10 BIGGEST Legend of Zelda Plot Holes

10 Biggest Legend of Zelda Plot Holes

As much as we love “The Legend of Zelda,” it’s no secret that things get pretty messy when you dig into plot and lore. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re exploring the biggest plot holes across the “Zelda” series.

Time Travel Paradoxes

It’s essentially impossible for anything to include time travel and not immediately run into plot problems. There are several “Zelda” games that feature it heavily, and it always breaks the story in one way or another. One of the most famous examples occurs in “Ocarina of Time,” when Link both learns the Song of Storms in the future, and teaches it to the same NPC in the past. Different items are saved or lost when Link resets a loop in “Majora’s Mask,” which makes no sense. Although it’s a spin-off, one of the biggest time travel plot holes occurs in “Age of Calamity,” where the lives of the Champions are saved with the help of their loved ones from 100 years in the future.

The Return of Ganon

Ganon, or Ganondorf in his Gerudo form, is the most commonly occurring villain in the “Zelda” series. Most appearances are of the same being, either having been revived or broken free of a magical seal. But the reason behind his return isn’t always clear. Sometimes, it will be, like the revival ritual in the “Oracle” games. Other times, it will be extremely vague, like “I don’t know, the Triforce of Power did it, I guess.” In “Wind Waker,” Ganon returns twice, both in the prologue and in the game. And both times, the explanation essentially amounts to “Somehow, Palpatine returned.” And that is never a satisfying answer. Even versions that are reincarnations, like in “Four Swords Adventures” and “Tears of the Kingdom,” it isn’t explained why he’s reborn. Link and Zelda reincarnating across time makes sense, but Demise’s curse in “Skyward Sword,” that his hatred would follow them, has manifested as other villains. But the real reason is just that Ganon is the series’ most iconic baddie.

Everyone is Reborn

Speaking of people being reborn, let’s talk about some of the more famous NPCs in the series. Demise’s curse explains the different versions of Link and Zelda that appear at different points in Hyrule’s history. But it doesn’t explain everyone else. There are plenty of other characters who have reappeared, even across timelines. You could easily explain Impa; she plays a vital role in most games, and has even been a Sage, so maybe the Goddesses see fit to keep bringing her back to keep the world safe. But I doubt they see much reason to keep reincarnating a random merchant with an affinity for bugs, no matter how GD delightful Beedle is. And what about Tingle? Or Dampe? Or Anju? Or any of the other many NPCs like them?

Link the Wolf

Nintendo tends to come up with fun gameplay mechanics before building a story around them. Case in point: Link can turn into a wolf in “Twilight Princess” because the developers thought it would be cool. But when you start to think about these mechanics in relation to the story, they don’t always make sense. During the opening of the game, Link’s village is attacked and the children are taken. Firstly, why all the other young folk are taken while Link is left behind seems like an oversight. Secondly, when he does go after them and enters the Twilight Realm, why does he take on the form of a wolf instead of a spirit like everyone else? Midna makes mention of a prophecy of her people, about a destined one taking on this form, but that’s all we get. This transformation is all the more confusing considering Zelda, who also doesn’t turn into a spirit, but still gets to keep her true form.

Rito Ancestry

I’m sure Eiji Aonuma regrets saying this every time it’s brought up. But the fact remains that it’s one of the bigger inconsistencies within the overall lore. In “The Wind Waker,” the Rito are said to be the evolved form of the Zora. Plenty of fans have poked fun at that bit of history. Naturally so; fish people evolving into bird people, in a world mostly made of ocean, is easy to poke fun at. But the big, glaring, obvious thing that doesn’t make sense about this evolutionary tree now is “Breath of the Wild” and “Tears of the Kingdom.” Both the Zora and Rito exist in this era of Hyrule, with no explanation ever given on how that could possibly be.

Ganon’s Inaction

Ganon usually brings a lot of mayhem and chaos to Hyrule. But once he’s done, he sits and waits quietly in his lair for Link to put everything back together again, before coming to kick his butt. It’s true that he’s done some pretty horrible things, but sometimes it’s like he never comes up with a next step. Sure, there are always a few monsters roaming the overworld. But it never feels like Ganon plays an active role in trying to stop Link, only putting up the initial obstacles and watching him clear them. This is most noticeable in “Tears of the Kingdom;” he just waits in his hole for Link to save everyone, where in the past he’s shown unleashing full armies. Maybe this is more of a criticism of Ganon’s methods than a plot hole. But if he tried stopping Link before he got too strong, he might actually win one.

Aging Up the Hero

One of the most famous moments in “Ocarina of Time” comes when Link claims the Master Sword, and is held in the Sacred Realm for seven years until he’s ready to be the hero that Hyrule needs. It defines Link’s journey, but retroactively calls other games into question, most notably “The Wind Waker.” If the Hero of Time has to age up, why does the same thing not happen to the Hero of Winds? Toon Link is canonically only two years older than Young Link. But if twelve is the cut off age, why was he held for seven years instead of two? Realistically, it’s because Nintendo built the two games with totally different mechanics. But it does make us wonder about the sword’s logic.

Saving Across a Loop

It’s hard to call something out as a plot hole when it’s there for the player’s convenience, but here we are. We already touched on how certain items being saved or lost when resetting the loop in “Majora’s Mask” doesn’t make much sense. But there’s also a huge paradox when it comes to the story. All plotlines and the progression of each area are essentially reset when Link plays the Song of Time. Except, once you’ve completed a quest, those NPCs are shown to still get their happy endings during the credits, even if it’s been multiple loops since you’ve spoken to them. You could write this off as everything working itself out with the Mask now gone. But that would be ignoring how active and vital a role Link played in resolving most of them.

The Messy Lore of Tears of the Kingdom

The history and lore of “Tears of the Kingdom” has been picked apart to death since the game’s release. And even today, Nintendo’s inability to draw clear connections between this game, “Breath of the Wild,” and the overall series has brought nothing but confusion. The disappearance of most ancient Sheikah tech had to be retconned in a voice memory for the Switch 2 version for “Tears.” The Zonai founding Hyrule, and Nintendo having to clarify that Zelda’s flashbacks are thousands of years in the past, yet still far in the future for most of the franchise, only made us scratch our heads more. Then there’s the paradox of two Master Swords existing simultaneously…this game is just a lot more enjoyable if you don’t think about the lore.

The Fallen Hero Timeline

The “Zelda” timeline is famously messy and the Fallen Hero section is one of its most inconsistent. It’s a creative solution, we’ll give them that; to say Link’s possible death at Ganon’s hands in “Ocarina of Time” created an alternate path in history. But it’s just Nintendo’s place to lump in most of the 2D games, which, of course, don’t have much connecting them. Nintendo originally claimed the Link in “A Link to the Past” was the same as “Link’s Awakening” and the “Oracle” games. But it was later retconned that the “Oracle” Link was different, since Zelda doesn’t recognize him in those games. They’ve also crammed “Echoes of Wisdom” in there, which comes with a huge lore bomb concerning Null, who feels like he definitely would’ve come up in a previous game. Then you have general plot holes, like the disappearance of the Master Sword, as well as one of those unexplained Ganon revivals before the NES originals at the timeline’s end. The timeline isn’t necessary to enjoy the series, so it’s best to ignore it most of the time.

“The Legend of Zelda” can clearly thrive regardless of plot consistency. So, let us know what some of your favorite plot holes in the series are in the comments below, and we’ll see you next time!