10 Zelda Games With The Biggest Impact On The Timeline, Ranked

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has an official timeline that Nintendo updates when a new game is released, but that timeline has a reputation for being convoluted. At the same time, it's interesting to study the timeline and see how games have been placed and why, creating a larger narrative for the in-game universe. Whilethere are many more than 10 games in the franchise, some have a greater impact on the timeline than others.

It's more common for a series to release its games in a mostly chronological order, assuming the games in that series are connected. games have a unique setup where the main characters are reincarnated at different times to save the kingdom from its current threat, so the series is able to show new points anywhere in the timeline. While this style offers a lot of freedom, it also means that understanding the timeline can be difficult.

As the first game chronologically in the official timeline, includes a fair bit of important information for the series as a whole. The nature of Zelda's powers, why she and Link are continually reincarnated, and the evil that led to Ganondorf's creation are all included in this game, which makes it important for setting up events for the rest of the timeline. After all, establishing a strong foundation is required for such a large series.

Here,it's revealed that Zelda is the mortal incarnation of the goddess Hylia, and Demise is the dark counterpart of the Golden Goddesses. Additionally, Demise is technically the original form of Ganondorf – the latter is the manifestation of the former's malice – which explains his role and repeated reincarnations throughout the rest of the series. does a great job establishing how the rest of the timeline works as far as reincarnations go, as well as the origin of its main villains.

is set in the adult era of the timeline split that caused, and it sets the stage for and. Aside from those two games, however, the new era that began hasn't received much use in the series yet. However, before that era begins,