#alttp headcanons

[zelda-of-hyrule-tloz]

Echoes of Wisdom Headcanon Countdown

༺ Day 32▪︎ 67 Left

In the original Japanese version of A Link to the Past, Link's uncle's dying words are "You are the princess's..." And his voice trails off. This is an inverse of the English version, which reads "Zelda is your..."

Regardless, I believe the end is the same. "Zelda is your only hope"/"Zelda is your destiny," as well as "You are the princess's only hope/You are the princess's destiny." Zelda is known to have a psychic connection with Link in this game, and in the context of the Hero is Defeated timeline, they share a destiny that has been left incomplete - to defeat Ganon. And honestly, either translation works perfectly in this context (and that of the comics/manga as well). They are both required to work together to defeat Ganon, as Zelda's knowledge and Light Arrows are a key to his destruction.

[annienyx]

Palace of four swords

[penpenpencil]

Timeline of a Legend

(This is just my personal headcanons and how I imagine certain design details appeared + age headcanons. Don’t take this as canon for Lu or anything-)

[nyastri]

Marin is Zelda but certain aspects of her were changed to fit Link’s preferences and lifestyle. In this essay I will-

[twilight-vivi]

I remember when first playing A Link to the Past and the f*ckin floor started attacking me 😭

I gave up on the clothes 😔

[maxaroniiiii]

echoes of wisdom takes place in the downfall timeline the maps and stuff line up

the zelda team has just added stuff like gerudo and gorons from previous games that werent in alttp because they werent really a thing in zelda yet and theyre probably expected and stuff

[mothfables]

another thing i just remembered for legend’s fear of wolves is when (at least in the manga, i haven’t gotten to the game yet) his hatred for agahnim is revealed while in the dark world, causing him to turn into a wolfos

going off of this (not related to snail) i think it would be interesting if legend actively tried not to outright hate anyone, because he’s not only seen but experienced firsthand what such hatred does to people, and he wants to avoid that happening again

back to snail, this has great potential for nightmares and being one of the reasons he avoids wolfie/twilight

[ordon-shield]

The Writing Systems of Hyrule

We start at the beginning, with the writing of the Surface prior to the war with Demise. Following the theory laid out in this post, let’s assume that this is Mudoran writing, written by the people of Mudora. Like many real examples of early writing systems, it is pictographic.

Once Hylians moved up into the sky, we see a change in the writing system used by the events of Skyward Sword, with the adoption of a phonetic alphabet. The shapes of the letters used in this alphabet suggest it was mostly written on paper or cloth (likely due to the scarcity of trees and stone on Skyloft) with a pen or ink brush. This form of writing still has similarities to Mudoran however, such as the letter for U. We will call this form of writing Old Hylian.

Once Hylians descended to the surface once more, the way they wrote changed once more. By the time of The Minish Cap, a new system of writing had developed. This new way of writing used straight lines and corners, suggesting a shift away from writing with ink on paper or cloth, the average person opting to write by carving letters into the cheaper and more widely available wood of the Surface. There was also a shift to a syllabary rather than an alphabet, possibly to make it easier for words to be carved quickly. We will call this form of writing Traditional Hylian.

By the era of the Hero of Time, another form of writing, this one a simplified form of Traditional Hylian. This form of writing abandoned punctuation and certain other nuances of Traditional Hylian, reducing the amount of characters one had to learn to read and write, while also simplifying the characters themselves. This form of writing became especially common in the aftermath of the Hyrulean Civil War, with rates of literacy dropping. We will call this form of writing Simplified Hylian.

During the era of the Hero of Time, the history of Hyrule split into three branches, with each taking different routes when it came to writing. In the timeline where the Hero of Time became an adult before returning to his childhood, Hyrule was eventually flooded, leaving a handful of survivors that had fled to the mountaintops. The majority of those survivors were those with more education, who had lived in and around the Castle, along with those they had met as they fled, leading to a resurgence in Traditional Hylian. However, despite keeping the writing system of Hyrule, the people of the Great Sea would eventually develop their own dialect of speech to the point that it became it’s own language, distinct from that of the past.

In the timeline the Hero of Time returned to, Simplified and Traditional Hylian continued being used. However, at some point there was a drastic shift in how people wrote, shifting from the straight lined syllabary of the past to a new alphabet with curved lines and circles. The origin of this script is unknown, but some theorise that it was brought to Hyrule by an influx of non-Hylian humans, while other theories suggest that it was based on an old Sheikah script (due to the eye iconography). The curved lines of the script have even led to theories that it was related to the Gerudo script somehow, which is also an alphabet. We will refer to this writing system as Post-Hylian.

