#looking at ocarina of time to skyward sword to a link between worlds. like NONE of these games are similar its so wonderful!!

[mxdotpng]

i think the legend of zelda is probably the only series that i think got Better after it switched out of pixel animation

[mango-unit]

post number five

holy shit the zelda timeline is a mess.

ok so you got ocarina of time, right? ganondorf plots and schemes to break into the sacred realm, claiming the triforce and becoming the demon king ganon, before a hero rises up to claim the master sword and defeat him. he is thusly sealed away forever.

then he goes back in time and warns the royal fsmily before that ever happens, leading to ganondorfs execution. this causes a paradox, which creates a branch in the timeline: the ganon-is-sealed timeline, and the ganondorf-is-executed timeline.

wind waker takes place after ganon is sealed. once ganon inevitably returns (a la alttp), there is no hero to save them (because link went to the past) and they turn to the gods for help. this adds up neatly.

twilight princess takes place after ganondorf is executed. the royal family botches the execution, and he is sealed into the twilight realm, where his flesh literally re-manifests from the simmering rage and resentment the twili feel for those who live in the light realm. this adds up neatly.

ok, so far were doing pretty good. we have a clearly defined timeline branch after oot, which leads into majoras mask and then twilight princess very neatly, or wind waker and then phantom hourglass to spirit tracks very neatly, depending on which conclusion you go from. then put skyward sword, which is very clearly first, right at the beginning. this is a really solid chronology, right?

yeah. but what about, like… ALL OF THE 2D GAMES.

a link to the past, oracle of ages, oracle of seasons, links awakening, a link between worlds, triforce heroes, the minish cap, four swords, four swords adventures, the legend of zelda, and the adventure of link…

you can make a solid case for a handful of these on the current timeline i just outlined. but how are you supposed to make alttp work, and by extension oox, la, tloz, and taol?

in ocarina of time, the sacred realm is locked behind the master sword, which is locked behind the door of time, which is locked behind the spiritual stones, which are locked behind the different leaders of the various races of hyrule. they very clearly took a lot of precautions to make sure nobody would get into the sacred realm. they were very clearly worried about that threat.

as such, ganondorf needed to do some significant plotting in order to make his way into the sacred realm. the key to his plans was link, the descendant of hylias chosen hero, who is featured in skyward sword. only link would be able to draw the master sword, so even if ganondorf gathered the spiritual stones he wouldnt be able to enter the sacred realm. this is why he scares link into claiming the master sword by casting various curses on the people of hyrule using regular old dark magic.

this is the accepted tale for the sealing war.

now look at the sealing war in a link to the past…

ganondorf and his band of thieves come across the sacred realm completely by accident. zero scheming involved. absolutely no clever displays of his villainous cunning.

as they approach the sacred realm, the eyes of ganondorf and his bandit allies change colors, and they begin to attack eachother in a bloody, violent brawl. the only one left alive is ganondorf, who had killed his closest allies with his own hands. it is then that ganondorf claims the triforce with blood-soaked hands, becoming the demon king, ganon.

his rage flows across hyrule. the people suffer. they pray for a hero to come and save them - none does. the sages hole up in hyrule castle, placing a seal over the sacred realm - one that presumably did not previously exist - and locking ganon inside. the knights of hyrule laid down their lives to protect the sages; almost every last one of them fell in combat. the link in alttp is the descendent of those few courageous souls who lived.

does this sound, at all, like ocarina of time?

like…

in any shape, way, or form.

outside of the key connection of ganondorf entering the sacred realm, becoming ganon, attacking hyrule, and then being sealed in the sacred realm, it sounds like a completely different story. but its the same event, because its… you know… the creation of ganon.

in alttp, none of the precautions we see in oot were taken. ganondorf quite literally waltzes into the sacred realm and then kills all of his closest friends. and in alttp, there was no link present to save them, which is why the knights of hyrule almost completely died out protecting the sages. meanwhile, in oot, link is the essential key component of ganondorfs carefully laid out plan.

how does nintendo resolve this?

“uhhhh…. what if…….. what if link died? like, after claiming the master sword. after cementing himself as a hero by personally awakening the sages and solving everyones problems. what if he just died at the end of the game, and was completely forgotten by history for some reason we dont provide?”

i feel better already.

link dying would not branch the timeline. the other branch, which makes logical sense and has no contradictions, is done through time travel, not hypothetical what-if scenarios. therefore, it only makes sense that link dying is not any sort of canon conclusion that would branch the timeline.

so for now lets place alttp in the ether. it has an event thats equivalent to ocarina of time, but no precautions were taken for the sacred realm, and no link was present to defeat ganon.

after alttp, the triforce sends link to another kingdom which needs his help. twice. it turns out this was to prevent the revival of ganon, who he killed in alttp. however, he ultimately fails to prevent his revival - so instead he just kicks ganons undead ass. this details the events of the oracles games.

after this happens, he starts sailing home, but a nasty storm catches him and he crash lands on kohilint. im not spoiling this game because its fantastic, but lets just say for now that link goes through an ultimatum type experience that makes him rethink the virtue of this whole adventuring thing before finally sailing home. this details the events of links awakening.

i assume he settled down at this point. his descendent stops a plot by the royal family of an inverted kingdom to steal their triforce. this details the events of a link between worlds. (also. gramps is 100% the link from alttp. resigned from adventure, he instead helps train the new hero in an edu-taining way.)

then, the new link heads out to new kingdoms, much like his predecessor did. he winds up in hytopia, where he is enlisted as one of three heroes to break a curse on their princess. this details the events of triforce heroes.

