You can't have any Zelda game without Link. No matter which incarnation you choose to play as Link is always kind, courageous and dedicated to his cause. He's also fairly clever, since by the end of each game, he's had to overcome various puzzles and monsters to reach the final boss.
So that's a basic overview of Link no matter which Zelda game you play. Now let's look at each in depth.
So Twilight Princess Link starts out being a goat herder in Ordon Villiage, a province south of main Hyrule. (personal headcanon, the reason Link was going to Hyrule Castle was to present the Ordon Sword as a sign of loyalty and have the province be officially admitted to Hyrule.) He's a quick learner and he also is a big brother figure to most of the Ordon kids, especially Colin.
However, his first potential love interest (and person who annoys me more than Midna did) and close childhood friend is Ilia, the mayor's daughter. Ilia has a fascination with horses and frequently kidnaps Epona for her own selfish desires. Yeah, I don't like Ilia. Maybe if she hadn't stolen my horse twice and acted like it was hers.
Anyways, when King Bulbin and his lackeys show up at Ordon Spring, taking the Ordon kids, Link books it (one of the three times in the game he actually runs that fast) to Faron Woods only to find himself pulled into Twilight and into a world sorely in need of a hero...
So, brief summary aside, Twilight Princess Link is the first video game character I fell in love with. The reason I started feeling this way was the moments when Link was caring and protecting others. The scene where he's holding a weakened Colin was the first, because after watching to make sure that the others were safely inside, he looks up at Death Mountain with this look of, "I am going up there and I am going to fix this." It just was the way he looked in the light that I first though, "Dang, he's kinda cute." It wasn't until the scene at the end of the game where Link is cradling Midna that I realized I liked him. Like, full on, liked him.
Now that I've gotten my personal ramblings out of the way, let's see what the game thinks of Link. Including my above stuff, Link always looks kind of angry, like someone took his rupees while he wasn't looking. I'm guessing its the way his eyebrows are designed. Another thing that Skyward Sword made me notice is that Link isn't the focus of a lot of cutscenes. Yeah, he's there in a lot of them, but it's not his reactions very often. He's kind of...just there.
I mean, there's an early cutscene of Link freaking out as Ilia is chewing him out for not taking better care of Epona. And it's so great, Link's got body language, his face just screams, "Oh crap!" and best part is when Ilia starts chewing out her dad for not giving Link a harder time. And then Bo and Link just share this look that says they've been through this before, but it's sort of a playful look too. As the game progresses, we get less of that from Link. Which makes me sad.
Okay, enough about what Link doesn't have. Onto Skyward Sword!
Skyward Sword Link is a young knight to be at Skyloft's academy. He's best friend with Zelda, daughter of the Academy's headmaster, Gaepora. However, Link has a rival, Groose, a boy with two lackey's, and a super inflated ego of himself. His quest starts when his Loftwing goes missing from the skies, and he has to find him before the Wing Ceremony which will enable him to become a full-fledged knight. He does, and he wins the Ceremony, and as he's enjoying a victory flight with Zelda, a tornado comes a whisks Zelda away, knocking Link out. As he lies unconscious, he sees a girl floating above him, tell him to wake up. Determined to do so, he follows this girl until he enters the Goddess Statue, and in it likes a pedestal with a sword inside. Link takes the sword, the Goddess Sword, and the spirit within it, Fi, and goes off to find Zelda below the clouds.
What I really enjoyed about this Link is that you had the ability to choose different dialogue options for Link, sort of setting what kind of character he is for yourself. More importantly, Link has a lot of reaction shots that I adore. In ever dungeon he goes into, there's a cutscene of him going into it and his reactions to it. At first, you can tell he's hesitant to do it, but by the last dungeon, he's booking it in there, just daring whatever's inside to stop him.
Even interactions with other characters feel a little more lively, probably because there are fewer people overall in Skyward Sword, so you can kind of get to know them better, and the game does a good job of making Link seem like he was literally thrown into the adventure. His actions are so realistic and I can't recall any actions in cutscenes being repeated. Probably because there was a little motion capture involved here.
My main problem with this Link is that when he falls it doesn't sound like he's falling to his death. It sounds like some guy in a studio attempting to scream.
I don't know. I may have to call a tie for this one. I like both Links. And especially with Twilight Princess Link always having a special place in my heart for being the first...
I think I'm gonna say that Skyward Sword Link wins out in terms of liveliness and overall not looking mad all the time. Twilight Princess Link does have other expressions, but they're scattered throughout the game, and Link just needed a little more reactions to stuff overall.
Skyward Sword: 1
Twilight Princess: 0
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