EDIT: I made a new, super way better version of this image. You can see it here http://miloscat.tumblr.com/post/108420462008 EDITEDIT: There’s an even more superer one now too. Just search the zelda-timeline tag on my blog to see the newest version: http://miloscat.tumblr.com/tagged/zelda-timeline
Before I continue to Twilighty, first a look at the Super Official Zelda Timeline Seriously You Guys. While dashing many fans’ theories, this timeline from the recent Zelda fan’s bible, Hyrule Historia, is super useful and makes pretty good sense too. Here’s a copy of Glitterberri’s translation of the original Japanese with added pictures for reference, plus my own additions for stuff Nintendo blatantly omitted (so really it’s not so serious after all).
Whew, that took longer than expected. I added all the canon, non-canon, and pseudo-canon sources with new narratives or content. It’s more fun that way.
Thus, a new timeline is born! As discussed previously, the “adaptation (decay)” of the characters of Zelda 1 and 2 created a sub-universe/alternate timeline which includes the 3 CD-i games, 2 choose-your-own-adventure books, the cartoon, the Valiant comic, and the even more adaptatious Captain N cartoon (although Link and Zelda there follow pretty closely from their previous cartoon incarnation… ahem). I have dubbed this timeline “The Silly Era” due to the large amounts of cheesy dialogue and wonky character design.
There is also the Tingle anomaly, or “The Tingle Era”, which includes the three Tingle games. These seem to feature the same Tingle having strange adventures, but I couldn’t even begin to guess where they fit in the timeline. Plus there was some empty space on the infographic so I plopped it off to the side. Done!
(Slightly better quality png version here: https://plus.google.com/photos/113941221735499452887/albums/posts/5862568106766505794?banner=pwa)
Our next Link is that initially-controversial redesign from Wind Waker, sometimes known as Toon Link (although this refers to the general design, which is reused in many future games, including some in the Child Timeline and the eras before the branch). The individual of the Hero of Winds though was the first in this style, with the big head and thick outline.
Windy appears in a direct sequel to Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass on the DS. But first, there’s the Smash Bros problem again! “Toon Link” appears in Brawl, and at that point the style had been used on many Links. But this one is obviously based on the Wind Waker incarnation, judging by the items he uses. He has the Hero’s Shield design found in many Toon appearances. The Bow and Boomerang are a bit more distinct to WW. The giveaway is the Master Sword, which is rarer. Here, it is the fully restored version after both Sages Makar and Medli have prayed in their temples. This sword is left inside Ganondorf’s head at the conclusion of the game, so Windy must have been sourced from the last part of the game before this fight, probably while he was sailing all over the Sea looking for Triumph Forks. Again, he won’t remember these events. His stage is Tetra’s pirate ship, under bombardment from Bokoblin platforms.
Another intermediate step in the time between WW and PH is one of the rare Japan (and Korea)-only Zelda games: Navi Trackers. Originally known as Tetra’s Trackers, this is a third mode (along with the main Hyrulean Adventure and Shadow Battle modes) in the GCN-GBA connectivity-heavy game, Four Swords Adventures, that was never localised due to the large amount of voice acting and speech synthesising based on limited name inputs. It is apparently some sort of test by Tetra for Link to properly join her pirate crew, by finding her other crew members on various islands. As shown, it’s the only 3D representation of the Four Swords Link colours outside of Brawl (they seem to have similar personalities to their manga representations).
Although other Links borrow the art style, the same person of Windy appears in PH, as stated. This game is interesting in how similar the setting is to Link’s Awakening: a pocket universe created by an aquatic deity. The other cool thing though is that some of the inhabitants of said universe were able to migrate into the greater world upon resolution of the plot, which I’d like to think was possible in the former game as well, as it had some memorable characters (some of which in fact seem to appear in the Oracle games so there you go).
I forgot something! Although Timey missed out in his home Child Timeline on ever being acknowledged for saving the world, there is another timeline that certainly did not forget. The Wind Waker takes place in the Adult Timeline, following what is called the Era Without a Hero. This refers to the disappearance of Adult Link due to Zelda sending him back to his childhood at the end of OoT. However, those deeds and events actually did take place in this timeline that remained, with a lonely Zelda but also a land of peace.
So we’ve decided that the Smash Bros. really happened. When did Melee happen for Link subjectively? This gets a little tricky, and in fact it involves the Adult Link of both the N64 Smash Bros and Melee being earlier chronologically. Try and follow me here. Later sources which we’ll discuss in a bit reveal that Link held onto some of his equipment gained in Majora’s Mask until his true adult years, when he grew up for real. In both Smash and Melee, Adult Link exclusively uses items based on their OoT appearance. This is also the time when he did his greatest deeds, so it makes sense for Master Hand to take him from here, instead of later in his natural life when his attitude may have turned a little more cynical.
