Nintendo doesn't always do direct sequels with the Zelda series, but Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the few in the series, directly following 2017's Game of the Year winner, Breath of the Wild. With the success of both the games, and the arrival of the Switch 2 soon, Nintendo has the opportunity to do something extraordinarily rare in the franchise and make a Wilds trilogy. These versions of both Link and Zelda are very popular, after all, and seeing more of them could be a great way to capitalize on their recent success.

Tears of the Kingdom ends in a similar place to Breath of the Wild too, with Princess Zelda back on the throne, presumably as the queen, with Link by her side. The villain is defeated, everything is right with the world and Link even gets his old arm back, so it isn't as though the end point of the game will prove a giant obstacle for a direct sequel. Still, since both titles have used up a lot of features from the Zelda formula, it will mean that Nintendo will have to get creative with where it takes the next game.

A Separate Timeline Means A BOTW Trilogy Is Possible

Freedom And Experimentation Is The Name Of The Game

Strangely, although this would be the third game in the subseries, with the formula that the Zelda series has often employed, a sequel would actually have more freedom than a brand-new Zelda with a new version of Hyrule. The Wilds series also benefits from being completely separate from the rest of the Zelda timeline, meaning that the developers don't have to worry about how the next game will fit it. Truth be told, the timeline doesn't make much sense anyway, so this isn't something Nintendo seems to worry about much anyway.

The Zelda timeline is known to be confusing, with three branching lines depending on the events of Ocarina of Time.

With the Wilds series being completely separate, and the only official, mainline Zelda games not in the timeline, it could be the perfect series to experiment with a trilogy. There has only been one other trilogy in the series, which includes The Minish Cap and the two Four Sword titles. This trilogy wouldn't be as direct as a Wilds trilogy would be; however, since The Minish Cap takes place many years before the first Four Swords game and the Link (or rather Links) featured in the games aren't the same.

Despite Four Swords Adventures being a sequel to Four Swords, the two games are quite far from each other on the series' official timeline, with three games and untold years between them. The Minish Cap and the two Four Swords games are primarily connected through their main villain, Vaati.

Why A New Villain Seems Likely For A TOTK Sequel

Ganon And Ganondorf Have Already Been Used

One thing that would have to be sorted out for a potential TOTK sequel would be the villain. Both Ganon (as Calamity Ganon) and Ganondorf have already been used, so a brand-new villain would have to be introduced to the series for this third game. This shouldn't be too difficult, though, considering that the Zelda series does have a plethora of villains that aren't reincarnations of Ganon. Vaati and Majora are both good examples of villains that have nothing or little to do with Ganon.

This could even be an opportunity to bring the series to a darker place, like with Twilight Princess, and introduce an entirely new entity to fight, like the shadow creatures of the Twilight Realm. With the era of myth before the start of Breath of the Wild, there is also a lot of history that the third game could pull from to bring in a new villain. Perhaps some ancient, mechanical evil could arise in the style of the Sheikah Guardians, and it could be a good opportunity to explore more about the Ancient Hero of the era of myth.

Zelda Characters Who Could Return As The Villain

There Is An Impressive Pool To Pull From

Although Ganon is known as the main bad guy of the Zelda series, like Bowser in the Mario franchise, there are plenty of other villains who could make a return for a third Wilds game. A being of pure evil, similar to Echoes of Wisdom's Null or Phantom Hourglass' Bellum, could be used, since both of these villains come from games in which Ganon has already been defeated. This would allow Nintendo to do almost whatever they want with these villains, so long as they're some kind of ancient or primordial evil that has come to conquer the world.

There are also quite a few, reoccurring villains that haven't been seen in the Zelda franchise for some time who could make a potential return. For instance, Skull Kid could come back in some form, and it would be interesting to see what can be done with the character without Majora. Twinrova (Kotake and Koume) were actually in TOTK in a cutscene, and although it has been potentially tens of thousands of years, the two could make a comeback to try to seek revenge in the name of Ganondorf.

Twinrova are usually the surrogate mothers of Ganondorf and are typically sorcerers of ice and fire.

Having said this, it isn't as though the villain needs to be a villain from another game. Of course, the return of a Dark Link would be interesting, but Nintendo could shake things up by having another character become a villain, like a possessed or desperate Midna coming to conquer Hyrule for the Twilight Realm. Perhaps the villain could even be created by one of the heroes, with Purah inventing a powerful automaton that goes rogue with an army of machines at its back. There are plenty of options.

How A Third Game Could Shake Up The Story

Almost All The Zelda Tropes Have Been Used

A potential third game in the Wilds series would need to venture into a lot of uncharted territory, considering that so many staples from the franchise have already been used. Ganon and Ganondorf have already tried to take over the world and the Divine Beasts have already played their part. A third game would have to do something completely different from a story perspective, especially since the last two games were very different mechanically, with their open world and physics-based systems.

A Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sequel could introduce more political elements, with Zelda actually struggling to rule Hyrule after it spent a hundred years without a monarch. Without a common enemy to gather behind, perhaps the conflict could center around trying to keep peace with the Gerudo, Gorons, Zora, and Rito. The franchise has very rarely delved into the actual ruling part of the lore, so perhaps helping Zelda navigate being queen would be a good way to shake up the story.