Now I could be completely wrong on this, but isn't the "Coming of Age" in Japan 19? This would explain why adult Link is considered 19. But if Wind Waker Link is celebrating his "Coming of Age", wouldn't he be 19? The opening for Wind Waker mentions both "Coming of Age" and "The same age as the hero". So the only logical reason I can see them giving Wind Waker Link his tunic is if they were going by the Hero's age and the hero was a child. This would, again, imply the child timeline.
The coming of age in Japan is of no real consequence. The coming of age on Outset Island is what's important here. From what we see in-game we have to presume that it is fairly young, around 12-13, but that's not unusual. Judiasm sees a boy become a man at 13, for example. The opening only mentions the 'coming of age' part and makes it clear that this custom is exclusive to Outset Island:
On a certain island, it became customary to
garb boys in green when they came of age.
It never says 'same age as the Hero of Time.' Link's grandma says that and that is very important here. The 'same age' part comes exclusively from
her interpretation of the legend. We saw the actual legend presented as an illustrated book in the intro sequence and it never says that part, so we should not take The Wind Waker Link to literally be the same age as Ocarina of Time Link.
Well...seeing how the Hero of Winds didn't exist yet, I wouldn't say it's on the Hylian's part. As for Nintendo...you could be right, but I just think it's more likely they weren't thinking about this and Anouma is just sorta making the timeline, as well as its mistakes, up as he goes along.
I only referred to The Wind Waker Link as Hero of Winds because I felt it would be easier to read. When I spoke of the connection I just meant the connection that both Ocarina of Time Link (Hero of Time) and The Wind Waker Link (Hero of Winds) are chosen by the Gods to be the hero. Rather than have an image of the Hero of Time that was vastly different from The Wind Waker Link, the game designers chose to just represent him as more or less the same.
As for the Hylian historians, I never said they depicted the Hero of Winds at all. I referred to the images of the Hero of Time found in Hyrule Castle and the book in the intro.
I also think The Wind Waker is one of the first examples of Nintendo deliberately acknowledging a series timeline. There's too much evidence in how The Wind Waker's story relates to Ocarina of Time's, the fact that it is a coherent continuation and even the physical evidence of the stained glass windows depicting the Sages. The Wind Waker also shot dead the 'Single Link' and 'Single Timeline' Theories, so I don't think Anouma is just making it up as he goes.
I considered this, but the Hyrule King in Wind Waker seems to know Ganondorf directly. Not to mention he refers to his mistakes in the end. I'm assuming those mistakes are ignoring his daughter's warnings about Ganondorf. I say this because we weren't introduced to any others. There's also the fact that he seems to actually know the Hero of Time.
The reason why The Wind Waker's king knows Ganondorf is because he was king when Ganon returned, as detailed in the game's intro. Ganon returned to Hyrule after being defeated by the Hero of Time and started wreaking havoc once more before eventually being sealed again by the flood. Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule was king during that time. That is how he knows Ganon. His mistakes also relate to that period of time, when, instead of taking action to save his kingdom, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule sat back waiting for a hero to rise up and save his kingdom. This is why he plays a more active role in bringing an end to Ganon during the course of the game.
He also only talks of the Hero of Time by referring to legends and tales passed down over time. He doesn't appear to know the Hero of Time in the same way he knows Ganon.
But how would he know about Child Link going on another journey? How did he know he left Hyrule? How did he know the Triforce split?
He doesn't know, that's what the point I was trying to make. Let me clarify.
We know Link went on another adventure (Majora's Mask) after he was returned to his time. Nobody on the Adult Timeline knew that though. There is a legend on the Adult Timeline that simply says the Hero of Time never came back:
The people believed that the Hero of Time
would again come to save them.
...But the hero did not appear.
Later on, the King of Red Lions says this:
When the Hero of Time was called to
embark on another journey and left the
land of Hyrule, he was separated from the
elements that made him a hero.
It is said that at that time, the Triforce of
Courage was split into eight shards and
hidden throughout the land.
He clearly does not know what happend and has to rely solely upon legends himself. He does not
know Link left on an adventure, he was simply
told that and had no choice but to accept it as fact. He
believes the Hero of Time embarked on another journey, basically.
One of the best things about The Wind Waker in general is that it gives us great insight into how the passage of time can obscure history. It's almost a theme of the game and a big reason why I think Nintendo should explore the history of Hyrule further in future titles. What
we know as fact has been twisted into legend for the inhabitants of the Adult Timeline's Hyrule. Most of what these characters say about the actions of the Hero of Time cannot be taken literally since they do not and never have known the facts the way we do. That's why the game continues from Ocarina so explicitly, so that we as an audince can appreciate how history is blurred with the passage of time.
One of the best and most amusing pieces of evidence for this is how the Triforce has come to be known as the Triumph Forks.
...Zelda didn't send Link away on another Journey and she didn't send him outside of Hyrule. She just sent him back to his original time. So how would she know he went on another journey?
She doesn't. I never said she did know. What I said was that after she sent the Hero of Time back in time, she may have then told her subjects in the Adult Timeline that the Hero went on an adventure simply to placate them and give them hope that they would be protected in a future crisis. This hope is evidently present in Hyrulian society because it is detailed in the legend at the beginning of The Wind Waker.
I'm not saying she knows what the Hero of Time did in the Child Timeline, I'm saying she may have made up a false story to make her subjects feel more at ease.
If the King of Red Lions was directly referencing Majora's Mask, the legends behind The Wind Waker wouldn't make sense.
And thus we have our problem. XD Maybe he wasn't refering to MM, but I would see no reason for anybody in the Adult Timeline to know that Link was going to leave Hyrule when the motivation for doing so didn't happen until he made it back to the past (Navi's leaving).
As I have said, no one on the Adult Timeline did know. They only have legends to work from so they simply
believe the Hero of Time left Hyrule on an adventure. When Zelda sent the Hero of Time back in time, the timeline split, so on the Adult Timeline, the Hero of Time was gone completely. It is at this point, knowing the Hero can never return, that it seems likely the Princess
invented a false legend that made her people (and subsequent generations) believe the Hero of Time was on an adventure of some kind.
Because we know the Hero of Time did go on an adventure, it is all too easy for us to see this as a reference to Majora's Mask. But when we look at it from the most likely perspective of the people living in the Adult Timeline, it makes sense that it would be nothing more than the legend it is and not a record of hard fact.
But isn't the king a ghost? Either way, seeing how the world had been flooded for generations, I don't see how any king would be alive, not just the OoT king.
The issue here is the nature of the King of Red Lions. When he appears as Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule it is easy to see him as a spirit, given how he teleports around, but the King of Red Lions is very real. It may be that the boat was literally just a wooden boat which now houses the spirit of Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule so that he may have a physical presence on The Great Sea. While in Hyrule, his spirit may be able to leave the boat and manifest in his human image. It is interesting to note that when he does this, the actual boat remains totally stationary and lifeless, giving some credence to this notion.
Basically, it seems likely that the king is indeed dead, probably died in the flood, but his spirit has remained and basically haunts a red boat so that the king may help prevent Ganon from achieving his goals in the future, which is exactly what he does.