I’m not sure this is so easy to assume. I always saw the Majora kid to be disgruntled, which made him defiantly unwilling to play with the others.

Again, this might not be solid reasoning here.

I would agree with you that the final confrontation and the weird haven where the kids run around isn’t “real.” But you would have to reiterate the old Matrix question: how do you define real? While the Majora confrontation might entirely be a battle of psyche between Link and Majora with no physical substance or setting, that does not necessarily mean the event is nonexistent. The result might be explained by calling the event an alternate reality, while not quite a dream, and certainly not a digitalized construct for the brain(like the Matrix), it’s crafted by a more mysterious magic of Majora, which makes such an alternate reality possible. This is similar to how Termina and MM in general take place in an alternate dimension of Hyrule, seemingly a parallel universe. But the concept is taken to the third power.

I also don’t agree with your concluded origin of Majora. While it might explain the earliest signs of the initial evil, it still doesn’t explain how a mere kid could be capable of such powerful evil, or how that anger could be manifested and magnified into a mask. We know that in order for the essence of a mask to be created, its host being must be dead first. But the Fierce Diety Mask and Majora’s Mask ‘s host origins are unknown, and your theory would be suggesting the kid was the first Majora, and after his death, his depressive qualities were instilled in his own mask. If this mask/host connection remains constant with Majora’s Mask, then the Happy Mask Salesman is most definitely not the source of Majora.

I think the playing children are not to be taken literally into the origins of Majora. They could simply be reflections of inner emotions revealed in the skull kid, or even Link. The skull kid seems more likely, as his inner friendship-inhibition worries are constantly revealed throughout the game. It is reflected in the grim interpretations of play that Majora projects into the final confrontation. Oni does not only mean demon in Japanese culture, but also the source of childhood tease, (in games similary to “tag”, Oni refers to the kid who is “it”). I do think there are deeper interpretations of this dark childhood nostalgia reflected in the final confrontation that serves as deeper source of symbolism than source of Majora’s origin.

Also the offical manga has touched on the origins of Majora and the carving of the mask a bit. If the creators seek to pursue Majora and reveal more of its origin in the future, I would bet they would work off this.

I remember reading an article some years ago that analyzed the phenomena somewhat differently. While I cannot remember the exact premise or find the article, I remember the analysis of symbolism, and its use in childhood, nostalgia, and good guys vs. bad guys. It analyzed the in game quotes in depth, and that’s something that your article is missing. It would be nice to have the game quotes stated and analyzed one right after another, to better prove the theory. I’d like to see some more in-depth analysis of the kids, with many different interpretations. Perhaps there is deep symbolism behind the kids, contrast and similarities between the four boss kids and the majora kid, an analysis of the hide-and-seek games versus good guys versus bad guys/cops and robbers, the quotes, or the four hiding and seemingly bad while Majora is the “good guy” and seeks. This is a well-founded article overall though, but I look forward to a more in-depth, thought-out, and researched revision sometime in the future. Good job.

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