hundreds of years pass. somehow, ganon returned. the zelda of this time breaks apart the triforce of wisdom and sends out impa to find a hero capable of collecting the pieces and using their power to defeat ganon, who wields the triforce of power. (the triforce of courage is locked away in a land distant to the kingdom, north of hyrule. it looks like the royal family got wise and decided to finally take some precautions to prevent somebody from easily claiming the full triforce.) this details the events of the legend of zelda.

the hylians move north. around 7 years later, greater hyrule is established. link notices a triangular mark on his hand and seeks the wisdom of impa, who recognizes it as the triforce of courage. she brings him to an ancient temple long lost to time and pulls out a manuscript written in unfamiliar symbols; the language was forgotten by history. because link bears the triforce, however, he can read it. it tells him where the triforce of courage is held, and it tells the legend of the first generation zelda, who was cursed into a timeless sleep (leading her guilt-ridden brother to decree all future daughters of the royal family would be named zelda). link sets out to find the triforce of courage and break the curse on zelda the first. this details the events of the adventure of link.

pretty straightforward, clear-cut story. except for the fact that i really dont think skyward swords zelda was cursed in an eternal sleep, neither do i think she had a brother.

it could have been a descendent of the true zelds the first, though. hyrule as a kingdom wasnt really established yet in skyward sword. maybe sonais daughter?

anyways, this story in a vacuum is pretty consistent. but, due to the problems with alttp, it doesnt really fit with the greater timeline. so the longest running story of sequels in the legend of zelda (excluding zelda 1 and 2) just doesnt have a satisfying placement. theres gotta be some other branch, right? some time before the events of ocarina of time, so that the imprisoning wars can truly be parallel events…

depending on your timeline theory, that leaves only minish cap and skyward sword. minish cap doesnt deal with time travel… which leaves skyward sword.

theres one moment in skyward sword that fits the bill pretty well. people refer to this moment as the skyward split. some believe it, some are skeptical, some arent even aware of it. i will propose my theory on the exact nature of the skyward split and let you decide.

in skyward sword, link wishes upon the triforce for the complete destruction of the imprisoned (demise). the mother goddess island detaches from skyloft and falls onto the sealed grounds, perfectly slotting in and just straight of killing that dude permanently. skyloft itself remains in the sky; there is no plateau where the mother goddess island fell, and in fact, its actually kind of set into the ground because of how perfectly it slotted into the spiral shape of the sealed grounds.

sorry. i like matpat as much as the next guy, but skyloft is definitively not the great plateau.

seeing this, ghirahim travels into the past and frees demise fully before his eventual death. he was transformed, in the ancient past, from the imprisoned back into his full humanoid demonic flame-headed self. link follows ghirahim and does battle with demise, defeating him and locking his soul in the master sword, where his very essence would decay into nothing in the presence of the holy light. basically demises fundamental soul was horribly crippled into the tiniest imaginable hateful little fragment of what it once was. and it was only getting tinier. exponentially weaker. no hope of escape until his soul is so worn thin it tears at the seams and he simply ceases to be. thats the idea, anyways.

this marks two fundamentally different, conclusively final endings for demise/the imprisoned. one where he was killed by the triforce as the imprisoned in the present, and one where he was trapped in the master sword only to be eternally decayed at an exponential rate. ironically, the imprisoned met his demise, while demise was imprisoned. but yeah, inevitably demise too will meet his demise.

after getting his ass handed to him, demise recites - or describes, depending on who you ask - a curse. it declares the endless cycle of incarnations of the hatred of the demon clan, who demise ruled. then he gets sealed in the sword and shuts up. its at this point that link and zelda leave the blade under the care of impa and return to the future. the future remains unchanged, however. the imprisoned was still crushed by the mother goddess statue island. so link and zelda returned to their original timeline.

some would say this implies a causal loop. that demise escaped the master sword, then impa sealed him in the sealed grounds, turning him back into the imprisoned for the events of skyward sword. however, demise would have been WAY too weak to ever escape the master sword - im talking barely conscious, let alone functionally powerful enough to overpower a blade containing the power of all three golden goddesses (the sacred flames that temper the goddess blade into the master sword). demise did not escape. therefore, timeline branch.

in one timeline, link and zelda are made aware of the curse that demise spoke of. in the other… well, theyre the only ones that demise spoke to, and that version of them doesnt exist in that timeline, so its safe to say nobodys aware of the curse.

in the timeline where they are aware of the curse, they take precautions. they lock the sacred realm behind the master sword, which they lock behind the door of time, which they lock behind the spiritual stones, which they lock behind the leaders of the various races of hyrule. thus, ganondorf must plot. he must allow link to claim the master sword.

in the timeline where they arent aware of the curse, they dont worry about the sacred realm all that much. they arent even sure where it is, and its not like theres an endless cycle of demonic hate hell bent on destroying everything the gods created or anything. nobody knows where the sacred realm is anyways, so they dont worry about those precautions. thus, ganondorf comes across the sacred realm completely by accident. as for why theres no link…

uh…. what if……… what if link died?

or what if link is just a nameless knight of hyrule, who was not made a legendary hero by saving zelda the first, forging the master sword, or defeating demise?

honestly i dont know why no link was present. whatever answer you like i guess. this timeline is such a mess theres no way to account for every single lore detail

[clowngames]

Posts written specifically for me.

The thing about Zelda is that ever since Ocarina of Time each game has been going for a very distinct vibe. Twilight Princess evolved from the leftover ideas of when Wind Waker was supposed to be much darker. It has a sort of dream-like quality to it.

Skyward Sword is the first game in the franchise with a real orchestra and they wrote shaders to make things look more like painting brushstrokes the farther away they get to intentionally give it a completely different feeling from TP.

Link Between Worlds tries to authentically to replicate that top down 2D feeling in 3D that models are actually bent so that they look nice from the forced perspective.

Even the Link's Awakening remake develops its own unique aesthetic where the original was too graphically limited to do so; and that aesthetic was inspired by the original experience of playing a game you carried in your pocket.

Even so, all of these distinct vibes are products of their time. WW's cell shaded aesthetic wasn't possible until the Gamecube. The tilt shift in Link's Awakening wouldn't have looked good in lower resolution. Link Between Worlds chases a nostalgic view of its inspiration that wouldn't be held yet 5 years later.

None of this to say Zelda is chasing trends. Often, it's setting them. You can measure the impact other open world games had on BotW, and then immediately after measure the impact BotW had on open world games.

My point is that each Zelda game feels like its own time capsule in a way that few other Nintendo franchises do. Replaying those games immediately takes you back to the era they were made in.

one of my favourite examples of preserving atmosphere in a remake or HD version of a game will always be deciding not to remaster any of the music for twilight princess HD, and actually not changing much of the visuals either, something about that games atmosphere comes from the hazy and and dream like quality of digital media from the time. the muffled audio has this incredible ethereal quality to it that you just do not find in games anymore. there was something truely magical about 2000s dark fantasy media that i hope we will see again someday

[skyward-floored]

Do you have nicknames for thy Lonks? Or a tidbit of info about them? (Or both???)

Thank you for asking!! I love talking about these dorks :)

So I wrote a whole huge thing out about all of them but then tumblr removed me from the premises and did not save anything. So this took longer to answer then it would have jgfkhsgjdkj

Skyward Sword: Cloud*

Minish cap: Mini

Ocarina of Time and Majora’s mask: Sprite

Link to the past, oracle of ages/seasons and Link’s awakening: Hibiscus

Link between worlds and Tri force heroes: Hue

Original Zelda and adventure of Link: Brownie*

Twilight Princess: Gloam

Four Swords Adventures: Light (along with Shadow)

Windwaker and phantom hourglass: Windy*

Breath of the Wild: Slate

Nicknames with * are ones I haven’t decided I totally like yet and might change. I’m also going to put spirit tracks Link in here (once I get around to playing his game) and possibly the other four swords Link, haven’t decided yet. Hyrule Warriors Link will end up in here too, but there’s plot stuff about him I don’t want to spill too much about.

Here’s some tidbits about them all too!

- Cloud literally just married Zelda like a week ago and is very upset about being yoinked through time. He misses her a lot. Cloud is really nice, and tries to always be kind, but if he gets mad he gets mad.

- Mini is only ten and a half and really mature for his age. (Arguably more then some of the older Links) He’s also surprisingly innocent despite his maturity and the fact he could easily kill a man if he so wished

- Sprite is on this adventure with grim acceptance and a refusal to get close to any of the rest of the heroes. This is the fourth time he’s dealt with time shenanigans (war of ages is in there) and is so tired.

- Hibiscus is one of the Responsible Ones, the most experienced, and is one of the best medics in the group. He’s hoping this adventure will help him out of the depressive state funk he’s been in since Koholint.

- Hue’s a blacksmith apprentice who pays more attention to clothing then nearly anyone else (except maybe Slate). ‘Clothes make the man’ is his motto, and he always dresses for the occasion. Also the tips of his hair are still green from when he was in Hytopia, and he thinks it looks good for some reason.

- Brownie is a rather anxious guy, a little on the paranoid side actually. But he’s really nice once he gets over his paranoia, and the most magically adept out of all of them. Also the only brunette, which annoys him a bit.

- Gloam is another Responsible One, and rather protective of all the younger Links. (which most of them don’t mind but Sprite despises) He’s surprisingly chaotic for being so responsible, and has a feral streak that mostly shows itself when he’s a wolf. He got his nickname from Slate who heard the word from Zelda and thought it sounded cool. Also Gloam was sick of being called ‘Wolf Guy’.

- Light has an eye that’s red and blue and another that’s green and purple, and sometimes his mood changes a little sporadically. Despite these oddities he’s one of the best team players they have, and Hue is so happy to have someone who agrees with him on teamwork.

- Windy has a mischievous streak a mile wide and is very upbeat, but there’s a side of him that’s very serious that occasionally shows itself. His big brother tendencies make him worry sometimes about the younger Links, but he’s not that old himself so he doesn’t push it. Also occasionally he meows. Gloam isn’t sure wether to bark at him or try to pick him up.

- Slate’s a bit of a mess. He thinks this whole problem with the Yiga is his fault, and despite the fact that none of the other Links blame him (except maybe Sprite) he’s determined to set this right. He’s close with Gloam (knew him as a helpful wolf on his quest) and waffles between being quiet and feral. There’s no inbetween.

[changeling-rin]

Ok, so codex and shadow on chains adventures. Go!

