Welcome to Zelda Archaeology!

Welcome to Zelda Archaeology (ZA), a central location for everything related to Zelda theories.

ZA is an open source community project, with everything shared under the open source Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Our goal is to gather the internet's collective Zelda theories and compile them into an ever expanding and shifting - but easy to reference - format. We aim to ① collect and organize well thought out Zelda theories, ② publish them digitally for free on a version controlled website, and ③ finally publish them physically in a set of beautiful coffee table books akin to the Master Works reference book - potentially funded/sold through Kickstarter (or equivalent) with proceeds going to those that helped through contributions in making and selling the books.

We're a group of archaeologists, collectively traversing and debating the deeper meanings found within the rich worlds of The Legend of Zelda series. We just want to share our love of the best video game series ever, in a way that we can be proud of for decades to come.

Project Motivation

New Legend of Zelda games are released only every few years. In between those milestone events, it's the fans that keep the Zelda excitement alive by sharing every scrap of news or rumors about upcoming releases, creating art and discussing the finer details of each game.

Some of the best Zelda content on the web are the increasingly in-depth fan theories. These theories highlight details that are seldom explicit within the games themselves, weaving together a rich tapestry of depth that transcend the games themselves. A sort of meta-analysis of the series as a whole, rather than focusing on the canonical events of each game individually. Often pushing up against official canon by inferring details not explicitly stated - or even intended - by Nintendo, this dedicated community of Zelda fans find patterns casual players typically don't see.

Sometimes, these theories take on canonical meaning when Nintendo adopts them officially - for example, the official Zelda timeline was originally an elaborate fan theory. While at other times, fan favorite theories are cast by the wayside as new games are released and core pillars of those theories are dismantled by the newly integrated official canon.

But that's just part of the fun in developing and debating Zelda theories!

Across the 35 years of Zelda games, the ever shifting landscape of theories are currently found scattered all over the internet in nearly every format imaginable. They're discussed in forums dating back to pre social media times. They're found in Discord and Slack channels. They're fleshed out on Facebook, Twitter, and whatever else the cool kids are doing these days. You'll find them on Reddit, blogs, fan wikis and YouTube.

There's a huge world of theories out there, so many that it's hard to keep track of them all. And while many other congregating websites focus on "Zelda facts," - the canonical events from the games and explicit statements made by Nintendo through official channels - I feel like the well thought out Zelda theories are where the most interesting content resides.

Zelda Archaeology is the central location for these theories.

Project Vision

While the process outlined below will most likely be more organic than the documentation makes it feel, here are the high level phases we'll be following.

Phase 1 - Collecting and Organizing (Current Phase)

The first step is to get a good idea of the landscape. We'll need all the help we can get (see how to contribute below) as we scour the internet, compiling huge lists of URLs that discuss specific Zelda theories. Then we'll collectively organize that list into categories that make sense, getting them ready for Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Writing and Online Publishing

We'll rewrite all of those theories (yes, all of them) in a consistent format and voice, ready for publishing online. Then we'll build a public friendly version controlled website to publish everything, keeping every original reference intact like the caring and responsible researchers we are. In a community effort like this, the original creators of the ideas in a Discord channel are just as important as the final YouTubers that make it known to their thousands of subscribers.

Phase 3 - Physical Publishing

There's no telling how large this project will end up being, but it's easy to imagine it could span multiple books. We'll look for artists and print designers within the community to help create physical books for your bookshelf - all organized in a way that you're proud to display.

These books will be sold by anyone through an affiliate program, with the profits being distributed fairly to everyone who has contributed to the creation of the content.

Contribute

ZA is an open source project - built entirely by you - a special breed of passionate Zelda fan that wants to share the beauty of the legendary worlds you love. There is no central authority or gatekeeper here, only maintainers of quality standards.

So if you've ever lurked on forums, put up a blog post, posted a comment, talked to a friend or made a YouTube video about a Zelda theory, we need you!

Check out our step-by-step contributor guide for more details when you're ready!

Licensed under Creative Commons

Everything here is licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) flavor of Creative Commons. For some reference, this is the same license used by Wikipedia. The legal details are in the LICENSE document, but the human-readable highlights are:

You are free to

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

Under the following terms

• Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.

No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

In summary, please feel free to use the content posted here in your YouTube videos, blog posts, talks, books, research, articles, your business, your non-profit, and whatever else. All we ask is that you give credit where credit is due, and apply the same CC BY-SA 4.0 rights to your original work as well. This helps foster the love of open source, placing the emphasis squarely on community sharing - as it should be.