Best Link incarnations Zelda

Twilight Princess wins 64% of its duels and tops the Zelda – The Heroes ranking ahead of Breath of the Wild.

The podium is tight: only 13 ELO points separate Twilight Princess from Breath of the Wild in second place, while Tears of the Kingdom trails by 29 points at 1424 ELO. The biggest gap emerges between ranks 4 and 5, where Skyward Sword sits 34 points clear of Majora's Mask (Fierce Deity). Modern incarnations dominate the top five, with the most recent entries holding three of the five spots. At the bottom, the original NES titles struggle: The Legend of Zelda languishes at rank 29 with 935 ELO, while The Adventure of Link fares only slightly better at rank 28. The community favors Link's fully realized character arcs over his earliest pixelated appearances.

This ranking draws from 4881 duels across 29 contenders, with input from 49 players. The data was last updated on 11 October 2026. Whether you champion the wolf companion of Twilight Princess or the glider-wielding wanderer of Breath of the Wild, cast your vote to shift the standings. Each duel between Link incarnations refines the order and clarifies which versions resonate most with players.

Updated on October 11, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →