Can I just point out that botw's lore seems to be the only time Hyrule is actually prepared for Ganon?

You really missed out when naming this video. You could have called it "The Missing Links"

*that one century no one names their child Link*

*Evil rises in Hyrule threatening to cover the kingdom in darkness* Link: Aw shit here we go again

At least one of these heroes was named "Asswipes." Zelda wasn't quite sure what to make of it, and Ganon didn't take him seriously either.

Every Link rises to the occassion in some way or another. Whether you're 100 years late to the party, a confused little forest boy, a village fighting to protect his friends or just a kid with a sword gonna whoop some wind mage's behind and march off into the sunset never to be seen again. Round of applause for our unfaltering hero, an unlucky chosen one who never disappoints. I kinda wanna see Hero of the Four Swords Link as a meme now.

“And this link just waltzes out the forest, sees what’s going on, smacks vaati up with the four sword, before vanishing back into the trees never to be seen from again” 11:30 You really can’t get a link that’s more boss than that

I just want a game with breath of the wild engine and general map, but with a somewhat thriving hyrule

Let's do a headcount of the chosen triforce champions Gannondorf, the reincarnation of the demon king demise. Zelda, the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia. And. . . That kid over there! Yeah you! What's your name? Link? And link!

An extremely interesting topic to cover. I’ve never seen a video exploring the mentioned hero’s in Zelda. Great job!

While in every other Zelda game the Goddesses most definitely made sure a Hero was there every time evil appeared, an argument could be made that Hyrule just got really flippin’ lucky in Windwaker, since the Goddesses didn’t choose him until he yanked the pieces of the Triforce of Courage from the ocean and shoved it in their faces... tower... whatever, you get the point. Link wasn’t really supposed to exist in the story of Windwaker, because there wasn’t _supposed_ to be a story of Windwaker. Perhaps Ganon was right at the end, and the Goddesses really did want to destroy Hyrule. But because there was a Hero, they also got to start anew after the inevitable destruction the Goddesses intended.

The legends are told in such a way that you get this feeling that they didn't even have to face any trials. Like, the Four Swords Link is implied to have fought Vaati in single combat without needing to do anything at all. Even crazier, the Link from the 10k years prior to BotW sounds like he had the easiest time ever- I mean, he had a literal army at his back. Did he even have to clear a single dungeon? lol It makes me think that either these legends went through a crazy game of telephone which resulted in us not getting the full picture (Which would be interesting), or these fights really were way too easy and thus wouldn't actually make very good games anyway. Maybe short mangas or something.

I still believe that there was a Hero of the Flood, who wasn’t mentioned because he wasn’t successful against Ganondorf

"The Goddess's Chosen Knight didn't actually exist" THANK YOU! I'VE BEEN SAYING IT SINCE SKYWARD SWORD WAS RELEASED, AND I'VE BEEN DYING TO SEE SOMEONE ELSE SAY SO!

Outstanding. But it's a "causal" loop, not a "casual" loop. (Finally clicked the bell!)

I would love to see a game based on the Link that fought along side the Sheikahs against Calamity Ganon the first time around.

I think the goddess's chosen knight has some amazing art and design. Would love if the design was used in a game

If you think about it...Zeldas story is a horror story. Everyone stuck in a cycle of purgatory pretty much hell.

I hope Nintendo will someday develop games for each of those Links. It would be really interesting. And future Zelda games will probably contain more Heroes without a game. It's so interesting, when the Zelda timeline expands further and further

That skyward sword theory was mind blowing! I never considered him to be the same Link from skyward sword! About Zelda reincarnating.. I do believe she reincarnated as well. I think the bloodline thing just ensures she reincarnates into a position of power and also retain the power of her godhood. I think when evil awakens both her and Link are born into the world. Hylia into the royals family and Link seems a little more random though not much is ever known of his past so it could also be the same bloodline but I dont really believe that. I think his soul is just born into the world and no matter what he takes on the physical and mental traits of his original self just like Zelda

Casual Loop for when you want to break space-time, but only on the weekends.

