History Fridge / TheLegendOfZelda

** Canonically all but two versions of Link are left-handed and sword-fight as such. The exceptions are the Links from ''Breath of the Wild'' and ''Skyward Sword'' who do fight right-handed and it makes perfect sense as to why they are the exceptions, ''they were the only ones who got official training''. That being, all the other Links were self trained and did swordplay as a hobby/game and sometimes actively had another career before the crisis at hand (''Spirit Tracks'', ''[=ALttP=]'', and ''Minish Cap'' being examples of Link having civilian jobs). The ''Breath of the Wild'' and ''Skyward Sword'' Links on the [[IncrediblyLamePun other hand]] were actively training to become knights from presumably young ages and thus, (due to the fact that military regiments have to have uniform curriculums and fighting styles), would have to learn how to fight the [[IncrediblyLamePun right way]], and not naturally pick up a Southpaw sword style. This is especially apparent with the ''Breath of the Wild' Link as if you look around his house in [[VideoGame/TearsOfTheKingdom the sequel]] you can find various things around set up for someone left-handed (cutlery, writing utensils, etc), hinting at him naturally being a lefty and learning to be ambidextrous like his predecessors.

* The Sages in ''Ocarina of Time'' are mostly named for towns in ''The Adventure of Link'', but the later-established timeline, which put ''TaoL'' in a branching path from ''[=OoT=]'' means the towns were actually named for the Sages. Since the timeline is the one where Link failed to defeat Ganon, presumably leaving the Sages unable to act, there's the question of why these failed heroes would be honored with town names. ''A Link Between Worlds'', which is in the downfall timeline before ''TaoL'', answers this. In that game, a new group of Sages descended from ''[=OoT's=]'' awoke and saved the day. Thus, the Sages who failed in that timeline still provided a worthy legacy and earned the names of the towns.

* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords2004'': At first, the story seems to be a retelling of the game's plot, with some changes for the sake of the narrative: (1) Link is a hero who thinks he is too cool to work with others. (2) Some CloningBlues are thrown in for drama when Link is separated into four, each with a different personality, and none of them happy about working as a team. (3) The Links are separated in order to show more of the game's dungeons in fewer pages. (4) Vio's betrayal allows the authors to showcase one of the battlefields from Vs. mode. (5) All four Links finally work together to defeat the BigBad. (6) They become one again, but now with a better understanding of how to work on a team. On the surface, a good but not exact retelling of the game. Here's where the FridgeBrilliance comes in: I noticed the picture above the author's notes at the end of the manga showed both authors playing the game; one was drawn with a happy look on her face, reminiscent of Red Link, saying "I'll leave this part to you..." to the other author, who wore an aggravated expression not unlike Blue Link when stuck babysitting Red Link. "Some of the situations in the manga might be on what happened between the authors while they were playing," I thought. With this in mind, I found another way to read the story: it follows four friends as they play through Four Swords Adventures. (1) Each player has played Zelda games before, and are used to playing as Link completely on their own. (2) Not being used to working with others in a Zelda game, the players get in each other's way and grumble about how it was easier to play single-player Zelda games. (3) The players each take a turn playing the game on their own, at first glad to be rid of the other players, but come to realize that it is hard to play Adventure Mode solo. (4) Three of the players want to go back to multiplayer Adventure Mode, but the other (Vio) wants to play Vs. Mode instead. (5) All four players work together to beat Adventure Mode. (6) Each player goes on to play single-player Zelda games again, but now they function as a team in multiplayer games.

* There are some moments where Link can realistically die (that is, through a monster or something rather than just constantly jumping off high ground to deliberately die) that can create hypothetical scenarios that range from tragic to tremendously dark. For example, in ''The Wind Waker'', Link can get killed by a Bokoblin [[ABirthdayNotABreak on his birthday]] after Aryll encourages him to enter a dangerous forest to rescue Tetra, resulting in a little girl losing her beloved brother and an elderly woman losing her beloved grandson on what is supposed to be his special day. Imagine what will ensue once someone goes and finds him in there...

* ''Four Swords Adventures'': At first, the story seems to be a retelling of the game's plot, with some changes for the sake of the narrative: (1) Link is a hero who thinks he is too cool to work with others. (2) Some CloningBlues are thrown in for drama when Link is separated into four, each with a different personality, and none of them happy about working as a team. (3) The Links are separated in order to show more of the game's dungeons in fewer pages. (4) Vio's betrayal allows the authors to showcase one of the battlefields from Vs. mode. (5) All four Links finally work together to defeat the BigBad. (6) They become one again, but now with a better understanding of how to work on a team. On the surface, a good but not exact retelling of the game. Here's where the FridgeBrilliance comes in: I noticed the picture above the author's notes at the end of the manga showed both authors playing the game; one was drawn with a happy look on her face, reminiscent of Red Link, saying "I'll leave this part to you..." to the other author, who wore an aggravated expression not unlike Blue Link when stuck babysitting Red Link. "Some of the situations in the manga might be on what happened between the authors while they were playing," I thought. With this in mind, I found another way to read the story: it follows four friends as they play through Four Swords Adventures. (1) Each player has played Zelda games before, and are used to playing as Link completely on their own. (2) Not being used to working with others in a Zelda game, the players get in each other's way and grumble about how it was easier to play single-player Zelda games. (3) The players each take a turn playing the game on their own, at first glad to be rid of the other players, but come to realize that it is hard to play Adventure Mode solo. (4) Three of the players want to go back to multiplayer Adventure Mode, but the other (Vio) wants to play Vs. Mode instead. (5) All four players work together to beat Adventure Mode. (6) Each player goes on to play single-player Zelda games again, but now they function as a team in multiplayer games.

