Something ironic I came across.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee (US version at least) if you read the info for one of Young Link's trophies it states that Young Link is considered by many to be the true Link. Now I assume that "considered by many" may be Miyamoto's view on the issue which is fine since it's his opinion but if you look back at the instruction manuels for previous games just about all the Link's are shown to be teenagers, maybe a year of two younger than Ocarina Link.
While this was not important in any way it struck me funny.
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yeah that is funny you know the young link and old link thing is just an argument waiting to happen and the windwaker link isn't link it's his decendent that's why he has a sister and looks that way (and some poeple will just bitch anyway so just don't pay attention to them)
First off -- there are several Links portrayed within the games, and I'll try to chronologically record them here.
Ocarina Link, or "Kid" Link is the earliest recorded to date, and I doubt there will ever be a Zelda Game occurring before Ocarina of Time. This Link is BOTH forms seens in Ocarina of Time, and unless I miss my guess, this also the same Link who appears in the upcoming Zelda GC. Ocarina Link, in his young form, is also the hero of Majora's Mask.
Second in line is the Waker Link, the Link from Wind Waker and The Four Sword (also from Four Sword Adventures/Tetra's Trackers scheduled for upcoming release on GCN). THe fact that it is Waker Link in The Four Sword is evidenced by the art for "The Four Sword" and "Four Sword Adventures". (Note: It IS "The Four Sword" and not "The Four Swords" -- the Sword in these titles is called the Four Sword because it splits the wielder into FOUR copies of himself.)
The third Link is "Triforce Link", from Link to the Past (aka: Triforce of the Gods) and, so far, no other games with him are definite.
The fourth and last Link is "Calatia" Link, a Link from a land neighboring the Hyrule of Zelda 1 & 2 (Calatia is official at least by Nintendo of America who endorsed the old Valiant Comics about several video games, including The Legend of Zelda; these comics identify Calatia as the original home of the Link from Zelda 1 & 2). This Link stars in Zelda 1 and Zelda 2, and if you follow Nintendo's timeline, he is also the Link in Link's Awakening.
It is unknown which of these Links is in the Oracle games, however the fact that Impa recognizes him means he is most likely to be either Calatia Link (my favor leans to this theory) or Ocarina Link, the only of the two Links to ever meet Impa. Also the overgrowth surrounding the Temple of the Triforce indicates it to be far later in time than the Ocarina era, although the presence of Koume and Kotake (aka Twinrova) attempting to resurrect Ganondorf can tilt the balance back towards Ocarina Link.
It should be noted my chronology of the games does tend to generally follow with timelines that can be derived from the games themselves:
The Sealing War, when Ganondorf, prince of thieves, was sealed in the Golden Land/Sacred Realm is clearly /Ocarina of Time/.
The "Great Cataclysm" referenced in the manual of /Link to the Past/ could very well be the Great Flood and the ultimate sinking of Old Hyrule portrayed in /Wind Waker/.
Following the defeat of Ganondorf in /LttP/ he may not have been powerless, and could have regained the Trforce of Power, allowing his resurrection for /Zelda 1/, where "Calatia" Link defeated him at a young age (before 16, see below).
At around age 16, (Zelda 2 manual) the Triforce Mark appeared on this Link's hand, and Impa told him the legend of the sleeping Princess Zelda (which, by this timeline, occurs sometime between LttP and Zelda 1, possibly soon after LttP) and sets him on the mission to retrieve the Triforce of Courage so that the sleeping Zelda can be awakened.
Still 16, perhaps 17, as Link is on his perilous journey to retrieve the triforce of Courage, he is knocked unconscious in a storm and awakens on Koholint Island (be the island itself real or not) where he must awaken the Wind Fish in order to escape the dreamscape of darkness the Nightmare force is causing to overcome the Wind Fish's peaceful slumber.
Whenever the /Oracle/ games take place, it is at a similar time, and involves a plot by Twinrova to revive Ganondorf (hinting that he is dead, not simply in the Golden Realm) by using the powers of chaos and suffering in the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna. The confusing factor of ear shape means little, as Link is in clearly foreign lands (only he, Impa, Nayru and Din have Hylian ears, all others have "normal" human ears).
