Stone Tower of Babel: Why Termina was Doomed

New article: The Message of Majora's Mask
Please continue discussion of this theory and the new article in this thread.

At the top of the Stone Tower, there is a statue of a hand that points to the sky. Every time I looked at it I wondered why it was there. When I was playing that part of the game last night, I looked at the architecture at the entrance to the temple and I noticed that the tower next to the hand looked very phallic... then I understood.

And now, I think I've solved a large part of the mystery of Majora's Mask.

The Stone Tower is the Terminian equivalent of the Tower of Babel. The story of the Tower of Babel tells of mankind's attempt to defy God by building a tower that would reach the heavens. Because this was an act of wickedness, God thwarted their plans by making every man speak a different language. Unable to communicate, the men could not continue building the tower.

How does this apply to the Stone Tower? Many people here have mentioned that the Triforce can be seen on the statues leading to Ikana and on the blocks Link crosses to reach the top of the Tower. Nintendo did not put the Triforce there accidentally, or as an Easter egg. The Triforce is placed on the end of the tongue of the statue, and the statue uses its tongue to cover its crotch. Clearly the architects of those obscene statues were aware of the Triforce's existence and were mocking the three goddesses.

The hand at the top of the Stone Tower is pointing at the goddesses, and the phallic tower next to it is saying "Screw you." The Stone Tower itself resembles a giant phallus, sticking out of the earth and pointing towards the heavens.

The ancient ones who built the Stone Tower were blaspheming the goddesses of the Triforce. Their plan seems to have been to open a portal in the sky that would lead them to heaven. But the goddesses would not allow this to happen, and they would not let this evil go unpunished. So they flipped the universe upside down.

The architects opened the portal, but because everything had been reversed it led them to hell. And in hell there was a being that had been sealed away during a previous age, a being that had attempted to destroy the world. The architects found the mask of the demon and brought it with them. And so the goddesses punished the builders of the Stone Tower by releasing Majora into their world. That world was then called Termina because it was doomed to end. The men who had found the mask honored it by placing symbols of it in all the temples, as well as in the desert realm where they had found it (Twinmold's lair).

Ages later, the Skull Kid stole the mask and the demon finally had a weak host it could use as a puppet. As Majora gained strength, it summoned the moon to come crashing into Termina, as it was the fate of that world to be destroyed. But then a child came into that doomed world, a child who was a member of the race that had been blessed by the goddesses, a child who had carried a piece of the sacred Triforce. That child was Link, and in three days he conquered the devil and saved the world (a possible allusion to the story of Christ). It should be noted that Link had entered a portal in the sky as he did this; was that the realm the ancient ones had tried to reach? As the moon was cast back into the heavens, the goddesses left behind a rainbow as a promise that they would not again seek to destroy Termina, as God had left a rainbow in the sky as a covenant with Noah after flooding the world.

Interestingly enough, though the goddesses spared Termina, they did send a flood to wipe out Hyrule.

Another thing I want to mention: In the Stone Tower Temple Link found the Giant's Mask, which was a sort of tranformation mask. Each transformation mask contained a being's essence. Was there, at one point, a fifth Giant? Were there two Giants in the East, and was one of them sealed away? The Giant's Mask closely resembles the mask of the Garo Master. Perhaps one Giant was the patriarch of the Garos and the other the patriarch of the Ikanans, and the ancient conflict was the source of the tensions that led to the war that destroyed Ikana.

Edit: Alright, I no longer think there's any merit to that idea about the Giant's Mask being related to some fifth Giant. Here's what I think of the Giant's Mask now: It was the weapon the Stone Tower architects intended to use to destroy the Goddesses. The Terminians loved their Giants, but some female deities were supposedly greater than the Giants. The Terminians thought that idea was revolting, so they selected the Giant's Mask as a weapon to demonstrate the superiority of the Giants. This also relates to the imagery in the Stone Tower of the Giants raping the Goddesses.

Some of the credit for these theories goes to this thread at IGN, although my theories are fairly different. I found that thread with a google search.

