Complete Explanation of the origin of Majora's Mask and Fierce Deity

Now, here is a theory I came up with in a few hours of thinking and looking trough my text dump of MM... Now many of you might think that this is just another "Fierce Deity was a God who opposed Majora in the past... bla bla" theory but it's rather an alternative theory which approaches it from a totally different direction. So here goes...

Alternative Fierce Deity + Majora's Mask Origin Theory

First of, the idea for this theory isn't originally mine. I found an article on google some time ago and I thought it over, and this is what I came up with.
First of all let me review the basic things, the last fight with Majora.
- The fight takes place on the surface of the moon which is falling on Termina.
On the moon all you see is a giant empty space with one tree in the middle (?) surrounded by a small portion of grass.

- Around the tree you see 5 children wearing masks. 4 of the wear masks of the dungeon bosses you meet in the game while the 5th child is wearing Majora's Mask.

- The 4 children wearing boss masks (Boss children from now on) are playing. Only the kid wearing Majora's Mask (Majora kid from now on) is sitting lonely under the tree.
If you play a mini game with each of the 4 boss children (Assuming you have all the other masks) you give each of them some of your masks and in the end you get the Fierce Deity mask from the Majora kid.

1. Origin and identity of Fierce Deity
Now after those things are set, now is the time for a bit more in-depth look of the situation. First of all let's check Majora's psyche a bit. For him this whole thing is a game. It has a playful nature. Notice how this resembles on the surface of the moon. 4 children playing, but one isn't. Why is that so? I will go into detail later. Also note that the Majora child asks you to play with him when you talk to him, no matter if you did the mini games or not. Now that everything is set up, in order to explain everything easier later on I will state the theory here and I will provide the evidence in this article. The basic idea is that the place where the kids are, the kids themselves, do not exist. It is all in the mind of Majora (Assuming that the entity in the mask is called Majora). The same goes for Fierce Deity as well. He or It never existed unlike the other transformation mask's original owners.
Now before you start thinking "What bull**** is this!?" and stop reading the article, let me provide the evidence. First of all judging by the scenery it becomes quite obvious that it cannot be reality. Endless white void and just one grass spot with a tree on top of a destructive moon... Also the fact that you regain all your masks which you gave to the Boss children after you leave the moon supports this statement. So... that same theory states that the 4 children aren't real either. Now take a close look at the situation. The kids are doing what? They are playing. Playing with masks. And when kids play, especially with masks, they usually pretend to be someone else, in this case they are pretending to be the corresponding boss whose mask they are wearing. But the Majora kid is just sitting there. Why? Take a look at Majora's Mask. What does it represent? Nothing. It is no animal, no human, nothing. That is why the other kids didn't let the Majora kid play with them. So the Majora kid is most probably angry. And there goes Link... he comes to the tree, and he talk to each of the 4 Boss children. Each of them says that he wants to play with Link. And thus the mini games start. Note also that in each of the mini games you must wear a transformation mask in order to finish it. That also goes to the favor that this is all happening in Majora's mind because the children are pretending to be someone / something else and Link must play along, thus change form. Now imagine the Majora kid who is watching the other 4 kids and Link playing together. He would be jealous at Link, and we all know jealousy leads to anger and hate. So when Link is done playing with the other children the Majora kid asks him to play with him. After Link accepts the Majora kid says that Link is the bad guy, since the kid is angry and hates Link thinking that it was bad of him to play with the other kids who were cruel to the Majora kid. There comes the Fierce Deity mask. As we all know Fierce Deity is called Oni Link in Japaneses and Oni means demon which then translates into Demon Link. And that is the essence of the whole mask. It is just a mask created by Majora in order to surface Links evil side in his heart (Or at least evil parts). That also explains why Fierce Deity looks like Link. In other words, Fierce Deity never existed.

2. Origin and identity of Majora's Mask
Now for the second part of this article I will try to explain the origin of Majora's Mask. Trough the game it is never said who or what made the mask nor where it comes from. Also there is no information on how old the mask is. Ok so let's get started.
As said the scene on the moon is not real. It is just happening in Majora's mind. Now to be more precise in Majora's memories. Maybe not his memories but I will clear it up in this part of the article. Now look at the scene again of the children playing. That is the memory. And if Majora is "playing it back" then it would certainly be the memory of the Majora kid. And that is it, the explanation of the "evil" inside the mask. The Majora kid was sad, angry and confused. The mask absorbed all the sorrow and the hate. That is also how it could recall that very memory of that day. Now some of you might think that if it was a memory then the first part of the article with Fierce Deity would come in conflict. Well if that is a memory then it must be very very very old. Because in the game it is said that an ancient tribe used the mask for rituals. This means that at that point the mask was already created and filled with the sorrow and all the anger from the kid. That also states that the mask mask was made many ages before that tribe got a hold of it (Yes I am saying that the tribe didn't create the mask. It isn't said where they had it from to begin with).

