Time waits for no one, so they say

 Pointless trivia/misconception debunking about the The Legend of Zelda series.

Link is very commonly thought of as being mute or otherwise unable to speak, to the point that it's very common to depict him communicating in sign language in fan works. In fact, just like many "silent" video game protagonists, the games either heavily imply or outright show multiple times that Link can and does speak. We as the player never hear what he says, but other NPCs still react as if he explicitly said something (for example, asking him his name, then reacting as if he said it). Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has many moments of "narration" dialogue written in first person, implying that Link himself is saying them, in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker he has actual voiced dialogue for the first time in the series ("Come on!"), several NPCs in several different games comment on his voice, and in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess the Hero's Shade, who is explicitly said to be the Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, has dialogue, further proving that Link is fully capable of speech. Not to mention the several moments in the games when he speaks in the form of dialogue options chosen by the player, and the manga adaptations of the games, all of which have him speaking. The only Link who is actually incapable of talking is the one from The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, who lost the ability to speak after falling through a rift, and even that's only temporary.

For that matter, the belief that there is only one Link or one Zelda. Again, it's been established numerous times in the games that there have been multiple Links and Zeldas throughout the ages. The only character there is ever only one of is Ganon(dorf), and even then, there is one confirmed instance of him being reincarnated - The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, which takes place hundreds of years after The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and features him being reborn in the Gerudo tribe with no memories of his past life.

However, that doesn't mean that every single game features a different Link or Zelda. For instance, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask takes place directly after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and features the same Link from that game. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass likewise takes place directly after The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and features the same Link and Zelda from that game. However, despite being a sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks features a different Link and Zelda, as it takes place several decades in the future from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Similarly, despite being explicitly identified as a sequel (with its Japanese name being Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce 2), The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds features a different Link from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, since it takes place in the distant future from that game. (Both games in fact have their own "same Link" sequels, in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening respectively, though neither have very much to do with either previous game plot-wise.)

Despite his appearance, Link is not an elf. It doesn't help that early Japanese materials did explicitly refer to him as an elf, but the closest the The Legend of Zelda universe has to elves in the traditional sense is the Kokiri, and Link is not one of them. He's actually a Hylian, which is basically the The Legend of Zelda equivalent of a straight-up human.

Speaking of which, it's often claimed that the Koroks are a separate species that evolved from the Kokiri, just like the Rito are a separate species that evolved from the Zora. However, it's implied in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and was later confirmed by series producer Aonuma Eiji that the Koroks are the Kokiri, they've just taken on a different form.

Dark Link is often said to have debuted in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, but this isn't entirely accurate. The entity in that game that serves as the final boss is officially known as Link's Shadow, not Dark Link. He is also often claimed to be the antagonist of said game, which also isn't true - he doesn't even appear or exist until the final boss fight, which has him formed out of Link's literal shadow and inner darkness in order to serve as a sort of final test for Link to prove himself worthy to wield the Triforce of Courage. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is one of the few games in the series that doesn't have a specific antagonist. Even the palace enemies and bosses are established as having been put there by the King of Hyrule to guard the palaces from intruders, rather than being evil minions of Ganon or some other antagonist.

Despite what the localised title may make you think, the Dark World in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is not the past, it's a parallel world. The game actually doesn't feature time travel at all. The original Japanese title of the game is Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce, which translates as The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods. However, at the time Nintendo of America had a very draconian policy of not wanting any religious references in their games, meaning the title had to be changed. The localised title was actually chosen to reflect how the game is a prequel to the original The Legend of Zelda.

The line "I am Error" from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link very often shows up in lists of mistranslations in video games, but the thing is, it's not actually a mistranslation at all. The guy's name is actually Error. Two NPCs in the game were named Error and Bug as a computer programming joke. It was actually Bug who was the victim of mistranslation, as his name got rendered as Bagu (the Japanese pronunciation of "Bug") in the English localisation, thus obscuring the joke. Not to mention another NPC elsewhere in the game also advises you to talk to Error for help in progressing your quest, further proving that it wasn't a mistranslation. There are also some who claim it was actually supposed to be Errol and was simply a victim of the Japanese L/R confusion, but this is impossible, since both words would be pronounced and spelled differently in Japanese - Error would be エラー (Erā), while Errol would be エロール (Erōru).

Whenever people hear that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was originally going to have more dungeons before some of them were cut from the final game, they often assume that Jabun's dungeon was one of the ones that were cut, given that you obtain Nayru's Pearl after simply meeting Jabun in a cave, without having to go through a dungeon first. However, Jabun's dialogue (which is translated on a New Game Plus) makes it clear that the Tower of the Gods is "his" dungeon, being his way of testing Link retroactively (and this is further supported by the lower floors of the tower being based around water-themed puzzles). The dungeons that were cut were all in the second half of the game, after the Tower of the Gods, and were replaced with the search for the Triforce pieces. 

