This page contains information about the history of Twilight Princess HD Speedrunning, as well as some other notable dates and occasions.
Hyperlinks of times go to YouTube or Twitch videos of those runs. If there is no hyperlink or the hyperlink is dead, that run has probably been lost to history (which is something that happens a surprising amount, actually).
When multiple "world records" occurred on the same day and the order in which they occurred cannot be easily determined, the only one listed is the best run achieved on that day. The only known situation where this happened is when Mofat and Taka both got 4:2x:xx times on March 5, 2016. Mofat got a 4:28:56, and Taka got a 4:23:44. Only Taka's time is listed below because it's not obvious which run happened first.
Because this record history was initially put together in 2018, to the extent that world records were lost to history before then, they might not be listed here. For example, there's a very good chance that Awsumi got a world record in Glitchless Master Sword during the 5:35:33 run, but that video is lost to history, so we have no way of knowing for sure (other runs seem to suggest that it was a 2:40-ish time).
Temples are colloquially split into two "halves." Halfway is where the dungeon item is. So, for example, the first half of Goron Mines would be up through bow, and the second half of Goron Mines would be from bow through the end of the dungeon.
KB2 = King Bulblin 2 (the fight on the Great Bridge during Zora Escort)
The estimates for how much time a given route saved are estimates, so take them with a grain of salt. Among other things, smaller tricks and their associated timesaves aren't always listed here.
Known differences between HD and SD as of April 5, 2016 (anything not listed here was either found later/will be mentioned later or was assumed obvious at the time of writing the pastebin, just never tested due to lack of early route viability)
Game Released on March 4, 2016
Adopted circa March 1, 2016 (early copies)
Went through all the dungeons in order and did all the sidequests between dungeons that are required in a casual playthrough, but used LJAs and clips in dungeons
Best known time on this route: 6:09:19 by Awsumi on March 4, 2016
Adopted circa March 4, 2016
Skipped the second half of Snowpeak Ruins, all of Temple of Time, and the Hidden Village/Ancient Sky Book sequence
Saved around 1 hour
Best known time on this route: 3:58:14 by Demon on March 12, 2016
Discovered by SexyZora19, Paraxade before HD came out
Confirmed to actually work in HD (many thought it was patched) by Venick on March 4, 2016
Allows us to skip the second half of Snowpeak Ruins, all of Temple of Time, and the Hidden Village/Ancient Sky Book sequence
Saved around 1 hour
Adopted circa March 14, 2016
Skipped several rooms in City in the Sky using HD exclusive Gate Unloading
Saved around 45 seconds
Best known time on this route: 3:56:41 by Awsumi on March 17, 2016
Discovered on March 5, 2016 on stream by Mulsqi
Figured out on March 14, 2016 by Orcastraw
The game can only load one gate actor per power cycle, and due to an SD to HD coding oversight, the game does not unload the gate in Lakebed from memory. By loading the Lakebed gate, we can unload a similar gate in City in the Sky, which lets us skip several rooms.
Saved around 45 seconds
Adopted circa March 26, 2016
Skipped the second half of Goron Mines, beat KB2 with the bow, used Pot Clip to bypass the rock in Lakebed Temple, and stole bombs from Iza with wolf to have bombs for the first half of Arbiters Grounds
Saved around 2.5 minutes
Best known time on this route: 3:49:11 by Gymnast86 on May 7, 2016
Discovered by Dragonbane on March 26, 2016
By using a milk trick to get below the void plane and exploiting infinitely vertical air triggers for twilights, we can skip the second half of Goron Mines (before this, finishing Goron Mines was required to get bombs to break the rocks)
Saved around 2.5 minutes
Adopted circa October 9, 2016
Got bombs from Iza using Iza Gale and Epona Clip in order to skip the entirety of Goron Mines. Bombs were used instead of the bow to beat KB2. These tricks were colloquially known as the "gauntlet."
Saved around 9 minutes
Best known time on this route: 3:40:15 by Pheenoh on March 26, 2017
Discovered by TrogWW early October 9, 2016
First tentative setup used by Pheenoh around then
Original setup by Pheenoh, Dragonbane on October 19, 2016
By riding Epona into a seam in Lanayru Field, we can clip out of bounds and work our way up to Upper Zora's River without bombs
Saved around 9 minutes in combination with Iza Gale and KB2 with Bombs
Discovered by 60namrruc before HD came out
Improved setup by TrogWW around October 9, 2016 (others modified this setup with slight differences when moving it to HD, specifically Pheenoh early on, but all of those are essentially based on TrogWW's setup)
We can break the rock wall in Iza's cabin with the boomerang to get a bomb bag
Saved around 9 minutes in combination with Epona Clip and KB2 with Bombs
Discovered before HD came out
KB2 can be defeated with precise bomb throws
Saved around 9 minutes in combination with Epona Clip and Iza Gale
Newer setups by Pheenoh and Rasenurns on January 20, 2017 and August 6, 2017, respectively
The improved Epona Clip setup stays near the wall rather than doing movement all the way across Lanayru Field
Saved around 30 seconds to 1 minute over the old setup
Adopted circa November 19, 2017
Used Eldin Twilight Wolf to do the first half of Lanayru Twilight backwards (saved around 30 seconds of movement), leaving the rest of Lanayru Twilight for after Eldin Twilight. Adopted the easier Kargarok Out of Bounds Clip.
Saved around 36 seconds
Best known time on this route: 3:40:12 by Jacquaid on June 10, 2018
Discovered by Rachel before HD came out
Consistent method as wolf found by Arbiters Anomalies on August 26, 2016
Cuts out multiple rooms worth of movement by entering Lanayru Twilight from the "wrong" side
Saved around 30 seconds
Discovered by Dragonbane before HD came out
Easier clip found by Nitroplay on March 7, 2016 (rediscovered around August 21, 2017)
Allows us to cut the corners in Zora's River and get to the end of the kargarok flight earlier
Saved around 6 seconds
Adopted circa July 6, 2018
Used the new Poe 1 Skip setup to do the first half of Arbiters Grounds backwards
This route had been possible before, but Poe 1 Skip was too inconsistent for real runs before the June 2018 setup was discovered.
Saved around 1:10
Best known time on this route: 3:35:28 by Pheenoh on August 9, 2018
Discovered by Venick before HD came out
New setup developed by Pheenoh, Hakua, and Jacquaid on July 6, 2018
Cuts out several rooms in the eastern part of Arbiter's Grounds. Traditionally, Poe 1 Skip requires a quick backflip while sliding down a pillar, which is very difficult without control stick notches. But on HD, by going into first person view, we can prevent Link from sliding down the pillar, which allows us to take our time setting up the backflip.
Saved around 1 minute
Upwarp method discovered by MrMrMen on August 13, 2018
Various setups developed by several people on the same day
By walking under a certain part of the pillar, we warp up to the top and can roll onto the ledge, obsoleting the backflip method
Saved around 10 seconds
Adopted circa August 27, 2018
Used KB2 Skip to get Zora Armor without the bow or bombs, skipped all of Goron Mines and the Epona Clip/Iza Gale Sequence, reintroduced Pot Clip into the route, and stole/duped bombs from Iza for Arbiters Grounds
After Early Snowpeak was discovered, this route became the "beginner route" for Any%
Saved around 7.5 minutes
Best known time on this route: 3:26:31 by Jacquaid on October 2, 2019
Discovered by MrMrMen on August 27, 2018
By voiding out in the area before fighting KB2, we can skip KB2 and thereby the need for either bombs or the bow. This eliminates the need to either beat half of Goron Mines or run the "gauntlet" (Epona Clip/Iza Gale/KB2 with bombs).
Saves around 7.5 minutes
Adopted circa April 28, 2020
Used a precise wolfos superjump to bypass the reekfish scent void trigger on the way up Snowpeak. Skipping the reekfish scent allowed the route to skip Ordon day 2 and the post-Arbiter's Grounds sequence. It also freed up Snowpeak Ruins to be done before Arbiter's Grounds, which allowed the route to skip bombs. Skipping Ordon day 2 meant that the route incorporated Ordon gate clip and bokoblin pushing.
