All right after seeing a couple vids that try and explain the Zelda timeline I am confused. I have no idea what it is and the only timeline I can think of that is more confusing is the Mario games (not including party and sports games). So does anyone here have any theories on the timeline of the Zelda games?

Ocarina of time was first

Twilight Princess was last. Everything in between is confusing as shit though.

I thought the Minish cap was first.

This is just there guess but i think they put alot of thought into it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/15194.html

The way I see it--as long as they're good, who cares?

Aren't they all the exact same story? Someone gets kidnapped, Link saves her. The game's aren't historically linked except for Phantom Hourglass, which is set after wind waker.

Aren't they all the exact same story? Someone gets kidnapped, Link saves her. The game's aren't historically linked except for Phantom Hourglass, which is set after wind waker.
Wel alot of people debate the timeline of the game and I was wondering what SGs opinion is

Zelda gets kidnapped, Link saves her, rinse & repeat.

Its the same thing over and over again.

The game's aren't historically linked except for Phantom Hourglass, which is set after wind waker.

And Majora's Mask which was set after Ocarina of Time. (I think)

It's confusing as hell, but still fun as crap. What's the issue?

Well, we all know how accurate Wikipedia can be at times, but this is what the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda_%28series%29) has.

Chronology

The precise chronology of the Zelda universe is hotly debated among fans, although some fans do not feel the games are definitively connected. As the series progressed, and more games were released, the exact order of the games in an overall timeline became complex and heavily disputed.

In the instruction booklet for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past it is revealed that this particular Link is an ancestor of the Link from the original NES games. Also the Nintendo 64 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time does the same thing in relation to the SNES Link. Also, In The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker it mentions that the flooded Hyrule is a result of "the hero" going on an adventure in another kingdom, possibly alluding to the child Link from Ocarina of Time's adventure in Termina in Majora's Mask. It is not known how much time has passed in Hyrule between each of these games.

In an interview conducted by Nintendo Dream with Eiji Aonuma in December 2006, he mentioned that there exists two different Zelda universes. The split in the timeline occurs during Ocarina of Time, when, at the end of the game, Link is sent back in time by Princess Zelda. Once returned to his original time, Link goes to see her again, and the result of this meeting is an alternate future in which the villain Ganondorf is arrested and tried by the ancient sages, which causes him to be banished to the Twilight Realm; Twilight Princess then occurs over one hundred years after the Ocarina of Time child Link's era. Meanwhile, The Wind Waker occurs in the "adult Link" timeline, hundreds of years after the adventure of the adult-Link in the future of Ocarina of Time and is directly followed by Phantom Hourglass

So, there are technically 2 timelines, with the break after OOT. But the line looks like this

Legend of Zelda>Zelda II>LttP>OoT then the break goes off to TP and the other branch to Windwaker>PH

Though, I still don't know where all the Gameboy ones fit in (with the exception of PH, its kinda obvious)

FWIW, I'd say the Oracle series immediately precede the original LoZ. The scene with Link meeting old Impa and being told to rescue Zelda is almost exactly what happens in the backstory for LoZ.

This is just there guess but i think they put alot of thought into it.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/15194.html

Watch that video, it'll make the most sense of anything else you'll see.