The Hyrule Historia released on the 21st December of 2011. Many people regard it as canon, but is this really the case?

  • Page 77 states that the War over the Triforce occurred before the Kingdom of Hyrule was established, this directly contradicts what is stated in A Link Between Worlds.
  • Prologue:

ハイラル王国にて 語リ継がれる伝説

This is a legend that’s handed down in the Kingdom of Hyrule…

はるかなる昔・・・・・・ハイラルという 王国にはトライフォースと呼ばれる 聖なる三角形があリました

A very long time ago…… There were sacred triangles called the Triforce located in the Kingdom known as Hyrule.

神から賜ったと言い伝えられてる トライフォースは、触れた者の願いを 叶えると信じられておリ・・・・・・

The Triforce is said to have been bestowed by the gods, and it’s believed to grant the desires of the person who touches it……

人々はその力を得ようとして 争いが絶えませんでした

People quarreled endlessly, trying to acquire this power…

王家はすさんだハイラル王国を憂い 七人の賢者を集めトライフォースを 聖地に隠しました

Hyrule Kingdom raged, and the Royal Family grieved… They assembled the Seven Sages, who concealed the Triforce in the Sacred Realm.

  • Chapter One:

神々から与えられたハイラル王国の礎。トライフォースは触れた者の願いを 叶えると言われている。欲望にかられた者がトライフォースを求め この地は争いに満ちていた。

The cornerstone of the Kingdom of Hyrule bestowed by the gods, the Triforce is said to grant the wish of the person who touches it. People began to succumb to their desire for the Triforce, and this land was filled with strife.

  • Chapter Two:

繰リ返される争いを憂いた王家は 七人の賢者を集め トライフォースを聖地に隠した。

The Royal Family grieved over the unending strife; they assembled the Seven Sages, who hid the Triforce in the Sacred Realm.

  • The same page mentions that Rauru constructed the Temple of Time right after this conflict, this is contradicted directly by their placement of The Minish Cap. The Temple of Time is absent in that game.

  •  Page 82 claims that Vaati forgot his life when he was a Picori, which was never supported in the games.
  • Page 87 claims that Kaepora Gaebora is Rauru. However, this is contradicted by the game, which states that Kaepora Gaebora is the reincarnation of an ancient sage and that he didn't believe the Hero of Time prophecy until the Spirit Temple.
  • Kaepora Gaebora:

どうした、リンク？久しぶりで おどろいたか？

How are you, Link? Surprised it's been so long?

おまえには 長い日々が、この世界では 無かったも 同然。まことに 不思議なことじゃて。

Long days are like nothing to you in this world. How very mysterious.

ふたつの時代を 行き来する少年のことを、この私ですら伝説だとばかり 思っとったよ。

Even I assumed that the matter of a boy who could pass back and forth between two eras was merely a legend.

リンクよ、おまえは すっかり勇者の風格を 身につけた。

Link, you have fully acquired the appearance of the Hero.

  • Gossip Stone:

ケポラ・ゲボラという怪鳥は、大昔の賢者のうまれかわりらしい

The strange bird, Kaepora Gaebora, seems to be the reincarnation of an ancient sage.

  • Page 88 gave Nabooru the Fire Medallion and Darunia the Spirit Medallion.

  • Page 92 says that Ganondorf became the Demon King after claiming the full Triforce. However, page 87 says that he became the Demon King after claiming the Triforce of Power. Thus becoming the Demon King twice…which doesn't make much sense.
  • The same page gives the infamous hypothesis of the Downfall Timeline, which contradicts both the lore from Ocarina of Time and the lore from A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time 3D which released 6 months before the Hyrule Historia doesn't add a sequence if Link lost and A Link Between Worlds notably never mentions a Hero that fell against Ganon, too. It's closer to the backstory given to us in A Link to the Past.
  • Prologue:

悪名高い盗賊のガノンドロフは 聖地の場所を暴き トライフォースを手にしました

But the notorious thief Ganondorf exposed the location of the Sacred Realm, and obtained the Triforce!

大魔王 ガノンとなった彼はハイラルを 我が物とするために襲い掛かリました

He became the Great Demon King Ganon, and he intended to attack Hyrule and make it his own.

  • Chapter Three:

悪名高き盗賊 ガノンドロフ。隠レ場所を暴き、その力で 大魔王 ガノンとなリハイラル王国を襲った。

The infamous thief Ganondorf uncovered this hiding place and, by that power, became the Great Demon King Ganon and attacked the Kingdom of Hyrule!

  • Page 93 implies that the Seven Sages from the Sealing War are the same ones from Ocarina of Time, which heavily contradicts the fact that the Maidens—the descendants of the Sages in the Sealing War—are Hylians (descendants of Hylians at least).