There will be nothing left standing

Skyward Sword: Whoever's idea it was to live above the protective cloud cover is about to get stabbed, Shadow is dead set on it. Meanwhile, Codex takes notes. Lots of notes. Coincidentally, someone OHKO's Ghirahim with a very clever loophole regarding advisors

Minish Cap: Codex takes notes, lots of notes. Coincidentally, Shadow OHKO's Vaati with an uncharacteristically clever plan regarding the consumption of energy fields bigger than one's head

Four Swords: So many notes. Codex needs a new notebook. Meanwhile, Shadow coincidentally OHKO's a different Vaati by taking advantage of the kidnapped Princess who, not so coincidentally, hates Vaati's guts

Ocarina of Time: Codex fills two entire notebooks. Meanwhile, someone OHKO's Ganondorf the moment he steps into Hyrule Castle with the speed of forethought and hindsight. The coincidentally bolded, highlighted, and underlined note in Codex's books about the locations of sacred treasures that can defeat the Big Bad are seriously completely coincidental

Majora's Mask: Shadow takes one look at Majora and vows to stab it in the eyeball. Meanwhile, Codex fills another notebook. Completely coincidentally, Shadow times his fore-avowed stabbing perfectly with the would-be fall of the Moon, no there wasn't any sort of countdown he was using to escape the deadline, that's a silly idea

Twilight Princess: Seriously, Shadow doesn't get what all the fuss over the Twilight is about, it seems just fine to him. Meanwhile, Codex struggles to hold a pen without thumbs... but the slight delay in taking down Zant and Ganondorf is completely coincidental okay!?

Four Swords Adventures: Four Codexes means four different notebooks heck yes- Meanwhile, Shadow punches Vaati in the eye a full five minutes after he made his invasion force known. Look they're got four notebooks to work with this time, things get sped up a bit - wait no they mean IT'S A COMPLETE COINCIDENCE

A Link to the Past: The Dark World seems fine to Shadow. Meanwhile, Codex learned from his time in the Twilight. Paws are no longer a writing impediment to him! Completely coincidentally, mind you, Agahnim gets OHKO'd before he even gets the chance to summon Ganon

Oracle of Ages: Codex only fills half a notebook, because somebody (Ralph) was being sensical for once. Meanwhile, Shadow nearly punches Queen Ambi in the face. In his defense, they had less notebook to work with this time than usual WAIT NO IT'S JUST A COINCIDENCE

Oracle of Seasons: Codex has so many notes on dragons and dragon-like entities at this point that Shadow can literally just OHKO Onox from the get-go without breaking a sweat. Completely coincidentally.

Link's Awakening: None of Codex's notes survived, he is so upset. Meanwhile, Shadow decides he hates the ocean

The Legend of Zelda: ...There's nothing in his notes that can speed this up. They're literally just gonna have to check everywhere and see what they find. To date, it's their worst Completion Time yet

A Link Between Worlds: Codex fills the other half of that notebook from Ages, finally. Meanwhile, Shadow punches Yuga in the face, settles for tripping Hilda into a bush, and 'unintentionally' traumatizes Ravio. Look, it was a very unsatisfying trip, okay?

Wind Waker: Codex fills another notebook, though a good quarter of it is about sailing tips. Meanwhile, Shadow still hates the ocean, but at least he gets to take out his frustration by OHKO-ing a giant bird and also Ganondorf

Spirit Tracks: ...Codex is out of notebooks, and he is Upset About It. Meanwhile, Shadow punches Chancellor Cole in the face. It's annoying that they can reapply the Veran Tactics to Malladus, but on the bright side this does make OHKO-ing him much simpler!

[avoutput]

Gaps Between Worlds || Live, Love, Link

Nothing keeps a story going like a love interest. In almost every adventure story, at some point, the hero flirts with love, falls into it, is blinded by it, or is even betrayed by it. Love is the strongest emotional connection we share as humans, a double edged sword that can drive us, but also hinder us. Even when a story lacks a love interest, the listeners might begin to imagine one just to keep themselves interested. One adventure series has lacked cannon love for such a long time, it's hard to imagine how it’s been kept alive in our collective consciousness for as long as it has. The Legend of Zelda has jump-cut to Link saving Zelda so many times, but remains nebulous on what kind of relationship blossoms from their journey. As a longtime fan, I have been starving for more from the world of Hyrule, and I think fans across the world agree with me. The official Nintendo Hyrule Timeline wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for pressure from the fans. Before that release, it had been locked inside the mind of Miyamoto, creator of the series. But it didn’t really whet my appetite, because what I wanted is to know of Link and Zelda. Today, we are going to explore the facets of Link and Zelda’s many re-incarnated relationships, which could have turned into love, and where they must have gone after Gannon was sealed and their adventure came to an end.

Before we go any further, the usual caveats to my writing, just so you can get where my head is at. First, I am not going to be super concerned with minute details of the timeline in its purest sense. It has a tenuous linear connection from one game to the next, but it still can provide a little fun for us to speculate on. Second, I have completed every mainline adventure with two exceptions. I have made it to the end of Link’s Adventure and Twilight Princess, but I just never walked up those steps to beat Gannon. I can’t really put my finger on why, but usually I just lost interest by the time I made it to the end of the game. Everything else, including the GB, GBA, and DS releases, I have completed.

In the beginning, one of the most bizarre parts of the overall Zelda lore is how little we actually discuss Link’s obligation to do anything for Zelda. As the games mature, they motivate Link in more realistic ways, but I felt that they mostly lacked a real punch. Lets imagine you DID NOT read the manual for the NES titles, the original LoZ, it just starts by breaking the 4th wall. I always thought it was funny that it just drops you into the mountains with absolutely no direction, as if to say, “You bought the game, dummy, do something! Press a button… ooo… check out that cave!” However, what actually happens is Link saves Zelda’s handmaid, Impa, from an attack by some of Gannon’s henchmen. She then begs him to find the 8 fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, which Zelda has hidden in 8 dungeons, and he just resolves to do it. In the next game though, she’s just struck with Sleepy Disney Princess disease. Classic. But have you ever noticed that true love’s kiss wasn’t an option here? That’s because Link is not her true love in this incarnation, so he has to kill the curse maker. LoZ and Link’s Adventure are directly related, so we know that in between the two games, they never became lovers. And I don’t know if you need any more proof about these games, but if you ever watched the 80’s Zelda cartoon… you’d know she’s better off.

