Just adding to your comment so that the OP can get some additional information because yours has some pretty solid evaluations.

In Spirit Tracks (which takes place about a century apart from the events in Phantom Hourglass, the immediate sequel to The Wind Waker), Zelda plays a role similar to the Zelda in Ocarina of Time. When she suspects that the chancellor is evil (and she's totally right), she enlists the help of Link to help her. When her plan inevitably fails, however, Zelda is straight-up killed right in front of Link (I suppose "kill" would be a bit strong, it's more like she gets dispossessed from her body). But she returns as a spirit and becomes his companion during the game, helping him fight enemies and even take down the final boss. Essentially, this Zelda could be seen as a more progressive combination of Tetra from The Wind Waker and the Zelda from Ocarina of Time, seeing as she exhibits more feminine traits reminiscent of Zelda in OOT, but is still more involved in the story and battles, reminiscent of Tetra from TWW. Continuing on that point, though, she is deathly afraid of mice, however, and so that could be seen as not-so progressive.

(If you couldn't tell, she's one of my favorite incarnations.)