Dead Hand is often referred to as the boss of Bottom of the Well in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Which is technically true, but it would be more accurate to describe him (yes, Dead Hand's pronouns are he/him according to The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia) as a boss in Bottom of the Well. Most of Bottom of the Well, including the Dead Hand boss fight, is completely optional in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - you never actually need to go in there, since the only thing you get from doing so is the Lens of Truth, which isn't necessary to complete the game. And even then, you can literally go straight to Dead Hand's room after entering the dungeon, defeat the boss, and get the Lens of Truth, leaving most of the rest of the dungeon unexplored (contrary to most dungeon bosses, which come after exploring the entire dungeon). Also, there are actually two Dead Hands in the game, though no one seems to remember the one in Shadow Temple.

When people talk about Fi from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, it's very common to hear people pronouncing her name like "Fee" (to rhyme with "see"). However, judging by the way her name is written in katakana in the Japanese version, the correct pronunciation is "Fai" (to rhyme with "sigh"), as in the phrase "fee fi fo fum" or the American pronunciation of "semper fi". Nintendo of America's representatives confirmed this to be the correct pronunciation, and the voice acting in Hyrule Warriors also pronounces her name this way. Also, despite having a feminine appearance and being referred to with she/her pronouns in the English localisation, Fi is officially genderless.

Speaking of pronunciation, the lack of voice acting in most of the series has lead to a lot of contention over how to pronounce the names of the three goddesses. Din is simple enough, but Nayru and Farore are a bit less obvious. According to the katakana for their names, the correct pronunciations are NAIR-roo and Fuh-ROAR, but you'll often hear people say things like NIGH-roo and Fa-ROAR-ay.

And let's just cover some other pronunciations real quick.

• Gerudo is pronounced with a hard G (like Geh-ru-do), not a soft G (like Jeh-ru-do).
• Ocarina is pronounced Ock-a-REE-na, not Oh-ka-REE-na.
• Deku is pronounced DECK-oo, not Dee-koo or Day-koo.
• Mido is pronounced MEE-do, not MY-do.
• Saria is pronounced to rhyme with the name Maria, not Sa-RYE-a.
• Navi is pronounced NAV-ee, not NAY-vee.
• A case of both spelling and pronunciation confusion, but the character aiding Link in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is named Midna, not Minda. It's meant to be a play on "midnight".
• Sheik is pronounced "sheek", not "shike" or "shake" (also note the spelling: E-I, not I-E). Similarly, Sheikah is pronounced Shee-kah, not Shay-kah (and not Shee-ka either - it's a long "a" sound).
• Hylia is pronounced High-lee-a, not Hill-ee-a. Similarly, Hylian is pronounced High-lee-an, not Hill-ee-an.

It's often believed that every Link and Zelda is a reincarnation of those from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. While the Zelda from Skyward Sword is explicitly a reincarnation of the goddess Hylia, the rest is untrue. This is based on a misunderstanding of Demise's words during the ending of the game, when he curses "Those like you... those who share the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero..." People took "spirit of the hero" literally, interpreting it as Demise saying that Link's soul reincarnates into different bodies, but the interpretation was very likely intended more metaphorically, referring to those who possess a "heroic spirit", as in, heroic qualities. Future Zeldas, meanwhile, are only ever stated to be Skyward Sword Zelda's blood descendants, not her reincarnations. However, official lore books do say that Hylia does reincarnate within the royal family, though it doesn't specify that she always reincarnates into Zelda.

Link's blue clothes that he wears at the beginning of the game in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker are very often referred to as his pyjamas, given that the game opens on him sleeping while wearing them. However, there's nothing in-game to explicitly say that this is the case, and given that he was sleeping outside on top of the lookout tower, it's far more likely that they're just his normal clothes that he decided to take a nap while wearing.

The name "Link" was not chosen for the main character to represent him being the link between the player and the game, contrary to what many people have reported. It actually comes as a holdover from the original concept for the first game featuring time travel (a concept that was later revisited in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), with the main character having the ability to travel between a future and a past world, and was named as such because he was the "link" connecting those two worlds.

Contrary to what's often depicted in parodies, Navi in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time doesn't actually say "Hey! Listen!" as one voice line. She says "Hey!" to indicate that she wants to talk to you about something, then something else when you press the button to talk to her - "Look!" when pointing something out, "Listen!" when reminding you of what you're supposed to be doing, and "Watch out!" when giving advice on an enemy.

And speaking of Navi, it's quite common in fan works (parody or otherwise) to depict Link hating her or finding her annoying. While many players hated Navi, canonically Link actually saw her as a close friend and cherished her companionship - it's heavily implied in the game itself, and was later confirmed by the novelisation, that the "friend" Link is said to be searching for at the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is Navi.

