Analyzing the Zelda Franchise: The Lack of Canon in Hyrule Warriors

Hyrule Warriors, a Zelda title loved by many, has recently been classified as Koei Techmo’s most successful game. Before Hyrule Warriors’ release, fans were in an uproar because it was not going to be canon. I was slightly peeved at this fact, but now having owned the game myself I understand why Nintendo made this choice.

I love canon, canon debates, and Zelda lore altogether. Many fans are like I am: enthralled by canon. I can understand why people where upset when they found out that Hyrule Warriors wasn’t canon. Nintendo knew it was a risky move, but they pulled it off. You see, there was no possible way for Hyrule Warriors to be canon.

The purpose of this game was to bring all the major Zelda characters into one game, and make them playable. This simply was not feasible if it were to be canon, considering the timeline split. After Ocarina of Time, the official Zelda timeline splits into three separate segments. Hyrule Warriors includes characters from each of these segments, making it an impossibility for the game to be canon.

Let’s pretend Hyrule Warriors was canon, for the sake of argument. Nintendo was able to pull all the characters into one time period by cobbling up a weak excuse of using time travel/dimension hopping… whatever you want to call it. All these characters fight together, and develop friendships through various social interactions with each other. If this was canon, this would mess up the entire Zelda universe.

Think about it. If there was to be a future Zelda game set in the era of Twilight Princess with Midna, she would know about all this different timey-wimey stuff, and would want to go see her new friends. It doesn’t make for a good storyline. The same goes for any Zelda game. It’s better that Zelda characters know nothing about the timeline split.

What do you think? Was there ever a possibility of Hyrule Warriors being canon?