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7 crazy Zelda: Breath of the Wild fan theories
Nothing stirs up ridiculous fan speculation like a new Hyrule adventure – here are the finest ideas.
Breath of the Wild is nearly here
© Nintendo
At this year’s E3, Nintendo finally revealed more details about the company’s upcoming open-world epic, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – and not only were we teased with a brand new trailer video, but plenty of lucky convention goers were able to get their hands on the game in an expansive, exhaustive demo. That demo showed off plenty of new game mechanics, such as cooking to get back health points instead of scavenging hearts from bushes and jars – and has enabled us to get a closer look at the huge world we’ll be exploring next year on Wii U and NX.
Of course, every time a new Zelda title rears its head, the most die-hard franchise fans are eager to put their green detective caps on and try and shoehorn the game into the series’ complicated and much-debated timeline, all to try and link each game together – even Nintendo’s own official explanation hasn’t solved a lot of arguing – as well as to theorise a few other details about the game too. What exactly is the "2D Adult" Timeline? Does it even matter? Is there even a proper timeline? Read on for all fan theories we’ve picked up on for Breath of the Wild, and which ones could actually make some sense.
Breath of the Wild is the sequel to The Wind Waker, and is set after the game’s massive flood The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is one of the most memorable games in the series, and it’s not just because of the divisive cel-shaded look: Hyrule Field’s world map is replaced with a massive ocean, as the kingdom has been flooded. According to the the franchise’s Hyrule Historia, Nintendo’s collector’s book detailing the official Zelda chronology, The Wind Waker is set in the “New World” timeline, one of the many parallel timelines created following on from the events of Ocarina of Time.
Almost too epic an adventure in scope, The Wind Waker was derided for the vast distances you were forced to traverse by sail, but that ocean in itself looks to be a clue found in Breath of the Wild. From the E3 demo, gamers are pointing to a tiny little item available for recipes called Rock Salt, and the description of the item gives a hint to a previous game: “Crystallized salt from the ancient sea commonly used to season meals”. Zelda theorists are already linking this to The Wind Waker, suggesting the game is set after the massive, biblical flood of Hyrule – and that’s not the only evidence either. Breath of the Wild already features Koroks, a family of tiny, wood-like creatures with leaves for faces that have only popped up in The Wind Waker. Could the little Koroks, which evolved from the childlike, forest-dwelling Kokiri from Ocarina of Time, have survived through the Great Flood, the events of The Wind Waker, and have emerged in the new world spotted in Breath of the Wild? Who knows.
You’re being guided by the King of Red Lions from TWW Okay, this one is a bit out of left-field: some theorists reckon the talking ship you sail in The Wind Waker, the King of Red Lions, is back and is actually the old man whispering to you at the start of the Breath of the Wild demo. Right.
While we reckon the old man talking to you at the start of the demo is a wink to the original NES Zelda where you’re gifted a sword by another bearded old man, we’ve seen some characters transform into their true incarnations later on in some games – and King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, aka the controller of the King of Red Lions – could fit the bill, especially if the game does follow The Wind Waker. Of course, spoiler alert: the king perished at the end of the Wind Waker, but after seeing Ganon resurrected so many times, isn’t it about time a good guy was brought back?
We could be returning to Skyloft While we could be returning to the world of Hyrule following The Wind Waker, there are a few theories that reckon Breath of the Wild takes place even earlier in the timeline: keen fans are eager to point out a few details in the demo that align the game with Skyward Sword, the only Wii exclusive in the series, and the first game in the official timeline. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted a smaller statue of Hylia in the new Temple of Time that looks a lot like the massive one that watches over Skyward Sword’s floating island of Skyloft, while some fans have pointed out that there’s an island floating in the sky that looks a bit like Skyloft too. Coincidence? Not to Zelda fans – and many would love to head back to Skyloft potentially hundreds of years after the game’s setting.
Breath of the Wild is set in the “Hero is Defeated” timeline Die-hard Zelda fans are no stranger to the idea of multiple timelines that occur after the events of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and with the start of Breath of the Wild showing you that Link is waking up, or possibly even being resurrected after a hundred year slumber in the Shrine of Resurrection, it looks like Link was previously slain – and there’s one timeline that follows that train of thought.
Nintendo’s Hyrule Historia defines one timeline in which Link canonically dies, and it’s called “The Hero is Defeated” timeline, and prominently features Ganon, who is eventually sealed away into the Sacred Realm – but he’s currently floating around, locked within the grounds of Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild as ‘Calamity Ganon’. If the game does indeed follow the “Hero is Defeated” timeline, it looks like the upcoming title will show us exactly what has happened since Link’s defeat in Ocarina of Time – and it looks like it could be the same Hyrule, several decades later, as the Temple of Time looks pretty similar too.
If not the slain hero from Ocarina of Time, it could be another Link from later on in the same timeline: the Hyrule Historia states that the Link from A Link to the Past continued his journey into the Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons games and then Link’s Awakening, which at the end, leaves Link floating in the ocean, with his fate unknown. Those sideburns on the Link depicted in Breath of the Wild look pretty familiar too: Link has the same burly set of locks in A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening, and he has access to plenty of combat skills so soon after awakening: could it be the same hero?
Could these Links be the same?
© Nintendo
Time travel shenanigans: Princess Zelda is guiding Link from the past Time travel is about as common as finding a rupee in your neighbour’s overgrown garden in the Zelda universe: that messy plot device has caused several different timelines to sprout following on from Ocarina of Time. Based on early gameplay, it sounds like Princess Zelda is somehow telepathically telling you to wake up at the start of Breath of the Wild, before guiding you where to go – and it’s not the first time she’s had a telepathic link to Link, as seen in A Link to the Past – but where actually is she?
Some theorists reckon she’s actually guiding you from the past, and a little bit of evidence in the game could suggest that as fact. Zelda’s usual home, Hyrule Castle, is consumed by Calamity Ganon in Breath of the Wild, while the whole world of Hyrule has fallen into ruin. Could it be that Zelda actually made Link sleep for a hundred years, waiting for a time to strike against Ganon where he stands a chance, and is guiding you from the past? Who knows, but let’s be honest, anything’s possible in the series: an ocarina acted as a pseudo-time machine and could warp you around the world before.The voice of Princess Zelda guiding you from the past sounds actually pretty plausible, and frankly, cool. Who needs Navi now?
The old man could actually be Ganondorf
Is the old man secretly Ganondorf?
© Nintendo
The old man helping you out in Breath of the Wild seems a little too virtuous for his own good: he’s teaching you all of these things about the land, giving you items and helping you get from place to place. Doesn’t it all seem a bit convenient? What does he want in return? Some theorists reckon this old man has a bit of an agenda to himself, and that he could actually be Ganon in disguise, helping you out so that he can eventually get out of Hyrule Castle. Some fans have pointed out that his nose looks a lot like the humanoid Ganondorf’s, and many, many Zelda games have used the ‘friendly guide is actually someone important in disguise’ trope. We’re calling it: this old man is helping you out, all so he can get the Triforce for himself.
Breath of the Wild could take place after all of the timelines Hold on to your empty milk bottles, timeline theorists: what if Breath of the Wild is here to put the whole continuity mess behind it and start something completely new? Some pundits reckon BotW takes place after all of the timelines, in some form of reality where the parallel worlds have collapsed and converged into one, explaining why there are several elements from prior games you can see. It could make things a lot easier for Nintendo going forward too, and it means that the Japanese gaming giant will no longer have to try and slot in any Zelda games into a specific time point. Marvel and DC reboot their universes seemingly every other week, so why not let Link have a fresh start too?
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