In the timeline where the Hero of Time fell in battle, Hyrule was consumed by the Imprisoning War, causing literacy rates to plummet, as well as the destruction of many texts and records. In the wake of this chaos, after the war was over the Royal Family chose to reform the writing system which had split into various regional variants during the decades-long conflict. Basing their new script on that of the first era of Hyrule, they created the New Hylian script, which would continue to be used up to the era of the Great Calamity.

With the Hylian script explained, I would like to quickly turn to one of the more fascinating writing systems in the history of Hyrule — that of the Ancient Sheikah who built the Divine Beasts. What makes this writing system so distinct is the fact that it was clearly deliberately designed to be used for technology rather than being written, possibly being created specifically as a secret script or programming language to prevent the secrets of Sheikah technology from being stolen by others.

[zelda-of-hyrule-tloz]

Echoes of Wisdom Headcanon Countdown

༺ Day 81▪︎ 20 Left

ALttP Zelda is the leader of the seven maidens once they take the title of Sages, but she actually wishes she could travel Hyrule and beyond much like Link. She has always cared a lot about her kingdom (to the point where she often assisted her father in royal matters when she was younger), but she wasn't allowed to go very far. This definitely worsens after the events of the game, but every so often she will disappear to a certain orchard.

[skyward-floored]

Do you have any headcanons about alttp zelink im feelin soft for them :> (can be Lu, coa, or just regular)

Hmmm yeah I have a few!

These are just regular ones, but could probably be for lu if you wanted—

The link Zelda established between her and Link back at the beginning of alttp is still there, but Zelda pretty much only uses it if there’s trouble (she’s the only who can activate it)

After everything in la, being around Zelda is sometimes difficult for Link— obviously her and Marin look somewhat alike (he mistakes her for Zelda at first!), sometimes he sees Zelda out of the corner of his eye and startles a bit. Plus their mannerisms are somewhat similar (is Zelda what the dream was drawing off of?) so it’s... hard.

Related to that, sometimes Link visits the castle at odd hours, just to... you know, make sure Zelda’s still there. That she wasn’t a dream. Zelda always sees him, even if it’s the middle of the night. They often have tea and talk for a while when this happens.

Link’s favorite color is blue. This is definitely not influenced at all by Zelda’s eyes or typical choice of dress color.

[occasionallyprosie]

Thoughts about the blade

—

"What's your opinion about it? You've been on the most quests." Time’s unsaid words of: 'surely that sword only means bad things for you' was clear.

Legend met Time's eyes. He was aware of Sky's silent indignation and Four's amethyst-hued curiosity had been settled toward them.

Legend was good at deflecting subjects, but Time was good at focusing on an answer and getting it. So he wasn't even going to try to subtly deflect.

"You won't like my answer, old man, don't push it."

"You mean to say you like that sword?" Time seemed genuinely surprised, though that surprise was well hidden.

Legend shot him a cold, stern look. "She saved my life a dozen times over and I wouldn't be the man I am today without her influence."

That was clearly not the answer Time expected, nor Warriors either, who just entered the conversation.

"That's surprising," Warriors said. "You had to of been fourteen or thirteen when you started if you've had five nonstop adventures. You're nineteen now, right? No way she raised you."

Legend sighed. He hung his head briefly before raising it to look back at Warriors. "I was nine, actually. And I am nineteen. I had about a year's respite between one and two, no break between two and three, about three years between three and four, and then one year between four and five. I turned nineteen right before I met you guys. So actually, yes, she basically did. My Uncle did what he could until he died during my first adventure and she took over from there."

Time looked away, Legend could see his fist clenched as his eye narrowed on the horizon.

"So yeah, no, this sword is probably the only person I'd ever trust wholly anymore. If you want someone to share your wrongly placed blame, you won't find that someone in me, Time." Legend looked back up at the stars, twinkling in the far off distance. He could remember that chiming voice and the chipped, cracked, crystalline hands pointing out constellations.

"You were nine?" Sky asked quietly.

Legend nodded. That was the first time he'd told them anything. "Turned it right before I started. She almost denied me. She said her former master, the one who died, had been barely older than me and I mean only by a month or two. The thing was, she couldn't wait any longer. I had to reforge her or else she wouldn't have been strong enough to vanquish Ganon."

"Reforge... she broke?" Sky sounded horrified.

"Almost,” he admitted. "Between using her power to try and prevent the former hero from dying, failing that endeavor, and being drained by the Dark Realm that was trying to corrupt her? It's a wonder she lasted as long as she did until me, and then she couldn't wait any longer, not even for me to get older."

Time was quiet before he spoke back up. "If it could have waited, would it have?"

