Majora's Mask didn't use the same characters, they were different characters complete with different names (except for Koume & Kotake, who kept their old names) they simply reused the character models to reflect that the game was set in a parallel universe. So thus far only the Oracle games, Minish Cap, and Four Swords Adventures, have used the same characters as previous games, and of those three, two were produced by Capcom and the third is more of a side game to me (though I do recognise it as canonical, its just not as deep as a usual Zelda title).
I'm also curious how you guys view the timeline? I place the games in this order.
Photobucket shrunk the picture, the text under OoT says:
"Due to Princess Zelda sending Link back to his childhood in the ending of Ocarina of Time, the timeline splits into the timeline Link returned to, hereby called the Child Timeline, and the timeline Link returned from after sealing away Ganondorf, hereby called the Adult Timeline."
The text beside the Oracle games says:
"Due to the Triforce being in Hyrule Castle, or possibly a Temple, I place these two games into the Child Timeline, although their exact placement is unknown.
Due to the Link-Up System used in the Oracle Titles, they could be place as either one coming before or after the other. I prefer this order as it is both the order used in the non-canonical manga adaptions as well as the order in which I bought them."
The text besides Spirit Tracks says:
"Due to very little information about this title being available, it is placed here until more is revealed about the story or until some close with the game's development says something as to its placement in the timeline."
The text under certain titles, such as LttP and LA, says "Direct Sequel".