The Legend of Zelda has an official timeline that Nintendo updates when a new game is released, but that timeline has a reputation for being convoluted. At the same time, it's interesting to study the timeline and see how games have been placed and why, creating a larger narrative for the in-game universe. While there are many more than 10 games in the franchise, some have a greater impact on the timeline than others.

It's more common for a series to release its games in a mostly chronological order, assuming the games in that series are connected. Zelda games have a unique setup where the main characters are reincarnated at different times to save the kingdom from its current threat, so the series is able to show new points anywhere in the timeline. While this style offers a lot of freedom, it also means that understanding the timeline can be difficult.

10 Skyward Sword Begins The Cycle

Released In 2011

As the first game chronologically in the official timeline, Skyward Sword includes a fair bit of important information for the series as a whole. The nature of Zelda's powers, why she and Link are continually reincarnated, and the evil that led to Ganondorf's creation are all included in this game, which makes it important for setting up events for the rest of the timeline. After all, establishing a strong foundation is required for such a large series.

Here, it's revealed that Zelda is the mortal incarnation of the goddess Hylia, and Demise is the dark counterpart of the Golden Goddesses. Additionally, Demise is technically the original form of Ganondorf – the latter is the manifestation of the former's malice – which explains his role and repeated reincarnations throughout the rest of the series. Skyward Sword does a great job establishing how the rest of the timeline works as far as reincarnations go, as well as the origin of its main villains.

9 Hyrule Is Rediscovered In The Wind Waker

Released In 2003

The Wind Waker is set in the adult era of the timeline split that Ocarina of Time caused, and it sets the stage for Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Aside from those two games, however, the new era that began hasn't received much use in the series yet. However, before that era begins, Hyrule has to be rediscovered, the Great Sea saved from Ganondorf, and then the old kingdom subsequently destroyed for good by the ocean.

Although Ganondorf was sealed away, it was inevitable that he would manage to return to the world. As a way to protect the Triforce, the Golden Goddesses sealed Hyrule with the Triforce, then flooded both. Link's journey in this game largely revolves around finding the forgotten Master Sword and looking for Hyrule and its hidden princess, Zelda. After finding these and defeating Ganondorf, Hyrule is given to the sea, paving the way for New Hyrule's founding on a new continent in Spirit Tracks.

8 Breath Of The Wild Shows That The Cycle Will Always Continue

Released In 2017

Zelda: Breath of the Wild has an unusual place in the timeline, which means that the reason it has an impact on the overall timeline is a bit different. Unlike the rest of the series, BOTW and TOTK have their own separate space in the timeline, meaning that they are after OoT's split, but not directly connected to any of those resulting eras. Instead, the events of previous games happened so long ago by the time these games take place they've essentially become distant legends.

Because of its placement, Breath of the Wild has an impact on the timeline that's subtle, yet important. It shows that no matter how much time es, the cycle of reincarnation for Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf continues. There will always be a new evil that appears in the world, and Link and Zelda will always return to combat it.

7 Tears Of The Kingdom Raises Interesting Questions

Released In 2023

As the direct sequel to Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom is also set so far in the future that the events of previous games have been mostly forgotten or are seen as legends. Both games take place over a long period of time, with Link waking up a hundred years after being gravely injured in BOTW, and then Zelda traveling thousands of years back in time in TOTK.

The glimpses of the distant past in TOTK raise more interesting questions than the memories that Link sees in BOTW.

The glimpses of the distant past in TOTK raise more interesting questions than the memories that Link sees in BOTW. TOTK potentially has two Ganondorfs that exist at the same time, even if one is technically in the form of Calamity Ganon.

However, since only one male Gerudo can be born at a time, the existence of two Ganondorfs overlapping seems to cause a paradox. If it's possible to have multiple variations of Ganondorf as long as the past version is at least sealed away for the new one to be born, that could lead to a terrifying future if somebody wanted to weaponize that ability.

Furthermore, Zelda's journey to the past involves meeting the founders of Hyrule, the Zonai king Rauru and the Hylian queen Sonia, which seemingly contradicts the kingdom's origin story in Skyward Sword. While there aren't any concrete details explaining this, the most likely explanation seems to be that the original Hyrule fell, and a new Hyrule was erected by Rauru and Sonia at a much later time, considering BOTW and TOTK's very late timeline placement. This is not unprecedented, as evidenced by the aforementioned New Hyrule in Spirit Tracks.

6 The Oracle Games Show Ganon's Revival

Released In 2001

This is for both Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, because their plots are essentially parallel and lead to the same goal for the villains. Unfortunately, these games don't get a ton of attention overall, and they aren't the easiest to acquire when compared to more recent titles. However, they actually show a fairly important event in the timeline that follows the fall of the hero, which is the era that begins after Link is defeated in Ocarina of Time.

• 	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages	The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
  Released	2001-05-14	2001-05-14
  ESRB	E For Everyone Due To Mild Violence	E For Everyone Due To Mild Violence
  Franchise	The Legend of Zelda	The Legend of Zelda
  Platform(s)	Nintendo Game Boy Color, 3DS	Nintendo Game Boy Color
  Developer(s)	Capcom, Nintendo	Nintendo, Capcom
  Publisher(s)	Nintendo	Nintendo
  Genre(s)	Action-Adventure	Action, Adventure

Since the Imprisoning War has taken place by this point in the timeline, Ganon is out of commission at the beginning of the Oracle games. Of course, he never stays away for long, and these two games show how Ganon is revived to start the next cycle of good versus evil in the series. Considering how often Ganon is used as a villain, his revival naturally has a big impact on the timeline.