Link in both these games uses the Bow, Hookshot, Boomerang, and Bombs. The latest you acquire is the bow. So the Smash timeline placement goes like this: during the events of OoT, between Link beating the Forest Temple and defeating Ganon to be sent back in time, Master Hand intervenes to pluck him away, not once but twice. Since he has that control over time, they could just have been right after each other. Link then goes back, none the wiser, etc. and ends up a child at the end of it all.
The child form is also playable in Melee. When is he from? His sword, shield, bow, hookshot, and boomerang are all OoT-exclusive designs. (The milk bottle model is shared between OoT and MM, although SSBM uses a new model anyway.) This implies that the transdimensional abduction occurs before Majora’s Mask, but his home stage is Termina’s Great Bay—this is not directly tied to him as the items are, though (Adult Link’s stage seems to be based on Zelda II, hundreds of years later in a different timeline branch). So after Link and Zelda prematurely get Ganondorf put to trial (as revealed in TP), and Link has time to physically mature slightly more, enough to be competent with his adult weapons—but before he leaves for Termina—this post-OoT Child Link is taken the same way. This makes sense I suppose—his smaller, faster form allows for a different fighting style but he has some competence with his more powerful weapons now. So we see that Link had already subjectively participated in Hand’s strange game twice before his younger form had his chance.
The reason we place it thus is that the Link shown is obviously Timey, but using the MM version of the Hylian shield. In that game, Link initially wields the Kokiri sword and Hylian shield, but their designs are oddly quite different to their OoT appearance. Why is this? My theory is that those specific items were warped in some way during the passage to the twisted dimension of Termina, changing their look in devious ways. Most of his other possessions were similarly affected, rendering them unusable, which is why he starts with squat and has to replace his stuff with Terminian equivalents (bigger stuff like the Megaton Hammer he stashed in Hyrule as he was still not physically able to wield them).
Soul Calibur 2 had Link as a Gamecube version exclusive character. Awesome addition, and very interesting for canon (my canon, anyway). The backstory in this game says that Link has just fought off an attack on Hyrule by an evil sorceror, who was being controlled by the plot MacGuffin of the Soul Calibur series. Another adventure of Timey’s, in which he saves Hyrule! What is that Shade complaining about?
This is a strange experience, I imagine, as subjectively for Link he is the same kid, suddenly in an adult body. He is able to switch back and forth, between eras and his own corresponding physical forms, while keeping a continuous subjective experience. Also, any people he meets in the adult era have experienced seven years of time while he has a major discontinuity. The adult Link represented in OoT is not a true adult emotionally. Through the events of the game though, Link grows from an innocent fairy child of the woods (adopted) to accepting his role as Hero. Still, at the end, it is brought home just how young he is when he must interact with the still childish Zelda.
So, the Hero of Time, after OoT, only exists in the Child Timeline. Appropriately, he is a child at this point, but with some of the experience of an adult. This makes him a more capable warrior and Hero even while he still has to grow, and (presumably) even more so when he matures for real. Majora’s Mask is a direct follow-up to OoT. Link is seen to have retained the skills of his Adult form, but to be afflicted with loneliness after the departure of his fairy companion, Navi. He is roaming, on a fruitless journey to find her again when he stumbles on a twisted parallel world, Termina. He meets a new fairy friend, Tatl, and during the game must heal the souls of many people he meets. Perhaps in the process his own heart is eased? The dark character art here echoes the dark tone of the game, but ultimately both Link and the antagonist, Skull Kid, are redeemed and now face hopeful futures. That’s what I got out of it, anyway.
This is where things get interesting for Timey. The next definitely canon source to feature him is Twilight Princess, in which he is a decaying, cadaverous spirit, with a wounded eye and riven armour—this suggests a hard life full of danger and adventure. Full of regret from his life, the “Hero’s Shade” wishes to pass on his skills with the sword, which he lacked the chance to do during his living days (despite him having children—the Hero of Twilight is his descendant). He also feels disappointed and greatly burdened that his deeds in the Adult Timeline necessarily went unreported and unacknowledged. In fact he seems, perhaps, to have done no great deeds in Hyrule during his life in the Child Timeline.
As you can see, his design is very similar to that seen in promotional materials for Zelda 2, and certain artwork of Zelda 1. The clothes, sandy blonde hair, and bangs all echo this design, but this Link is explicitly a separate individual with a different backstory. He is the descendant of a line of Knights who have long protected Hyrule’s royal family. We find out later that this game, and the original two, take place in the Decline timeline, which results from the death of the Hero of Time in Ocarina of Time. The backstory to this game accordingly involves an all-consuming war between the peoples of Hyrule and Ganon’s forces, after the Hero failed to stop his rise to power.
