What about OOT Link? He had a real backstory as a boy who lost his mother in a tragic war that took place in Hyrule long ago. He is a hylian and not the Kokiri boy we thought he was in the begining. Is he not Link now?
We know Link in our many Zelda games has usually been some unknown person who suddenly becomes a hero out of nowhere. Ocarina however had a bit of a deeper back story for Link about being a Hylian and how he was delivered to the forest by his mother during a time of war. This thing pleased me...