Climbing up this timeline, we end up at the incredible Link To The Past, a story that’s titular description kind of defies its storyline unless you are really paying attention. Either way, the game has Link, a descendant of Hyrule Knights, being woken up by a psychic message from Zelda. As usual, Link has no real discernible parentage, but he does start off with an uncle. As I grew up, I often wondered if this was his real uncle or the Asian kind of uncle, just an older man with the same familial distance as an actual uncle, just not actually related. (It goes without saying that the west has this kind of uncle as well, but rarely does it rear its head as ubiquitously as in the east) Who knows what happened to his parents, the game never really goes into it. Either way, he runs into his possibly real uncle after following Zelda’s request, only, he is mortally wounded, and with his final breath, he begs Link to take up his blade and his responsibility. Again, he is motivated simply by some sense of obligation, but there is never a moment's glance of flirtation or love. By the end of the game, he revives his Uncle, the Priest, and the King, only to get on a boat and end up ship wrecked on Koholint island, where he dreams up a girl who is much more likely to become someone he could have a life with rather than Zelda.

Let’s take a quick moment to recognize Link has about 5 or 6 games that have nothing to do with his relationship to Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, Majora’s Mask, and Minish Cap to name a few. In these games, it rarely meditates on his relationship to his previous adventure or the girl he left behind. Link is a very forward thinking… little boy? Adolescent? Teenager? It depends on the game. The more I think about this, maybe the more obvious it really is supposed to be. Zelda, Link, and Gannon are reborn into conflict over and over again. It’s possible that the stories that we play through are the only time they are born into a point of conflict. Basically, Link and Zelda might be born into a world without each other. Maybe the world only falls into chaos when all 3 of them are born. Maybe only when a certain amount of power accumulates on the dark side. The story just makes room for whatever it finds appropriate.

Climbing up the timeline, we get to the only game that implied young romance, Ocarina Of Time. Granted, it kind of dashes this with Majora’s Mask, but it's possible he could return to Hyrule for love. He is only 10. Still, in OoT, Link is the only character that keeps his memory of both the young timeline and the teen timeline. When you think about it, Link is pretty mature for a 10 year old, but waking up in the body of a 17 year old would throw you a bit. People in the future might have found him odd… if they weren’t scattered to the winds and mostly worried about famine, death, and Gannon. In both his young and teen timeline, the Zora princess is very interested in him, and yet, the game still ends with a longing look between Zelda and Link, Link remembering everything, Zelda new to the whole thing. Now, I am willing to admit that as a kid, I probably misread this as a longing look, as an adult, it's really just the culmination of Link’s struggle to finally right all the wrongs, but I was a young shipper, and I wanted everyone to fall in love. (You are reading the thoughts of a boy who was super upset that Ash wasn’t awakened by a kiss from Misty (or Pikachu), and instead the tears of all the Pokemon. I almost walked out of the theater. I was a fresh-faced 13.) Given everything we know about both games, and that we know the timeline splits here, it would stand to reason that since in either case, triumphant or not, Link doesn’t end up making baby Link and Linkles with Zelda. In the Triumphant Timeline Child Era, none of the games end with Link in love, including Twilight Princess. In the Adult Era, the Wind Waker series of games always finds Link closely aligned with Zelda, but the whole cell-shaded, PG universe basically ensures that all the people of Hyrule are grown out of the ground, like palm trees on the beach. In the end, Link always makes for the nearest boat or horse and follows the sun, trying to escape the PTSD that haunts him.

Finally, at the very beginning of the timeline is the largely maligned Skyward Sword. As of this writing, SS is the supposed beginning to the entire legend. It is also one of the few games where there does seem to be an infatuation between Zelda and Link. Throughout the game, they share what looks to be a mild flirtation. When I thought about this budding romance, I began to think it only appears that way because of some cultural filters. First, Nintendo likes to make games for kids, so they aim to get an E rating by the ESRB. So if we ratchet that up to M, the standard for modern day games if you want people to take them seriously, we can adjust the love meter on scale with E = Sesame Street and M = Breaking Bad. They might as well be engaging in some hard sexting, maybe a couple of low-cut Link bathroom mirror selfies. Don’t worry, he has his famous hat over the goods. Why do you think its shaped like that? Secondly, mild flirting in Japan is the equivalent of hardcore furry S&M in America. In actuality, what you are really seeing is the courtship of Link in a Wolf costume and Zelda dressed as a Fire Keese batting eyes at each other. Truly, in this world, Link and Zelda are destined for each other. They are the only freaks in the sky! With this assumption, I can conclude that the legend only continues because once, at the very beginning of their timeline, the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom banged it out. This could mean there is a whole series of games we have never played where the timeline is split at the top. One in which they have children and one where they don’t. Personally, I look forward to their kids journey in The Legend of Steve, the new holder of the Triforce of Wisdom. Let a girl save the boy for once!

