Nintendo Comedy Club

Nintendo Forums => Zelda => Topic started by: Link on June 22, 2008, 04:29:54 pm



Title: Timeline Theories
Post by: Link on June 22, 2008, 04:29:54 pm
Any fan of Zelda knows that the games have never really been revealed as having a timeline. In other words, the series is a confusing puzzle, and you can never really tell which game goes where. I mean, there are obvious orders: Ocarina of Time is probably first, and thats where the timeline splits. Majora's Mask comes right after Ocarina of Time in Child Link's world. Link's Awakening occurs right after A Link to the Past. Adventure of Link takes place right after Legend of Zelda. Phantom Hourglass comes right after Wind Waker, and Wind Waker occurs several hundred, or thousand, years after Ocarina of Time in the Adult Link timeline.

Other than that... do any of you have any theories about the specific order?


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 23, 2008, 04:54:58 am
To add to that the Oracle games have to come after Link to the Past (It's all to do with location of Triforce ;))

My own inclination goes like this....

         -------WW-PH----LoZ-AoL---ALttP-OoA-OoS-LA
OoT<
        MM--TP---TMC-------------FS-FSA

Not too sure about LoZ of AoL as I have never played them and the foursword games could be anywhere (but I'm pretty sure its near LttP on) timeline.
Tell me if there's any problems with this version and show me you're own.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Link on June 23, 2008, 09:21:53 am
To add to that the Oracle games have to come after Link to the Past (It's all to do with location of Triforce ;))

My own inclination goes like this....

         -------WW-PH----LoZ-AoL---ALttP-OoA-OoS-LA
OoT<
        MM--TP---TMC-------------FS-FSA

Not too sure about LoZ of AoL as I have never played them and the foursword games could be anywhere (but I'm pretty sure its near LttP on) timeline.
Tell me if there's any problems with this version and show me you're own.

The only real problem is LoZ, AoL, ALttP, OoA, OoS, and LA can't take place after WW. They could be on that end of the spectrum, but they can't take place after it, because

A) They all take place in Hyrule, and after WW, Hyrule is no more
B) Ganondorf is dead by the end of WW, and can't come back unless someone goes under water to revive him.

But, I do think LoZ and AoL have to be in the Child Link timeline, because, as WW/PH end the Adult Link timeline, AoL ends a timeline, because Ganon is dead and a plot to revive him has been thwarted, and the very first Princess Zelda is revived, so the curse is broken, so no more Princess Zeldas after her.

Or at least, those are my theories. I once thought TP was in the adult Link timeline, but perhaps not now that I think of it.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 23, 2008, 09:29:04 am
Made a mistake! LoZ and AoL should be after LA. Thanks for noticing.
Hmmm Ganon is turned to stone after WW not dead. I feel this is like another form of sealing away, not destruction. ALttP has to be on the Adult line. It states clearly that Ganon was sealed in the Golden Realm sometime in the past, which only happened in the Adult linw.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: NXtreme on June 23, 2008, 10:07:27 am
i bet at some point in the wind waker series ganondorf will be revived.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 23, 2008, 10:12:32 am
DOES NOT COMPUTE!.....or, um, I mean huh?
There's no such thing as a "Wind Waker series"


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 23, 2008, 11:21:24 am
Neat theory

But that hinges completely on the "Split timeline" theory

Which I don't think works

Now, what I reckon is:

OOT
 -->MM

[The triforce splits when OOT Link leaves Hyrule. Ganon somehow gets out, kills one of the sages and is sent to the twilight realm. Could TP Link be descended from OOT Link and MALON? There's the whole ranch thing, and Epona's song hinting at that. Oh, and the Temple of Time crumbles to rubble, and is absorbed into the Lost Woods]

TP

[Ganondorf gets out AGAIN, and this time he isn't defeated. Hyrule floods]

