Is Link Really the Hero of the Zelda Story?

I first encountered Link's work when he was a temporally displaced preteen in 1998's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He had finally unlocked the inner sanctum of the Temple of Time and seized the hilt of the mythic, Excalibur-ish Master Sword. A wreath of blue light circled Link's feet, shunting him seven years into the future. Link left the temple as a grown man, with a post-pubescent voice and a chiseled jawline, to discover that the bucolic lands of Hyrule had become twisted and malignant during his absence. Vacant zombies roamed the newly befouled farmers market, the royal castle had been demolished in favor of a Sauronified citadel, and the volcano painted against the skyline (called, yes, Death Mountain) roiled with portentous, tectonic energy.