Disclaimer
The purpose of this blog post is to bring everyone up to speed with the placements of characters in the Legend of Zelda series, and to introduce or re-introduce new concepts brought by the most recent installments in the franchise, as Outskirts Battledome is practically dead and VS Forums are rife with misinformation.
This is not meant to be a VS prediction or full analysis, I am merely presenting information directly from the canon sources.
Of course, there will be MASSIVE spoilers for both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, so read at your own discretion.
Let's start from the beginning.
Tears of the Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda:Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, taking place roughly five years after and featuring the same Link from the previous game. In regards to the Timeline, Zelda directors Aiji Aonuma and Shiguru Miyamoto have gone on record saying on multiple occasions that Breath of the Wild (and by extension TotK) occurs so far into the future that it's a fixed point in time regardless of previous events. Which checks out, considering there are items, armor, weapons, and references directly from previous games across multiple timelines.
This effectively "merges" the timelines, making the two games a Soft Reboot, a term for an entry in a franchise that reinvents or reimagines a series from the ground up while still retaining the previous entries as canon, for example Doom 2016, the recent Mortal Kombat games, and DC Rebirth. This way, new fans just now picking up the games don't have to be overwhelmed by over 30 games worth of lore or being confused by the split timeline and can only play one of the games and get a general idea, and old fans such as myself can still recognize and appreciate the callbacks to Zelda's rich history.
Tears of the Kingdom is also a reincarnated retelling of events that you previously had to play multiple games from different timelines to get the full story of, with this game effectively offering an abridged version (with some timey-wimey variances) much more digestible for newcomers.
This is effectively a long-winded way of saying that all games in all timelines are canon (not including non-canon spinoffs like Hyrule Warriors or crossovers like Soul Calibur), so scaling, hax, and equipment from previous games will apply in some cases.
The Imprisoning War
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The Imprisoning War is an event significant to the story of Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past. In Tears of the Kingdom, however, the Imprisoning War refers to a different conflict that is essentially history repeating itself, likely a result of the Curse of Demise from Skyward Sword (if you don't know what that means don't worry about it, these games barely touch on it).
The Imprisoning War occurred 10 thousand years prior to the events of Breath of the Wild, making these games even further into the future in retrospect considering this hasn't happened in the old timeline.
Ancient creatures known as the Zonai descended from the sky with godlike abilities and technology so advanced it could be considered magic compared to the machines of the surface world. The Zonai unified with humans and established the kingdom of Hyrule (keep in mind this is a new Hyrule after all of the previous ones collapsed, unbeknownst to the characters).
Shortly after a male is born to the Gerudo tribe of the desert, and as per tradition is hailed as King. The Gerudo king, Ganondorf, swears false fealty to the Zonai king of Hyrule, Rauru, in order to keep him close. As expected, Ganondorf turns on and declares War on the kingdom of Hyrule. As a Gerudo mortal, Ganondorf can do little to pierce Rauru's defenses, so he assassinates his wife Queen Sonia in order to obtain her Secret Stone, an artifact that grants the user immense power. He becomes Demon King Ganondorf, able to summon an army of monsters as well as a number of abilities and a massive power boost.
The aid of the five other races in Hyrule, the Rito, Zora, Gorons, Gerudo and Hylians are enlisted, and Six Sages proficient in their respective race's powers are chosen to aid the King. Rauru and the Six Sages attempt to defeat Ganondorf, but are unable to kill him, so King Rauru sacrifices himself to immobilize Ganondorf permanently.
The Great Calamity
Ten thousand years pass, and over 100 years before the events of Breath of the Wild, a new Hyrule Castle is built, unknowingly directly over where Ganondorf was sealed. His body out of commission, he had to find new ways to express his hatred against the people of Hyrule.
Over time, monsters begin to appear across Hyrule, gradually becoming stronger and increasing in number. Ancient technology is dug up from the Imprisoning War by the elite agents of Hyrule royalty, the Sheikah. Among these are the Divine Beasts, mechs that are each piloted by a chosen Champion of the Goddess Hylia, and Guardians, unmanned mechanized tanks to patrol Hyrule and eliminate all threats.
A young Hylian knight named Link is also appointed to protect the King's daughter, Zelda.
In a stroke of misfortune, the being known as Calamity Ganon possesses The Guardians and the Divine Beasts, going on a killing spree. Zelda attempts to awaken her latent evil sealing abilities, but Link is gravely injured while protecting her and in a panic seals the enemies away with her newly awakened Light Magic.
Zelda seals herself in a magic bubble and Link is taken to the Shrine of Resurrection where he remains in a comatose state for a hundred years. He awakens with amnesia and the events of Breath of the Wild play out.
Now that most of the context is layed out, we can get to the real meat and bones.
