How Many Legend of Zelda Timelines Are There?
Three official timeline branches, all splitting at the end of Ocarina of Time. Fans argue for a fourth — the "Convergence" — covering Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Echoes of Wisdom. Nintendo refuses to settle the question.
official branches
Click any game above for its placement and lore reason.
The Timeline By The Numbers
The 2011 Book That Confirmed Everything
For 25 years, Nintendo refused to publish an official Zelda timeline. Director Eiji Aonuma told GameTrailers TV in 2007 that he had a master document, but releasing it would "limit the imagination of the players." Fans built dozens of competing fan chronologies in the gap.
That changed on December 21, 2011, when Shogakukan published Hyrule Historia in Japan to mark the series' 25th anniversary. The book included Aonuma's timeline chart in full: a single root from Skyward Sword down to Ocarina of Time, then a three-way split — Child Era, Adult Era, and a previously unrumoured third branch where Link dies at the end of OoT.
The Decline / Failed Hero branch was the bombshell. Fans had largely assumed only two outcomes existed (childhood vs adulthood). The third branch — where Ganondorf wins, the Imprisoning War follows, and the original 1986 game and its sequel Zelda II live there generations later — reframed two decades of Nintendo's own games.
Dark Horse Books released the English edition January 29, 2013. It sold roughly 250,000 copies in its first month and topped the New York Times hardcover non-fiction list — the first video game art book ever to do so.
The chart has been quietly updated since: A Link Between Worlds (2013) was placed on the Failed Hero branch when it came out; Breath of the Wild (2017) and Tears of the Kingdom (2023) have been left deliberately unplaced.
The Three Branches, Explained
The Convergence — Why BotW And TotK Break Everything
Breath of the Wild (2017) opens with Link waking up after a 100-year coma. Old gameplay teases — the Master Sword, the Triforce, the Temple of Time in ruins — drop references to every prior branch. Eiji Aonuma told Kotaku in 2017 that the placement is "deliberately ambiguous" and that BotW is set "10,000 years or so" after every other game.
Tears of the Kingdom (2023) then introduced something the timeline can't absorb: King Rauru as the first king of Hyrule, founding the kingdom with the Zonai. Skyward Sword had already shown a founding myth thousands of years earlier. The contradiction is not a small one.
The Convergence theory is the fan fix: BotW and TotK are set so far in the future of the original universe that the three branches have collapsed into one. Different artefacts from different branches survive because they all happened in this timeline's deep history.
Nintendo has neither confirmed nor denied any of this. Echoes of Wisdom (2024) was launched without a timeline placement either. Without an official word, three branches plus a disputed fourth is the most honest count.
Quiz: Zelda Timeline Mastery
10 questions on branches, splits and the Convergence. Share your score.
Where in the Zelda timeline does the split happen?
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Zelda timelines are there?
Three official branches, all splitting after Ocarina of Time: Child Era, Adult Era, and Failed Hero. Fans count a disputed fourth — the Convergence — for BotW and TotK, which Nintendo has deliberately not placed.
Where does the timeline split?
At the end of Ocarina of Time (1998), the only Zelda game where three different outcomes are simultaneously canon: Link returns to childhood, Link stays grown, or Link dies.
Which is the first Zelda game chronologically?
Skyward Sword (2011). It's the prequel to everything: Hyrule doesn't exist yet, the Master Sword is being forged for the first time, and the curse that creates Ganondorf in every later age is set in motion at the end.
Where do Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom fit?
Nintendo has refused to say. Aonuma told Kotaku in 2017 the placement is intentionally ambiguous and BotW is set 10,000+ years later. TotK then introduced a fresh founding of Hyrule that contradicts older lore — most fans now call it the Convergence Era.
What is Hyrule Historia?
A 280-page art and lore book published by Shogakukan in Japan (December 21, 2011) and Dark Horse in English (January 29, 2013). It includes the first ever official Zelda timeline chart — the document that confirmed all three branches.
Which branch has the original 1986 Legend of Zelda on it?
The Failed Hero / Decline branch — at its tail end, generations after Link's death. The Imprisoning War from A Link to the Past happened in between, and Ganon's rise in 1986's Hyrule Fantasy is the long-tail consequence.
Sources
- Hyrule Historia — Shogakukan, December 21, 2011 (Japan); Dark Horse Books, January 29, 2013 (English). The first published Zelda timeline.
- Eiji Aonuma interview, GameTrailers TV, February 2007 — explained why Nintendo had refused to publish a timeline until then.
- Eiji Aonuma interview, Kotaku, March 8, 2017 — "deliberately ambiguous" placement of Breath of the Wild.
- Bill Trinen, Nintendo Treehouse, June 2023 — Tears of the Kingdom panel comments on timeline placement.
- The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia — Dark Horse Books, 2018, updated timeline chart.
- New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction list, February 17, 2013 — Hyrule Historia ranks #1.
More From The Zelda Cluster
How Many Zelda Games?
21 mainline + remakes + spinoffs. Echoes of Wisdom is the newest.
How Many Zelda Films?
Zero released; the first one drops May 7, 2027. Live countdown.
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Over 200 titles — the franchise that defined platformers.
🎲 Surprise me
A random page from across howmany.pro.
For 25 years the timeline was a state secret. For 14 years now we've known there are three. The rest, Nintendo would like you to keep guessing.