So, what do you think?


Edit: This thread has gotten pretty long, so I'm going to try to start summarizing a few of the topics discussed here for those who don't have time to read the whole thing.

- I believe the heart of Majora's Mask's story is the theme of faith versus doubt. This post explains this idea at length. Basically, Termina is a world without faith, which is why it is doomed. Link brings the spirit of faith to Termina, which is why the Goddesses are on his side, and which is why Termina is redeemed.

- Here's an excellent screenshot resource for stuff in MM relevant to this theory. Much neater than the mess I've created below.

- There is a major piece of evidence for this theory in the first room of the Stone Tower Temple. At first the central statue seems to depict a distorted face sticking out its tongue, but notice what it resembles when the tower is inverted:





It is a statue of Majora's Mask. The bottom part broke off. If you look at it in the game, an emblem was painted on the bottom of the statue, but part of it is missing, indicating that the statue was originally heart-shaped.

Note: It's been pointed out that when the tower is not inverted, that statue also closely resembles the true face of Majora.

Here's another comparison image.

- Here are screenshots for references. These were provided by several members, not just me.

The Stone Tower
The Stone Tower Temple entrance
A phallic pillar and the pointing hand
The interior of the Stone Tower
A view of the temple entrance and the four phallic pillars- The four phallic pillars likely represent the four male Giants. The Terminians may have rejected the goddesses of the Triforce because they refused to worship anyone other than their Giants. Notice the slightly sexual expression of the temple entrance's face- is it implying a rape of the goddesses? The builders of the Stone Tower might have been seeking to invade the goddesses' realm in the heavens and destroy them using the Giant's Mask as a symbolic weapon.
An early version of the Stone Tower

The front of a Stone Tower block
The side of the same block
The base of the same block, with the Triforce image- from the blocks leading into the inverted tower. Notice how the camera zooms in on the Triforce on its own, making it hard to overlook.
Another view of these blocks
A better view of them
The pillars in Eastern Termina Field
The inverted Stone Tower- Notice how prominent the Triforce design is here.
An inverted Triforce?- What do these triangles signify?
Another view of the triangles
One of the blocks inside Ikana Castle
The entrance to the Stone Tower- This has the same design as the blocks inside it, so the blocks are definetly from the Stone Tower, not Ikana Castle
A closer view of the entrance
Eastern entrance to Clock Town

A mysterious portal above the Stone Tower Temple- Is it a glitch, or is there meaning to it? The portal is certainly related to the warp to Twinmold's lair, so the question is did the designer keep it visible for a reason or just by accident?
A youtube video about the portal above the Stone Tower- This came from this thread at another forum, which discussed whether the portal may be a glitch assosiated with the warp to the boss's lair.

A map of the inverted Stone Tower Temple- Notice the linear path leading to the portal to Twinmold's lair. The entrance to this path is just above the statue of Majora's Mask, so the mask statue is in a way the gateway to the desert. The Triforces on the blocks outside the tower point directly towards Twinmold's lair.
Another image of the Majora statue, with the missing part and the emblem outlined
A closer view of the Majora statue
The backside of the statue
The Majora's Mask monuments in the desert- Notice how in these images, the mask has two horns on each side of the face, instead of four, just like the stone statue of Majora's Mask. The Mask image here also seems to have a nose and a mouth, and possibly a third eye.
Majora Monuments (Small Link)
Majora Monuments (Giant Link)
The Stone Tower emblem
A door inside the Stone Tower Temple
Boss door
Blood-stained emblem
Strange Mirror
Gomess- A few things to note: the name Gomess is similar to the word Goddess, and the skeletal body and scythe of Gomess are remniscent of the cursed Ikanans.
The Garo Master ...and his advice (1) (2)

Here are my thoughts on how the Goddesses flipped the Stone Tower:
The Light Arrows, weapons that are traditionally regarded as being sacred, are found within the Stone Tower Temple, in the most accursed corner of Termina. How and why did they end up there? The Goddesses seem to have placed the arrows in the Tower for its wicked architects to find, for the arrows' divine light of justice is meant to smite the wicked. The architects were deceived into firing the arrows into the red emblem of the Tower, an emblem the Garo Master described as being bloodstained. Perhaps the emblem actually contained the blood of those slaughtered by the architects. In that case, when the light of justice reached the blood it wreaked vengeance on those who shed that blood by flipping the Tower and leading them to Hell.

