Here's a summary of how the Zelda timeline went down over the years
> 1986/1987 - The Legend of Zelda
Ganon attacks the kingdom of Hyrule and steals the Triforce of Power. Zelda breaks the Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces before being captured by Ganon. Link saves Impa and decides to retrieve the Triforce of Wisdom, defeat Ganon, and save Zelda and Hyrule.
The Triforce of Wisdom and Power are introduced.
Zelda 1's staff included Miyamoto, Tezuka, Kondo
> 1987/1988 - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Several years after Zelda 1, Link is now 16 when the Triforce crest appears on the back of Link's hand. Impa tells like about the 1st generation sleeping Princess Zelda (another Zelda, different from the first game's princess), and the 3rd Triforce, the Triforce of Courage is introduced. The backstory reveals the King left Power and Wisdom in the kingdom, but sealed Courage in the Great Palace for a reason. Link needs the full Triforce to wake the sleeping Princess Zelda and bring peace to Hyrule which was on the road to ruin from the remains of Ganon's influence.
Zelda II was made by a different team than Zelda 1 but still had Miyamoto producing.
A timeline is created when a sequel to the original Zelda was made. Zelda 1 -> Zelda 2
> 1991/1992 - A Link to the Past (Triforce of the Gods)
- The back of both the U.S. and Japanese box both reveal the game as a prequel to the NES games. The U.S. box refers the the predecessors of Link and Zelda, while the Japanese box refers to a present time before the character Link accomplished his quest.
"This act (note: as in a play) takes place once upon a time before when Link flourished, an era when Hyrule was still but one kingdom.
Run, strike things, carry things (note: also can mean "do tricks"), and throw things.
Push things, pull things, swim, and swing your sword...
Run all around Hyrule freely, and when you get the
Power of Gold, the "Triforce," in your hands, you can become the Hero of Legend."
The backstory and artwork that appears in the manual, including the depiction of the 3 goddesses, the sages, the Golden Land, and the origin of the Triforce and Ganon was written by Yoshiaki Koizumi.
http://www.wired.com/2007/12/interview-super/
"Zelda 3" was always intended to be a true "sequel" to the original Zelda's game design
http://www.glitterberri.com/developer-interviews/miyamoto-horii-discussion/
Although the story and time period of ALttP is an earlier time. (Landmarks such as the wooden bridge to level 1, spectacle rock, Kakariko Town in place of the graveyard, and Lake Hylia in the southeast are present)
The 1992 Nintendo Power Player's Guide also gave the order of ALttP -> Z1 -> Z2 and summarized all 3 games.
The August 1991 issue of Nintendo Power previews "Zelda III" and explains it "Links with the Past" in that it stars the ancestors of Link and Zelda, also named Link and Zelda. This is the first time a new Link has been introduced, but was only part of the backstory.
> 1994 - Link's Awakening
After Link defeated Ganon in A Link to the Past, he went on a training mission and was on his way back to Hyrule when he was shipwrecked on Koholint Island.
The backstory including the island and dream were written by Yoshiaki Koizumi, who also wrote the backstory to A Link to the Past.
http://www.wired.com/2007/12/interview-super/
> ~1995
Yoshiaki Koizumi was working on a version of Zelda II using flatshadded polygons on the SNES before being pulled to work on Super Mario 64.
> 1996 - Super Mario 64
Yoshiaki Koizumi was assistant director on Super Mario 64 for his 3D system skills working with Miyamoto.
> 1995/1996 - Zelda: Triforce of the Gods manga by Ataru Cagiva
Ataru Cagiva's Triforce of the Gods (ALttP) manga was made as a followup to his Link's Awakening manga as a prequel (The end of the ToTG manga leads into his previous LA manga).
Ataru Cagiva's ALttP manga depicts the spirit of the previous hero who wielded the Master Sword during the Imprisoning War but failed against Ganon's technique of darkness.
http://historyofhyrule.com/publications/manga_lttp3/index.html
> Nov 1997 -
Miyamoto mentions Ganon from the SNES game is in human form before he becomes a monster.
http://www.zeldalegends.net/index.php?n=interviews&id=1997-11-26-famimaga-miya-oot&m=html
> 1998 - Ocarina of Time
Yoshiaki Koizumi serves as 3D System Director and is one of the original 3 staff members on the Zelda 64 project, working alongside script director Toru Osawa, and is heavily influenced by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
> Nov 1998 - Zelda.com
Nintendo of America and Nintendo Power publish an interview with Miyamoto on Zelda.com with additional questions answered in an upcoming Nintendo Power issue. Miyamoto gives an order of Ocarina of Time -> Zelda 1 -> Zelda 2 -> ALttP.
http://web.archive.org/web/20050319...motoshrine.com/theman/interviews/111998.shtml
This contridicts previous evidence, and was likely mistranslated, with Miyamoto first saying "Ocarina of Time", pausing, then because of the way Japanese seems to be translated in reverse said something like "Zelda 1/Zelda 2" OF "ALttP", which should have been translated in the reverse order.
An interview with Miyamoto transcribed from Jan 1999 in Dengeki Nintendo 64 gives credit to this idea because he says
(時オカ→神トラ
それから初代ときてリンクの冒険という順番になる。 /
Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, then comes the original one and The Adventure of Link in turn.
http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Miyamoto_Order
> 1998 - 1101.com
Satoru Takizawa character designer for Ganondorf admits OoT wasn't an original story, and they were dealing with the Imprisoning War story from the SNES game.
http://www.glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/1101-interviews/ganondorf/
Toru Osawa, creator of Kid Icarus and OoT Script Director, explains they gave the sages the names of the towns from Zelda 2 so it would look like the towns were named after them as the Imprisoning War story was passed down.
http://www.glitterberri.com/ocarina-of-time/1101-interviews/parts-they-want-you-to-see/
> 1998 - NCL Link's Awakening DX website
The NCL website for Link's Awakening DX mentions the game is a sequel to the SNES Zelda, A Link to the Past, with a Quick Time movie showing Link destroying Ganon.
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n02/dmg/azlj/sutori.html
> Jan 1999
An interview with Miyamoto transcribed from Jan 1999 in Dengeki Nintendo 64 gives an order that's consistent with what has been known.
(時オカ→神トラ
それから初代ときてリンクの冒険という順番になる。 /
Ocarina of Time, A Link to the Past, then comes the original one and The Adventure of Link in turn.
http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Miyamoto_Order
> ~1998-2003 - Zelda.com
http://web.archive.org/web/20020206061619/http://www.zelda.com/index_us.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20030201080230/http://www.zelda.com/universe/index.html
Nintendo of America's Zelda.com, along with the Ocarina of Time Player's Guide by Nintendo Power, begins to get very loose on the series canon. Zelda.com portrays Link as 1 hero, and at one point suggests Link's Awakening taking place during the raft ride of Zelda 2.
> 2000 - Majora's Mask
Majora's Mask takes place several months or 3 months after Ocarina of Time with Young Link. The project was originally titled "Zelda Gaiden", as in "Zelda sidestory". Yoshiaki Koizumi co-directed with Eiji Aonuma.
> Spaceworld 2000
- Realistic tech demo with adult Link and Ganondorf from OoT facing off.
> ~2001 - Oracle of Ages/Seasons
Capcom development team Flagship create 2 Zelda games based on Link's Awakening DX. The ending depicts Link setting off on a ship similar to the one from the beginning of Link's Awakening.
> 2002-2003
Eiji Aonuma becomes producer of the Zelda series and takes it into a different direction than the Spaceworld 2000 tech demo, resulting in the toon-shaded GameCube title,The Wind Waker.
Aonuma and Miyamoto reveal The Wind Waker takes place over a hundred years after Ocarina of Time and that there were 2 endings.
http://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Interview:GamePro_December_4th_2002
Link being a new hero also named Link is part of the game's story instead of just part of the backstory.
Aonuma explains that The Wind Waker is a stand-alone story, but players who played Zelda before will understand the references.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/translation/7874/famitsu-zelda-interview
> 2003 - Superplay magazine
Miyamoto mentions that they tell a new story with each Zelda, but they have a document that explains how each game connects together.
http://www.zeldalegends.net/index.php?n=interviews&id=2003-04-23-superplay-miya&m=html
> May 2004
Aonuma mentions GBA Four Swords as the "oldest" tale in the timeline, with the GameCube FSA taking place sometime after that.
http://web.archive.org/web/20040610...com/News/Story/200405/N04.0517.1915.59084.htm
The Four Sword games and The Minish Cap were intended by Capcom to be another story taking place in Hyrule separate from the Triforce story.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071012...dofthelegend.net/Hyrule/?grab=int-z14-np-eahf
> Feb 2007
Eiji Aonuma reveals Twilight Princess is parallel to The Wind Waker, taking place during the child era ending of Ocarina of Time where things play out differently.
http://web.archive.org/web/20110611...om/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1173582355
http://web.archive.org/web/20070202030221/http://www.nindori.com/interview/154zelda/154int_02.html
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> 2011 - Iwata Asks
Miyamoto and Iwata explain that when the story of a series like Zelda has built up over time they can't disappoint fans, so they made Ocarina of Time's story with reference to the previous games.
http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/4/2
> 2011 - Hyrule Historia reveals the Zelda timeline and puts it in print. Timeline connections that were consistent over the years are still maintained, and a 3rd branch in the timeline is revealed.
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Skyward Sword, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, etc need no explanation.
Triforce Heroes is revealed as a sequel to A Link Between Worlds on Nintendo's twitter.
Four Swords, Four Sword Adventures, and The Minish Cap were connected but their relation to the other games was unknown. Four Sword Adventures has locations from A Link to the Past and The Legend of Zelda 1, so its place in the timeline parallel to A Link to the Past makes sense.
The GBC Oracle games hinted at a connection to Link's Awakening which they were based on, which was already a sequel to ALttP, but don't have anything really to do with ALttP. They're like "another story" scenario wedged before LA.
Ocarina of Time was already a prequel to A Link to the Past and the original Zelda games, but then The Wind Waker was a sequel, and Twilight Princess was also a sequel.
Zelda is a series where they create the gameplay first, then make the story around that. Each game's story stands alone, but players who played previous games will understand the connections.