Hero of the Minish

The Hero of the Minish is the name given to the incarnation of Link that appears in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. This Link has not appeared in any other games so far.

The Hero of the Minish is notable for being the first Link to, at this point in the Zelda timeline, not use the Master Sword at all, but rather the Four Sword. And with the Four Sword's creation in The Minish Cap, the Hero of the Minish is technically the first to wield it too.

Role in Hyrule's History
Minish Cap begins a-la Wind Waker-style, with stained glass windows and a legend. It tells us that before Minish Cap, a race of tiny creatures called Minish appeared in Hyrule when it was about to be defeated. They brought an unknown Hero of Men a sword called the Picori Blade, and something called the "light force" (which is probably related somehow to the Triforce). The story of the Minish and Picori Blade is now a legend in Hyrule, and adults tell tales of the Minish—now known to them as "Picori"—to their children.

Supposedly, every 100 years the Picori return to Hyrule. This is celebrated with a festival called the Picori Festival, which is where the story in Minish Cap starts. Link and his childhood friend Princess Zelda go to the festival together. Towards the end of the day, they watch as the winner of the festival's sword-fighting tournament is presented with a chest that has the Picori Blade stuck in the lid.

As luck would turn out, of course, the winner is no other than Vaati, someone evil. He breaks the Picori Blade and lets a bunch of monsters out of the chest, thinking instead it held the light force. Zelda starts glowing and Vaati turns her into stone.

The king approaches Link and asks that he seek out the Minish, who can reforge the Picori Blade (eventually turning it into the Four Sword]], since he is a child and the Minish supposedly appear only before children. Then, when the sword is reforged, Princess Zelda can be turned back to normal and Vaati can be stopped.

While on his way to the Minish Woods in search of the Minish, Link runs into Ezlo, a talking hat with a beak. When on Link's head, he can shrink down to Minish size. With Ezlo, Link travels across Hyrule in search of elements (which resemble the Spiritual Stones of Ocarina of Time) to use to reforge the Picori Blade.

Other incarnations of Link

 * Hero of Hyrule
 * Hero of Legend
 * Hero of Time
 * Hero of Wind
 * Hero of the Four Sword
 * Four Who Are One