An eyeball emblem that is remniscent of Eyegore
The compass emblem of Termina in Majora's Mask's lair- Countless variations of this emblem are seen throughout the entire game. (example)
Map of Termina
Welcome to Termina
Rocks in a constellation pattern

Stairwell in Ikana Castle
Ikana Castle Throne Room
A paper airplane?

An engraving in the Clock Tower
A mural inside the Clock Tower- Notice that the same design appears on the brooch of Igos du Ikana.

A strange face in Woodfall Temple- The design is remniscent of some of the Stone Tower designs. Are those four things around the face meant to be phallic? Are there eyes (Majora's eyes?) looking out from inside the mouth?
Another Woodfall gargoyle
Patterns above a door in Woodfall

The official art of Majora's Mask- Note how the colors of the spike on each side of the face are the same colors assosiated with the four worlds of Termina: Green for the swamp, red for the mountains, blue for the oceans, and yellow for the canyon.
Majora's Mask attacks, resembling the sun- A major theme of Termina's culture seems to be a long conflict with the heavens. One of the first things Nintendo must have known about the world of Termina was that the Moon was falling, so as they fleshed out the culture of the world they probably focused on the significance of the sky and of celestial bodies. On the outer walls of Clock Town there are four different murals (North-storm?, South-rainbow?, East-sun, West-moon?) that all seem to relate to the sky, for instance, and the elemental theme of the game's final dungeon is the sky. And when Termina is saved, a rainbow appears in the sky to signify the end of the long conflict. Majora's fire attack seems to hint at this theme. I should also point out that red lines stream out from the eyes of the Majora statue, perhaps foreshadowing this attack. The centerpiece of Majora's arena also resembles the sun.
The body of Majora's Wrath, with markings that resemble breasts and ovaries- These markings, as well as Majora's feminine screams, physique, and behavior, all seem to indicate that the demon is a female. Considering the masculine arrogance of the Stone Tower architects, who pointed phallices towards the heavens, it is quite fitting that the Goddesses would unleash a female demon to obliterate Termina.
Another image of Majora's Wrath

Quote from Kaepora Gaebora:

Ho-ho-ho-ho-hoot!
This is a rare sight. You are a
fairy child, correct?

What business might you have in
this poisoned swamp?

If you dare not venture further,
I shall pass no judgment.
It is better that you hurry back
to town.

This swamp you are in has lost
its guardian deity. But it was
destined to fade anyway.

Hoo-hoot...And that destiny is not
solely limited to this swamp...

If you have the courage and
determination to proceed in the
face of destiny, then I shall teach
you something useful.

Before coming here, had you not
seen any of the stone statues
that bear close resemblance
to me?

I have placed those throughout
the land to aid the one with the
power to change the destiny of
this land...
Wherever he may appear.

Quite an intresting theory, Dan. If I might go slightly off-topic for a brief moment (won't take long, honest), the Tower of Babel made an appearance in Final Fantasy 4, and was home to a Giant. Giant of Babel, Giant's Mask. Yay for similarity.

Wow... You really cut deep in to this one...
So now I can kinda see the reason or ideas Nintendo used when they were creating this game/level... It's great, all this 'deep' meaning to things you'd never notice... So...great theory there! I can see your point... I've always kind of wondered about those weird signs and such, but never thought about it enough to come up with all this...

Really interesting! I never thought about the Stone Tower being like that......a blasphemy to the Goddesses.

Perhaps they destroyed Ikhana, causing it to be in the ruined state it is today?

