Yesterday Rachel, from the website Zelda Dungeon, posted an interesting analysis about the absence of Link's parents in the Legend of Zelda series (read it here). Perhaps you never noticed it, but if you're a fan of the series you're probably aware of the fact that they never mention Link's parents.
Her point is that, since Link has no family, he "has very little personal incentive to became a savior". The only game that he has "personal incentive" is Wind Waker, since Link begins his journey to save his sister who's been kidnapped. In every other game of the series, he is simply "destined" to be the savior.
I have a different opinion. I don't believe that the lack of parental figures is a flaw nor that the existence of parents would be relevant to the game. I've always seen Link as the kind of hero who is committed to the adventure simply because he's got nothing to lose... I mean, if he has no family (or at least we're never presented to it) than he has nothing to worry about but his fate and his welfare, thus he has the motivation to save Princess Zelda.
What do you fellow gamers think?