This thread has actually made me restart Phantom Hourglass as I also play Trails in the Sky in the meantime. I have both PH and Spirit Tracks borrowed from my brother and I haven’t beaten either yet, and since I’m focusing on new games this year, I’ve decided to give them a whirl. Phantom Hourglass is actually much more fun than I remember it being. I’m actually gonna play the Oracle games after I’m done with these.

To answer your questions, these are hard to pick. I like various Links for various things. Wind Waker’s is the most expressive, and I really like Twilight Princess’s Link for simply looking so cool. But I think BotW Link actually holds a special place in my heart because it’s basically accepted by the fan community that he’s this reckless survivalist wild child, just based on the gameplay of BotW, and it’s such an amusing contrast to the knightly Links we’ve had before. It’s also hard to pick a best Zelda. TP Zelda is, similarly to Link, the most regal incarnation in the series, Skyward Sword Zelda is just incredibly sweet in the best way possible, but I think BotW wins again for me because we actually get to look so much into Zelda’s human side, her internal conflicts, her incredibly ambivalent relationship with her father, and how she grows from being incredibly curt with Link to genuinely caring for him (but of course, considering the design of this game, how much you see of that entirely depends on you, so people’s perception of Zelda may differ accordingly). BotW Ganon is not getting this spot, even though I think they’ve done something incredibly interesting with him, but he’s not really a character in this game. Wind Waker Ganondorf wins for me, if only for his awesome character design. Otherwise, I feel like he’s very similar to his OoT and TP incarnations (which makes sense as it’s actually the exact same character and not a reincarnation). I was never a fan of OoT Impa, so for me it’s really a tie between Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild, though SS gets a slight edge. BotW Impa is basically the cool old lady mentor, but she really doesn’t do anything to add to this trope, nor does she really have much to do in the game. SS Impa is great because of her two incarnations, both of which have incredibly cool designs, and she’s just an important presence all throughout the game.

Side characters are hard to choose from since there’s been lots. The pirate crew in WW, Groose in SS, the Champions in BotW are all great. If companions count, then Midna wins this. If they don’t, I choose Tingle. I just love that guy tbh.

As for non-Ganon enemy, I don’t really know since I haven’t really dove deep into the games without him. I guess Majora and Skull Kid by extension win this just for the sheer, existential dread that they bring to the table.

And I’m gonna actually finish this off with a question of my own:

Which Zelda do you feel had the best soundtrack?