Saved around 8.5-9 minutes
Best known time on this route 3:14:31 by Onaku on May 25, 2024
Discovered by Ekke325 on April 26, 2020
Modern setup by Gymnast86 found on April 28, 2020
By using a precise wolfos superjump, we can bypass the reekfish scent void trigger on the way up Snowpeak, which lets us skip Ordon day 2 (fishing rod) and the post-Arbiter's Grounds sequence. This also lets us get the ball and chain before Arbiter's Grounds, which in turn allows us to skip bombs.
Saved around 8.5-9 minutes in combination with Ordon Gate Clip and Bokoblin Pushing
Discovered on HD by TreZc0_ on March 3, 2016
Modern setup by Gymnast86 found on April 28, 2020
Epona can be used to clip through the gate leading from Ordon to Faron Woods. This, when combined with Early Snowpeak, allows us to skip Ordon day 2.
Saved around 8.5-9 minutes in combination with Early Snowpeak and Bokoblin Pushing
Discovered by MrGuy65 before HD came out
By pushing the North Faron bokoblins into Trill's shop, we can have Trill kill them, so we don't need the slingshot or wooden sword to save Talo
Saved around 8.5-9 minutes in combination with Ordon Gate Clip and Early Snowpeak
Adopted circa November 19, 2017 (when the category was made)
A play off of the third major Any% route with minor changes:
Finished Snowpeak Ruins instead of skipping the second half. This involved using a bomb boost to get to the second floor early.
Used Fyrus Skip because it saved time over watching the twilit messenger cutscene
Split Lanayru Twilight like the sixth major Any% route
Beat Temple of Time sometime between City in the Sky and Hyrule Castle (Palace of Twilight and Temple of Time could be done in either order without losing time)
Best known time on this route: 4:22:27 by Jacquaid on August 9, 2018 - Part 1 Part 2
Adopted circa August 27, 2018
Used KB2 Skip to delay Goron Mines until after Snowpeak Ruins. Stole/duped bombs from Iza to use in Arbiter's Grounds, Snowpeak Ruins, and the Temple of Time. Having the Master Sword, warping, and the clawshot before Goron Mines cut out multiple rooms worth of movement along with the Gor Coron sumo fight.
Saved around 3-4 minutes
Best known time on this route: 4:12:11 by Jacquaid on July 8, 2019
Discovered by MrMrMen on August 27, 2018
By voiding out in the area before fighting KB2, we can skip KB2 and thereby the need for either bombs or the bow. This allows us to delay Goron Mines until after getting the Master Sword without having to run the "gauntlet" (Epona Clip/Iza Gale/KB2 with Bombs). Having the Master Sword, warping, and the clawshot before Goron Mines cuts out multiple rooms worth of movement along with the Gor Coron sumo fight.
Saved around 3-4 minutes
Adopted circa April 28, 2020
Used a precise wolfos superjump to bypass the reekfish scent void trigger on the way up Snowpeak. Skipping the reekfish scent allowed the route to skip Ordon day 2 and the post-Arbiter's Grounds sequence. It also freed up Snowpeak Ruins to be done before Arbiter's Grounds, which allowed the route to, in theory, skip bombs. But runners still stole/duped bombs from Iza because they assumed it was faster than doing Snowpeak Ruins and Temple of Time without bombs. Skipping Ordon day 2 meant that the route incorporated Ordon Gate Clip and Bokoblin Pushing.
Saved around 6.5-7 minutes
Best known time on this route: 4:02:29 by Gymnast86 on August 10, 2020
Discovered by Ekke325 on April 26, 2020
Modern setup by Gymnast86 found on April 28, 2020
By using a precise wolfos superjump, we can bypass the reekfish scent void trigger on the way up Snowpeak, which lets us skip Ordon day 2 (fishing rod) and the post-Arbiter's Grounds sequence. This also lets us get the ball and chain before Arbiter's Grounds, which in turn allows us to skip bombs (in theory).
Saved around 6.5-7 minutes in combination with Ordon Gate Clip and Bokoblin Pushing
Discovered on HD by TreZc0_ on March 3, 2016
Modern setup by Gymnast86 found on April 28, 2020
Epona can be used to clip through the gate leading from Ordon to Faron Woods. This, when combined with Early Snowpeak, allows us to skip Ordon day 2.