Common Nintendo, let us play as the Link who spends almost the entire time training, and wins in a single battle.

Fierce deity is best Link.

The Mystery of Zeltiks upload schedule

4:45 "casual loop"? Isn't it "causal loop", also known as "bootstrap paradox"?

Maybe they should make a zelda game where link travels to each timeline through dimensional rifts, saving each one, and then from those rifts some of the races and characters all meet to form a reunited timeline.

I hit the like button after you said “missing link”

Hero's Shade really should get his own game. While we play as him in MM the charater we see in TP is a lot different and I would love to see his story later in life. What army did he serve to attain the armor seen in TP and how did he die? It for certain would not be standard Zelda since he wouldn't fight Gannon(dorf) and Zelda probably wouldn't be around but maybe there is more to Termina's story, or perhaps a new land? At the end of the credit sequence Link returns to the forest we see him in for the opening scene only to ride off in an unknown direction, what happened between that and TP cause he certainly does not seem to have found Navi.

Oh my! If they did a breath of the wild prequel after this upcoming sequel... Seeing a thriving Hyrule actually prepared for Ganon for once would be pretty awesome to play through. Guardians being on your side.. that sure would be odd!!

There are many parts of the Hyrule history I’d love to learn more about like the war for the triforce in which the interlopers were sealed away (revealed in Twilight Princess) the return of Ganondorf before wind waker or the war predating skyward sword. I’d love to see these massive events in some form or another

The Hero of men ? The Four Swords' Backstory Hero ? The Hero of the first Calamity ? My hypothetic Ancient Hero who defeated Stallord when he was alive ? Kishin ?

The SS loop reminds me of the OoT Song of Storms loop. Anyone else think of that whenever they have to define “Time Paradox”?

The Hero that got the Majora mask carved from the Devils Armour

I always thought the "hero who did not appear" from the Wind Waker is also a lost hero, from dialogue in the game I always thought he was a second defeated Hero

Zelda still carries the spirit of the goddess, as mentioned in Demise's curse. So while she might not be reincarnated to the same level as link and ganon, but she is still reincarnated.

This was so interesting! I was expecting the Picori Blade Hero to be mentioned, but I didn’t realize there was a Four Swords one! Thanks for sharing such fascinating information!

Yeah. I always thought Hylia chosen hero is the hero of sky. It same person in huge time loop in my opinion.

I've love a side DLC/dequel where we play as that Link from 10,000 years ago...it would be amazing to experience BOTW with real civilizations and stuff :)

Your videos are so incredibly interesting and full of original content; I'm often surprised you don't have hundreds of thousands of subscribers yet. It's great to see you'll reach the 100k soon!

Zelda reincarnates into her descendants. As Link does when possible.

What if they're all the Hero of Time from Ocarina of Time? That would explain why he would appear during a time of need and then vanish into the night never to be seen again, as he went off to another time period. Just a guess, though.

Another one I would have loved to see. “The hero who never was” from the windwaker backstory

I like your explanation on the first Hero, that's great.

Imo the best link design is twilight princess or Hyrule warriors The best Zelda is ss or botw The best Gannondorf is oot

One mistake: Zelda IS the reincarnation. The game even says that she gave up immortality to reincarnate. ...but other than that, great video, as usual.^^