My personal chronology is this:
Ocarina Link
- Ocarina of Time (+ Master Quest)
- Majora's Mask
- LEGEND OF ZELDA GC
Waker Link
- Wind Waker
- The Four Sword / Four Sword Adventures / Tetra's Trackers
Triforce Link
- Link to the Past
Calatia Link
- Zelda 1 (Hyrule Fantasy)
- Adventure of Link
- Link's Awakening
- Oracle Duo
And then...w ell, whenever The Minish Cap fits in, we'll see once it's released. It's time for Digimon now, so I'll post more later. Maybe.
I've got to disagree on your timeline a little bit Nate Hunter.
Years ago there was a fansite called (I think) The Zelda HQ and they theorized that the timeline went something like this:
Ocarina of Time,
Majora's Mask, (not out at the time the site was up but makes sense)
The Wind Waker, (^^ see above note)
A Link to The Past,
Link's Awakening, (the Link from LTTP had supposedly left Hyrule to continue his training and on the way home got caught in a storm that wrecked his ship. I personally don't think he was ever physically on Koholint but while floating among the flotsam was in a coma-like state that allowed his conscious mind to enter the relm of the Wind Fish's mind which was in a similar state. After he regained consciousness he eventually drifted to Calatia where he settled because he'd developed a phobia of the sea. A few generations later came:
The Adventures of Link,
and finally The Legend of Zelda (the first game.)
Like I said before I don't know enough about any of the recent GB titles to knowledgeably rant about them.
Of course since the site went down I have no way to prove this but that's how I think the timeline worked.
But I do recognize that there were many Links most likely 5 or 6 different incarnations.
Anyway what I was going to post before going off an a tangent was that I think Wind Waker while a very good game I didn't take it as seriously as the others for the basic reason of that no matter what's going on I find it a leetle difficult to take chibis too seriously, mostly because most animes that use them is in a comical manner.
Now I'm not trying to spark off a debate, I'm just stating my opinion. Using chibis in a Zelda game is kind of like trying to watch the Muppets do To Kill A Mocking Bird, no matter how serious they are the basic nature of them takes a bit of the serious emotional sting out of the project.
Now I know that many people consider the Link's from anything predating the 64 and in any GB games as chibis but I see them as the standard game sprites for the era and the reason for this points back to the concept art in the manuals where Link was shown to be of more or less normal human/elfin proportions.
Well, the official Nintendo Timeline (prior to Wind Waker and the Oracle games) was, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Link to the Past, Zelda 1, Zelda 2, and they placed Link's Awakening during Zelda 2, when his raft was caught in a storm crossing frow West Hyrule to East Hyrule.
Okay, if that's the official there's no point arguing about it. :)
Something that I always wondered before Wind Waker kind of cleared it up is why the basic layout of hyrule changed so drastically between Ocarina and Link to the Past. although it was most likely unintentional at least now it makes sense that after the Great Sea receeded that newer places were named for places that existed in historical texts I.E. why the Lost Woods was changed from the northwest instead of the southeast. (Chronologically not in game release order)
I could list about a half-dozen other examples but I think you get the idea.
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Thanks Tank Cop, I appriciate the link. (No pun intended.)
Anyway that site pretty much matches the time line I was talking about earlier.
Anyone ever notice how fan time lines sometimes make more sense than official time lines? I don't specifically mean on this since I haven't read the offcial but in general it happens. Expanded Star Wars stuff is notorious for this.
I think it may be because fan time lines can be easily changed as new info arises but the offcial loses credibility if they backtrack and say, "well this didn't happen this way, it happened this way." It's kind of a like it or lump it thing since it's rather ridiculous for a fan to argue with a creater on their own project.
You want timelines? I am working on a very in depth timeline... which contradicts my earlier statement of the Oracle Duo being after Zelda 2... and actually places it as Ocarina Link.
Ah well, sometimes when I don't work on something for a while I forget about it -- and it's been over a year, because I wanted to be clear on Wind Waker before I added that section.
I know how you feel about making snap judgements before getting all the available info.
I remember when I saw the first ad for the 02 ep where Sylphymon first showed up I thought it'd be some sort of DNA digivolve between Hawkmon and Yolei since I didn't know how they'd justify giving Gatomon and Angemon another set of ultimate forms so to speak. So then of course I felt somewhat vindicated when Takato bio-merged with Guilmon like a year and a half later.
Weird, I didn't mean to switch to digimon references.
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