WW
 -->PH

[When Ganondorf turns to stone, his spirit is trapped in the dark world - where the Triforce also went as Hyrule was destroyed. The many centuries in the Dark World mutate him permenently into his pig form. Meanwhile, the flood waters recede over many years]

LTTP
 -->LA

[The retrieved Triforce is placed deep in Hyrule castle]

OOA/OOS

[As the Triforce sends Oracles Link to far-off realms, it splits apart in order to send its courage portion with him]

LOZ
 -->AOL

[It's unclear what happens, besides the Master Sword being stuck into a large chest and enshrined. Ganon seems to return somehow, that too is yet to be explained. His Trident from LTTP is also enshrined in a pyramid]

MC
 -->4S
   -->4SA

There are a couple of holes in this, but it seems to work better than most theories. Bear in mind that much of the timeline is yet to be revealed, and so there is no way of knowing how accurate any theories are

Random bit of trivia: only in Four Swords Adventures is the protagonist called Link; the other heroes are named by the player


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 23, 2008, 11:58:00 am
I think you have a good timeline there. The split timeline theory seems to be the widely accepted one but yours is good too.

At least the Metroid series has a timeline that's easier to work out.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 23, 2008, 01:07:02 pm
One gaping hole. Ganon has triforce in OoT. He dosen't in TP (at first anyway). They cannot be on the same timeline. OoT showed the rise of Ganon. TP also showed his rise.

Also Aonuma and Miyamoto (no idea if that's right spelling....) said themselves that the timeline split. TP was obviously made with this in mind....


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 24, 2008, 11:07:20 am
Hey, I didn't know that the creators actually said the split timeline was true.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 24, 2008, 12:32:56 pm
Yeah, they were discussing TP and Miyamoto said it happened 100 years after OoT. Then Aonuma asked him  what timeline it was on, child or adult.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 25, 2008, 02:33:45 am
Well there's the proof.

Still, knowing Hypnotoad, he'll probably think his timeline's better.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 25, 2008, 02:38:07 am
It IS!!!

But if I have to, I can adapt it to the whole "split" thing

There's a chance they just released that comment to incite fan-response, that happens a lot

(a good example is the "cheese man" from Buffy the Vampire Slayer


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 25, 2008, 03:10:59 am
Well I suppose I guessed right then.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 25, 2008, 07:51:12 am
I used to stubbornly believe in the single timeline but I had to accept there was no way it could be true. The split theory just fits so well. You have to put in a lot of crazy events to make the single line possible.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 25, 2008, 10:56:57 am
I actually agree with you there, but I do also think that the flood resides after a while.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 25, 2008, 10:59:38 am
That is of course the big problem in any timeline....No one has got around it yet


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 25, 2008, 11:14:11 am
Lets hope at some point that Nintendo reveal the official timeline. I mean, Metroid's was worked out quite easily.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Link on June 25, 2008, 08:54:50 pm
Nintendo has to eventually release a timeline. I mean, fans demand it.

And yeah, Metroid's makes sense. But then again, Metroid is a lot less complex. It's the same Samus in every game, and will always be. It all takes place over the course of... pretty much a decade, whereas in Zelda its several centuries with huge gaps in between. Would it be easier if we could compare architecture? Yeah, probably. Just kidding.

But seriously, it's a video game. Eventually they have to make something that makes sense.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 26, 2008, 06:45:15 am
Hopefully future games take place in the gaps, instead of adding new ones like TMC...


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 26, 2008, 12:14:23 pm
Yeah, that would be good. As long as we don't have Futuristic Zeldas then we'll be alright.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 26, 2008, 12:43:38 pm
I dunno, if executed right they could pull it off...

It would be bloody hard to execute right, though


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 27, 2008, 08:58:59 am
I very much doubt they'd do a futuristic Zelda. But they are going to take it in a new direction. TP was said to be the last "traditional" game...


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Link on June 27, 2008, 10:42:16 am
I very much doubt they'd do a futuristic Zelda. But they are going to take it in a new direction. TP was said to be the last "traditional" game...