I'd love to see a full backstory to the Hero of Winds, he's by far the most fleshed out Link incarnation we've seen so far. Not only did he have a grandmother, but he lived on an island with a whole community of people he grew up with, he even has a biological sister who's around 8 years younger than him, meaning his parents either perished or left within a short enough time for this Link to actually know who his parents were and having to reconcile the reasons they left. By the end, your grandmother is still alive, presumably Link would spend her last days with her, keep her safe. But he would've grown up, Aryll would have grown up. It opens up the interesting possibility that not *every* Link is an incarnation brought forth to combat Ganon. The Link in Spirit Tracks could be to be Aryll's grandson. I'd say it could be the grandson of Link and Tetra, but they are both deceased by the events of Spirit Tracks, and Old Niko would've probably told you if you were, but he only comments how you resemble the Hero of Winds, making me think it's Aryll's grandson. A second lineage of the Link incarnation, through Aryll, who's destiny was to defeat the Demon King, Malladus, to allow New Hyrule to truly rebuild and flourish, so that the world build by the Goddesses may be abundant with life again. Perhaps this was the plan of the Goddesses all along; The Hero of Winds sealed Ganondorf once more and as always, was destined to "disappear" now his job was done, leaving nothing behind except the Sword to seal evil, hidden for the next time he'll need it. But this time, the Goddesses gave him a sister, a younger sister to nurture and protect, who would not fade away through destiny, who would have a family, blessed with the same blood as the Goddess' Chosen Hero, so that her offspring would be there ready to fight a new evil that would be New Hyrule's first test. P.S; Nice call on the Link who was around during the time of the creation of the Divine Beasts. That is truly a story I'd love to see and I really think Nintendo would be folly not to have ideas for a book, animated show or game based around that era.

I wonder if the missing BotW Past-Link gets covered in BotW2. They super-kill Gannon, his 'spirit' gets loose from his body, and becomes Calamity Gannon. Then Link must learn about Past-Link to fight Gannon.

just before 3:55, when he said the comic wasn't canon, i was wondering, "is that canon?" it was like he was answering my question XD

But Zelda does reincarnate; she is the incarnation of Hylia who reincarnates as one of the original Zelda's heires.

-jeez now I want a BotW prequel telling the story of the Hero from 10,000 years ago-

Also in Botw you can learn of a message left behind by the hero 10,000 years ago with the side quest "The Hero's Cache"

These probably exist to explain who's moving the swords around to different places.

Great video as always, hopefully we shall someday get to play as a few of these Hero's. More so pre botw for me. Here we go 100k!

You missed one, there was supposably a link during the war of the triforce pior to the link to the past.

Very nice editing and in-depth coverage! I'm excited to see what you address next!

What I really want is a what-if scenario, where the gods flub the process and the triforce gets their respective roles *rotated.* Imagine playing as the heroic ganondorf or zelda, against the evils of zelda or link, with the wise aid of link or ganondorf!

The Four Sword Hero presents an interesting question. Were it not for those girls that witnessed it, nobody would have ever known what he did. How many Heroes have incarnated, lived out their purpose, and died throughout history, without ever being recognized? For that matter, are any of the Heroes we've played like that? Just how much of the Triforce cycle is unsung?

These lore videos are great! As a spin-off of this one, I think you should talk / speculate about the Hero's Shade, who technically is a Link we know, but is shrouded in mystery. Thanks for the video!

"Seems to be evil afoot I guess I got spare time" ~ becomes a lost hero we never play as

Zeltik, amazing video yet again! I've been watching your videos for a good while now and each video is just perfect, keep up the amazing work man!

