I find that with a lot of Nintendo games not just with Link and I think it's part of the reason why I find it very hard to get into their games other than just in a pick up casual way.  I mean when I played Ocarina of Time the atmosphere was brilliant but Link seemed to have no personality and it was hard to identify with anyone in the game because they all seemed so one-dimensional.  Take the Mario games as well, do you ever really know what Mario is thinking or even what kind of personality he has?  Has there ever been a time in any Nintendo game in which you felt real anger or sadness like in Final Fantasy 7 with it's famous scene that shocked gamers and made them feel horrified, angry, and grief? 

I think a lot of it is because of Nintendo's philosophy of wanting their games to make people feel happy all the time they're playing them and also because they're aimed at everyone (which includes children) which makes it basically impossible to have characters with any real depth to them.

Really? I have always found Zeldas (Marios much less so, but as a platformer they require far less character depth) to have a sort of abstract depth to them, rather than forcing a personality on the protagonist they let you sort of propel yourself into the character. I always have found games with silent protagonists to be kind of deep on that level, as long as there is a story going on around them.

Personally I can't stand games with rigid characters because I feel like I'm not really playing a game but more prodding a very boring movie along.

I'm probably just weird like that though XD

I'm going to vote for Cloud. He's one of my favorite characters. It's about time they add Mario to one of these polls so he can kick someones ass.

My favorite ones are those that give you a real choice on how to play the character and where your actions influence events in the game.  For example I just finished Neverwinter Nights 2 yesterday and depending on how you played your character (good, evil, etc) some characters will treat you differently (even the ones in your party) and events can unfold differently because of your choices.

This is in contrast to many Japanese rpgs in which it feels like you have to play the character exactly the way the developers want and that it's basically just a book in which you as a reader have no say in the story.  It may be an amazing story but it's far more interesting to see how the story unfolds if the main character had made different choices.  It's true that Neverwinter Nights 2 is still a scripted game only with many different branches but it does open up the possibilities of what a game might be like in the future if all the characters have incredible AI and events literally did unfold in unscripted and unforseen ways.

I agree with you. Nintendo's style with their heros gave me the feeling like I was that character. I've always enjoyed the silent heroes, less talk more ass kicking. Games where the protagonists have their personalities too are great, Snake has always been an exciting character. I also agree with Legend11, where the characters are dynamic along with the world around them, like in Knights of the Old Republic, awesome game. They are all fun.

On topic...I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but since Cloud beat Sephiroth in Advent Children, he is a bigger badass than Link. Does that count?

Link hasn't defeated Ganon on his own in quite a while.

Yes.  Though to be fair that's because that scene did nothing for me.  By the time I got to it I was bored out of my mind and wondering how FF7 could be so much worse then every other square game i'd ever played. (Which were a lot, they were my favorite developer at the time.)

As for what mario's thinking.  I've always got a good idea of what he's thinking because I've seen the Super Mario Brothers Super Show.  He's constantly thinking about how awesome it would be to eat some food.  I do wonder why they don't have him talk more now that they have a voice actor for him and such, but it doesn't really bother me that much.  The only games i tend to be able to "impose" myself on are games where you get generics whose names you can change.  Cause honestly most RPG characters make the dumbest most obvious mistakes that you see a mile away. 

Also i think the reason i was never a fan of the 3-D zeldas is that I wanted a smart ass running around saying "Excccuuuuseeee ME Princess!"

Seriously though, when it comes to an RPG, if I have to choose between a lame character like cloud or a voiceless main character like Chrono from Chrono Trigger, i'll go with the voiceless guy everytime.