I didn't count DLC because we can't compare HW with years of support to a game that is even out everywhere yet. Yea some characters reoccurre but you know what but with 1 exception all the reoccurring characters are in base which is knee slapping Grand Total of 4. But what about Din and Nayru or their respective villains, or Vaati, maybe Agahnim, Linebeck, TETRA FOR CHRIST SAKE. Yes the Legend of Zelda doesn't have as many characters as FE but they have more than enough characters for every game to be represented or at least every era of Zelda.
Edit actually 4 reoccurring Characters because Sheik only appeared once in Zelda.