Great Video as always. I was actually really happy to see this. As I had thought about unknown links over the timeline, ever since the Hyrule Historia was released. And I thought I’d share one of my favorite theories on one in particular. Sorry, this will run a little long. So, I love Wind Waker. It isn’t my favorite Zelda game, but it's in the top 3. Anyway, my theory has to do with the events between WW and OoT. We’re told about the legend of the hero of time, and how he and Zelda sealed the great evil away. But, when that evil escaped, there was no hero to stop it, as Link had been sent back to his own time. I didn’t question this when WW was first released, as there was no real timeline, and Demise’s curse didn’t exist in canon. However, now that these have been established, it makes me wonder. “Why didn’t the goddesses send a hero to stop the escaped Ganon?” Many will argue that Link returning to the past removed his reincarnation cycle from the world. This is why there is no mention of a hero since the Hero of Time, and why WW link isn’t part of the incarnation cycle, having to earn his place as a hero. (which I love) I also do agree with the argument, but only so much of it. To explain, I will need to state some points. First, I agree that OoT link returning to his own time does affect the reincarnation cycle. The Skyward Sword Hero is no longer part of that timeline, and therefore not able to reincarnate. Second, Demise’s reincarnation could continue because Ganondorf was split across the three timelines, and so was the curse. Third, WW link is the first SUCCESSFUL incarnation of the Hero for the Adult timeline. Lastly, the goddesses would NOT let the land they created fall to evil so easily. Now that that’s out of the way, onto my theory. I believe there was at least one other Link between OoT and WW. One who was chosen by the goddesses to stop Ganondorf when he escaped and began to exact his revenge on the land. One just before the flood. I call him, The Fallen Hero of the Flood. This Link was chosen as the hero when Ganondorf escaped. He was tasked by the goddesses to defeat him before he destroyed the land of Hyrule. He began following his instructions and was sent to Hyrule Castle to inform the King that he was sent by the goddesses to assist in the defeat of Ganondorf, as he would need the assistance of Zelda, the third part of the Triforce. (much like OoT Link) However, the King was expecting the Hero of Time to return and dismissed this new Link as a fake. Disappointed but not disheartened, Link began his quest without the aid of the Royal Family. He would have become as strong as he could, in the short amount of time he was given, which would (in theory) grant him the Triforce of Courage. He would then take on Ganondorf, but fail. With years waiting for Vengeance, and seeing a green-clad boy attempting to thwart him, Ganondorf would take everything out on this new Hero. And without the help of Zelda and the Triforce of Wisdom, this Link would put up a brave fight, but fail in the end. It would be about halfway through his adventure that the people of Hyrule would realize that the Hero of Time isn’t coming, and begin to plead with the goddesses for help. But it would be the prayers of the Hero, begging to seal Hyrule away from Ganondorf; that a new, stronger hero might arise to defeat him. It was these final cries from their chosen hero that provoked the goddesses to intervene. To flood Hyrule to protect it from Ganondorf. To wait for, and test, the one who could stop him, to ensure they can. Now, I know it isn’t much. And this is very heavy in theory/fan fiction territory. But I’ve always liked it.

Zeltik I'd love if you did a video about a Zelda TV series. You clearly have a great passion for the game series so I'd be really interested to hear what you think they could do to make it work

Great video @Zeltik. I really enjoy your content as a huge Zelda fan myself. Thank you.

Zeltik you are amazing with all the lore and information your able to find on Legend of Zelda

Awesome video topic, bro! Really enjoyed it! :)

The quest of the Hero from 10,000 years before BOTW would make an amazing game!

great content man, spanning literally every video of yours I have viewed so far. It's a shame I only recently discovered your channel, keep creating and I know you can get up another 100k going through to this summer

Or it could be that Demise simply mistook him for the chosen hero, since that point in time was immediately after Skyloft was sent to the sky.

I started watching zeltik at 6:30am starting at which link is strongest. I am now in the middle of this video and it is 8:38am

This is weird... Including the Hero of the Four Sword, who never got a game, Vaati was defeated four times. Anyone else connecting dots here? Four times? Four Sword? This is really weird...

You missed the most important unknown "Hero". The one from before Wind Waker who totally existed but chose not to fight Ganondorf and eventually doomed the world to a watery fate.

I love this series so much. Please keep up the great work, dude!

At 7:50 you say that we have never played as the incarnation of Link that originally sealed Vaati away, but I think that there is one game where we DID play as that Link. It's an old game for the DS called 'The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Aniversary Edition'' (I think). Not many people know about it and I am not sure if the game is canon or not. I think you should go check the game out, as it might provide some more lore that is not known to many players.