I had a long response but because the data base logged me out it wasn't posted, so I'll make this as quick as possible.
Good theory. The idea that people of Termina slandered the Goddesses rather than worship them like thier Hyrulian counterparts makes alot of sense considering they are parallels, but idea of Majora coming from hell sounds like fanfiction, it gave me some ideas though.

I think the ST builders not only insulted the Goddesses but thier own guardians as well, due to your point about the Giants mask. Perhaps they were trying to show they could be just as powerful as them.
Perhaps they had another God, perhaps they were the Zelda form of Satanists who worshipped thier form of a Devil- Majora. the Goddesses should have an evil counterpart. Ganondorf's bad but he can hardly stand against a child of pure heart, let alone the creators of his world. Maybe another figure fits the description. Is Majora the Dark God?

Originally Posted by Magic-Tech

I had a long response but because the data base logged me out it wasn't posted, so I'll make this as quick as possible.

I usually copy all the text before posting, cause that's happened to me many times.

Good theory. The idea that people of Termina slandered the Goddesses rather than worship them like thier Hyrulian counterparts makes alot of sense considering they are parallels, but idea of Majora coming from hell sounds like fanfiction, it gave me some ideas though.

Let me defend that part then.

For one thing, it makes sense in terms of storytelling to reveal how Majora escaped into the world towards the end of the game. If that information is withheld, there's a big plot hole regarding how Majora escaped its ancient seal. And throughout the game, the Stone Tower looms ominously over Termina, foreshadowing its role as the heart of the game's mystery. You can see it from the field, from the ranch, from the mountains, but you have no idea what it is. (Mr. Miyamoto said in Nintendo Power vol. 134 that players would have to unravel the mystery at the heart of the game.)

In my last post, I wasn't referring to the Christian hell, but to some sort of Terminian equivalent. While in Termina, Link travels to three different realms: the field in the sky, the abodes of the Giants, and the lair of Twinmold. I think it's possible that the field represents heaven, the abyss is purgatory and the desert is hell. I don't think that idea's too much of a stretch, because MM does seem to have thematic ties with Christianity. The major moral of the story, "Forgive your friend," which is spelled out letter by letter, reflects the teachings of Christ, while the three days it takes Link to save the world reflects the three days during which Christ saved our world. The rainbow that appears when the moon is gone reflects the rainbow Noah saw as the floodwaters receded. Majora represents Lucifer, as the being once dwelt in the field in the sky, but according to legend it was sealed away because of the mischief it caused.

The Stone Tower reflects the wicked Tower of Babel. The dramatic twist in the Babel story was that God foiled the men by causing them to speak different languages. The dramatic twist in the Stone Tower story is that the goddesses foiled the men by turning everything upside down. The portal in the sky was only accessible from the Stone Tower when it was upside down, and that portal led to a desert instead of a field. Majora's Mask is featured on the ruins in that desert. Consider what that means: the Stone Tower led its architects to the desert. There they found a wicked artifact and began worshipping it.

There are several hints in the game that the goddesses released Majora into Termina. The owl told Link that the world was destined to fade. Why should that world have such a dark fate? It's because of the horrible blasphemy of the Stone Tower. How is the world going to fade? Majora is going to destroy it. When the moon is gone, an enormous rainbow appears over Termina, and it seemed to be a hint that the goddesses had played some role in the story.

Wow nice job there Hylian Dan!!
I am not a big fan of theories, but this one really caught my attention. You tie up the events so nicely that you just make the readers want to keep on reading every single paragraph of this article. I'm not too sure about a few things, but that is irrelevant. Nice work and keep it up!

My, that's a really unorthodox way of looking at things. I never really though that the Terminians had any knowledge of the Three Godesses to begin with.

yh, though i'm not so sure about majora coming from a terminian equivilant of hell, it is a very good theory, and it does appear to take some of it's content from the bible, though babel eventually became the (3rd?) world power of the ancient days, whereas ikana turned into a ruin

*claps* BRAVO! Yet another Excellent Theory from the Philosopher. What're you gonna do next?

