Wait a second
Link, a Villager, (and an Inkling) are in Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)
How does this play into the "every mario game is a work fiction within a fiction" theory?
Are there "metacharacters" (alongside the metacharacters playing as Mario, Peach, Bowser, DK, K.Rool, Pauline, etc) who are actors that are essentially those characters from non-Mario series? Do their "worlds" exist within this "meta universe" or do the games exist as works of fiction within said meta universe and they're essentially tie-ins for the "Mario Kart" within a "Mario Kart"?
Also TIL Deluxe added BOTW Link along with SS Link