I don't Malladus is a part of the 'Reincarnation Cycle'. He's just some other guy who decided to call himself Demon King later from a completely new land and got sealed or something til he revived and was defeated by Link with the legendary sword of that place. Kinda funny how every Legendary Sword (Lokomo Blade, Four Sword, Phantom Sword) he's used has looked somewhat like the Master Sword.

This is a neat video. I like it. I really love that they've fleshed out the 'verse so much that there are tons of stories just waiting to be told.

7:18 Oh Dear Hylia. A Link that can talk! Thats impressive

I would love to see a Fierce Deity legend where its a triumpLink story...but becomes a tragedy as his must sacrifice himself to seal evil and ensures his power is passed on to someone whose worthy.

There's also an original Hero of Time we know even less about than these heroes. When Link touches the Master Sword in Ocarina of Time, it's said he can't take up the mantle of the Hero of Time and Sheik makes a very clear statement saying that Link looks like the Hero of Time. Meaning there was another incarnation with that title prior to Ocarina of Time. We don't know who he fought or what he did, just that he existed and presumably had some control over time.

I watch this dudes videos back to back because his voice is soothing and I love Loz sm. Normally while drawing or doing other stuff. He’s so good at what he does.

Good video.I am glad you had touch on this subject and made a video out of it. Now that the mystery is solve I can move on.

It makes me wonder, I decided to play BOTW because I felt the urge to do so. I have a theory, what if the shiekah were telling a story that wasn’t true? Link was taken to the shrine of resurrection, lost his memories and was only provided pieces of memories through out the game. Not much was unfolded but what dialogues were displayed. If the shiekah were that advanced in technology per se, maybe they have the technology to rewrite memories? What if the shiekah tried to control Gannon’s power but was unable to, thus it unleashed itself and all the technology they excavated was controlled by Gannon because of power? The shiekah were technically banished and some became yigas because they were no longer wanting to be used by Hylian royalty. What if link was fighting a battle he didn’t understand because the “king” said so.

Love me some Zeltik on a Saturday night :) Yup I’m British too

Aww man , these games really do have a badass story and lore to them. I love it. Can't wait for more ZELDA for my switch.

Fascinating video. Excellent work

you forgot one. The link before the hero of winds from the windwaker. Gannon emerged and began destroying Hyrule, and as the cycle demands, a hero must arise. That Link was unable to stop Gannon and was killed before he could do much, which is why its recorded that he never appeared, so the Hyrule was flooded to seal Gannon away in one last ditch effort. Then, a century or two later, the Windwaker begins. VortexxGamming did a really great theory on this some time ago.

Let’s get our boi to 100K!!!!!!

Almost 100K subs! Congrats man. Another great video.

Love the zelda and chill music in the background :)

What about the hero from the TriForce Heroes legend backstory? The Link incarnation who inspired the prophecy of the TriForce Heroes that the King of Hytopia believed in?