As I said, first Seasons takes place in Holodrum, then Ages in Labrynna. Link is sent to these lands to protect the Oracles, avatars to some degree of the Golden Goddesses. A rogue Gerudo warlord and Sheikah sorceress threaten them, and it is revealed that Twinrova (Gerudo witches of Ocarina of Time) are trying to revive Ganon after his defeat in Link to the Past. Zelda also gets involved in the plot. After it all wraps up, Link leaves by boat—obviously his decision to find training this time. Impa takes Zelda back to Hyrule.
Following this, then, Link’s Awakening happens. His boat is wrecked on a tropical island, a very strange place with a surreal atmosphere. The reason for this is that he has been marooned within a dream world, the creation of a sleeping ocean deity. By waking the Wind Fish at the end of the game, the island and its inhabitants disappear. They lived on to some extent though, with some concepts and character designs being incorporated into later games—all of which take place before or parallel to this, implying that they were reflections of the real world. Marin at least is implied to be reborn in the real world, so it is not inconceivable that others are manifested in reality by the Wind Fish’s power. That’s what I think anyway.
One more thing worth mentioning about Travelly is that while he is travelling (after Oracle of Ages anyway), Hyrule is not sitting idle. While he is off getting stronger to defend it, ironically Hyrule comes under attack again. The Satellaview satellite broadcasting add-on for the Super Famicom gave us a new game (really a mod of LttP, but it had a new plot) called Ancient Stone Tablets. The Hero who rises up to defend it in Link’s absence is an otherwise unkown boy or girl (the mascots of the Satellaview system, and usually a player avatar). Presumably the Triforce recognises the need for a Hero role while its nominated guy is somewhere else at its own request, and thus we have a new hero brought from other lands. It is set six years after LttP, so we know Link’s combined adventures take at least that long. This Hero is known as the Hero of Light. Whether they are counted as a “Link” or not is up to you, but “Heroes” are a similar title anyway.
The first example of a recurring Link is obviously in the games Zelda and Zelda II. I’ve named him the Hero of Decline as he appears at the end of the Decline branch of the timeline, according to Hyrule Historia (it’s an exercise to the reader which of Spirit Tracks, Four Swords+ and Zelda II is the latest chronologically). Before the concept of reincarnation, iterations, and cycles, the second game was explicitly a straight sequel to the first with the same characters (except Zelda, strangely. She was replaced by a comatose ancestor with the same name- I suppose the first example of iteration). Link has aged three years by the time of the sequel.
This Link also is probably the one in the 
There’s a different kind of iteration on this Link—adaptation iteration. The Valiant comics and the cartoon series were based on the first two games and set after it, in what you might call another alternate branch of the timeline in which things get a whole lot cheesier and surreal. You see, instead of the route some adaptations take in adapting game logic to more realistic alternatives, these media made their world follow some bizarre game logic in a superficially realistic setting. They were also strangely non-violent, with Link “zapping” Ganon’s minions with his “Crissword”, magically sending them to his “Evil Jar”. And there was all the cheesy, mugging dialogue. Ugh. This means that while implicitly based on the same Link, the version seen in these sources is so different in terms of personality we have to separate him for the sake of our sanity. (Well excuuuuuuse me, Princess!)
A further adaptation removed another step was the Link seen in the Captain N cartoon, which ran at the same time as the Zelda cartoon. In some ways he’s a continuation, with a similar personality but a more mature look and attitude (making this perhaps the latest pseudo-canon source in its own timeline). However, this cartoon is explicitly set in a weird “videogame” crossover universe where everyone knows they’re game characters or something. So I don’t really know what to make of it.
Of course, the last two points are not so relevant, until we consider the CD-i games. Oh yes. The first two at least, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, base their character depictions on the cartoon, with designs more from the first two games. King Harkinian of Hyrule here has colour in his hair, so they must be set before the cartoon and comic in this strange timeline branch, where his hair has gone white. Now you see what I mean by Decline!
The Hero of Decline, now that I look at him, seems to have had a lot of appearances. And I didn’t even mention the two Nintendo Adventure Books, which depict original plots: The Crystal Trap and The Shadow Prince. This Link also makes cameo appearances, like several other Nintendo characters, in F-1 Race and Tetris on the Game Boy and NES, respectively, in the context of those games with a new sprite (an illustration of the concept of the Videogame Crossover Universe, depicted differently in Captain N, Smash Bros., etc—you can tell it’s Decliney due to the crucifix shield and flute, exclusive to the first two games). Other games, such as the WarioWare series, Tetris DS, and Picopict, present Link in his sprite art appearance from Zelda 1, in an appropriate context (so they don’t really count, as he’s still in Hyrule during those events that are merely being depicted).
