The Face Under the Mask
“Your real face… Show it to me…”
—Child wearing Majora’s Mask
Through the character of Anju we are able to see the difference between faith and doubt and how profoundly they can change people, even if the situation remains the same. Because of this, we may be better able to understand Skull Kid, who uses Majora’s Mask to try to destroy Termina.
Skull Kid is the lonely imp from ancient times who felt neglected when his friends the Giants left him. Though he was banished from Termina, he returns to the land ages later. He steals Majora’s Mask from the Salesman and uses its dark powers to spread misery and suffering across Termina. People speak of him with contempt. When Link encounters him, Skull Kid acts cold and aloof. He betrays his friends Tatl and Tael. He stands atop the Clock Tower at the center of Termina and waits for the Moon to come crashing down.
Throughout all this, Skull Kid hides his face behind Majora’s Mask. He presents this strong, hateful face to the world so that no one can notice his many insecurities. He keeps his soul hidden from the world, and thus he allows it to fall prey to the demon Majora. He ceaselessly contemplates how his friends abandoned him and how the world rejected him. No one can offer him comfort, support, or sympathy because he doesn’t have the strength of heart to show anyone his true, suffering face. The only voice he hears is that of Majora, the enemy of faith. Majora attacks Skull Kid’s unhealed scars, reminding him of all the pain the world has caused him. In his isolation and loneliness, Skull Kid allows his fears and doubts to grow larger and larger until they swallow him and the demon Majora takes control. Majora then targets the world of Termina, summoning the Moon down from the heavens to spread fear and doubt across the land before destroying it.
“I…I shall consume.
Consume…Consume everything.”
—The Moon, possessed by Majora
Termina, however, is saved by Tatl and Link, who go into the mouth of the Moon in a tremendous act of faith. They destroy Majora and the Moon vanishes, leaving behind a rainbow. Skull Kid, his face unmasked, speaks with the Giants.
“You guys… You hadn’t forgotten about me?
You still thought of me as a friend?”
—Skull Kid
All this time, Skull Kid had been unable to trust the friendship of the Giants, and it was this weakness that had originally marred the world of Termina. But Skull Kid’s friends save him from his self-destruction and forgive his misdeeds. The rainbow in the sky appears to show that the Goddesses have forgiven the world of Termina. The wounds have been healed, and the land is redeemed(6).
(6) But not everything is well in the end. Skull Kid’s loss of faith led to the deaths of Mikau, Darmani, and the Deku Butler’s son, and these tragedies cannot be undone.
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i’love dis game
Reply to ulyesazI think the salesman, prior to acquiring the mask, probably did not believe in any such curse, it was a rare and valuable item, and he is a salesman, therefore, he wanted it, purely for commercial use, only once he laid his hands upon the mask, did he realize the true evil that slept within the mask, I assume it was then, that he vowed to guard the mask, to keep Majora from ever waking.
Reply to Skull Kidaye, but I also thing you might have got one thing backwards, if Majora was sent to destroy the architects, or stop their blasphemy, why would they have monuments built to honor her? I believe the architects may have summoned majora as their own “goddess” of sorts to help them destroy the Goddesses. The Fierce Deity was the Goddesses guardian angel, or enforcer, sent to destroy Majora, while the goddesses would flip the tower to take care of the architects. If the fierce Deity was on the side of the architects against majora, why would there not me monuments to him?
Reply to Skull KidIf that’s true, then why do you get The Fierce Deity Mask from the Majora kid on the moon? Wouldn’t every part of Majora despise the Fierce Deity for attempting to stop it? It just dosn’t make much sense…
Reply to KaharaIf you notice at the begining of the game when he walks through a certain part of the cave the hallway turns upside down while gravity seems to flip with it as well thus proving the first part of this theory. But if this is true are there other paralel “flip” worlds in the LoZ? Such as in ocarina of time, forest temple if memory serves right. A certain hallway take you into an upside down version of a room. In this area could you possibly be in termina? a small enclosed cave of some sort? Probably not. But it does introduce a new idea to this theory, the possibility of a mirror hyrule or hyrule “two” as some people say in other theories. *see the gametrailers.com zelda theory video* in which termina Could still be doomed, in a great flood bringing us to the windwaker…and it goes on but no more rambling from me.
Reply to NogardodomokomododragonIf Majora is a demon straight out of hell sent by the godesses to destroy Termina, then the Fierce Deity might be their way of controlling it. Once Majora finished its job, who’s to say it wouldn’t move on to other countries? So, the FD would be sent in to obliterate it. This might also be why Majora gives you the mask, it knows its power weaker than it and that it is destined to die. Yet, it makes a joke out of the deal, as it’s nature is, and wants one last “game”.
Reply to KatukoWow, that was really interesting. When I was younger and I played it, I never really knew about the allusion to the tower of babel, and the hidden message behind MM.
Reply to JamesAmazing article.
Nice article man. I had a huge write up on MM about 9 months ago but i stoped writing it out of the blue (long distance work).
Your first article made me want to go play it again and I did. I had writen about my experiences and the feeling i had gotten as i played the game. Far different then when i played as a child. For this, MM has defenetly found a place in my heart.
I never did beat the game… I stoped writing after my experiences in Inkana.
The game is still saved, now that i finaly have time again… i think i shall go to clock tower and begin the final chapter in the MM story.
nice work man
Reply to LinktomyassI like how you found and carved up the themes by looking at the game carefully. I’m still curious about the Fierce Deity though. Its fierce, right? How does that associate with faith?
Reply to darkbeastganonHe is the ‘Fierce Deity’ because of his god-like abilities and almost literally, no limiters on his power. He is a symbol of strength in this world of weakness - the one light shining through the dark.
One will guard their faith with whatever they can. The Fierce Deity acts upon his faith to assist the people in need. The blank eyes of the Fierce Deity serve as him being a symbol, not a set person.
There’s also the Mask Itself. This is but a theory of my own, but I believe that the mask would not turn everyone who dons it into that specific being, but rather, into a powerful being built on their own strength of their faith. By believing in the power of the mask, by putting faith into its frightening design, one can unleash true might to eliminate those that oppose their own faith.
As a finisher however, I give you text copy-pasted from the Zelda Wiki:
“He’s a ferocious god!”
—Anju (Manga)
-The Fierce Deity’s past remains largely unexplained in the game, though it is likely that it is an ancient being like Majora. It is unknown if Fierce Deity is like the Goron and Zora masks, with a soul sealed inside them, or like Majora’s Mask, where it is the soul. However, since Anju’s quote doesn’t divulge much, it is currently impossible to tell. The Fierce Deity was shown in the manga to corrupt even Link, leading the reader to believe the mask houses a very powerful spirit, even though Link did possess enough control to remove the mask at the end of the fight against Majora’s Mask.
Some speculate that the mask is Link’s Terminan counterpart, because the mask itself resembles Adult Link.-
Reply to SerenadeI have a question if the goddesses flipped the tower so that when the first time you show up it’s the worng way (the right way being the way the architects built it) wouldn’t the hand be cursing the ground and or hell. Also, how would they build it upside down, where getting out of the tower to go to the ground would be to head to the top?
Reply to RabbottWow, that is deep. I mean, that is really, really deep.
Reply to TexasProudCowgirlThat was such an excellent read.
Reply to LegitzIt really opens up alot more thought paths related to this game.
Thankyou.
Fantastic! Great pleasure reading your theories which are all supported brilliantly
Reply to Callum MOMG….
You are so deep man!! Everything truly makes sense!! WOW!! I just wanna say that you are amazing!!!!
MAJORAS MASK FOR THE WIN!!!
Reply to Henrik Ljungdahl