Miyamoto in 2004
***The Legend of Zelda*** is a series of open world adventure video games. The games are typically about a boy named Link who has to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon. The first game of the franchise was made by Shigeru Miyamoto and was first sold February 21, 1986 by Nintendo. Most of the Zelda games take place in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule. The games all have fighting, adventuring, item collecting, puzzle-solving, and sometimes racing parts. *The Legend of Zelda* series has sold over 125 million games, with 23 different games in the series during 2017, making it the 20th best-selling video game series ever.

Main characters
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* **Link** - The protagonist of the game, who uses the items and skills he's collected over the game to save the princess.
* **Zelda** - The princess who sometimes gets kidnapped but gets saved by Link.
* **Ganon** or **Ganondorf** - A recurring antagonist who tries to conquer the land.

Games
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Right now, there are 29 games in the main series, including the compilations and remakes.

* *The Legend of Zelda* (1986, NES)
* *Zelda II: The Adventure of Link* (1987, NES)
* *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past* (1991, SNES)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening* (1993, GB)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX* (1998, GBC)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time* (1998, N64)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask* (2000, N64)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages* (2001, GBC)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons* (2001, GBC)
* *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords* (2002, GBA)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition* (2003, GCN)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest* (2003, GCN)
* *The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker* (2003, GCN)
* *The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap* (2004, GBA)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures* (2004, GCN)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess* (2006, GCN/Wii)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass* (2007, NDS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks* (2009, NDS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D* (2011, 3DS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword* (2011, Wii)
* *The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD* (2013, Wii U)
* *The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds* (2013, 3DS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D* (2015, 3DS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes* (2015, 3DS)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD* (2016, Wii U)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* (2017, Wii U/Switch)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening* (remake) (2019, Switch)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD* (2021, Switch)
* *The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom* (2023, Switch)

Universe
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### Hyrule

**Hyrule** is a fictional world in *The Legend of Zelda* series. It is inhabited by many races, including Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, and others.

* **Death Mountain** is a large volcano that Goron species lives on. Ganon has also had his lair in Death Mountain twice.
* **Gerudo Desert** is a desert that Ganondorf was born in. Only once every 100 years is a man born, so almost every Gerudo is a woman.
* **Hyrule Castle** is the home of the Royal Family, which includes Princess Zelda. It is often Ganon's target.
* **Kakariko Village** is a village that first appeared in *The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past*. It appears in many other games after.
* **Lake Hylia** is a lake in many of the games. It is often the way to Zora's Domain, the home of the Zora species.
* **The Lost Woods** is a forest in many of the games in the series that is easy to get lost in. The Master Sword rests here in *A Link to the Past* and Link's home, Kokiri Forest, is right next to the Lost Woods in *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time*.

### Timelines

The *Zelda* series timeline places each of the games in chronological order up until *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time*. At the end of this game, three separate timelines are created, and many of the games take place in these separate universes.

#### The Hero is Successful: Adult Timeline

When Link helps seal away Ganon at the end of *Ocarina of Time*, he is sent back in time to become a child and warn Princess Zelda to prevent Ganondorf from rising to power in the first place. With Link gone in the future, Ganondorf is able to break free from his seal and get very close to taking over Hyrule. Without Link to stop him, the people of Hyrule ask the Goddesses to flood Hyrule. This flood creates the Great Sea, leaving the tops of Hyrule's mountains as the only land above the water. Many years after the flood, *The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker* takes place.

*The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass* is set a few years after the events of *The Wind Waker* and *The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks* is set many years after *Phantom Hourglass*.

#### The Hero is Successful: Child Timeline

As a child sent back to the past, Link warns Zelda and stops Ganondorf from taking over Hyrule. With this job complete, Link travels deep into the Lost Woods to search for his fairy, Navi, who had left him at the end of *Ocarina of Time*. In this forest, he is transported to a land called Termina that is in danger of being destroyed by a falling moon, sent crashing into the world by an evil mask named Majora. Link's journey to stop the moon from falling is shown in *The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask*. After saving Termina, Link returns to Hyrule.

Many generations later, another young man named Link works as a ranch hand in Hyrule. This Link joins a creature named Midna in her quest to defeat Zant, an evil ruler from the Twilight Realm, who is attempting to take over Hyrule. Throughout his journey, shown in *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess*, Link is aided by many people in his quest, including the Hero's Shade, who is the ghost of Link from *Ocarina of Time* and *Majora's Mask*.

#### The Hero is Defeated

In a world where Link is defeated by Ganon at the end of *Ocarina of Time*, Hyrule enters a period of decline after being taken over by Ganon. A war to defeat him is fought and won, but Hyrule is left in a state of ruin. Within this timeline, the events of many of the early *Zelda* games occur, including *A Link to the Past*, *The Legend of Zelda*, and *The Adventure of Link*.

### Master Sword

The **Master Sword** is a sword found in *The Legend of Zelda* series. Link uses it as a weapon in most games.

Known as the Sword of Evil's Bane, the Sword of Time, the Sword of Resurrection, and the Sword That Seals the Darkness, the Master Sword is to only be held by a person destined to be the Hero chosen by the Goddesses. The Link in *The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword* is the first holder of the Master Sword. The other Links are then given the right to wield the Master Sword because they carry the spirit of the Hero.

### The Four Swords

Basically The Master Sword split into four set in The legend of Zelda four swords it exists in another alternate timeline separate from wind waker and Twilight princess known as the fallen hero timeline because in the game before it, that version of link dies.

### Triforce

The completed Triforce.
The **Triforce** is a mystic object in *The Legend of Zelda* universe created by gods Din, Nayru, and Farore. It has three parts - the first part is the Triforce of Courage, which Link has, the second is the Triforce of Wisdom, which Princess Zelda has, and the third is the Triforce of Power, which Ganon has. When it is completed, the person who unites it can make a wish using the power of the gods.

| * v
* t
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*The Legend of Zelda* series |
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| Main series | *The Legend of Zelda*  **·**  *Zelda II: The Adventure of Link*  **·**  *A Link to the Past*  **·**  *Link's Awakening*  **·**  *Ocarina of Time*  **·**  *Majora's Mask*  **·**  *Oracle of Ages & Seasons*  **·**  *The Wind Waker*  **·**  *Four Swords Adventures*  **·**  *The Minish Cap*  **·**  *Twilight Princess*  **·**  *Phantom Hourglass*  **·**  *Spirit Tracks*  **·**  *Skyward Sword*  **·**  *A Link Between Worlds*  **·**  *Breath of the Wild*  **·**  *Tears of the Kingdom*
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| Spin-offs | Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland ***·*** Link's Crossbow Training ***·*** Hyrule Warriors |
| Characters | Link  **·**  Princess Zelda  **·**  Ganon  **·**  Tingle |
| Nintendo |