoy the games and have fun with them.

Oh...................

So it's a mystery timeline!

Cookie for reference

YAY COOKIE!!!!

 

[syltman]

Honestly, who gives a damn about Zelda's timeline?

it's fairly obvious now isn't it.

 

[Jeronus]

It doesn't matter if there is a timeline to the Zelda series. If a timeline was given, it wouldn't make the games any more or less fun so what is the big deal?

 

[Yawwy]

well links awakening is probably the first zelda game, as you can tell be the name

Thing is though,because of the ending of Link's Awakening,it's usually excluded from the time lines if I remember right.

I think the reason FF and Zelda games don't run on the no timline idea is because,Final Fantasy is usually a whole new story,whole new world,whole new set of characters.There's things linking them from time to time,like,say,the Shinra Company in FF7,and then the character Shinra in FFX-2.Whereas,in Zelda,with a few exceptions,you are always in Hyrule,at least at some point,the same characters tend to crop up,like Malon,you are always called Link,and the princess is always called Zelda.And nine times out of ten,at some point,someone will say something about 'the ancient hero'.

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

I always find it amusing that my favourite Nintendo franchise, Metroid, has a clear and absolute timeline that's clarified with each new game inserted into it. Other M's gonna be a real big shaker though, as it depicts events from before the beginning of the current timeline, and quite close to the "end" of the current timeline.

To be honest, my timeline for Zelda is "Eh, these are all various legends and fables about a recurrent mythological super-figure. Some of them are made-up stories, others are historical, others are greatly embellished. This is why they all have certain major elements in common, but can't be placed in any serious order." It's kinda like piecing together Arthurian legend. It's impossible because in one story they'll be obtaining artifact A, using artifact B. In another they'll be obtaining artifact B using artifact A. This is just like the new conundrum the Skyward Sword turning into the Master Sword presents. If Minish Cap explains the origin of the hero's hat, then surely it must come first - but Skyward Sword explains the origin of the Master Sword, so THAT must come first.

 

[escapistrules]

Minish Cap surely came first, as that's how Link got his hat!

Calumon: There's a timeline?

i suppose there is, but i the only trend i saw was that majoras mask came after ocarina of time, obviously because it pretty much says that at the beginning of the game.

 

[Timbydude]

Wait a minute. I definitely recall some hardcore Zelda fan maintaining that there was a timeline to Nintendo, and he mapped it out perfectly and such. And then Nintendo told him that all the games were completely independent and not linked to each other in any way.

So...huh?

 

[Canadamus Prime]

What? I thought they very firmly said there was no timeline. ???

 

[TG MLPDashie]

well links awakening is probably the first zelda game, as you can tell be the name

Thing is though,because of the ending of Link's Awakening,it's usually excluded from the time lines if I remember right.

I think the reason FF and Zelda games don't run on the no timline idea is because,Final Fantasy is usually a whole new story,whole new world,whole new set of characters.There's things linking them from time to time,like,say,the Shinra Company in FF7,and then the character Shinra in FFX-2.Whereas,in Zelda,with a few exceptions,you are always in Hyrule,at least at some point,the same characters tend to crop up,like Malon,you are always called Link,and the princess is always called Zelda.And nine times out of ten,at some point,someone will say something about 'the ancient hero'.

why don't you quote my entire post and not just 1 section you want to niggle about??

 

[Yawwy]

well links awakening is probably the first zelda game, as you can tell be the name

Thing is though,because of the ending of Link's Awakening,it's usually excluded from the time lines if I remember right.

I think the reason FF and Zelda games don't run on the no timline idea is because,Final Fantasy is usually a whole new story,whole new world,whole new set of characters.There's things linking them from time to time,like,say,the Shinra Company in FF7,and then the character Shinra in FFX-2.Whereas,in Zelda,with a few exceptions,you are always in Hyrule,at least at some point,the same characters tend to crop up,like Malon,you are always called Link,and the princess is always called Zelda.And nine times out of ten,at some point,someone will say something about 'the ancient hero'.

why don't you quote my entire post and not just 1 section you want to niggle about??