There is always hope for our legendary heroes. You may not want them to be joined in glorious, child-making coitus, but I always have. I have always found it odd that it doesn’t end like most JRPG’s with a very obvious death of the “mains” so that love can’t blossom, or with a lavish royal wedding. The worst part is that often, Link has many love interests, but none of them are Zelda. There is some hope for them in the new Breath of the Wild timeline, which is supposedly the furthest in the future of the “official” timeline, so much so that there is no connective tissue left, so it might as well be a “new beginning”. I would actually hate for them to finally, really, fall in love in the BotW universe, mostly because it's my least favorite Zelda game of all time, squeaking past Skyward Sword and Wind Waker.  All 3 of which I dislike for a combination of gameplay-style and story, though honestly, the best part of BotW is the story. It's just a game I never want to play again. Rambling aside, I look forward to the fate of love between Zelda and Link in their next chapter. Maybe we’ll finally play as their love child some day. 

[mckittyarts]

hey guys sorry about the couple of days i wasn’t posting!! this thing took a little longer than i thought-- but yeah! i’ve seen other artists draw their own interpretations of all the incarnations of Links, and i finally decided to draw the versions i’ve made up together with a friend of mine all in one place! get a load of these fools

tumblr wouldn’t let me post these in rows without them getting super blurry so there’s gonna be closeups, headcanons, etc under the cut

Time (Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask):  - post-majora’s mask but he still has the scars from oot(dont ask me how idk either)  - Really Fucked up. Very Strange Grandpa  - despite actually having had the years to grow up this time he still acts like a kid  - idk i can’t really describe him but he’s just been through so much stress his only remaining emotion is essentially just “:)”  - he’s gone back to hyrule and is just kinda wandering around he got those two shoulder pads as a gift and they’re based off of the ones he has as a ghost  - the gauntlets are redesigned golden gauntlets only because i forgot what they looked like  - he’s missing his right eye from a wolfos and lost his finger when Ganon slapped his sword out of his hand also he has goron tattoos on his shoulders  - headcanon that he’s Zelda’s twin brother but they just never were told about it

Sky (Skyward Sword):  - he’s got Sleepy Bitch Disease  - just wants to rest...... please let him Sleep For Once  - he gets very snappy and Rude, especially when he’s tired but he’s pretty patient and sweet around people he’s fond of  - headcanon that he has some form of asthma(because in game hes like constantly gasping for air)  - after the events of his game hes just Tuckered Out and just wants to sleep for the rest of his life  - i didn’t really give him any redesigns, just let him keep his skyloft outfit  - his scars are from demise and ghirahim(jerks)

Twi (Twilight Princess):  - COUNTRY BOYYYY I LOVE YOUU  - furry boy go awooo  - amazing with animals and kids but doesn’t really cope too well in social situations because he gets Nervous  - GAY. I WONT ACCEPT ANY OTHER ANSWER  - headcanon that he’s the direct descendant of Time  - goes back to his Farming Ways after the War and just chills with the rest of Ordon village  - most of his scars are from those stupid Ghost Rats but he also has some others from Ganondorf

Wild (Breath of the Wild):  - ‘scuse me everyone certified ROWDY BOY comin through  - he seems very normal from a distance but as soon as you get close to him you will realize that you just found a Raccoon  - *sees anything* oh! yum!  - really, really loves cooking and is actually really good at it even if his ingredients come from questionable locations  - headcanon that along with every other memory he lost, he also forgot most of what was pressuring him before his Death and is now completely unhinged and will not stop for anyones social standards  - he has a couple scars from being blasted by guardians but honestly most of his other ones are because he just really loves rolling down mountainsides

Warrior (Hyrule Warriors):  - hh,,, Anxious boy :(  - he just really wants approval and he damn well deserves it  - when he first got appointed as the hero of whatever and got the master sword he was honestly starting to get a bit cocky  - but then Cia Promptly ripped all of that confidence and Rude Boy Behaviour out of him and he became :( again  - he could speak beforehand but he got an injury during the battles and is now rendered practically mute  - has a couple major scars underneath his scarf/tunic but he managed to keep his face mostly unscathed somehow

Albi (A Link Between Worlds/Tri Force Heroes):  - Shy,,,, doesnt like Attention  - honestly just wants to be left alone but since he’ss the hero of whatever people just Gave Him Too Much Love  - broke down and is now Fashionable  - sometimes likes to sew or paint  - headcanon that he’s colourblind(tritanopia)  - those little marks on his skin are little “wall cracks” from merging too often  - has a few scars but no important ones tbh

Minish (The Minish Cap):  - small and Super Mad About It  - he’s extremely quiet and only really ever talks if he’s mad or asked a question  - and even then he says as few words as he can possibly muster  - really dedicated blacksmith and is pretty good at his job despite his age  - still hangs out with Zelda a whole lot theyre still Best Friends  - the scar is from his fight with Vaati and he got an undershirt with a collar to hide it a bit because he feels a bit self conscious about it :(

Engi (Spirit Tracks):  - BABY BOY. BABY  - fuckin LOVES trains. he would Probably Die without them. still an engineer  - completely polite and sweet, calls you sir and stutters a whole lot  - also likes to fidget when he doesn’t have anything to do with his hands  - secretly completely RIPPED and could probably break you in half if he just weren’t such a sweetheart  - missing tooth from Byrne smacking him in the face with his Metal Hand and constantly has scratches but thats just cuz hes clumsy  - headcanon that he’s the grandson of Wind  - another headcanon that he can see ghosts since he was the only one who could see Zelda when she got absolutely annihilated 

