I'd say WWHD, because it's one of the easiest Zelda and it's a nice place to get an idea on how the games work. Maybe OoT, it's a little harder, but nothing precisely unbeatable.

In terms of lore, Ocarina of Time is where the major timeline split takes place. I say start there.

I started my Zelda introduction with marijuana, popcorn, a friend and The Legend of Zelda for NES in 2012. I was hooked and I have loved the series ever since (especially the 2D ones). After that I played A Link Between Worlds, Ocarina Of Time 3D and A Link to the Past (in that order).

I would recommend starting like I did.

So many terrible answers here -_-

Why would you want to start with the best and be disappointed in every game in the series afterwards??

Or are we reccomending that he just skip half the franchise because they are

Mediocre? Is Linkle starring it?

Half of Zelda franchise Mediocre!? That's something completely new.

Twilight Princess

I get what you're saying.

After playing Ocarina of Time every game does seem mediocre from there on out. Better start on Four Swords and Triforce Heroes.

If you want to play one Zelda game before Zelda Wii U it's gotta be Twilight Princess especially with the HD remake coming up. I love WW and Ocarina but Ocarina is a tad old and even the 3DS version has chunky graphics, and WWHD is great but short.

If you want to try out many games in the series though then definitely start with Ocarina/WW.

All of them...
Nes Zelda number 1 - you need to get into it - feel teh magic - discover the world and what it will become of it! Skip Zelda 2... good game but a littel bit off the rest imo