Talk:The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

If you go to zelda.com (I think it's the official site) and go to the encyclopedia, look under P and find "Pendants of Virtue". It will say:

"The Pendant of Courage, the Pendant of Power and the Pendant of Wisdom are collectively known as the Pendants of Virtue. When Link returned from his adventure in Termina, hundreds of years had passed in Hyrule and the Master Sword was hidden within the Lost Woods. To re-prove himself and demonstrate that he was worthy of the Master Sword, Link had to collect all three Pendants of Virtue."

They say a lot of things. Its not necessarily canon so much as it is their way of trying to explain things.

This game is my fave out of all the zelda games!

Placement in the Timeline
This would be interesting if this Link was the Oracle Link, it would place OoS/OoA right in between LttP/LA and LoZ/AoL, and my timeline would be perfect!


 * And why is timeline stuff on this page anyhow?? The section for Ports and Remakes reads like a timeline argument. If someone tells me this is official, I'll leave it alone. If not, I'll rewrite this after lunch.Axiomist 20:08, 27 December 2008 (UTC)


 * An excellent observation, and I agree. If you'd like to re-write this then please, do so. 00:34, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Just to let you know, I added that OoT was made as prequel to LttP, so its placement became unclear only after the release of Wind Waker! I also deleted the reference to Link's Awakening. Yeah, I know, it was probably made as a sequel to this game, but it's not 100% sure, as Miyamoto said it could take place anytime after OoT, so if you want to talk about LA, do it on LA's timeline section.--Kombatgod 09:47, 16 February 2011 (EST)

All Pages
Question about the All Pages page on the left side. Why do we have 3 A Link to the Past links that all the lead to the same page? --Josh 21:48, 8 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Those are redirects. They are for when people search for the game in the search bar and they don't type it exactly right. 22:36, December 8, 2008 (UTC)

ALttP Interview
Hello everyone! I recently came upon a translated Japanese interview of ALttP. I saw it on Kotaku and it gives some insight into the development of the game way back when. Here's the URL: . The interview is quite entertaining as well. Give it a read if you like. :3 UnknownEnigma 01:40, 1 June 2011 (EDT)

Timeline placement
The timeline placement section mentions that Link in ALttP, OoX and LA are all the same Link. It also mentions that OoS comes first over OoA. Did Hyrule Historia confirm any of those specifics? The Goron Moron 03:11, 4 January 2012 (EST)
 * This was confirmed by Hyrule Historia: --Password 03:27, 4 January 2012 (EST)

Thank you Password. Also I just want to point out that I don't really want to see the timeline section being outright replaced again. There was nothing wrong with the old section, and I frankly found the "newer" one to be badly written. I have since gotten the older section back. If someone has a problem with it, I'd prefer they take it to the article's talk page first, seriously. The Goron Moron 16:59, 4 January 2012 (EST)

The Imprisoning War vs Hyrule Historia?
Unless I am mistaken, which I really hope I am not, there is a contradiction between a game manual and the Hyrule Historia, and both sides are seen on this site as being true in different areas.

When we look at the Imprisoning War (according to A Link to the Past manual on page 5) we see that Ganondorf lead a band of thieves into the Sacred Realm, killed them, then took the Triforce. "In a long running battle, the leader of the thieves fought his way past his followers in a lust for the Golden Power. After vanquishing his own followers, the leader stood triumphant over the Triforce and grasped it with his blood- stained hands."

Now we look at Hyrule Historia page 92 and see that Ganondorf took the Triforce pieces from Link and Zelda. It then says that the sages led by Zelda sealed Ganondorf and the Triforce into the Sacred Realm. Then when we look at page 93 it says that the Sacred Realm was already the Dark World by the time it stated.