Wind (The Wind Waker/Phantom Hourglass):  - SHIP AHOY BITCHES  - absolutely Stupid. goddamn Fool, complete and utter buffoon  - tends to be a bit direct and a little too honest but as i said before. complete Dumbass  - ADORES to tease and poke fun as long as no one gets hurt  - swears like a sailor and IS a sailor. Its All Connected  - has a crooked nose because SOMEONE launched him at a wall that one time. Also from that explosion that launched him into that other wall that other time  - all his little jewelry things are treasures he found along the way

Alti (A Link To The Past/Oracle of Seasons/Ages/Link’s Awakening): - oof this boi has been through So Much - just so tired of this shit.......... wants a break already - has pink hair because nintendo cant convince me otherwise and also has black roots because that’s his hair colour in the gameboy games - still misses everyone from the wind fish’s dream :( also idk know if he ever came back from the ocean tbh - honestly i know jack shit about any of his games so,,, sorry my boy

Classic (The Legend of Zelda/The Adventure of Link): - the boy who started it all!!! god i love him so - honestly don’t really know much about him either,,, and honestly i dont think there is a lot to know the classic games are pretty plotless - but i like to imagine he’s like every Good Protagonist trope but none of the other links appreciate it a whole lot - “dont worry guys i believe we can do this! :)” cut to the whole group throwing trash at him - also gave him sectoral heterochromia to match the way his eyes look in the first game’s sprites

[postgamecontent]

The Results of Another Very Unscientific Zelda Twitter Poll

The Final Fantasy polls I held a couple of weeks ago were good fun, so I thought I’d run another series of polls for a different franchise. I just finished Breath of the Wild for the first time, so I thought I’d see where everyone is falling on it after a couple of years, and why not check the rest while we’re at it? As before, you shouldn’t take these results too seriously. They’re likely neither valid nor reliable. This is just for fun. Let’s have a look at how things turned out.

This time, I decided to cut the joke replies. Respondents could only choose from a favorable assessment (”actually good”), an unfavorable assessment (”actually bad”), and an ambivalent assessment (”actually so-so”). I’ve arranged the results in each category.

I. Favorable Assessment Results (Highest to Lowest)

Link’s Awakening (87%)

A Link to the Past (86%)

Minish Cap (83%)

The Wind Waker (82%)

Breath of the Wild (82%)

Oracle of Ages (81%)

A Link Between Worlds (74%)

Majora’s Mask (70%)

Oracle of Seasons (70%)

Ocarina of Time (61%)

Four Swords Adventures (55%)

Twilight Princess (48%)

The Legend of Zelda (47%)

The Adventure of Link (45%)

Skyward Sword (40%)

Spirit Tracks (32%)

Four Swords (31%)

Phantom Hourglass (28%)

Triforce Heroes (12%)

Well, what can you say here? More than half of the series is more favorably assessed than any other option, which speaks to the generally high quality of the brand. Top-down Zeldas are quite well-liked outside of the multiplayer/DS installments, it seems. The Wind Waker’s reputation has only grown over time, and I’m quite surprised at where it landed compared to other 3D Zelda games.

II. Unfavorable Assessment Results (Highest to Lowest)

Triforce Heroes (42%)

Skyward Sword (31%)

Spirit Tracks (30%)

Phantom Hourglass (28%)

Twilight Princess (19%)

Four Swords (16%)

The Adventure of Link (15%)

Four Swords Adventures (15%)

The Legend of Zelda (11%)

A Link to the Past (10%)

Majora’s Mask (9%)

Ocarina of Time (8%)

Link’s Awakening (7%)

A Link Between Worlds (7%)

Breath of the Wild (6%)

Oracle of Seasons (4%)

Oracle of Ages (4%)

The Wind Waker (3%)

Minish Cap (2%)

None of the games are more unfavorably assessed than any other option, so even “bad” Zelda is still agreed upon to be not that bad. The disdain for the DS/multiplayer Zelda games isn’t too surprising, but Skyward Sword is significantly more disliked than the other 3D Zelda games. Interesting.

III. Ambivalent Assessment Results (Highest to Lowest)

Four Swords (53%)

Triforce Heroes (46%)

Phantom Hourglass (44%)

The Legend of Zelda (42%)

The Adventure of Link (40%)

Spirit Tracks (38%)

Twilight Princess (33%)

Ocarina of Time (31%)

Four Swords Adventures (30%)

Skyward Sword (29%)

Oracle of Seasons (26%)

Majora’s Mask (21%)

A Link Between Worlds (19%)

Oracle of Ages (15%)

The Wind Waker (15%)

Minish Cap (15%)

Breath of the Wild (12%)

Link’s Awakening (6%)

A Link to the Past (4%)

When we looked at the Final Fantasy games, this category served to highlight the “love it or hate it” titles. But in the case of Zelda, the lower-ranked games for this option are simply those that people really loved. Special props to the original Four Swords, which was the only game in the series to have its largest group of respondents shrugging their shoulders and saying “meh”.

Well, there it is. It’s a thing, alright. A beautiful thing? An ugly thing? I don’t know. But it is definitely a thing. Will I do another series of polls like these in the future? Perhaps, friends. Perhaps.

[mckittyarts]

HEY GUYS sorry for the long silence! this thing took a while but im so glad to finally have these gals to show everyone!! but yeah, just like the Links i did a little while ago, these gals are my interpretations of all the Zeldas over the years! because my gals needs some love too baybe!!!

as usual, nicknames and headcanons under the cut!