Malice and Gloom
Ganondorf's hatred while being trapped underground for millenia manifested as two similar yet unique substances that spread throughout Hyrule.
Malice is the main form his evil takes in Breath of the Wild, and is the means by which he takes over the Guardians and Divine Beasts. Malice is a viscous, corrosive material that spreads and corrupts what it touches, and can possess or gradually damage objects and people it comes in contact with. The monsters that populate Hyrule are made primarily of Malice, and will explode into Malice vapor when killed.
During a Blood Moon eclipse, Ganon is able to resurrect every monster killed by Link, which includes every monster within a large country-wide range.
Malice is also an extension of Ganondorf's consciousness, allowing him to create temporary avatars such as the Blight Ganons and Calamity Ganon, technically separate entities that split from the original Ganondorf.
Gloom works a little differently from Malice but operates under similar rules. Rather than being an extension of Ganondorf’s consciousness, Gloom comes directly from Ganondorf’s physical body. Those who come into contact with it are detrimentally weakened (see above). It was able to weaken the high end country-level Link significantly, and this is after had regained all his former skills and abilities to his peak in Breath of the Wild. Gloom also has the ability to degrade all nearby weapons, seen as it was able to weaken the Master Sword enough to shatter it, again, after fully powering it up in Breath of the Wild. Link’s body is so infected by the Gloom that he had to have his right arm amputated, and residual Gloom is still present in Link’s body until he receives enough Blessings from the spirits of Rauru and Sonia as well as Hylia herself that his body is fully restored.
The weapon-degrading affect of Gloom is also country-wide, causing all weapons in Hyrule to become brittle and shatter after a limited number of hits, with few exceptions.
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Gloom also bores deep into the earth, creating massive chasms into underground areas that are deep enough to skydive through. These chasms are present all throughout Hyrule, seismically shifting the landscape and creating networks of caves and sinkholes throughout the large country-sized landmass of Hyrule.
Gloom can also become concentrated enough that it manifests as Gloom Spawn, which appear as a mass of hands that grapple Link and drain his energy. If Link attacks them, they become Phantom Ganon, who is able to change the sky and move clouds across a range that is seemingly endless from Link’s perspective, and the furthest distance visible by a human is about 3-4 miles, which Phantom Ganon affects in every direction, so about 4 square miles. The monsters that Ganondorf is able to summon with Gloom, such as Gleeoks, are also able to cause storms that have the same area of effect.
Ultrahand
The Ultrahand is Link’s new arm that once belonged to the Zonai King Rauru, and allows Link a ton of new abilities. Its most basic function is being able to move objects via a telekinetic tether, which Link can move up to building-sized objects effortlessly. Link can also Fuse two objects together with an adhesive resin that combines the properties of two objects together. For example, if Link attaches an object imbued with fire or electrical properties to a weapon or arrow, that weapon or arrow will take on those elemental properties. It will also combine the attack power of combined weapons. Link also has access to Zonai Devices which he can attach to objects in order to create machines that act as makeshift minecarts, planes, boats, cars, and other vehicles. The resin connecting the parts together acts as an electrical circuit that feed energy through the entire structure directly from Link’s batteries, which can power these machines for upwards of several minutes, depending on the power needed and the complexity of the machine. The weapons that Link can build from these devices include, but are not limited to; Drones that seek enemy targets, laser beam emitters, flamethrowers, bombs, wind fans, freeze guns, shock guns, cannons, missiles, tanks, and weaponized boats and hoverbikes. Through an ability called Autobuild, Link can also instantly assemble any construct he commits to memory, provided he has the materials for it.
Ultrahand also has an ability called Recall which restores a target back to a previous position in space-time, effectively rewinding time on a single target. Link can use Recall to freeze or slow time as well as reflect back enemy projectiles. Link can also stand on fallen objects while Recalling them, using them as platforms to rise back up into the sky.
An additional ability is Ascend, which allows Link to enter a spatial gap between dimensions so long as a solid surface is directly above him.
Food and Elixirs
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Hylians and by extension Link have access to food and potions that grant special properties including resistances to extreme temperatures, resistance to electrical attacks, Gloom resistance and recovery, increased attack power, multiplied speed, recovery beyond your maximum health, increased stamina, increased durability, glowing in the dark, becoming virtually unnoticeable to enemies, and resurrecting upon death. Link can also throw the materials used to make food and elixirs; throwing a Muddle Bud will cause enemies to attack each other, Dazzlefruit will daze and blind their targets, and Puffshrooms create a cloud of smoke that obscures vision.
Clothing and Armor Sets
Link has many available armor sets that all have similar buffs as food and elixirs, in addition to new functionalities such as a Glide Suit that allows increased air mobility. Thanks to a bandit Misko who gathered legendary artifacts and clothing and hid them in stashes all over Hyrule, Link is able to find and equip weapons and armor from his previous incarnations.