It'd be pretty awesome as a fan made game, but not as official.

I drew a picture of Link wearing a Hylian Power Suit... it was for a "Link vs. Samus" thing where the two of them meet on Planet Hyrule several thousand years after TP.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 27, 2008, 11:53:53 am
I wonder if Termina's an alternate reality, or just on the other side of the planet? I'll answer that myself, actually: it must be alternate, because Link split the Triforce by going there; yet Oracles Link took part of the Triforce with him to Holodrum, Labrynna and Subrosia. This also means that Subrosia is not an alternate world, simply under Holodrum

If the Dark world is a separate reality (to which Ganon was sent), does that mean that there is one Ganon between several alternate Hyrules? Is the Twilight realm an alternate Dark World?

An entire post stating the obvious - that was easy


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 27, 2008, 12:34:32 pm
I wonder if Termina's an alternate reality, or just on the other side of the planet? I'll answer that myself, actually: it must be alternate, because Link split the Triforce by going there; yet Oracles Link took part of the Triforce with him to Holodrum, Labrynna and Subrosia. This also means that Subrosia is not an alternate world, simply under Holodrum

If the Dark world is a separate reality (to which Ganon was sent), does that mean that there is one Ganon between several alternate Hyrules? Is the Twilight realm an alternate Dark World?

An entire post stating the obvious - that was easy

Link never split the Triforce!

I reckon ther's three worlds: Light, Dark and Twilight


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 27, 2008, 01:21:32 pm
There's obviously loads of different dimensions.

I think that there is:

Hyrule
Termina
Holodrum
Labrynna
Dark World
Twilight Realm.

Travel between each dimension is different.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 27, 2008, 02:46:12 pm
Are Holodrum and Labrynna seperate demensions?


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 28, 2008, 07:14:48 am
I think so. You'll have to ask Hypnotoad though, since he has the games with those regions in them.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 28, 2008, 10:06:27 am
Holodrum and Labrynna are on the same planet as Hyrule - this is proven as in the Oracle games Link has the Triforce of Courage with him

Also, Impa has made her way there to try and bring the Oracles to Hyrule - and safety

As far as worlds are concerned, they seem to be as follows:

Termina (which seems to have split from Hyrule long ago)

Hyrule and the Golden Realm (two worlds, which are connected)

-which split into

Hyrule 1 and the Dark world

-and

Hyrule 2 and the Twilight Realm

In Hyrule 2, young Link obviously ratted on Ganondorf, who was (unsuccessfully) executed and sent through the mirror of Twilight

As there are alternate Hyrules, there seem to be alternate Dark worlds: evidence of this is the appearance of the mirror in both LTTP and TP (which seem to be pon separate sides of the timeline)


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 28, 2008, 10:07:39 am
Hah! You've finally accepted the split timeline! ;D


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 28, 2008, 10:17:43 am
And hence, my revised timeline:

Before the start of OOT is the war of containment: several mages tried to control the Triforce with the fused shadows. The light spirits put a stop to this, and the mages were banished to the twilight realm. The first set of "seven sages" sealed the Triforce in the Temple of Light - and sealed it with the Master Sword (newly created by the Picori)

              MM ------ TP ------ LOZ; AOL
     OOT<                                                                                                          (not to scale)
              --- LTTP; LA --- OOA; OOS --- WW; PH --- MC --- 4S --- 4SA

The time paradox in OOT split Hyrule into two - and the dark world into two. On the Child Link timeline, the dark world is the Twilight Realm


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 28, 2008, 10:19:34 am
Hah! You've finally accepted the split timeline! ;D

I'm open to it. If it is that, then my new timeline is the most likely. If not, then go with the old one...

There's no way of knowing until an official timeline is released


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 28, 2008, 10:21:36 am
Can't agree with ALttP before WW, sorry.

