History DarkerAndEdgier / TheLegendOfZelda

* While ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' lacks the details to properly show it, the game is a bit darker compared to ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI''. The reason there were no towns or settlements in the first game was due to everyone evacuating and moving up north to avoid Ganon's forces. Despite the move, Old Kasuto is completely abandoned by its people once Ganon's minions found them; going there has no [=NPCs=] (save for a hidden one that teaches you a spell) and there's invisible enemies everywhere that you cannot see unless you picked up the Cross. Thankfully, Old Kasuto's residents moved to a hidden area in the woods that you can get to once you reveal the location. On top of this, one of the town's children was kidnapped by one of Ganon's minions, which you do get to rescue. There's also the fact that all of Ganon's minions are actively hunting down Link where it's not just for revenge, but for Link's blood specifically, which is needed to revive Ganon. Get a Game Over and you see Ganon rise again as he laughs.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALInkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' managed to be even darker than its NES predecessors, with the intro cutscene showing the king of Hyrule as a lifeless skeleton, and the tutorial level showcasing such things as Link's uncle dying in front of the young lad, countless knights falling victim to corruption and subsequently being killed by your hand, and you having to escort Princess Zelda through the castle sewers so she doesn't become a HumanSacrifice. That's just how the game ''starts''; throughout the rest of the adventure, Link is a HeroWithBadPublicity, minor characters frequently die, and soon after you get the Master Sword, Zelda is successfully sacrificed and you have to traverse the DarkWorld, a [[CrapsackWorld corrupted Sacred Realm]] where many have ventured and never returned. Granted, [[spoiler:[[ResetButton it's all undone by the Triforce at the end]]]], but that's quite the jump in intensity between console generations. And to top it all off, a CerebusRetcon later down the line places this game as the first in an alternate timeline to ''Ocarina of Time'', where [[TheHeroDies that game's Link is killed by Ganon]].

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' goes further than ''Ocarina of Time'' with its apocalyptic concept of the moon falling into the land of Termina in three days. The game completely subverts the TakeYourTime approach present is most of the other games in the franchise, which helps give players a perpetual feeling of imminent dread. The tone is also comparatively bleaker, as many of the characters in the game are put through endless suffering and often border on the DespairEventHorizon. If you run out of time, you actually get to see the moon fall, where it explodes into a huge ball of fire that rolls across all of Termina, including Link himself who can't do anything to stop it as he too gets destroyed.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' rivals ''Majora's Mask'' as the darkest entry in the franchise. While the tone is slightly less bleak, the story deals with more macabre themes. There's more complex CharacterDevelopment among the main cast, there's general depictions of corruption, paranoia, and death, and the darker fantastical elements (literally and metaphorically) give the game a much more eerie atmosphere. Not to mention, most of the enemies in the game absolutely reek with BodyHorror, which isn't helped by the game's more [[RealIsBrown semi-realistic art style]]. In fact, these were the reasons why the game became the first installment in the ''Zelda'' franchise to receive a T-rating, as opposed to its usual E-rating.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' rivals ''Majora's Mask'' as the darkest entry in the franchise. While the tone is slightly less bleak, the violence and disturbing imagery is boosted UpToEleven in comparison to [=OoT=] and MM (it even has a more [[RealIsBrown semi-realistic art style]] to go along with it). As a result, ''Twilight Princess'' became the first ''Zelda'' game to receive a T rating as opposed to its usual E rating.

* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' rivals ''Majora's Mask'' as the darkest entry in the franchise. While the tone is slightly less bleak, the violence and disturbing imagery is boosted UpToEleven in comparison to [=OoT=] and MM (it even has a more [[RealIsBrown semi-realistic art style]] to go along with it). As a result, ''Twilight Princess'' became the first ''Zelda'' game to receive a T rating as opposed to its usual E rating.* ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'' is this to ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', which is reflected in that it's one of the only two ''Zelda'' games in the Toon Link style to not receive a regular E rating, but rather E10+ (the other game being the HD remake of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]''). The antagonist is a twisted, corrupt politician who is actually a demon in disguise, and the story features one of the shortest, but creepiest plot points of ''Twilight Princess'' as framework for a huge chunk of the story: [[spoiler: Princess Zelda's empty body being possessed by a male SealedEvilInACan.]]