Sorry,I've a habit of doing that.I do mostly agree with the rest of your post by the way.I play each game as if it's a totally independent,unrelated game.It's interesting to see how people do think they relate,but to me,as you said,it's just a load of legends,loosely connected,kinda like,you know,any set of legends in our own world.

 

[Denamic]

Zelda has a timeline?
Both Zelda and Link seem to have multiple different origins.
It's pretty futile to superimpose any kind of timeline, isn't it?
So why bother? Why not just go with what the game in question says?

 

[escapistrules]

this is how the game is most likly to happen

boy/man lives in a town. somthing forces him to go out to try and save the world. he will go to a bunch of temples, fighting bosses that correspond to the temple they guard (like some fish as the boss to the water temple or something). somthing else bad will happen and link will go to some more temples to gain the power to destroy the evil forces that now plague the land, thus saving the world.

that is my prediction to this zelda game, and i wouldn't have it any other way

 

[Wafflestomper99]

Well, if it's skyward, how do you cut anything that isn't jumping over you?

It's gotta come back down sometime

 

[NeutralDrow]

The only cohesive timeline I've ever come up with involves three games.. Ocarina of Time-Majoras Mask-Wind Waker.

I call that the Hyrule Trilogy and the centrepiece of the Zelda games. All the other games are just scattered around the place and don't really slot in as getting crudely stitched in.

Ocarina of Time-Majora's Mask leads into Twilight Princess, I'm pretty sure. It's the theorized "child timeline," where Link went back to being ten years old.

Makes more sense if you consider that the adult Link probably got all the fame and glory (hence young boys in Wind Waker being forced to dress as him on their tenth birthdays), while child Link got to skip out (hence few people besides the spirits in Twilight Princess even seem to recall the Hero of Time).

 

[Brok3n Halo]

I?m not one of these hardcore timeline guys that would argue this stuff, I just think it?s interesting to play around with the idea. I personally really don?t think they worry to much about breaking their own cannon when writing these things and that?s why they are so vague with it. I think Eiji Aonuma wants there to be a connection between games and a deep story where Shigeru Miyamoto very much wants the opposite. So the games do and will always somewhat arguably fit into a timeline but also contradict each other.


But anyway, just for fun, let's break it down.

Here's the official order of certain games split into the verified arcs:

OoT(Child Timeline) -> MM -> TP
OoT(Adult Timeline) -> WW -> PH -> ST
MC -> FS -> FSA
LttP -> LA
OoS <-> OoA (under unknown)
LoZ -> AoL

Breaking it down any further tan that is all guess work, though it is pretty obvius which timeline those that take place post OoT fit into and those that come before. Everything following has been verified in interviews unless otherwise mentioned as a guess or other logic.

Minish Cap definitely comes first (with the possible exception of Skyward Sword now), it was verified in interviews to be the prequel to everything. Also it's mention that Vaati helped Gannon in the GBA version of LttP. Where Four Sword and Four Sword Adventure take place in the overall timeline isn't entirely clear and not necessarily near each other.

Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Legend of Zelda, and Adventure of Link all definitely take place in the Child Timeline after OoT. The legend in LttP is the story of what happened to Gannon in that timeline in OoT. Cannon says the towns in AoL where named after the sages in OoT (though in production it was actually the reverse obviously). LttP was verified as a prequel to LoZ.

So with all the above this timeline can be concluded almost definitely:

MC -> OoT -> MM -> LttP -> LoZ -> AoL
MC -> OoT -> WW -> PH -> ST

I don't think Twilight Princess or Link's Awakening can be definitively placed in the adult timeline other than post Majora's Mask for the former and post Link to the Past for the later. The Oricle games are also not easy to place as I don't think they have any concrete connection to other games, I really haven't played them so can't say for sure. Most people seem to think they go in the adult timeline either before or after the NES games.

And that's pretty much everything, I hope one day Nintendo releases the official timeline, I'm really curios on how all this really lines up.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Snip

Your avatar made me shit myself.

And on topic, when Nintendo said there was no timeline, I always interpret it to mean they had yet to actually make one. Not that there is no continuity.