!! The [[WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda Animated Series]]

* Building on the last point, in addition to the fact no one facet is good or evil, the series sells the subtle point that it's only when all three are working ''together'' that their true power is revealed. Power without Courage is never used, whilst Power without Wisdom is frittered away and wasted, purposeless in its directions. Wisdom without Courage will not act upon its knowledge, whilst without Power it is ineffectual and incapable of affecting anything. Courage without Power is spent in vain, whilst without Wisdom it is misaimed and meaningless. Look at it in the series: when the three forces are aligned, they create a source of RealityWarper power that can change the world. When seperated, they enhance their bearers, but are hardly {{Physical God}}s; Ganondorf holds Power, but he isn't all-powerful -- you'd simply never be able to beat him if that were the case, as he'd just get ''even stronger'' to overmatch you. Zelda holds Wisdom, but still makes some pretty stupid decisions through her incarnations, from the backstory to Zelda II to her mistakes in Ocarina of Time to, most recently, the absolute ''idiocy'' of her Sheik disguise in Hyrule Warriors. In comparison, Link starts with Courage and slowly builds upon both his Power and his Wisdom, and this enables him to be the Hero that Hyrule always needs.

* Each of the three main characters has a form of "immortality" befitting which Triforce piece they're associated with. Ganon lingers forever. Since he represents power unyielding, he remains until he is bested and is impossible to defeat permanently. Zelda recurs through a particular bloodline. Like wisdom, she must be nurtured and passed down from generation to generation. Link comes back by reincarnating in Hyrule's hour of need. Courage is a virtue that is dormant except when necessary.

* Besides the fact that Ganondorf wasn't introduced in the series yet, why do all the downfall games only feature the bestial Ganon? Simple. Ganon takes that form because it's the form that defeated Link. Canonically, it would seem Link was successful until Ganondorf transformed into Ganon, and because that form defeated Link, Ganon never reverted to Ganondorf, either because it proved the optimal form for power, or because winning as Ganon gave that form greater fear and recognition than the human Ganondorf--perfect for a tyrant.
* The Sages in ''Ocarina of Time'' are mostly named for towns in ''The Adventure of Link'', but the later-established timeline, which put ''TaoL'' in a branching path from ''[=OoT=]'' means the towns were actually named for the Sages. Since the timeline is the one where Link failed to defeat Ganon, presumably leaving the Sages unable to act, there's the question of why these failed heroes would be honored with town names. ''A Link Between Worlds'', which is in the downfall timeline before ''TaoL'', answers this. In that game, a new group of Sages descended from ''[=OoT's=]'' awoke and saved the day. Thus, the Sages who failed in that timeline still provided a worthy legacy and earned the names of the towns.

* In FreshlyPickedTinglesRosyRupeeland, you play as a random guy who gets appointed as Tingle during the opening cutscene. In other words, you play as a freshly-picked Tingle.

* The Sages in ''Ocarina of Time'' are mostly named for towns in ''The Adventure of Link'', but the later-established timeline, which put ''TaoL'' in a branching path from ''OoT'' means the towns were actually named for the Sages. Since the timeline is the one where Link failed to defeat Ganon, presumably leaving the Sages unable to act, there's the question of why these failed heroes would be honored with town names. ''A Link Between Worlds'', which is in the downfall timeline before ''TaoL'', answers this. In that game, a new group of Sages descended from ''OoT's'' awoke and saved the day. Thus, the Sages who failed in that timeline still provided a worthy legacy and earned the names of the towns.

!! The original [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda NES game]]

* In ''Kiss 'N Tell'', Link is transformed into a frog, and finds out that he must be kissed by a princess to transform back. Ultimately, he is kissed by Sprite. That makes her... the princess of fairies.

Why does Ganon habitually teleport around at random while plotting and talking? If you think about it, while invisible, he does the exact same thing in the game!

%% This isn't Troper Tales or a forum. Refrain from first person entries, speculation, and "replying" to entries. RepairDontRespond is in effect here as much as any other page.

* In the "defeated hero" timeline we have Zoras as an enemy, but no sign of the Gorons or Kokiri. This means either the Kokiri and Gorons are in hiding, or worse yet were exterminated or driven from Hyrule by Ganon. Meanwhile, the Zoras were either turned hostile or corrupted/enslaved by Ganon. Since this is the case during ''A Link to the Past'', the Imprisoning War may have led to the genocide of two entire races.
** No sign of the Kokiri, no, but we encounter Gorons in Holodrum and Labrynna in the "Defeated Hero" timeline, in the Oracle duology. We also encounter the friendly type of Zora in Oracle of Ages, where it's established that they're just a different subrace of Zora from the classic fireball-spitting kind.

* Hyrule ultimately gets wrecked in ''all three timelines''. In the Adult timeline, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Link never shows up and Hyrule gets flooded.]] In the Child Timeline, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Calamity Ganon kicks Link's ass so hard it takes]] ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild 100 years in suspended animation]]'' [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild for him to recover]], and by the time he does? Hyrule? What Hyrule? As for the Downfall timeline? By the time Link even shows up for the events of VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI, '''everyone's living in ''caves''''' while Ganon's forces run roughshod over what ''used'' to be Hyrule. All of Link's victories in the games taking place prior to these points? [[PunctuatedForEmphasis They. Meant.]] '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Nothing.]]''' (Sort of. [[RuleOfPerception We never do learn of]] what happened to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Termina]], [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracle Holodrum, or Labrynna]] after Link's visits, [[OffscreenInertia so they might be okay]]. Though [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Koholint Island]] [[DreamApocalypse isn't quite so fortunate]] -- [[NiceJobBreakingItHero thanks for making the place go "poof", Link]].)