Zelda Timeline Last verified: 2026-11-10
Downfall timeline (fallen hero)
If the Hero of Time is defeated in Ocarina of Time, Nintendo's chart continues into the downfall path, also called the fallen-hero path, and ends with the two NES games.
Key art © Nintendo, used with a link to the product page. Chart art on this site is original.
Games in this branch, in current chart order
| Game | Original platform | Placement status |
|---|---|---|
| The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past | Super Nintendo Entertainment System | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | Game Boy | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons | Game Boy Color | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages | Game Boy Color | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| The Legend of Zelda | Famicom Disk System / Nintendo Entertainment System | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
| Zelda II: The Adventure of Link | Famicom Disk System / Nintendo Entertainment System | Nintendo chart + independent release reference |
People search this path under two names. Nintendo's English page talks about the hero being defeated. Older books and fans say fallen hero or downfall. I use both, because they point at the same column of games.
The column is the longest of the three. After the defeat comes a decline and an imprisoning war, then A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo. Link's Awakening follows on the chart I am reading now. The Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are a pair on Game Boy Color. Encyclopedia later printed Link's Awakening before those Oracles; Historia had discussed the order differently. I do not pick a winner. The web page's current sequence is Awakening, then the Oracles, then A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, and Echoes of Wisdom.
Echoes of Wisdom is the awkward one for anyone who learned the chart from a 2018 wiki. It shipped on 26 Sep 2024, and IGN reported on 26 Nov 2024 that Nintendo had finally pinned it to this path, after Tri Force Heroes and before the 1986 game. The 10 Nov 2026 page still shows that slot. Princess Zelda is the person you play. Link is captured. That does not move the game onto another branch.
After Echoes the page describes a Golden Era and then an era of decline. Only then do you reach the 1986 Legend of Zelda and Zelda II. Those two were sold first, which is why “the first Zelda” is a different question from “the first game on this path.” Ganon is the threat the NES game names. The displayed branch stops there. The Wind Waker belongs to another branch, and Nintendo does not draw a connection from this endpoint to Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild is not the secret ending of this column. The official page renders the wild-era section after all three branches and gives it a separate founding by Rauru and Sonia. I keep the downfall games in this list only.
Questions
Are the NES games last on this path?
On the current official page, yes. The Legend of Zelda (1986) and Zelda II come after Echoes of Wisdom and an era of decline.
Sources
- Nintendo US — Zelda timeline · checked 2026-11-10
- Wikipedia — List of The Legend of Zelda media · checked 2026-11-10
- IGN — Echoes of Wisdom placement · checked 2026-11-10