Correctly theorize the entire plot of TP? If so, I'm all ears!

(Nice way reflecting all of that, I'm gonna check that out myself...)

btw, i 4got 2 mention that the city it became was babylon

Yes, the Tower of Babel did indeed become Babylon, the Golden Age of our world, but where is it now?

Under about 50 feet of dust and rubble!

As quoted:

Revaltions 18:2

And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

(Note: This is KJV, which is the english transLATION, not transLITERATION.)

Interesting comparison of Stone Tower to an asherah poll. I'm not sure I wanted that image in my mind. Yep, now I can never look at Stone Tower with out thinking.... It's even weirder when you go inside it.

I had noticed the Triforce symbols on the underside of the block leading to the entrance to Stone Tower. I always thought it had to do with Termina's relationship to Hyrule, a sort of opposite world. Perhaps things like that did have to do with a rebellious people.

That's a good theory... Kind of confusing, but I understood after reading it through Again! :XD
But would Nintendo really link it to something as complicating as that?
I still don't really understand the Triforce part on the steps.
I thought the hand was pointing to the sky, meaning 'Look' as if it was an arrow, telling you to look up, and when you do, you have that huge scary face on the moon looking down at you, which is probably telling you to get a move on and save Termina?

Are some of you implying that the giant moon was perhaps sent by the godesses to destroy Hyrule? If that was so, then why would Link be working against the godesses?

Originally Posted by Mangione

Are some of you implying that the giant moon was perhaps sent by the godesses to destroy Hyrule? If that was so, then why would Link be working against the godesses?

I think the goddesses did send the moon to destroy Termina, since they knew that Majora would find a way to end the world. They didn't want to destroy Hyrule: when the Mask Salesman found Majora's Mask and brought it to Hyrule, he was promptly attacked by Skull Kid, who took the mask back to Termina and set the cataclysmic events in motion. I think the Moon's Tear was a hint that the goddesses were sad that Termina had to come to such an end.

But Link wasn't working against the goddesses. He healed Termina so that it wouldn't need to be destroyed. It's a parallel to the story of Christ.

Thanks for all the support, everyone.

Edit: This just occured to me. Maybe Link lost the Triforce of Courage, as was mentioned in TWW, because the goddesses didn't want such a sacred item to enter Termina.

There's only one problem I just came upon with your theory. You said that Majora came from 'hell', right? Well, I remember that the King Ikana said that their souls were 'brought back' because the door was re-opened. And that door was opened by Majora. That fact that it might be 'hell' isn't the problem.

The problem is that part where you said Majora came from it.

Originally Posted by Link-herooftime

There's only one problem I just came upon with your theory. You said that Majora came from 'hell', right? Well, I remember that the King Ikana said that their souls were 'brought back' because the door was re-opened. And that door was opened by Majora. That fact that it might be 'hell' isn't the problem.

The problem is that part where you said Majora came from it.

I went back to check the text (Igos du Ikana is easy if you stun him as a Deku then punch him as a Goron) and here's my understanding of the Ikana story. Sharp said he was the only one who knew the way into the temple, so I guess he composed the Elegy of Emptiness. The "masked one" (Skull Kid?) came to Ikana and promised Sharp that he would revive the Royal Family for the price of Sharp's soul. Sharp accepted the deal, so the masked one opened the gates to the temple and the evil curse came from it, reviving the Royal Family by making them undead.

Maybe the Stone Tower was filled with that evil power when the portal to Majora's lair was opened. The gates were shut after Majora escaped in an attempt to seal away the evil power there. When Majora revisited Ikana, strengthened by its host (Skull Kid?), it reopened the gates and the curse engulfed Ikana.

I don't like theories much... but hot damn that is one hella good theory. It's scary that it makes so much sense. O.o Though I'm not exactly likeing the whole part about the phallus images, it's still a very good theory, especially the upside down part.

This is a very interesting theory...and oddly could be very accerate from what Miyamoto wanted for people to find the story behind the game. Very Interesting...