Fanfic / The Legend of Zelda Loops

Part of The Infinite Loops Project.

The Legend of Zelda is unusual among Yggdrasil's many Branches. For one thing, it has multiple time periods which can become their own Loops, taking history from Loops in chronologically-previous times. On top of that, the Anchor is the Triforce itself, which allows all three of its wielders (Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf) to be considered Anchors, and a given Loop might have one, two, or all three of them Awake.

So welcome to The Legend of Zelda: The Infinite Loops - home to Cuccos of doom, really weird historical progression, and three Friendly Enemies going through repeats of their (many) lives together. If you thought the CD-i games or Tingle's spinoff games were strange and out-there, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Can be found here.

---

The Legend of Zelda Loops provide examples of:

• Action Girl: Zelda finally graduates to being a full-fledged one after spending years as the prime example.
• Adaptational Heroism: As a result of the Loops, Ganondorf mellows out considerably, particularly after encounters with Harry Potter and Sailor Moon. That said, it basically means that he's a little more mellow and unlikely to try to punch Link's head off; his moral alignment tends to be a few shades darker than grey.
• Archnemesis Dad: And Mom! Zelda's habit of experimenting with political marriages can lead to some rather... interesting family trees. See Non-Standard Character Design below.
• Arranged Marriage: Zelda loves experimenting with political marriages, which leads to some pretty bizarre results.
• Babies Ever After: Played with. Loopers themselves are sterile so as to spare Loopers the horror of watching Unawake children stolen forever by the Loops. However, Zelda finds out that if she sets up a political marriage in one setting, then later down the timeline it's possible for children to have been produced from that union (even if none were created while she was present in that Loop). This is the reason Zelda likes playing with political marriages; it can mean that she, as guaranteed Hyrule Royalty, will be different in timelines where the Royal Family mixed with other bloodlines. She's made plans to combine Zoras into her line, and she's been born a Gerudo at least once.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Ganondorf is Looping, sometimes solo, so this is to be expected on occasion.
• Beleaguered Assistant: Epona, goddess of horses, helps administrate the Zeldaverse under the "supervision" of Susanoo, god of chaos and storms.
• Crazy Enough to Work: Susanoo suggests using the Triforce - an object - as the Anchor, as a solo Triforce holder as Anchor would result in early Loop crashes and Epona (the Admin) doesn't want Tingle to be the Anchor. It works marvelously.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Ganondorf ends up on the losing side of one when he decides to fight Harry Potter. What makes it worse is that Harry was a) Awake and b) one of the oldest Loopers, who also thought he didn't have to hold back.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Harry tells Ganondorf this during the Demon King of Evil's first Fused Loop.
  Ganondorf: Taller?! I could smite you where you stand. I will crush you like the insect you are!
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: Of a sort. In one Loop, Zelda and Malon were born as sisters of the Royal Family... except Malon was born first and named "Zelda" as was tradition, leaving Zelda as the younger sister to be named "Malon".
• Go-Karting with Bowser: Inevitably, Ganondorf, Zelda, and Link all ended up as Friendly Enemies.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: In some Loops, Ganondorf tries to conquer Hyrule like in canon. In others, he purges himself of Demise's curse and is at least neutral toward Link and Zelda.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: After a Loop only described as "stressful", the Triforce Trio take a break in a bar. Ganondorf reinforces this trope when he brings up Eiken.
• Mad Scientist: Malon, in her boredom with the Loops, takes up biology as a hobby. She ends up creating a variety of ridiculous Mix-and-Match Critters with her Cucco crossbreeding program, including Cuccos that can breathe fire.
• Magical Girl Warrior: After a few Loops, Zelda decides to start trying to rescue herself. She's successful more often than not, but it gets made especially clear in a universe where she's the hero as opposed to Link.
• Mundane Utility: In story 20.6, Link and Navi hold a "Most Mundane Use for an Overblown Sword Skill" competition. Link uses a Spin Attack to cut his lawn and a Sword Beam to crack open a walnut, while Navi trims Hagrid's beard with her enchanted sword and uses Razor Wind to turn in a homework assignment.
• Naked First Impression: Ganondorf leaves one on Harry Potter when he Wakes Up as a reborn Voldemort.
• Non-Standard Character Design:
  • Or Loop setting. Most universes have a main character as the Anchor. The Zeldaverse has the Triforce as the Anchor, with the three Looping bearers (Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf) rotating as its proxy. In addition, because each of the Baseline Loops covers a game (and possibly direct sequels) that is part of a larger timeline, there is the possibility that events in one Loop can become the history of a later Loop. The latter point has led to a number of very weird variant Loops, including but not limited to Zelda as Ganondorf's mother. Ganondorf as Zelda's father. Fire-breathing, exploding Cuccos. Hybridized Cucco empires. Link as Ganondorf's son. Hyrule being ruled by Ganondorf. And many others that we have probably not seen...
  • One of the main reasons Zelda plays around with arranged marriages is so she can look different than usual in future Loops. In one chain of Loops, Zelda went to great lengths to ensure that her hair would be black and her eyes red simply to play a prank on Hilda.
• No Sense of Direction: Linkle's sense of direction is so bad, she doesn't Loop so much as wander into a completely different universe from where she came from.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The reaction to a Looping Midna.
  • The sensible reaction to accidentally pissing off a Cucco.
• Properly Paranoid: Something happened in Shiganshina that left Link with a deep, lingering distrust of Sakura Haruno. Given that Sakura is the in-universe trope namer for "Sakura Syndrome" (a Looper who can't handle the Loops, goes insane, and comes out the other side with bizarre sexual tastes, mad science tendencies, or both), it's safe to assume that whatever happened was probably terrifying and not safe for work.
• Running Gag: Cucco hordes, usually resulting in characters fleeing in terror.
• Self-Imposed Challenge: In-universe.
  • Link spends several Loops trying to see if he can make it through an Ocarina of Time Loop with nothing but a Deku Stick.
    Ganondorf (Unawake): Is this a joke? You seek to defeat me... Me! The master of the Triforce of Power! With! A! STICK?!
  • According to one chapter of The MLP Loops, Link eventually got bored of the Deku Stick and started using nothing but a Deku Seed. Deku Seeds are single-use items that cause no effect but a flash of light that briefly stuns an opponent. No explanation is provided for how he could use this for an entire Loop.
• True Companions: Deconstructed with Navi and Link. The fact that both are Looping, and often don't Loop together, has put their frienship under a lot of strain. Being friends means little when they can't be together. However, they do assert that they will continue to try.
• Wham Episode: In-Universe, 14.1. Ganondorf is completely purged (in that Loop) of Demise's influence by Sailor Moon, and she takes the time to fully explain the prospect of how Looping works. While Harry had explained it to Ganondorf before in a Fused Loop, he was still an unrepentant villain then. Here, without Demise clouding his thoughts, the truth about Looping is made clear to him, he is taught how to throw off Demise's influence, and he decides to be a little better than the King of Evil.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?:
  • Cuccos. They start out as this, per canon, but then Malon decides to start selective breeding to make versions that breathe fire. Many characters are rightly terrified of them.
  • In 2.4, Ganondorf says something similar regarding pigs after all the times he's been forced to be in a pig-like Ganon body. That said, he quite likes the Emboar that he received on waking up in a Pokémon Loop.
• Villain Team-Up: During a Variant Loop, Ganondorf and Vaati wake up to find their free will has been restored, but Zelda has been afflicted by Demise's curse. After Link runs into them in a bar, the three decide to stop Zelda's tyrannical rule.

---