Saved around 6.5-7 minutes in combination with Early Snowpeak and Bokoblin Pushing
Discovered by MrGuy65 before HD came out
By pushing the North Faron bokoblins into Trill's shop, we can have Trill kill them, so we don't need the slingshot or wooden sword to save Talo
Saved around 6.5-7 minutes in combination with Ordon Gate Clip and Early Snowpeak
Adopted circa January 3, 2022
After EmberMTZ did some timings, it was discovered that not getting bombs and instead using the staircase clawshot strat in Snowpeak Ruins lobby saves around 50 seconds. Using Ice Boost would save an additional 50 seconds.
Saved around 50 seconds without ice boost and around 1:40 with ice boost
There were no new records set on this route, but the fastest run using the staircase clawshot strat was 4:02:36 by D3lighted on September 28, 2022.
Discovered by Draconif on July 6, 2016
By standing near the edge of the stairs on the left side of the Snowpeak Ruins lobby, we can break the ice at the top of the stairs and clawshot up to the second floor. This is slower than doing a bomb boost to get to the second floor, but it doesn't require bombs.
Saved around 50 seconds over getting bombs
Theorized by Taka, proven by Simikins on September 30, 2020
With a precise position and angle, we can LJA up to the second floor of Snowpeak ruins by using the ice wall on the east side of the courtyard. If done correctly, the ice will damage boost Link up onto the ledge. This is roughly as fast as doing a bomb boost to get to the second floor, and it doesn't require bombs.
Saved around 50 seconds over the staircase clawshot strat and around 1:40 over getting bombs
Adopted circa December 10, 2022
Used Final Freezard Skip instead of Ice Boost or the staircase clawshot strat to get up to the second floor of Snowpeak Ruins
Saved around 1 minute over the staircase clawshot strat and around 10 seconds over Ice Boost
Best known time on this route: 4:00:37 by D3lighted on January 5, 2023
Discovered by ChrisIsAwesome on December 10, 2022
Dropping from the ladder at a specific time allows us to skip the final freezard in Snowpeak Ruins, obsoleting other methods of getting up to the second floor
Saved around 1 minute over the staircase clawshot strat and around 10 seconds over ice boost
Adopted circa March 7, 2016 (original route by Habreno)
Did all of the dungeons in order, with overworld cleanup during the day-night cycles in between, with no major tricks in any of the cycles
Best known time on this route: 7:18:10 by D3lighted on May 20, 2021
Adopted circa March 16, 2024
Incorporated Grove 2 Skip, Early Snowpeak, and Iza 1 Skip. Generally optimized day-night cycles further. Still did all of the dungeons in order.
Saved at least several minutes. (It's much harder to tell with 100% routes because, due to day-night cycles, a lot of things typically have to be rerouted when changes are made.)
Best known time on this route: 7:07:46 by Gymnast86 on July 15, 2024
Originally discovered (superjump method) by Dragonbane before HD came out
Moon boots jump strike bomb boost method discovered by ChrisIsAwesome on September 24, 2020
By bomb boosting during a jump strike with moon boots, we can get onto the wall in Sacred Grove 2 and backslice over to the Master Sword area. This cuts out a fair bit of movement and lets us get the Master Sword pedestal poe early, saving us a warp later on.
Saved around 2 minutes
Discovered by Ekke325 on April 26, 2020
Modern setup by Gymnast86 found on April 28, 2020
By using a precise wolfos superjump, we can bypass the reekfish scent void trigger. This allows us to skip fishing for reekfish and to do everything in Kakariko Graveyard in one trip.
Saved around 1 minute (?)
Plumm out of bounds method originally discovered by Dragonbane before HD came out, faster kargarok clip discovered by Isaac_TWPR on December 7, 2022
NaN Wolf discovered by Dragonbane in 2017, application discovered by Jacquaid on June 6, 2024
By changing Link's equipped armor while warping away from Iza, we can trigger NaN Wolf, which puts us in the loading zone for the end of the Iza 1 minigame.
The Plumm out of bounds method saved around 20 seconds over doing Iza 1 normally. The NaN Wolf method saved around an additional 1:40.