  • The same page states that the culture of the Hylians has diminished after this conflict, when it's implied that it already started to fade in that era.
  • Manual:

ここハイラルは、ハイリア人の遺跡が多く残る、神話にゆかりのある地方です。

Here in Hyrule, a country tied to the myth, there exist many Hylian ruins.

そしてここにも、トライフォースにまつわる古い言い伝えがあります。

And here too is an old legend passed down about the Triforce.

  • Page 102 claims that Marin is a product of the memories Link had of meeting Malon in Holodrum. This however contradicts what the manual for Link's Awakening mentions of Marin greatly resembling Princess Zelda.
  • Manual:

ゼルダ姫によく似た彼女は

She [Marin] looks a lot like Princess Zelda

  • Page 106 claims that Ganon was devoid of intelligence in The Legend of Zelda, which heavily contradicts what the manual implies. He also remembered how he died in A Link to the Past as he hid the Silver Arrows from that game in his lair.
  • Manual:

が、ある日、世界を闇と恐怖よって支配しようと企む大魔王ガノンが率いる魔の軍団がこの国に攻め込み、 "力"のトライフォースを奪った。

One day, the Great Demon King Ganon, who planned to rule the world with darkness and fear, led an evil army corps and invaded the kingdom and snatched the Triforce of Power.

邪悪な支配を恐れた小王国の姫ゼルダは、もう一枚残された"知恵"のトライフォースを守る為、それを８つの小片に分け、各地に隠した。

Zelda, the princess of the little kingdom, had feared the wicked rule (by Ganon). In order to protect the other Triforce, the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda divided it into eight parts and hid those in various places.

と、同時に、もっとも信用のおける自分の乳母インパに、ガノンを倒してくれる勇気ある人物を探すよう命じ、密かに脱出させた。

And, at the same time, she ordered her most trusted person, her own nursing mother Impa, to secretly escape and search for a person with the courage to defeat Ganon.

これを知ったガノンは怒り、姫を捕らえてインパに追手を放った。

Upon hearing this, Ganon got angry and seized the princess and released a pursuit party of underlings after Impa.

  • Page 110 claims that Princess Zelda gave Link the Ocarina of Time prior to Majora's Mask so that Ganondorf cannot enter the Sacred Realm, which heavily contradicts her reasoning in the game, which is that she gave it to remember their time together and so that he'll be safe by playing the Song of Time.
  • Zelda:

あなたは もう、このハイラルから 旅だってしまうのですね・・・

You’re leaving Hyrule on a journey soon, aren’t you?

ほんの短い時でも、このハイラルで あなたと ともに すごした日のことは 決して忘れません・・・

It was just a short time, but I will never forget the days I spent with you here in Hyrule...

そしてまた、いつの日か あなたと 出会える日が来ると 私は信じています その時が来るまで あなたに これを・・・

And I believe that a day will come when we will meet again. I give you this until that time comes…

あなたの旅が無事であるよう・・・ 祈っています もし、なにかおこったら この歌を思い出して

I pray that… you will have a safe journey. If something does happen, remember this song.

時の女神はあなたを守っています 時の歌を奏でれば あなたの力に なるでしょう・・・

The Goddess of Time is protecting you. If you play the Song of Time, she will help you…

  • Page 118 claims that the Hero's Shade laments to not be remembered as the Hero, which contradicts dialogue from Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess.
  • Prologue:

ハイラルに伝わる王家の伝説 そこに一人の少年が登場する

In Hyrule, a legend is handed down by the Royal Family in which a lone boy appears.

巨悪と戦いハイラルを救ったのち 彼は、伝説から姿を消した

After battling an enormous evil and thus saving Hyrule, he vanished from the legend.

時をこえた戦いを終え 彼は人知れず旅に出た

Done with the battles across time, he embarked on a secret journey.

冒険の終わりで 別れた かけかえのない 友を探す旅に…

A journey in search of an irreplaceable friend whom he had parted with at the end of that adventure…

  • Renado:

そのお姿を見ていると、ハイラルに伝わる 古の勇者を思い出します

Seeing your appearance, I recall stories of the ancient hero handed down in Hyrule.

  • The placement of Four Swords Adventures ignores that it's a direct sequel to Four Swords, featuring the exact same Link and Zelda for both titles.
  • Prologue:

その昔 ハイラルという国に

グフーという風の魔神があらわれ

美しい娘を次々とさらっていきました

A long, long time ago… A Demonic Wind God named Gufuu appeared in a country called Hyrule, and began abducting beautiful young maidens one by one.

人々が困り果てていると

そこへ一本の剣をたずさえた

旅の勇者があらわれました

The people were greatly troubled with these events… Then, a travelling hero appeared, carrying only one sword.