5 A Link To The Past Reinforces The Power Of The Triforce

Released In 1992

Since A Link to the Past is before the Oracle games, it somewhat leads to the games, and it shows Ganon's defeat before he would later be revived by Twinrova. However, ALttP is one of the only games on the timeline to actually show the power of making a wish on the Triforce, and its impact on the timeline includes breaking the seal on Ganon, and defeating him so he could later be revived and continue the cycle of the series.

Leading up to ALttP, Ganondorf chases after the Triforce, making it to the Sacred Realm and succeeding in getting his hands on it. However, he was unable to use it to impact the world since he was sealed within the Sacred Realm, leading to him corrupting it with the Triforce's power. Link is sent to the Sacred Realm, now the Dark World, as he attempts to save Zelda and the Maidens, and he's able to see the impact that the power of the Triforce can have.

4 A Link Between Worlds Shows The Necessity Of The Triforce

Released In 2013

A direct sequel to A Link to the Past, albeit set many years later, A Link Between Worlds shows the impact of what might seem like a reasonable choice to make for the protection of a kingdom, which has an impact on the overall timeline by showing how important the Triforce is. It turns out that the Triforce isn't just a source of power that's capable of granting wishes.

Instead, the Triforce quite literally holds the worlds together like a supernatural glue that the Golden Goddesses left behind as a form of protection. Lorule's royal family decides that the Triforce has led to too much bloodshed and war, so they get rid of their version of it.

This leads to disastrous results, which include the world of Lorule starting to come apart, and that explains Hilda's plan to take Hyrule's Triforce in an attempt to save her kingdom. While Link helps resolve this issue and uses the Hyrule Triforce to bring back the Lorule Triforce, it's a lesson as to why no other game makes an attempt to get rid of what seems to be an item that brings war.

3 The Adventure Of Link Shows The Tragedy Of Zelda

Released In 1988

Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link is at the end of the fallen hero timeline, which gives it some interesting retroactive impacts on the rest of the timeline, especially since a major event in the game is the truth of what happened to Princess Zelda I. Except, this name is a bit misleading because Princess Zelda I is far from the first Zelda, who would be the one that appears in Skyward Sword.

The gameplay itself isn't beloved, but its story brings up an interesting aspect of the Triforce with potentially large impacts, which is how it's able to be hidden in individuals.

At the same time, calling the event the "Tragedy of Princess Zelda I" is oddly fitting for every Zelda, as they all face tragic circumstances in the series. The gameplay itself isn't beloved, but its story brings up an interesting aspect of the Triforce with potentially large impacts, which is how it can be hidden in individuals.

Link finds the Triforce of Courage hidden in himself, which he's only able to obtain after he defeats his own shadow. This shows why Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf, tend to have unique powers, as they often have the pieces of the Triforce hidden in themselves.

2 The Minish Cap Introduces The Royal Family

Released In 2005

The Minish Cap seems to be an often forgotten game in the series, especially among the giants like BOTW, but it's one of the most impactful on the timeline, because it's the first to show that the kingdom of Hyrule has been established and that it has a royal family. A big reason as to why this game includes such impactful elements is its placement in the timeline, being the first game to follow the events of Skyward Sword, where Hylians live in the sky.

Between Skyward Sword and The Minish Cap, Hylians move from Skyloft to the Surface, establishing the kingdom of Hyrule and a royal family to rule it, who are the descendants of Zelda, the mortal Hylia. This game also starts what will eventually be Ganondorf's cyclical attacks on Hyrule with the help of demonic creatures, as Vaati leads the first threat to Hylians following Demise. Establishing the kingdom that becomes the center of the series and the idea that it's a place that always faces danger is an important, yet underrated, impact.

1 Ocarina Of Time Splits The Timeline

Released In 1998

Ocarina of Time has dark secrets, but it's no secret that this game is the main reason that the Zelda timeline is so confusing. As a result, it has the biggest overall impact on the timeline, since a majority of games take place on those split eras that OoT created. However, understanding the differences between the eras can be confusing, as it might seem like there should only be a success and failure split.

Instead, Ocarina of Time has three possible outcomes rather than two. This is because when Link succeeds in defeating Ganon, he is sent back to his childhood in one timeline, but remains an adult in another timeline, which results in two timelines from his success alone. Then, the last timeline is from the scenario where Link is unable to win against Ganon, which means that the Sages have to seal him away instead. These outcomes alone make OoT the most impactful game on the timeline.

The Legend of Zelda has a lot of games, but they aren't connected to each other in a singularly linear way. Instead, some of the oldest games are at the end of the timeline, while the more modern Skyward Sword is set at the beginning of the timeline. This creates a confusing series of events with multiple parallel universes, but it also means that each game has a unique impact on the timeline that might not be obvious from its position alone in The Legend of Zelda.