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The most notable among these is the Fierce Deity armor set. The more astute amongst you readers may remember Fierce Deity Link as the final form the Hero of Time takes at the ending of Majora’s Mask in order to defeat the multi-continental threat Majora. In-game text suggests that its the same from Majora’s Mask, allowing Link to summon the same power by proxy. However, it seems different from the original Fierce Deity’s Mask as that allowed a full transformation and it wasn’t a full clothing set you can wear, leading some to believe that this is little more than an Easter Egg. However, the clothing exists within the lore and it does increase Link’s attack power, so interpret it as you will.
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The Mystical Armor effectively negates damage causing Link to lose Rupees instead when taking a hit. However, this isn’t a No-Limits Fallacy as Link is still susceptible to Gloom Damage and Link carries a limited number of Rupees, the maximum being 999,999. Link could theoretically use this to outlast an opponent unaware of the armor’s weaknesses.
Vow of the Sages
Link in Tears of the Kingdom can call upon the power of the Sages, who are descendants of the original Six Sages (or in a couple cases just straight up are them). A Sage’s Vow allows Link to summon an astral projection of that Sage who will aid Link in battle in addition to being able to use their Sage abilities. These projections take no physical damage, active for as long as Link is conscious.
Tulin is the Rito Sage of Wind and can summon gusts of wind that can propel Link or blow back groups of enemies. He also will fly and shoot with his bow and arrows.
Sidon is everyone’s favorite fishman Sage of Water who attacks with a trident and will shield Link with a protective water bubble that Link can also project at enemies.
Rijuu is the Gerudo Sage of Lightning who attacks with dual blades and can summon lightning from the sky.
Yunobo is the Goron sage of Fire and can summon fire in addition to being able to destroy stones that other Gorons can’t. He has a huge cudgel known as a Cobble Crusher.
Mineru is the Zonai Sage of Spirit, and is the only one that appears in physical form, sort of. Link builds her a robot body for her spirit to inhabit and he can summon this construct at any time to ride on or fight alongside. The construct has the same capabilities as the Zonai Fuze ability.
Link is capable of summoning all five at once. Each Sage assisted Link in defeating creatures that caused regional phenomenon throughout regions of Hyrule such as blizzards and sandstorms, which depending on the size of the region makes them each around island to small country level.
Light Dragon Zelda
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So this is probably the biggest spoiler in Tears of the Kingdom. See, Zelda after falling in that initial cutscene transported herself back to the dawn of the Imprisoning War, making her the Sixth Sage, the Hylian Sage of Light. Link sends the Master Sword back in time to her after it was shattered by Ganondorf’s Gloom. In order to not only fully restore it, but also make it powerful enough to defeat Ganondorf in the future, she becomes an immortal dragon by consuming a Secret Stone, bathing the Master Sword in her light magic for 10,100 years effectively making the Master Sword the most powerful it’s ever been in the series. Link also has the ability to fuse it to other weapons, including the Fierce Deity’s Sword.
In the game’s True Ending, Link with the help of the spirits of Rauru and Sonia Recall Zelda back to her base form, effectively rewinding her 10,100 years allowed by Link being a very powerful conduit for Light Magic, which is intrinsically linked to Time Manipulation in the Zelda universe. Now, Link does lose the Ultrahand getting his original arm back, but he should still have all the Sage Vows as all the Sages swore to him specifically, not necessarily the arm, and he should still have access to Recall and the Zonai devices. That, and we often pit characters against each other at their strongest, meaning Link in Versus matches should have access to all his Ultrahand abilities.
Speed
In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, there is a mechanic called Flurry Rush in which Link’s awareness heightens around him, slowing down everything around him from his perspective while in this state. Even lightning will slow down in Flurry Rush, giving Link massively hypersonic reaction speed. Elixirs can grant up to 1.8x speed boost, which isn’t a whole lot of an increase, but still notable.
Link also has weapons that emit laser beams. These beams themselves are lightspeed. There are cases of Link dodging beams in previous Zelda games, but it’s unclear if they are the same. Again, interpret as you will.
Hylian Upgrades
https://www.ign.com/wikis/the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom/Seeking_the_Pirate_Hideout
Average Hylians are able to take on monsters, and members of monster hunting crews are even able to kill incredibly strong monsters like Silver Lynels, which are around building to city block scaling to Stone Taluses.
Sheikah and Yiga Clan members are also able to teleport, and their leader Master Kohga was able to survive a fall falling into a Chasm with a spiked metal ball on top of him. Again, around building to city block.
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And that is all I have to report for now. Belief or disbelief rests with you.
I have been Hero’s Shade, and thank you for reading.