Casual fans and non-fans often think the series has a fantastical medieval setting. While the aesthetic of the setting is mostly medieval (and even that's not always the case, with some games having a more modern look that blends Eastern and Western cultural influences), this ignores the fact that the series has modern or science fiction-esque technologies, such as cameras, trains, steam-driven boats, and even robots.

It's often claimed that the Master Sword is said to be the only weapon that can defeat Ganon. While it is often canonically instrumental in his defeat, nowhere is it ever said to be required, or to be the only weapon capable of defeating him. In fact, whenever any specific weapon is mentioned to be necessary to defeat Ganon, it's usually the Silver Arrows or Light Arrows, not any type of sword.

A common joke about the series is the fact that the only drink you can ever get is milk, even in bars where you'd expect stronger drinks to be served. In fact, this is almost never true - Chateau Romani is heavily implied to be a mixed drink, taverns in later games are explicitly said to serve alcohol, and most other games that feature drinking houses just don't specify one way or another. The only game where milk is the only drink available is The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which was explicitly made for a younger audience.

The first game in the series has a rather exaggerated reputation for being incredibly obtuse and hard to figure out, to the point where many will claim that you need a guide to finish it unless you want to spend hours bombing every wall, burning every bush, and solving difficult puzzles. The truth is that while it does have many secrets, almost nothing mandatory is hidden behind a wall or bush outside of two dungeons, and even those make it very obvious there's something hidden there. Also, there is only ever one secret per screen, so once you've found one secret on a screen you know you don't need to search there anymore. The way to progress through the story and access the next dungeon is also told to you in the form of hints (though admittedly, some of the hints are made a bit difficult to decipher due to the wonky translation), and the only thing that truly isn't told to you is how to complete the final dungeon and defeat the final boss.

Whenever people talk about The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, they'll often mention the "twist ending" where the island is revealed to be a dream of the Wind Fish. While this is definitely a twist, it's actually revealed about two-thirds of the way through the game, and the fact that the island is a dream becomes an important plot point from then on. This also sometimes goes the other way, with some believing that the true nature of the island is given away within the first few minutes of the game, and therefore not considering it a spoiler. However, this is not true. While Link is told by the Owl at the beginning of the game that he must wake the Wind Fish to leave the island, neither he nor, by extension, the player are told that it's because the island is the Wind Fish's dream, or that waking the Wind Fish will cause the island to disappear.

While the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has a reputation as an incredibly confusing and difficult dungeon, for a time it was believed that it was possible to unintentionally make it impossible to progress in the dungeon if you used the wrong key on the wrong door. This was never the case, though it can often seem that way since the dungeon has a very non-linear design and contains many hidden spaces that are easily missed, which could cause many players (especially those who played the game when it first came out, before internet walkthroughs were a thing) to think they've explored everywhere possible when they actually haven't. The 3DS remake makes it easier by marking the different paths and adding a new cinematic that shows a hidden passage underneath a moving platform at the entrance, since many people who played the original N64 version never realised there was a hidden passage there.

Some people will claim that the ReDeads in Castle Town in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time are unable to paralyse Link because the camera in that location is fixed and can't zoom in to allow them to paralyse you. In truth, though, they're just a separately-coded form of ReDeads that can't paralyse Link.

Despite what their titles might make you think, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, and The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes do not require four (or three in the last case) players. The first can be played with a minimum of two players, and the other two even have single-player modes. A single-player mode was later added to the first as well, as part of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition.

The cartoony, cel-shaded style of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was not done because the team wanted to target a younger audience. It was actually done for practical reasons - they only had two and a half years to develop the game, and they couldn't realise their vision of a huge, open, explorable ocean in that time frame if they were using realistic graphics.

Demise in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is not actually meant to be Ganondorf. While Ganondorf was born out of Demise's curse, is explicitly said to be Demise's reincarnation in The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia and Hyrule Warriors, and the two have similar facial features, they aren't meant to actually be the same entity as is sometimes believed.

A lot of people will claim that one of the differences between the manga adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the game is that in the manga, Zelda physically transforms into Sheik with the aid of magic, with many people citing this as proof that this also happens in the game. This, however, is a slight misunderstanding. While she does undergo a magical transformation, it's not a physical one, but a mental one - her personality gets temporarily locked away and replaced with a different, male one. There are many hints and indications in the manga to show she still keeps her female body despite this - in one scene when Link carries her, he notes that she's unusually light, and Sheik himself seems to still know he inhabits a female body, as he wears a sarashi as a form of binding, covers his face, maintains his distance from others, and keeps his encounters with Link limited to avoid Link catching on. And even then, the manga is in its own continuity and has no bearing on the games, especially since the game version makes it clear that Zelda remains in control the whole time even in her Sheik disguise, with no personality switch to be seen.