Zelda and Link, from the Legend of Zelda series, are reincarnated characters. From adventure to adventure, thousands of years may have passed, so the two characters are never actually the same person every time.
Both those heroes are also featured in the Super Smash Bros. series though. Which incarnation of the hero is actually there? We can guess Toon Link is the one from Windwaker, but where/when is regular Link from?
Best Answer
In the original Super Smash Bros. and Melee it's the Link from Ocarina of Time. In Brawl, they changed it to the Twilight Princess Link.
I figured this out by comparing the pictures of the Link from the Zelda games with his pictures from the SSB games. Ocarina of Time was only game out with that shield design when SSB64 and Melee came out. Twilight Princess has the same shield design, but Link's appearance in Brawl is basically identical to his in Twilight Princess. Also, that's what the Zelda Wikia says. :P
Zelda is also from Ocarina of Time in Melee and Twilight Princess in Brawl, since she also matches those looks.
Sheik is from Ocarina of Time in Melee, obviously since that the only game she's been in, however it is said that her Brawl appearance is based on conceptual designs for her in Twilight Princess.
It's claimed Ganondorf's Melee appearance is based of the SpaceWorld demo, although he looks a lot like he did in Ocarina of Time as well, and his Brawl appearance is again from Twilight Princess.