Both of these cannot be true, and which one we decide is true also would have to decide where the Fallen Hero timeline started. If we go with the manual, then the Triforce cannot have been obtained yet, meaning Link would have had to fail as a child, before even finding the Master Sword. If the Hyrule Historia is the one we take as truth then Link would had to have died as an adult, after the pieces of the Triforce are in Hyrule (With Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link). This would affect this page and MANY others, but I do not think we can ignore this. Dark Mirror's Link (talk) 21:52, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * OoT retconned ALttP; his "army of thieves" is to be taken as the Gerudo that he oppressed. The Historia agrees with the version given in OoT, which is the most recent version of that event.KrytenKoro (talk) 05:12, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * But the Hyrule Historia says that he obtained the pieces of the Triforce by defeating Link. The Imprisoning War, which takes place after the Hero falls, says he lead his army of thieves (Gerudo) into the Sacred Realm to obtain the Triforce, meaning that he did not defeat Link to do so. They do not fit together as the Imprisoning War would happen only if the Sacred Realm was not opened in Ocarina of Time as Ganondorf enters the Sacred Realm when Link opens it and the Triforce is then claimed. Link was safe after pulling the Master Sword meaning he could not have fallen then, but would have fallen BEFORE he initially pulled the Master Sword. Ocarina of time introduced the timeline split, the Hyrule Historia mentions the Fallen Hero timeline. If we look at the Imprisoning War we see that Link must have fallen as a kid. Ocarina of Time does not change that. Dark Mirror's Link (talk) 15:47, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * According to Nintendo, Link gets to Ganon's Tower in both timelines. The difference is whether he defeats Ganon. The Imprisoning War is set [i]after[/i] that, where Link fell and the Sages had to rally against Ganondorf. OoT basically "clarifies" the story of simply fighting all his soldiers to the story of how he oppressed the Gerudo, attacked Hyrule, and slew Link and Zelda. Ganon finds the Sacred Realm, enters it, and finds the Triforce. OoT adds "...but loses two pieces of it, attacks Hyrule and obtains the others, then is sealed back in the Sacred Realm by the Sages." Everything else in the ALttP manual proceeds as before, including the additional seal on the Sacred Realm itself.KrytenKoro (talk) 18:27, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Shouldn't the manual precede over the Hyrule Historia? We can't say the events of Ocarina of Time are the same as what is described in A Link to the Past's manual as Ganondorf never lead an army or group of thieves into the sacred realm. It also says that Ganondorf killed his followers, but in Ocarina of Time Link killed them and the Gerudo no longer seem to serve Ganon by the time Link goes to Ganon's Tower. If we are to say that the Hyrule Historia is second only to the games then we have to evaluate everything in other sources that are considered canon to make sure there are no inconsistencies there either.Dark Mirror's Link (talk) 19:05, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
 * "We can't say the events of Ocarina of Time are the same as what is described in A Link to the Past's manual as Ganondorf never lead an army or group of thieves into the sacred realm."
 * Ocarina of Time was specifically designed, and has been consistently presented, as the backstory to ALttP explaining how he got the Triforce. The only material to publicize the "Downfall Timeline", the Historia, sets its point of separation from the Adult Timeline as being whether Link wins or loses the final battle at Ganon's Tower.
 * Whatever the most recent official publication says is true is. For example, A Link to the Past claims the Master Sword sleeps again, "forever", which would render ALBW non-canon if it was true. In any facet where previous material definitely contradicts the newer material, the newer material is preferred canon because it's what the developers are using to write the current stories.KrytenKoro (talk) 21:28, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Wrong Beginning
it wasn't a band of thieves that opened the gate to the Sacred realm, the gate just suddenly opened. also, maybe you should say "Golden Power" Instead of Triforce, because that is the only thing the game ever reffered to it as. (then again, how would i know? i haven't completed the game yet!) TrueZelda (talk) 00:07, 13 November 2015 (UTC)

Possible Earlier Implementations of a Parallel World in Nintendo Games
It is obvious that "A Link to the Past" has two parallel worlds, the second one being the dark one. However, this may not be the first implementation of that idea in Nintendo games. More specifically, "Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario Bros. 2" has the "Subspace", which is the normal world mirrored and darker in colour and the first "The Legend of Zelda" has the Second Quest, which is not darker, but it also is a noticeable alternation of the normal quest setting. Also, in Super Mario Bros., the "New Quest" (or Hard Mode) has some subtle alternations of the original setting. The exact same thing but with additional texture alternations takes place after completing the Special World (Special Zone) of Super Mario World. However, in the first "The Legend of Zelda" and in "Super Mario Bros.", the concept is very simple. In our days, we would call these alternations "Mods". Also, in Super Mario World, we could be talking about a more detailed "Mod" or even a "DLC - skin pack". But, in Super Mario Bros. 2, the Subspace is much closer to a "demo" or "beta" version of the Parallel World idea. The concept isn't crucial to any of these games' gameplay or plot, unlike "A Link to the Past". And of course, the complexity of those four implementations and the Dark World (Golden Land) is beyond comparison. An another implementation could be in the stage 4-6 of Super Mario Bros. 3, where Mario changes the environment by entering doors. In fact, the stage changes, but supposedly Mario is the one that changes size. Also, this event is not crucial to the game. The difference here is that the player is able to choose between worlds (no pun intended) more freely. And there isn't any difference between the brightness of those two states, as they are supposed to be the same thing. Link changes to a bunny upon entering the Dark World for the first time. Mario is supposed to change in this stage too, while he actually isn't. To make things clear, I am not writing a theory here, but I am trying to trace the Parallel World idea to earlier Nintendo titles, as a programming or developing point of view, not as the point of view of a player. If this is classified as a theory, so be it. But if this is classified as trivia, it may worth to add it along the other ones. Even I am not sure of it, so I am just writing it down in the "talk" section. Gomess 512 (talk) 01:01, 29 April 2016 (UTC)


 * This wouldn't belong anywhere on the wiki, as frankly, the concept of parallel worlds and universes are a very common subject in numerous works of fiction. Nintendo certainly were not the first to explore such concepts in their games and aren't the last. Just because another Nintendo game theoretically has a parallel world, doesn't mean it is connected in any way to ALttP or any other Zelda game. It doesn't warrant as trivia. 01:07, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Listings Placement
I feel like we should move all of the listings links to the top of the page to make them more convenient, and to match the majority of the other games on the wiki. Any objections? Ello789 (talk) 15:45, 22 December 2020 (UTC)


 * This should be done using the  template.  14:59, 1 February 2021 (UTC)