Adopted circa March 14, 2016
This route used the ruleset inherited from SD's old Bug Limit category, which has now been renamed to JP Glitchless. For the most part, SD's modern JP Glitchless ruleset mirrors the original HD Glitchless ruleset, but the SD community has changed that ruleset to clarify a number of issues that arose after (for example, banning brakesliding over sand and snow). Those clarifications were never formally part of the original HD Glitchless ruleset, although many of them were informally adhered to based on assumptions as to what should or should not be considered a glitch (for example, old HD Glitchless runs generally did not do Poe 1 Skip because opening locked doors backwards felt like a glitch, even though it was never formally banned). Some of those assumptions were based on the practices of Draconif, who held the SD Bug Limit record for a long time. The entire ruleset will not be listed here, but you can get an idea of what was or wasn't banned from looking at a combination of the SD JP Glitchless ruleset, Draconif's SD Bug Limit runs, and old HD Glitchless runs.
For context, the old Bug Limit ruleset was developed by the JP SD community on an ad hoc basis over time, and as a result, many of the rules may not seem consistent. In general, the ruleset allowed bomb boosts, which allowed sequence breaks in dungeons. By contrast, most sequence breaks outside of dungeons were banned. As a stark example, "tunnel warping" in the graveyard before getting the Zora Armor was banned, while using a peahat LJA in City in the Sky to skip several peahats was allowed.
The old Bug Limit category developed originally as a "no save and quit" category, so while saving and quitting is not really a "glitch," it was banned and remains banned in SD's modern JP Glitchless ruleset.
Best known time on this route: 5:17:59 by Jacquaid on September 16, 2019
Adopted circa February 6, 2022
For a long time, both HD and SD Glitchless runners were dissatisfied with the old Bug Limit ruleset. Most complaints centered around the no save and quit requirement, leading to jokes about how "savewarping is a glitch," but there were other complaints about the ad hoc, inconsistent nature of the rules. Some people wanted the ruleset to be more permissive and others less.
After many years of fruitless discussions, real traction was made in late 2021 and early 2022, led in large part by DefinitelyNotFX, who had been running his own ruleset which he called "Glitchless" (as opposed to the existing "Bug Limit"). During these discussions, the SD community opted to create a new, less permissive category called "Glitchless" that allowed savewarps, but banned certain things like bomb boosts. They also clarified the old Bug Limit ruleset and renamed it to "JP Glitchless".
The HD community, on the other hand, did not feel like a category split was necessary, and instead changed the existing ruleset to be (generally) more permissive, renaming the category to "Glitchless" in the process. Because of existing leaderboards, the only new bans were minor tricks that were never formally banned, but which nobody had actually done (for example, using the boomerang to LJA off of a keese). As the HD leaderboards had fewer runs, there was more leeway than on SD to introduce new bans without invalidating any runs. The major changes were as follows:
Savewarping was now allowed
Gate unloading was now allowed
Tunnel warping was now allowed
Skipping the upper valve in Lakebed was now allowed
Skipping certain barriers in Hyrule Castle was now allowed
Various things previously assumed banned were now formally banned (but not including brakesliding over sand or snow)
Because of how the ruleset updates occurred across both versions, all three Glitchless rulesets (SD Glitchless, SD JP Glitchless, and HD Glitchless) were now completely distinct. But in general, HD Glitchless remained close to something like SD JP Glitchless if it allowed savewarping.
The rest of the new ruleset will not be listed here, but overall, the new ruleset saved somewhere around 8 minutes.
Best known time on this route: 5:14:24 by Jacquaid on December 7, 2022
Adopted circa December 10, 2022
Used Final Freezard Skip to avoid having to ferry around cannonballs in Snowpeak Ruins
Saved around 3.5 minutes
Best known time on this route: 4:59:24 by Gymnast86 on April 21, 2024
Discovered by ChrisIsAwesome on December 10, 2022
Dropping from the ladder at a specific time allows us to skip the final freezard in Snowpeak Ruins, which cuts out moving around cannonballs
Saved around 3.5 minutes
3:14:31 by Onaku, set May 25, 2024
4:00:37 by D3lighted, set January 5, 2023
7:07:46 by Gymnast86, set July 15, 2024
7:52:20 by D3lighted, set April 18, 2023
4:59:24 by Gymnast86, set April 21, 2024
9:27:49 by HeartPiece, set April 25, 2022
2:27:44 by Gymnast86, set April 1, 2024
1:14:19 by D3lighted, set March 5, 2023