勇者が剣をぬくと体が4つに分かれ

力を合わせて

グフーを退治したといいます

It is said that, when the hero’s blade was drawn, his body and the blade were separated into four. They united and exterminated Gufuu.

その後 勇者がグフーを

封印（ふういん）した剣は

フォーソードと名付けられ

ハイラルの奥地  聖域（せいいき）に

ひっそりと まつられていました

The sword which the hero used to seal Gufuu below was thereafter named the ‘four sword’, and it was quietly enshrined within a sanctuary in Hyrule’s hinterlands.

長い時が流れ………

A long time had passed………

風の魔神グフーは

フォーソードの封印をやぶって復活し

ハイラル国の王女ゼルダ姫を

さらってしまいました

The Demonic Wind God Gufuu shattered the seal upon the Four Sword, revived, and Zelda, the princess of Hyrule country, was carried off.

ゼルダ姫と幼なじみの少年リンクは

フォーソードの不思議な力を借りて

はげしい戦いの末 再びグフーを

封印することに成功しました

Princess Zelda’s childhood friend, a boy named Link, borrowed the strange power of the Four Sword and, at the end of a fierce conflict, succeeded in sealing Gufuu once more!

こうして ハイラルは

再び平和を取り戻したと

だれもが思いました

And thus, it was considered that peace had been recovered once more to Hyrule.

ところが………

However………

リンク… リンク…

私の 声が 聞こえますか…？

Link… Link… Can you hear me?

突然 ハイラルを おおった

黒い雲…

All at once, black clouds covered Hyrule…

見ているものを 不安にさせる

不吉な雲…

The sight of these ominous clouds make me uneasy…

悪い予感がして なりません

They give me a bad feeling.

リンク…

ハイラル城へ 急いで…

Link… Hurry to Hyrule Castle…

  • Narrator:

引きぬくことが何を意味しているか お前にはわかっているはずだ。

If you pull it out, you must know what to expect.

  • Page 119 claims that the Shadow Links were spawned from the Dark Mirror because of Ganondorf I's resentful thoughts against the Hero, which is never stated in the game.
  • Fairy:

闇の鏡が… 何者かにうばわれているわ！

The Dark Mirror… Someone's stolen it!

あれは、持つ者の 悪しき心を うつし出し魔物を 生み出します。

It can reveal the wickedness in the heart of whoever holds it and create monsters!

暗黒の・・・ 黒い力をもった魔物…

The darkness– Those monsters carry a black power…

  • They continuously claim in pages 119-121 that the Ganondorf from this game is a reincarnation of the one from Twilight Princess, despite the fact that the game never mentions him being a reincarnation of anything.
  • Zelda:

ガノン…。 この魔獣がゲルド族…、 人間だったガノンドロフだというの…！

Ganon…. This demonic beast was of the Gerudo…, once a human named Ganondorf…!

闇の王… 太古からよみがえった 魔の邪器（じゃき）、トライデントを手にした男！！

King of Darkness… the man who obtained the Trident, the evil demon's instrument revived from ancient times!!

  • Page 121 claims that Vaati is now in Ganondorf's reincarnation cycle, which he technically was a part of ever since he became a Demon God in The Minish Cap. And it's not only about Ganondorf—but about the entire Demon Tribe! And for Ganondorf it's less reincarnation and more-so resurrection.
  • Demise:

人間よ! 我を凌駕せし 強き人間よ!!

Human! You strong human, who has been able to overcome me!!

...見事だ. だが 覚えておけ. これは 終わりではない...

That was splendid. But remember...this is not over…

我の憎悪は... 魔族の呪いは... 悠久の時の果てまで輪廻を描く...

My hatred... The curse of the Demon Tribe... They shall go on continuously reincarnating across the flow of time…

忘れな! 繰り返すのだ!!

Never forget this! This will happen again!

お前達は女神の血と勇者の魂を持つ者共は永久にこの呪縛から逃れられぬ!

You... You who possess the blood of the Goddess and the soul of hero shall...forever be unable to escape from this curse!

この憎悪と怨念が... その権化が貴様らと共に 血塗られた闇の海を永遠にもがき彷徨い続けるのだ!!

This hatred and grudge...its incarnations shall go on strugglingly wandering along with you lowlifes within a "Dark Sea" stained with your blood, forever!

  • Page 122 claims that the Great Flood is a far-off era, when The Wind Waker's scroll states it was a short while later, Ganondorf was also waiting for the Hero of Time in his Castle.
  • Scroll:

時を子へ現れしこの者は時の勇者と呼ばれ王国においての伝説となりて伝わる。

Because time manifested itself to him, this person is called the "Hero of Time", and has been passed down as a legend in this Kingdom.

それからしばらくの後平穏の戻ったかに思われた王国に再び暗雲が立ち込めた。

A short while later, dark clouds once again shrouded the kingdom to which it had seemed peace had returned.

