When Link returns the light to Faron, he is then garbed in the same cloth as the "legendary hero." This hero, however, was NOT OoT Link. OoT Link was never a hero in this timeline, nor did he wear chainmail or the same garments that TP Link had. Link, in fact, inherited the cloth of SS Link, the Hero of Legend who wielded the Triforce and defeated the Demon King, the only mortal to have ever faced him in battle. It just fits. What are other people's thoughts? This is a bit retrospective, and I don't think Nintendo intended on it, but regardless, I believe at the very least the Hero that Faron was referring to was SS Link. Hence Link's "rebirth" so to speak, and the clothes he was now wearing. Also, both brought light back to the land. Link transformed into a wolf, which is interesting; there is no correlation here per se, since TP was in development I believe before Okami, but Amaterasu is the God of the Sun in Japanese mythology. So Link, turning into a wolf, "returning the light", is VERY interesting from this standpoint. But I have no idea if Amaterasu is ever depicted as a wolf in Japanese mythology or it's just Okami. It may just be Okami. Thoughts?
Keep in mind that OoT!Link was still considered a hero in the child timeline for stopping Ganondorf's plots before they could come to fruition, and, if the Hero's Spirit is any indication, continued to be a hero long afterwards. So no, I think the legendary hero Faron was referring to was still OoT!Link.
But was OoT Link actually called a hero because he advised Princess Zelda, on Ganondorf? We only know that he spoke with Zelda, and Zelda gave him the Ocarina of Time and told him to go far away, as mentioned in Hyrule Historia. We really don't know if Link was called a hero by the people of Hyrule. Maybe by the Royal Family, but who knows what the people of Hyrule. If Faron was refering to OoT Link and his tunic. Why was the TP tunic completely different to the OoT one, but literally the same as the SS one?
Quite simply, because of graphical limitations, and because child-timeline!Link might have ended up with that tunic design rather than the garb that Rauru provided in the adult-timeline. And there are some visual differences between the clothing in Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. We know that Zelda gave him the Ocarina, but frankly speaking we don't KNOW what happened to Link after Majora's Mask, except for the fact that he didn't pass on his sword skills, and that he did have descendants, the latest of which being TP!Link. Given how he developed those sword skills in the first place and was considered the Hero's Shade, it stands to reason that he continued being a hero after Majora's Mask. Particularly since this game was designed before Skyward Sword, which didn't factor into the creative process at the time.
Aside from obvious differences cause from aging, like patches, rust on the chainmails, etc. What differences those the TP and SS tunics? If he continued being a hero, he would have atleast been remember as one and we know that he is not remember. Since that is the reason why he reappears as a ghost, because he have the regrets of not being remember as a hero and because he didn't passed his skills. Skyward Sword was in development for around 5 years, which falls into the timeframe in which TP was released. Unless a 3rd game with the HoT is released, the most possible candidate for being the Ancient Hero and owner of the tunic is SS Link.
Skyward Sword's tunic has a silver-colored belt buckle rather than brass-colored, and is more rounded than the TP tunic. Chainmail is also silver rather than gold, and the baggings are a darker color and baggier than the slim-fitting ones in Twilight Princess. The tunic lacks the braided designs on the collar and designs on the corners of the skirts from the one in Twilight Princess, the banding and crossthreading on the shirtsleeves and cap (which, if you look in the artwork, is deliberate in the design rather than repairwork to the fabric) and the collar of the undershirt is open-throated. And the left-hand gauntlet lacks the leather armguard. The design is similar because it is the spiritual successor to Twilight Princess and thus has a similar character design, just like OoT had Majora's Mask, A Link to the Past had Link's Awakening, Phantom Hourglass had Spirit Tracks, so on and so forth. Those games each featured the similar but not exact artwork between the Link designs, except for when it was the same Link. OoT!Link not being remembered as a hero by the people does not change the fact that he IS the Hero of Time and would be remembered as such by the sages and spirits. Given the other comments made by Faron combined with the revealed knowledge that TP!Link's bloodline descended from OoT!Link's ("His power is yours. His is the true power that slept within you."), I daresay they were implying the garb was OoT!Link's, rather than SS!Link's.
Age and artstyle. Age it could be rust or something similar. The fitting we don't know the difference of size between the links and TP Link as more muscle than SS Link, atleast by what we see when TP Link sume wrestles the Mayor. Stitches for age, the desings are indeed different in that case. Addments. Though even with all that, the TP tunic matches more the SS one than the OoT one which is all simple. He is destined to be the Hero of Time in the CT. From the PoV of that timeline, Link never pulled the Master Sword, so he never gain the title Hero of Time, so from the CT PoV he is only destined to be the Hero of Time. Unless a 3rd adventure happens were he pulls out the sword from the pedestal. By which sages? The Ancient Sages? They seem to not know about that child which accused Ganondorf to Princess Zelda. They were even oblivious to the fact that Ganondorf had the ToP. That is if the spirits knew about the legends of the appearance of the HoT. That sounds more like a reference to the Spirit of the Hero, or in any case SS Link or the hero mentioned in the Wing Ceremony. Which could also be the possible owner of the tunic, since we haven't exactly seen his, so he is a possibility.
Well, I think it's highly unlikely that anyone would be dumb enough to go into battle in rusted chainmail, so I doubt that's the case here. As for SS!Link, he should be of a similar, if not larger build than TP!Link, as he was trained to be a soldier/knight, whereas TP!Link was a rancher who happen to know his way around a sword. As for the discrepency between the OoT and TP tunic designs, please keep in mind that they are unlikely to be the one and the same. Adult Link was garbed in such because Rauru picked out the outfit, child-timeline!Link may very well have ended up in a different-styled tunic, and eventually armor like the Hero's Shade wore. The argument that child-timeline!Link would've gotten the exact same tunic as his adult version did is flimsy at best. As Twilight Princess occurs in the child timeline, it's very much possible that the tunic OoT!Link wore in the adult timeline doesn't actually exist in that timeline. Concerning his status as the Hero of Time, that the events got retconned does not change the fact that he is still the Hero of Time; he is still the same person and more importantly, he still went through those events and experienced them. The timeline split, Link did not. As for time memory shenanigans, Kaepora Gaebora!Rauru was aware of Link's time-traveling and maturation into adulthood despite the seven year difference, so there is precedent for their awareness of who he was. Their ignorance of Ganondorf having the Triforce of Power is because the physical event of him acquiring it had been prevented, so of course they couldn't have known he still somehow acquired it.
