SteinFaust said:
as much as i like link, i'm sick of every story starting out as he got shipwrecked/abducted/exploded/barbecued/etc-- and waking up in a bed. i don't really understand the storyline. i mean, i can understand the SL of a single game, but not the series. coz sometimes its in hyrule, sometimes its in hyrule but completely flooded, sometimes its not there at all! there are very few constants more than you wear a green nightcap, you can learn a spin attack, you can dig up a hookshot, you have to save the world from gannon (or some variant of such), and you have to deal with that annoying d!ckhole, Tingle. i would honestly like someone to explain it to me, because there doesn't seem to be any real story progression other than in windwaker *SPOILER*, that hyrule got bible-flooded and only the mountaintops exist, but at islands.
Well, this is a little off-topic, but there are several storyline theories about the Zelda games. Generally, with the exceptions of games that clearly are direct sequels of each other (OoT-MM, ALttP-LA, WW-PH, Z1-Z2), Zelda games come in eras about 100 or so years apart, with a different Link, different Zelda (mostly), and the same Ganon. Link is usually a descendant of the Knights of Hyrule, or simply just Chosen by the Gods. The name Link is unimportant, since Zelda games encourage you to name your own character. The name Zelda is important, and is explained in Zelda II. (Ganon isn't in all of them - my favorite is Link's Awakening, in which he is represented only by a Nightmare.) In general, as long as you put OoT first, the order of the games doesn't matter so much. I generally think of it this way:
Era 1:
1) Ocarina of Time - Ganon gets his hands on the Triforce. First Hero of Time
2) Majora's Mask - Hero of Oot gets sent back to his childhood, saves Termina. (No Ganon)
There is a possibility that the timeline splits here, because of the time travel. This allows for some Gaiden chapters.
Era 2: At least 100 years later. Different Hero, different Zelda
3) Link to the Past: The seal on Ganon's prison is weakened, and he is able to send a portion of his spirit through as the Wizard Aghanim.
4) Link's Awakening: After the defeat of Ganon, the Hero goes on a voyage to learn how to better defend Hyrule from future evils. Shipwrecks on Koholint Island. I won't spoil this one any more, since it's my favorite.
Era 3: Same deal, probably much farther in the future.
5) Zelda I: Somehow, Ganon has risen again. Link reduces Ganon to ashes.
6) Zelda II: Link learns of the original Princess Zelda, and learns that she has been in a cursed sleep for hundreds of years. The worshippers of Ganon endeavor to revive him by sprinkling Link's blood on his ashes.
Other eras:
Wind Waker and Twilight Princess could conceivably go anywhere between these gaps, since both have a clearly different Link. If there was a split timeline at Oot-MM, it is possible that these occur in parallel eras.
Also the Four Swords games and the Minish Cap could go anywhere, but I tend to think of them as either after Zelda II, or before Ocarina of Time, since Ganon doesn't appear in them. (I think - I haven't played Four Swords Adventures.) I think that the Oracle of Seasons and Ages games could also go anywhere, but I like to put them either between Link to the Past and Link's Awakening or After Zelda II.
All in all, though, the timeline isn't important. Just have fun playing the games, allow yourself to be immersed in them.