  • Page 124 claims that Laruto and Fado were killed shortly before The Wind Waker's events took place, when Laruto herself says that she died before the Gods sealed Hyrule.
  • Laruto:

私の名前は ラルト

My name is Laruto.

その昔から、この大地の神殿で マスターソードに退魔の力を宿すため 神への祈りを捧げて来た ゾーラ族の賢者

I am a Zora sage who, since ancient times, has been offering up my prayers to the gods here within the Earth Temple to keep the power to repel evil in the Master Sword.

残念ながら、アナタの持つマスターソードは ガノンドロフの策謀によって すでに その力を失っています

Unfortunately, the sword you carry has already lost this power due to Ganondorf's schemes.

時の勇者により滅ぼされたガノンドロフが 再びハイラルに蘇った時 ガノンドロフは、

Ganondorf was once destroyed by the Hero of Time, but when he resurrected in Hyrule once again, Ganondorf…he…

その剣の力を消し去るべく この神殿を襲い、私の命を奪い去りました その剣に再び

…That sword's sacred power had to be extinguished. In order to do this, he assailed this temple and took my life.

退魔の力を蘇らせるには 私に代わり この神殿で 神に祈りを捧げる者が 必要なので

To restore the power to repel evil, my replacement must be found. That one must come to this temple and offer up their prayers to the gods!

私の 血を引き、この聖なる楽器を持つ者

That one who inherits my blood and carries this sacred instrument.

As one might notice by now, this book has a lot of errors! 20 at that! Why would a "canonical" book include so many mistakes and claims? Well, the answer is actually quite simple…it has to do with who worked on this book!

Now, a lot of people believe that this book was done by the Zelda Staff, does this actually hold up? Let us check the credits!

  • Masahiko Shioya
  • Part of the publishing company Shogakugan, never worked on a Zelda game.
  • Eiji Aonuma
  • I don't need to explain who he is, do I? He works for Nintendo and has been the producer of the Zelda series for a long time now.
  • Akaharu Tsuchida, Yasuyuki Kato, Naoyuki Kayama, Mika Kanno, Ginko Tatsumi, Hironori Sao, Tadahikio Abe
  • All of these people have never worked on a Zelda game.
  • Kazuya Sakai (Ambit)
  • Works for Nintendo Dream (basically the Japanese equivalent of Nintendo Power), never worked on a Zelda game.
  • Kunio Takayama
  • Works for Shogakugan, never worked on a Zelda game.

Of course…none of the people at "Design & Editing" have ever worked on a Zelda game! Aonuma's involvement in the book also wasn't a lot:

Aonuma:When we were exploring ways to make fans happy, we created the Hyrule Historia. That summarizes all the games and the story so far. I didn't edit it myself, but tons of people who worked on it were fans of the games themselves.

Aonuma: We published a book with the timeline, but we definitely got comments from users saying, ‘Is this really accurate? I think this should be this way. It’s different.’ And history is always kind of imaginative. It’s left to the person who writes the book. So that’s how we approach it as well.

Aonuma: When we start to work on a new Zelda, we of course think about all this timeline stuff. Nintendo has a lot of IPs today. And Shigeru Miyamoto asks that we do our best to keep the timeline coherent. So we do it. But honestly, when we start to think of a new Zelda, respecting the timeline is a constraint for us. We would like to be free to imagine whatever we want without having to worry about the timeline. Being able to create while still keeping Zelda's essence, and bring new things to the table. Except now when we think of a new idea, we have to wonder "OK, but where does it fit in the timeline?" and it instantly becomes very complicated! And sometimes, we can't do these new ideas because it wouldn't fit in the timeline! So, for the creative teams, it's a hindrance. Yeah, we published a timeline in a book but among our staff, we would like to be able to stop thinking about it... What's funny is to see the fans debate where BotW fits in the timeline. But history has been written by historians that have been able to establish an order of events. Except no one is really sure everything happened in this exact order! Anyways, when it comes to the Zelda timeline, I'm of the opinion that it's for the players to debate, and to imagine themselves the order of events.

The writers of this book were fans, none of them were developers, Aonuma and the rest of the staff didn't edit the book and have stated how they'd like to forget about it. The book itself mentions how it is not set in stone on page 68 and only up to interpretation:

This chronology is not limited to information that is currently confirmable. It also contains much that is unclear. The history of Hyrule is known to change with the times and the person telling it, and will continue to unfold. Even if none of the important points waver by much, new legends will continue to be born and history may yet be rewritten.

Unlike popular belief, the Hyrule Historia is not the word of god, nor is it accurate at it's claims, which are often ignored by the next game. Thus, it should not be taken as a reliable source for lore discussions...even with it's timeline!