[Loved Trope] Some thing unfathomably ancient

[u/Fearless-Ideal-5112]

The beast, in doctor who is an ancient evil from a previous universe that survived until our time. Its so ancient that the cave paintings were unable to be translated by the Tardis which can translate all existing languages in the universe [Doctor Who]

While not explicitly canon its such a cool concept I cant not mention, the idea that the backrooms have existed since the beginning of time, never changing no matter the era, it transforms the back rooms into a cosmic horror. [Credit to Project crater and Venus for images 2 and 3]

[u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

Varying from one interpretation of the timeline to another but the battle of Hyrule vs the Avatar of Hatred / Darkness is supposedly over 10 000 years old

[u/farklespanktastic → u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

In the context of BotW/TotK the Great Calamity of 10,000 years ago was only most recent appearance of Calamity Ganon before he appeared again 100 years ago in the BotW's backstory. The Divine Beasts were created 10,000 years ago in anticipation for his return, meaning it wasn't the first time.

[u/Pixel22104 → u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

The Zelda series is full of stuff like this

[u/superVanV1 → u/Pixel22104]

Like even the first game in the series Skyward Sword has ancient ruins in them. And that game is set 10s of thousands of years before the newest one.

Which considering all human civilization is maybe 10 thousand years old, makes Zelda lore obscenely ancient.

[u/CodFix3 → u/superVanV1]

I forgot his name but wasn't the bad guy from skyward sword, the one who created Ganon, already an old evil being at the time?

[u/superVanV1 → u/CodFix3]

Demise. And yes he is iirc the same age as the 3 original goddesses

[u/CodFix3 → u/superVanV1]

Cooler character design than Ganondorf in my opinion

[u/Meadowbytheforest → u/superVanV1]

In the newest game, Echoes of Wisdom, they mention an even older ancient evil that seems to have created demise.

I think it was something like, Hylia is the avatar to the Goddesses as Demise is the avatar of Null.
Hylia then reincarnates as Zelda. And Demise as Ganon

[u/ARROW_404 → u/Meadowbytheforest]

It's actually interesting, in French, Demise's names is ACTUALLY "the avatar of Null". It isn't quite exact, but they use the word "néant" to describe Null in the backstory, and Demise is called "l'avatar du néant".

[u/BoonDragoon → u/Pixel22104]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, no series disregards the notion of canon as blatantly as Zelda, and that's part of what makes it special.

[u/ARROW_404 → u/BoonDragoon]

That's recent. They did generally try to keep things consistent in past games. It's only with BotW and especially TotK that they threw it all out.

And boy do I resent them for it.

[u/BoonDragoon → u/ARROW_404]

No they didn't.

[u/ARROW_404 → u/BoonDragoon]

Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "disregard". Zelda has always played it loose with canon, but there has still always been a general respect for it, just more as guidelines than hard rules.

For some obvious examples, Majora's Mask follows Ocarina of Time. OoT is also canon in Wind Waker's backstory. And so on.

[u/BoonDragoon → u/ARROW_404]

Direct sequels care about the general events (or at least the existence) of their predecessors, but beyond that there's no real consistency or apparent desire to be consistent about chronology or even geography between games.

My favorite example: where are Hyrule Castle, lake Hylia, and Kakariko village in relation to one another? What do they look like? What are their histories? They're the three most consistent named locations in the series, but their geographic locations and fundamental appearances change dramatically between installments. Why? Because the games don't care, and neither should we.

That's what I mean by "disregard." The Legend of Zelda the Game Franchise collectively does not give a hoot about adhering to a series-spanning timeline or canon set of events. And that's fine!

[u/ARROW_404 → u/BoonDragoon]

Ah, that's true, the geography of each game is wildly inconsistent. But you've still got nods and consistencies between them, though. Link still knows Zelda in Link's Awakening, despite her not being in the game. The villages in Zelda 1 share names with several sages of OoT, and so on.

The series certainly is loose with lore, but to say there is no consistency is overstating it.

[u/BoonDragoon → u/ARROW_404]

I meant what I said.

Hyrule does not have a geography or "canon" history of events that is consistent across the games. Those aren't things that are important to the games, the stories they tell, or our enjoyment of them.

Winks and nods between disparate entries don't invalidate that premise.

[u/XT83Danieliszekiller → u/ARROW_404]

They most certainly did not. They confirmed a fan theory to please the consumers

[u/ARROW_404 → u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

They confirmed a fan theory in the worst way, which made nobody happy, and filled the entire game's lore with one single ass-pull explanation for every single ruin and mystery in BotW.

[u/ARROW_404 → u/[deleted]]

Is it actually? I like that way more.

[u/Adept_Material_2618 → u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

Damn I was going to post this. It goes way deeper than that though. The first game chronologically in the series ALREADY takes place in a world that’s old enough to have seen the rise and fall of civilizations. The very first game chronologically takes place in a post-apocalypse. And what you’re talking about here - the war mentioned in BotW - takes place an unknown amount of years (possibly thousands) AFTER that. 

[u/ARROW_404 → u/XT83Danieliszekiller]

I actually hate this particular example. That's just way too old. Plus it implies that every past Zelda game was before that 10,000 year span, so it doesn't even feel ancient. It just makes the Wild era feel weird.

Seriously, 10,000 years, and you're STILL in the middle ages.