Hyrule has been at the center of franchise since the very first installment. It wouldn’t be until the 💃fourth en🃏try, , where the series would finally stray away from the comfort of H🐎yrule K🦋ingdom. With time, would introduce more countries to its universe, but ♋this has since slowed down.
With Hyrule more fleshed out than ever thanks to Breath of the Wild, only time will tell if Link will be exploring any other countries soon. He should,ꦗ though, as a c﷽hange of setting often does a lot of good for the series. Hyrule is synonymous with The Legend of Zelda, but it’s not the only country the many Links of the franchise ha🎃ve explored.
10 The Surface (Skyward Sword)
One 𒉰could perhaps argue that Skyloft and the Sky are “countrie෴s” as they functionally fill the same role as the series’ other overworlds, but our sky isn’t a country is it? The City in the Sky per Twilight Princess wasn’t considered a country either🅠, but a city (perhaps a future version of Skyloft?)
Labeling the Sky as such also undermines Link’s exploration of the Surface, a ♏land untouched by Hylian culture (to the point where “Hyrule” isn’t even said in Skyward Sword’s script.) What’s especially worth noting ab♈out the Surface is that it has its own ancient cultures all but lost by the next entry in the series’ timeline. Similarly, the typically nautical Lanayru region is a desert at this point in time– with the only traces of water linked to the timeshift stones.
9 Hyrule (The Minish Cap)
The Minish Cap marks the earliest playable adventure in an already established Kingdom of Hyrule, but chronologically it’s not the first major event to occur in Hyrule, nor is this Link the first to protect the land. That honor instead goes to the Hero of Men, who defend Hy🍌rule during the War of the Bound Chest.
What’s interesting to 🗹note about Hyrule as depicted in The Minish Cap is how liv🐓ely with it compared to later depictions. The ki🙈ngdom features more ruins by Four Swords– the immediate next game in the timeline– and Ocarina of Time’s Hyrulean Civil War suggests the Hero of Time is l💃ibera🌊ting a wartorn country.
8 Koholint Island (Link’s Awakening)
The events of Ocarina of Time lead into three distinct timelines, the first of which being the Fallen Timeline. The Hero of Time is defeated in his battle with Ganondorf, leaving 🌞the Sages & Zelda to seal Ganon. Centuries later, Ganon breaks free and a new Link– the Legendary Hero– kills Ganon and repairs Hyrule with the power of the Triforce.
Following his adventures in Hyrule, the Legendary Hero travels the seas and is sucked into the Wind Fish’s dream. On Koholint Island, Link is tasked with ending the dream at the expense of wiping out the island’s life. Link succeeds in waking the Wind Fish, but the true ending suggests that Koholint🙈 Island was both real and that Marin has made it into the “real” world.
7 Holodrum & Subrosia (Oracle Of Seasons)
It’s always been a bit unclear if the Legendar💜y Hero is meant to be the same Link in the Oracle duology. On one hand, Capcom developed the Oracle games as interquels to Link’s Awakening, but Zelda doesn’t recognize Link and Hyrule Encyclopedia has since moved the Oracle titles to take place after Link’s Awakening.
Regardless of which Link the game stars, Oracle of Seasons is the rare Zelda to feature two explorable countries– and both brand new at that.🅺 Holodrum is one of the most dynamic countries in the franchise thanks to perpetually changing seasons, while Subros🧸ia evokes the bizarre tone of Majora’s Mask to make for a memorable set piece.
6 Labrynna (Oracle Of Ages)
One of the downsides of Oracle of Seasons featuring two major countries is that neither one en💝ds up particularly developed. Holodrum and Subrosia are still sꦺome of the best settings in Zelda, but they lack the history seen in Oracle of Ages’ Labrynna. Which is fitting since Oracle of Ages’ main gimmick is time travel.
Link 𝕴explores Labrynna in ✤both the past and present, allowing players to examine how the politics & geography of the world change with time. Where Ocarina of Time went for intimate time travel, Oracle of Ages expl☂ores how a nation changes with the passag💫e of time.
5 Lorule (A Link Between Worlds)
It’s kind of crazy how much lore A Link Between Worlds adds to the series. It might very well be the most important modern꧙ game– more so tha𓃲n either Skyward Sword or Breath of the Wild. For starters, A Link Between Worlds confirms th🃏at an alternate reality Hyrule exists, Lorule.
And although Lorule looks more or less like the Dark World, it isn’t. Instead, it’s its own nation with its own history, monarchy, and relationship with the Triforce. Wಌhere Hyrule honored the Triforce, Lorule desecrated it and brought ruin upon the land. While ALBW’s Link and Zelda are able to help Lorule in the end, the country has a long way toℱ go in restoring its former glory.
4 The Great Sea (The Wind Waker)
It’s unclear how the Hero of Time can simultaneously fail against Ganon 🌃in one timeline while surviving in another, but perhaps the Legendary Hero’s wish on the Triforce “fixed” the Hero of Time’s loss. Regardless, upon defeating Ganon in Ocarina of Time, Zelda sends Link back home to reclaim hi🙈ಌs lost childhood.
While this is a kind gest🐷ure on Zelda’s part, it has terrible consequences. When Ganon inevitably breaks out of 𝓀the Sacred Realm, no hero rises up and the Goddesses flood Hyrule. By the events of The Wind Waker, the ent𓂃ire world is covered in waterꦺ, now known solely as the Great Sea.
3 Waters Of The Ocean King (Phantom Hourglass)
Some time after the events of The Wind Waker, the Hero of Winds and Tetra (her time’s Princess Zelda) set out from the Great Sea to find a new land they can deem “Hyrule.” During their journey, they’re briefly teleported into the Wat♈ers of the Ocean King– a Koholint Island-esque “dream” world.
Geographically, the Waters of the Ocean King are a bit more centered & focused than the Great Sea. T🔯his, of course, has to do with Phantom Hourglass being on the Nintendo ▨DS, but where the Great Sea had water for miles, the Waters of the Ocean King are a bit more cluttered. Like with Koholint, the🌟 world may have been a “dream,” but there’s enough evidence to suggest the Waters of the Ocean King do exist.
2 New Hyrule (Spirit Tracks)
Following Phantom Hourglass, the Hero of Winds and T♒etra settle & found New Hyrule. While the name of the country is the same as the sunken kingdom, New Hyrule’s culture and technology is vastly different. For starters, New Hyrule makes use of steam engines, with this era’s Link a train conductor.
New Hyrule also has a fairly detailed and 💞storied history for a country that’s only been standing for 100 ❀years. By the time Spirit Tracks begins, Demise has reincarnated into an entirꦅely new being, Cole. The existence of Malladus and the Tower of Spirits also suggest that New Hyrule has ancient cultures on par with Skyward Sword’s.
1 Termina (Majora’s Mask)
Upon returning to the past, the Hero of Time wastes no time in informing Zelda and the King of Hyrule about Ganondorf’s plans. Link spends some time in Hyrule following this event, developing quite a meaningful friendship wꦚith Princess Zelda, but he ends up taking off into the Lost Woods to search for his fairy companion, Navi.
Link never does find Navi, but Majora’s Mask sees him stumbling upon Termina. Ter📖mina is almost Hyrule’s shadow, a ‘wonderland,’ so to speak, hiding beneath ⭕the surface. There’s something both comforting and unnerving about Termina, as if it isn’t real. But it must be given how much culture and history it has. In some cases even more so than Hyrule itself.