Harp (Ocarina of Time/Majora’s Mask): - post-ocarina so basically she’s in the adult timeline but seven years older than she were when we last saw her at the end of oot - big mom friend,,,,,,,,,,,, tall and Motherly will adopt every child - she can and will slice a bitch if she needs to dont cross her - her scars were from the 7 years where she hid as Sheik while Time took himself a nice little nap - after sending Time back to his childhood she’s just been working to rebuild her kingdom and is now Queen - like i said on the Links one, headcanon that she’s Time’s twin sister - nothing much to say about her design it’s pretty much the same asdfghj

Plume (Skyward Sword): - still rowdy. still bapey - can and will push you off a cliff - really loves her animals and insists her remlit’s a sweetheart despite what Sky may tell her - really sweet and understanding about Sky and his napping but will still Suplex A Bitch if he’s being an ass - after what happened in skyward sword she’s in the lead of getting the settlement on the surface up and running - changed her outfit a bit to one more inspired by one of her concept designs but it’s kinda hard to see anything but a white shirt in this image asdfghj - a few scrapes and scratches from tumbling around on the surface, nothing too serious though

Dawn (Twilight Princess): - Stoic and Quiet - i’ve had Twi for five minutes, but if anything were to happen to him i would kill everyone in this room and then myself - cares a whole lot about her kingdom and will do just about anything for her people- has been working to rebuild her kingdom too but like there isn’t much to fix anyway so i guess she gets off easy - again, same design as usual aaaaand no real noteworthy scars she’s smart enough not to get killed unlike everyone else

Hope (Breath of the Wild): - NERD ALERT - spends most of her time documenting and rambling - what do you mean shes gotta rule her country she’s found a cool frog she’s gotta take pictures of!!!! - can actually remember her friends and misses them a whole lot :( - HOO GIRL YOU’VE GOT......... A WHOLE LOT TO REBUILD..... WHEW - kept her design mostly as is and gave her the green eyes because nINTENDO ARE SO INCONSISTENT WITH HER EYE COLOUR IS2G - got in a few scrapes after sAVING WILD’S DYING ASS so that’s where the scars are from

Rapier (Hyrule Warriors): - the cool but wildly irresponsible mom - *gives a whole sword to small child* hell yeah kid go fuck those bitches up - also filthy rich even compared to the other Zeldas like look at that ridiculous amount of gold and silver armour it’s not even gonna protect her dumb ass - can absolutely destroy you if she chooses to do so - has a lot of scars because sOMEONE doesn’t know how to gear up properly - knows sign language so that she can communicate with Her Boy 

Canvas (A Link Between Worlds): - the biggest sweetheart you’ll ever meet...... like oh my god bapey............ - Big Fan Of Art - has a whole museum of paintings in her castle - is 100% convinced that Albi is Deceased :( spent a lot of resources to find him but kinda gave up on it after a year or two  - the lighter patch on her face is the ‘splash’ mark from being turned into a painting which also caused the color in her eyes to change - she actually used to have green eyes

Pebble (The Minish Cap): - OOOO BABEY.......... TODDLER - still really close to Minish they always hang out - Dramatic Little Shit - absolutely a sheltered kid there’s no way Daltus didn’t get a million times more protective of her after she got pETRIFIED??? - despite being completely baby she still manages to be taller than her Link lmao eat shit Minish - the feathers are supposed to resemble Picori feathers, no idea if they are real or not

Ghost (Spirit Tracks): - FUCKING DIES ASDFGHGFGHJ - super energetic and sweet - got all of Tetras attitude but none of the smarts. absolute Buffoon - might be out of mortal danger but still gets in trouble all the damn time - barely has any scars because ghosts don’t get injuries but she does have a big burn/lightning like scar on her chest/stomach from having her sOUL RIPPED OUT OF HER BODY - redesigned the dress a bit so she’d look different from Pebble - also the ribbon in her hair is supposed to be a Tetra’s old bandana!! she got it as a gift from her when she was still Very Small

Tetra (The Wind Waker): - Fuck Yeah Pirate Time - completely Rowdy. Will Stab a Bitch - is more like a robin hood type of outlaw she only steals from Corrupt Rich Asshats like a good pirate should - swears WAY too much. Horrible Influence on Children - is missing like half on her left leg, probably lost it to like a gyorg or some shit - scars are from various battles with other pirates, bokoblins, birds, etc. - busy finding a New Continent

Crystal (A Link To The Past): - tired............... needs a break - Just Wants Link To Stop Dying And Come Back Here For Once!!!!!!! dumbass - real quiet but real calculated - Reads Minds and Talks Inside Peoples Heads - real fond of gardening her own herbs and vegetables  -listen i KNOW they’re like her pajamas or some shit but the blue dress just suits her better!!!! also Canvas doesn’t have any alternate costumes soooo

Ribbon (The Legend of Zelda): - ROUND!!!! CHUMBY!!!!!!!!!! - very sweet and very bubbly - will absolutely hug you to death and there’s nothing you can do about it - rebuilt an entire kingdom because uhh that thing kinda fell apart a couple hundred years after ALBW - doesn’t have any scars because she just kinda sat around while Ganon and Link were having a bit of an argument - i changed her dress to be green because of her in game sprite

Dreamer (The Adventure of Link): - HEY GUYS DID YOU KNOW THAT CLASSIC SAVES TWO ZELDAS??? BECAUSE I DIDN’T REALIZE UNTIL NOW - THIS BITCH CAME BEFORE PEBBLE.......... SHE SLEPT FOR /THOUSANDS/ OF YEARS STRAIGHT - is Very confused, doesn’t know what the hell is going on 99% of the time - absolute grandma, doesn’t understand any of this newfangled technology - just real sweet but also completely disoriented - i guess she just kinda helps Ribbon figure out how to get all the old rules and traditions back in place, just a complete big sister for her