I suggest a revamp of certain Zelda characters' smash bros movesets. If you see this comment, Zeltik, please let me know what you think :) First things first, an idea for distinguishing young link from toon and regular while also calling back to majora's mask - similar to Pokemon trainer, YLs down b switches him between 4 forms: normal link, Deku Link, Goron Link, and Zora Link. Normal YL would retain his moveset, sans bombs. Goron link's up b would be the ground pound (similar to dedede's) side b would be the roll (begins in non spiked mode, can't roll off ledges but less damage, after a few seconds becomes spiked, more damage but will roll off ledges very quickly, can segue into his up b) neut b would be powder keg (similar to bombs, but rolls forward), meanwhile Zora link would have an upwards dolphin leap up b (similar to Corrin's, water appears around him), neut B would be Zora boomerangs (slightly weaker than YL's regular 'rangs, but will return to him always and can strike multiple enemies), side b would be his underwater dash attack (can be tilted, similar to fox and falcos' up b's except sideways, not set on this move, open to suggestions), and finally Deku link would have his flower jump as an up b (floats down like peach, on earthy surfaces flower would look normal, on artificial ones, it would appear like in Majora's boss room, and if in midair, a platform like in the Deku playground would appear), side b would be his spin attack (like DK or Incineroar), and neut b would be his bubble (curves upwards). The final smash for all of them would be the same: fierce deity link (I mean, the triforce slash has no basis, I don't get why fierce deity isn't incorporated at the very least). Toon link could then be reverted to his SSB4 form to fill the niche of a faster but weaker link left open by YL, with a few minor tweaks. First things first, his up b would be the hurricane spin. In the air, it doesn't change, but on the ground, it allows toon link to move side to side during the duration (lasts longer, but if he doesn't hit an enemy, he will be dizzy for a brief moment). His grab could be altered to the grappling hook, to further distinguish from YL, but that's not as important. His final smash would be taken from phantom hourglass: the time freeze from the bellum boss fight. A figure eight appears onscreen and everyone freezes except toon link. Alternatively, he drives across the screen on the spirit train, or summons the ballad of gales to lift his opponents up off the screen. Now, Sheik is fun to play as, but she's just kinda generic and doesn't include any references to the series. Well, her up b works fine, since it hearkens back to the Deku nut teleportation in OoT, but the other moves could easily use a revamp. First off, her neut b could be cryonis (creates a platform in front of sheik that doubles as a barrier, any enemies it hits get launched upwards, can be broken, causing ice crystals with minor damage), her down b could be stasis (could work two different ways, either as a counter that freezes opponents or as a short range move that lasts only a small amount of time, and has a long recharge), and her side b could be magnesis (she summons one of several metal objects, which she can swing around slowly as long as she holds b, but she is vulnerable). Her smash attacks could utilize guardian or sheikah weaponry, and her final smash could have her summon the divine beasts. Finally, Ganondorf. He's always bugged me, because he has sooooo much potential, but he's basically a purple captain falcon. Instead, I propose that, first of all, instead of the tech demo sword, he should use the sword of the sages, with his down smash utilizing his dual blades from WW. His Neutral b could consist of him summoning lightning with Ghirahim (sword version) and launching a beam. It could be the slowest release animation for a projectile in the game, but compensate with damage. His side b could be an older move, which is to say the Fire keese he summons in ALttP. They could swarm in a damaging circle around him, a la megaman's leaf shield, and upon executing the move a second time, disperse outwards in all directions (only four bats with small hit boxes, so easy to avoid though), while his down B could reference his OoT incarnation, in which he would reflect projectiles with his cape (exactly as Mario does), his up b would reference TP, particularly the move where he vaults over link's head (as a recovery, it would essentially just be an extra jump, but when done in front of an enemy, he leaps behind them and slashes heavily with the sword of the sages). His final smash is fine as is though.

The point about Skyward Sword Link being the same Link that originally fought Demise and obtained the sailcloth from Hylia etc....that blew my mind. I have never thought about that, especially after reading the manga. Great catch

there will never be anything more beloved and interesting to me than the legend of zelda and its lore. this franchise is my life, and i hope it goes on forever.

I think the link from impa's legend might by the Ganon we see in the botw 2 tralluers based of the long nose we and red hair

Awesome video! One thing... did you mean “causal” loop when you said “casual” loop when talking about SS Link? :P

Instantly recognized zelda and chill which made me happy

The thumbnail looks like it's gonna give Joseph the last of his hamon

4:55 Isn’t that the same kind of loop surrounding the Song of Storms in OoT? 11:05 So am I the only one who thinks that that Link kinda looks like Beast Ganon?

Gotta love Zelda's introduction "The princess of Hyrule, Zelda, has the blood of a GOD-ASS" LOL

Omg, the Zelda &Chill remix album, by Mikel and Gamechops! I love it!!

Truly THE BEST Zelda content on youtube!