And also it depends on the Picori sword being the same as the Master sword.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 28, 2008, 10:33:21 am
LTTP has to be before WW, because it is after the flood that Chu Chus start appearing - and of course, there's the Master Sword (which appears to be the Picori Blade: the stained glass windows in MC indicate this, as does the description in FSA of the Foursword as "the blade with the power to repel evil")


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 28, 2008, 10:42:39 am
haha, location of monsters dosen't mean anything. Plus Chus were in LttP- they were called Buzzblobs


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 28, 2008, 10:48:33 am
Point

Interesting note - the Adult Link timeline has ChuChus, as well as buzzblobs (which seem to be the same)

The Child Link timeline has TP Chus, which split when you hit them, And Gels (which split into Zols, and seem to be the same)

Termina ChuChus have items inside

It's as if weird blob creatures evolved differently after the timeline split


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 28, 2008, 01:56:13 pm
Time Paradoxes for you.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 29, 2008, 02:54:55 am
ChuChus seem to be like Hyrule's temporal take on the Galapagos turtles

They really help to figure out the branch of the timeline that each game is on

The only exception so far is zols appearing in FSA - but that is only when other enemies are turned into zols by the quake spell


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 29, 2008, 07:39:28 am
Obviously there are more events than this though. Nintendo will probably do another Toon Link game since Phantom Hourglass has done well.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on June 29, 2008, 07:57:13 am
The Chus are not a solid way to locate events on the timeline. Nintendo dosen't think that way when making games.

And I doubt WW Link will be back. Nearly all Zelda games are limited to one sequel.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 29, 2008, 08:02:16 am
Perhaps then, we'll see a TP sequel.

And Minish Cap is a prequel to Four Swords so thats not exactly one sequel.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on June 29, 2008, 03:00:26 pm
TP has a sequel (of sorts)

And chus are not the primary means I've used to tune my chronology: I just noticed after I made it how well they fitted

Don't underestimate Nintendo's attention to detail

...

What I like about this thread is that, seeing other people's ideas, our own evolve and adapt


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on June 30, 2008, 11:56:08 am
Yes. They always make sure Link holds the sword in his left hand (apart from in Wii TP).


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on July 01, 2008, 03:08:41 am
Link's handedness in TP depends on the player's


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on July 01, 2008, 03:10:09 am
Can I come in with my own theory. I think that OOA and OOS take places on opposite sides of the split since I assume they take place at the same time, but this would have on different sides to take place at the same time.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Leonri on July 01, 2008, 11:14:59 am
How do you know they occur simaltaneously? Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's impossible. At the beginning of both you see a complete Triforce. This has only happened once in the entire series- after LttP. So they have to be on that line.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on July 03, 2008, 05:45:04 am
Yes, but how do you know which one takes place first?


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on July 03, 2008, 05:47:24 am
Don't forget WW... but then, the original Hyrule is destroyed

Note how the Triforce doesn't appear in the Vaati trilogy - that implies that, even if the flood recedes, Hyrule is not quite the sacred land anymore

It's the same Link in the Oracles, BTW. Personally I think OOS is before OOA, but I think it could go either way - they happen at pretty much the same time. And the games are interconnected, so they are on the same side of the timeline: it is simply one game in two parts


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on July 03, 2008, 05:54:20 am
Thanks for clearing that up.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on July 08, 2008, 12:07:23 pm
It says it on the boxes!


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: TheAPERSON on July 09, 2008, 03:05:16 am
Of course, we could go into detail about how Link ends up in the Soul Calibur universe, or ends up fighting alongside Yoshi, but that doesn't really matter because those are side apperances that obviously take place in gaps between games, plus, it's just a trophy of Link that's used in Smash Bros.


Title: Re: Timeline Theories
Post by: Hypnotoad on July 09, 2008, 02:25:30 pm
And there's the yoshi doll in LA (a trading quest item)

Wierd coincidence