Legend looked the older hero dead in the eyes. "She did, didn't she? She promised me she would."

Time went rigid, Warriors' head snapped toward Legend with wide eyes, Four's violet curiosity grew stronger and paired with some viridian concern.

"You... She promised you?" Time repeated carefully.

"What do you mean?" Sky asked, looking confused.

"She promised me she would do everything in her power to ensure the survival of who I knew to be the Fallen Hero. She would attempt contact with the sages and determine the best method to do so. As I understand, that method was a seven year stasis." Legend didn't look away from Time's eye, the older's piercing azure trying to cut away at the younger's resolute violet.

"Your timeline precedes mine, is what you're saying," said Time instead of what he clearly wished to say.

"It did.”

"I died in yours."

"He did."

"He?"

"You're different people. Even if the blood's the same the experiences are different, blood may be a mold but experiences fill it and affect how it works and functions."

"...You're very wise.”

"Thanks it's either genetics or the trauma."

Four snorted, viridian glittering in his eyes. "I'd say genetics."

Legend shot the smithy a glare. “And I’d say that you ought to shut your mouth.”

[smashy-headcanons]

Working on some tag updates (more or less overhauls), and I'm struggling to figure out some characters.

Namely, right now, I'm trying to figure out Zelda.

In a Nintendo Direct, Sakurai states that this Zelda incarnation comes from A Link Between Worlds, but in the Palutena's Guidance conversation for Zelda in Ultimate, Palutena says that Zelda is from A Link to the Past.

Previously, I've been going with the headcanon that it's ALBW Zelda, but ALttP Zelda seems just as likely, if not more. I could make the switch to using ALttP Zelda, but it'd take a mindset adjustment.

So, that begs the question.

[evergreenalice]

slept like shit, headcanon time

okay so, in in the first games, Hyrule was supposed to be Christian. Now, obviously this is simply an artifact of Zelda before other lore was made, simply retconned away. But, what if we made it make sense?

so let let's pull out the Zelda timeline

this is the only timeline in which Christianity is seen, starting with ALttP, which has a weird mix of Christianity and the Hylian religion, the downfall timeline.

so, here's my headcanon. Either, Ganon crucified the Hero of Time, OR, it became a common myth that he did. Rather than Jesus, a man who did not in fact live in Hyrule, my idea is that they are worshipping the Hero of Time. This probably started out as a small sect of the Hylian religion, but I have an idea of who popularized it.

the Hero of Legend is a very devout individual, and they became the new hero

I can easily imagine a new hero rising that also worships the past hero could definitely spark religious change

thanks for reading my weird, definitely unintended headcanon

[margindoodles2407]

Why Odysseus's Hair is Pink: A Zelda Essay by Margin

Literally this is just a headcanon about A Link to the Past; I just felt the need to make it super pretentious

When Link was a baby, a terrible plague swept through Hyrule. No one knows for certain what caused it, but it could possibly have been evil magic leaking out of the weak seal holding Ganon in the Dark World.

Tragically, this plague claimed the lives of both of his parents before infecting him. But Link's uncle, Alphaeus- though himself recovering from his own bout with the disease- was determined not to let his nephew die.

So he fled with the baby boy to a Fairy Fountain. WHERE he got the knowledge to find a fairy fountain is a secret to this day, as most of the fairies had gone into hiding following the Hero of Time's failure. When the Great Fairy appeared, Alphaeus begged her to save his infant nephew's life.

She agreed. Taking the baby into her arms, she kissed him on top of his head. Which healed him from the plague, but also permanently shocked his naturally blonde hair the same magenta hue as hers.

For the rest of his life, Link would have this pink hair. It also happened to grow much faster than normal- growing, on average, three feet every year.

Anyway.

There's my headcanon.

Enjoy.

[telepathyia]

Not really a headcanon post, more like a brief 'ah look at that moment' post? But there's something that's lowkey horrifying about how certain castle guards knew that something was up when Agahnim came into the picture. And how this guy, in particular, knew that he was going to be under Agahnim's spell. I can't help but wonder just how effective his brainwashing magic was and whether the knights were fully aware of their actions while under the spell.

That said, stay tuned for that fun headcanon of Agahnim and how he completely fooled Zelda's father before canceling him forever.

[pinklink130]

these are old drawings i had drafted because i was going to redo them but now i might as well share them anyways

so a link to the past comes right after the hero of time is defeated, right? i like to imagine that alttp link had nightmares of fighting against ganon and failing before he even knew who that was. i also liked the idea that your birthmarks show how you died in a past life (i don’t believe in it literally, just for my headcanons) so my version of alttp link has a mark usually hidden by his hair