July 2, 2011

Deciphering the Timeline to The Legend of Zelda


One question has puzzled Zelda fans for over 10 years: What is the order of the Zelda series? Well, I've really have started to put some thought into how the timeline unfolds. There's no definate answer to how for what the timeline is but there's a lot speculation and I believe I've got a pretty good idea of how it breaks down. I'm gonna do this in different segments starting with the first one then doing a final product.

The Legend of Zelda



Ahhhh, the game that started it all back in 1986. This game was the highest selling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. People fell in love with it the moment they played it. This games story is pretty basic. Pretty much one day, an evil force led by Ganon came into Hyrule and stole the Triforce of Power and Zelda, in fear of the Triforce of Wisdom being stolen, decided to split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces around the kingdom of Hyrule. Zelda also told Impa to go find someone with enough courage (probably hinting toward the Triforce of Courage) to stop Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon sent his minions to find Impa and kill her, but luckily a young lad by the name of Link saved her. Impa told Link the story of Ganon and how he needed to find the Triforce of Wisdom to reach Death Mountain where Ganon was. Link took this quest and saved the Land of Hyrule from the evil Ganon!

Alright, so this game is actually quite hard to find a correct spot for because Ganon is present, there's no Ganondorf, no Master Sword, and no background information. This makes sense though because they weren't in their usual formula for making games yet. Even though it is a tough game to place, it does have an obvious sequel, which is The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link


Okay, all you need to know about this game is it is the follow up to the first game. Ganon's minions are trying to revive Ganon, and here's the catch: they need to sacrifice Link in order to do it! So if that wasn't enough, Link also notices this strange mark on his hand and asks Impa about it. She tells him the story of the Triforce and Link goes on a quest to obtain the Triforce and I haven't played the game for a while but I believe he needed the Triforce to stop Ganon's minions.

So this game is obviously a direct sequel to the first game. No doubt. Unfortunately, it starts to become a lot more complicated after this. I will be releasing more on the Zelda timeline later, so please keep checking the blog for more info on this later.