The Legend of Zelda franchse is full of captivating adventures, but not all of them link together. In fact, very few of them do, almost always giving us a fresh Link, Ganon, Zelda, and version of Hyrule. With each version splintering off with its own themes, abilities, and storylines, it’s tricky to keep track of it – which is why, we gather, you’re here.
While the first two games sit fairly neatly together, subsequent games share themes and iconography, and more often than not you’ll find a Master Sword on your adventures. Nintendo put speculation to bed with its The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia book (which has been converted into a handy wiki), but other games have launched since.
Get out your drawing pins and string, we’re going deep diving into the Zelda continuity, including every game in release order, too.
All Zelda games in release order
Beginning in 1987 (1986 in Japan) as one of the best NES games and showing no signs of stopping, there are almost too many Zelda games to play if you’re just starting now. However, playing them in the order they came out is never a bad way to go since that’s how everyone else first experienced them, and you will get a nice upward trend in quality (for the most part).
That said, we do have to cut out games that have no place in the real timeline, are pure spinoffs, or are otherwise non-canon (sorry CDI games). Here’s every major Zelda game in release order.
- The Legend of Zelda (1987)
- Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link (1988)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001)
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Aventures (2004)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004)
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri-Force Heroes (2015)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024)
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (2025)
All Zelda games in chronological order
This is where we get into the real meat of the Zelda franchise. Back before it was official, most fans had already worked out there there were multiple timelines going on. That’s true, but there are technically three of them. There’s the Child Timeline, Adult Timeline, and Fallen Hero Timeline. Each of these stems from Ocarina of Time, which makes sense as that game so heavily focuses on time travel.
The timeline begins simply enough, but we will pause to explain where each split occurs and why and tackle each branch one at a time. We won’t spoil the events of each individual game, but we will have to spoil some aspects of the games where timelines split.
The beginning of the timeline
Before things get crazy with multiple branches, the first four games in the timeline all follow in a nice, neat line. It is referred to as The Legend of the Goddesses and the Hero because it revolves around the origin of Hyrule itself, the Triforce, the Master Sword, and the cycle of a hero appearing to face evil.
- Skyward Sword
- The Minish Cap
- Four Swords
- Ocarina of Time
There are three possible outcomes based on the possible ways Ocarina could end. These are the aforementioned Child Timeline, Adult Timeline, and Fallen Hero Timeline.
The Child Timeline
This timeline is the one players will see by beating the game and occurs in the event that Link defeats Ganon in Ocarina of Time and is returned to the past as a child by Zelda. He then warns Zelda and Hyrule about Ganondorf, stopping his plot before it can begin. Link then later leaves Hyrule.
- Majora’s Mask
- Twilight Princess
- Four Swords Adventures
The Adult Timeline
For the Adult Timeline, things go mostly the same as the Child Timeline, except after being sent back in time, Link didn’t warn Zelda or anyone about Ganondorf. Instead, he simply disappears, and no one is there to oppose Ganondorf’s rule.
- The Wind Waker
- Phantom Hourglass
- Spirit Tracks
The Fallen Hero Timeline
By far the most interesting and dark timeline is the Fallen Hero Timeline. In this scenario, Link simply loses to Ganon during Ocarina of Time. This allows the latter to claim all three pieces of the Triforce. Somehow, Zelda and the people of Hyrule manage to trap Ganon and the Triforce within the Sacred Realm before he can take over the entire world.
- A Link to the Past
- Link’s Awakening
- Oracle of Ages
- Oracle of Seasons
- A Link Between Worlds
- Tri Force Heroes
- Echoes of Wisdom
- The Legend of Zelda
- Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link
Breath of the Wild, Age of Imprisonment, and Tears of the Kingdom
That just leaves us with the two most recent Zelda games as of now: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, as well as the prequel Hyrule Warriors games. The unfortunate truth is that Nintendo has once again left it ambiguous, but not completely. In an interview with Famitsu, producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi were asked where these titles fell in the timeline.
Aunuma started off by stating, “Well, of course it’s at the very end. But, I get what you’re asking, it’s which timeline is it the end of?” Fujibayashi added, “That’s … up to the player’s imagination, isn’t it?”
The two prevailing thoughts are that these games either take place at the end of the Child Timeline or somehow reunify all the timelines back into one. However, there is evidence to support and contradict the idea of it falling at the end of any or all of the timelines.
The Warriors games are all considered non-canon, except for Age of Imprisonment if the press kit is to be believed. It states that “Fans of the Legend of Zelda series and players of both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can experience the thrill of battle and this canonical tale featuring Princess Zelda, King Rauru, and other familiar characters. Fight for Hyrule’s future when Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment comes to Nintendo Switch 2 this winter.” This would place it between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.
Unless some new information comes out, you can simply decide for yourself where these games fall in the wider Zelda lore.
Non-canon Zelda games
There are a ton of games that simply have no place in the timeline despite featuring Link, Zelda, Ganon, and the world of Hyrule. We won’t list every game where Link makes a cameo, but these are the non-canon Zelda games you might think fit somewhere in the timeline.
- Hyrule Warriors
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
- Zelda’s Adventure
- The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon
- Link’s Crossbow Training
- Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland
- Cadence of Hyrule
If it’s not clear already, The Legend of Zelda games are incredible, but if you’re wondering how good they are, look no further than our review of Tears of the Kingdom, released in 2023.
