“Just Have Faith…”

Nintendo Power: “Is there anything you weren’t able to accomplish in Ocarina of Time that you have included in Majora’s Mask?”

Shigeru Miyamoto: “Yes. In fact, that is why we’ve decided to base the game on three-day intervals. This allows gamers to see characters as they go through their daily routines in more detail. Depending on which time of day you visit a particular character, he or she will be doing different things and that may reveal essential clues to the mystery that is at the heart of the game. To conquer the game and solve the mystery, players must learn all about the many characters and discover new masks.”

—Nintendo Power Vol. 134

Majora’s Mask was designed to achieve some of the things Ocarina of Time wasn’t able to accomplish. Specifically, the Zelda team wanted to flesh out the character interaction. If you revisit Ocarina of Time, you’ll notice that Nintendo made an effort to give some depth to many of the side characters in the game. Most of this was done through two major side quests: the mask trading sequence and the Biggoron Sword trading sequence, both of which built off the trading sequence concept as introduced in Link’s Awakening.

Each time you obtained a new mask or trading item, you had to figure out which character in the game would be interested in it. As you interacted with characters such as the Cucco girl and her brother or the Kakariko guard, you’d learn a little more about their families and their personal struggles. As you traded with them, you’d often help them to find greater happiness.
Sound familiar? When Nintendo was developing the premise for Majora’s Mask, it seems they focused on the dynamics of these two quests and how they could really flesh them out in a new game. Certainly, the role of the masks in Ocarina of Time heavily influenced the design of the sequel, and thus the Happy Mask Salesman would be important to the new game. Now, if you look at the Salesman’s dialogue in Ocarina of Time, you’ll notice that there is one line he repeats again and again: “Just have faith…”

Mr. Miyamoto mentions that there is some mystery at the heart of Majora’s Mask, something important that the player must discover on his own. I believe this philosophy, to always have faith, is the message that is at the heart of the game. It seems the Zelda team tried to convey this message in Ocarina of Time, but then decided they could do a much better job of it by building a game that would revolve around the idea.

The theme of faith and doubt is reflected in so many aspects of Majora’s Mask, big and small. To win the dog-racing minigame, you must seek out the dogs that believe in themselves. To help out people, you need to trust their promises and keep your own promises.

To complete any Deku Flower challenge, you must have the patience to wait until the opportune moment and the confidence to believe that you can fly to your destination. To reach the end of the Goron Moon dungeon, you need to trust the game enough to let go of the control stick and let the rolling Goron bounce off the chests in a straight line. To find the child hiding in the Zora Moon dungeon, you must not worry when you do not succeed on your first, second, or even third attempt. As the owl cautioned you, things rarely go well at first, and impatience leads only to frustration and failure.

The land Ikana is overrun by the frightful spirits of the dead, but at the center of this kingdom is the boldly colorful Music Box House. It belts out a cheerful carnival tune that causes the Gibdos lurking outside to be swallowed by the earth.

After helping the troubled people of Termina and gaining all the masks, you receive the Fierce Deity Mask, a representation of the faith you instilled in everyone. With this power you can completely obliterate Majora, the representation of doubt.

In the streets of Clock Town, the two twin jugglers play around and make jokes about several disturbing events.

“You see, we’re entertainers. We must keep people smiling. No matter how grim things get, we must always be optimistic!”

—The Jugglers

The game argues that you must believe in your strengths and believe in your friends and walk a confident path of hope. If you allow your fears and doubts to grow uncontrollably, they threaten to swallow you just as the Deku Scrub swallowed Link in his dream, and just as the Moon tried to swallow Termina.
But simple faith won’t solve every problem. Even if Anju waits patiently in her room for Kafei, her fiancé won’t necessarily return to her.

“Anju stayed in her room to wait for Kafei…
It’s foolish to believe a man like that.
I too believed my husband would return out of the blue…
Oh, Anju…
That child’s naive sense of trust may be my fault.”

—Anju’s mother

Faith won’t change circumstances. It won’t make it so that suddenly everything goes well and all your friends start living up to your expectations. But having faith allows you to go through your struggles with a clear mind and a strong heart. Without any strength of heart, a decent person could end up in something resembling Skull Kid’s tragic situation. Those without faith may try to run from their troubles, only to find that they cannot escape them.

“Forgive your friend.”

—The Eastern Giant

Friends won’t always be there for you, and they will at times disappoint you. To address this issue, Majora’s Mask also emphasizes the importance of forgiveness. As Igos du Ikana pointed out, believing in your friends means that you are willing to see past their failures.

When Kafei finally returns to Anju after his month-long absence, he raises his arm defensively and apologizes for being late. But instead of unleashing a storm of anger on him, Anju simply says, “Welcome home.”

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