So that means that Link wasn't alive at that time (At least not the Link in MM, depending on where in the timeline MM is placed the actual event on the moon might have happened during some of the oder Zelda games). So Link actually never interrupted the kids play and all what happened is that the Majora kid watched the other children play. Probably the same event happened many times where the Majora kid was left out because his mask didn't represent anything.

So to sum it up. Majora (The entity in Majora's Mask) is actually the anger, the sorrow, the hate and sadness of that little boy. Now in the game Majora meets the Skull kid who is basically very similar to the kid who made Majora's Mask. And thus starts the whole thing. Majora never wanted to destroy the world because of some evil ideals like Ganondorf for example. All it wanted is to play with someone and he sees all his doings as a game. This is widely confirmed by the things Majora says trough the game, aswell as trough it's behavior. Maybe some of his saying don't support this statement but don't forget that it is the Skull Kid wearing the mask so it might be some part of him speaking too. There is no evidence that states that the mask took total control over the Skull Kid.

3. Addition theories and info
- I'm sure you all know that you can only use the Fierce Deity mask in boss battles. But since the Fierce Deity mask is only a fictional item created by the boy on the moon that would mean that the rooms where you fight the bosses aren't real either. That also explains why you can fight the bosses over and over again. It is just a virtual world which Majora created and the boss fights are just games to him. Majora created the bosses by the image of the 4 masks the boss kids were wearing when playing together ages ago. Remember that all those bosses were actually the giants wearing the boss masks. Assuming hat those boss masks are actually transformation masks for the giants it is logical that when you are fighting them again they are simply "playing" with you again by putting on the mask of the boss. But it could also be that since it's a fiction world created by Majora that is simply "resets" when you enter it again. The first theory is more likely to be true though.

- If you take a close look at the 4 kids you will see an incredibly strong resemblance to a certain person... The Happy mask salesman. They practically look identical to him (When he still was a child). The Happy mask salesman said that Majora's Mask is a very important mask to him. Now one would automatically assume that it is because of its power but what if it isn't that? There were many theories stating that the Happy Mask salesman is not human because of his ability to move around rather fast and appear as if he just manifested at the spot. He also knows quite a lot which isn't just limited to masks. For example he helped Link regain his former form. Remember also the fact that he said that he needs to leave Termina in 3 days. And the moon is supposed to crash in 3 days. Coincidence? Maybe... but most unlikely. I am sure that you all see where this is going, the kid who was sitting under the tree, and who created the Majora's Mask is the Happy Mask Salesman. This sets up the question... Why do the 4 other kids look like him? This could be of various reasons. It is possible that over the ages Majora forgot how the other kids look because of it's hate and anger towards them. Or perhaps it made all the other kids look the same in the moon scene because the only important thing about them were their masks. It didn't want to remember them. It could also mean that, since childred think of themselves as other creatures while they play as stated above, Majora never thought of those 4 as children but as the 4 bosses.

- The forms which Majora's mask takes during the battle against him are rather "abstract" forms. This is due to the fact that back when the kids were playing, that particular mask didn't mean aything. So Majora's imagination could make it into anything it wanted.

If you need additional proof there is a text dump of the whole MM text on gamefaqs.com Hope this helped to clear things up a bit.

Just a note- your particular formatting is kind of hard to follow, spelling errors, inconsistent pronouns, and all.

I do enjoy seeing theories that specifically set out to look at a subject from an entirely different angle.

The idea that the Boss Remains are actually masks the Giants used to play with Skullkid is very interesting.

The idea that the Fierce Deity Mask is all in Majora's imagination is interesting as well, but the idea that the Majora child gave Link the mask solely as punishment for playing with the "cruel" children is a little... flat? It just doesn't seem to hit any marks. However, the children appear to be playing tag on the moon, and leaving Majora out. When Japanese children play tag together, the child who is "it" is the "oni". One could draw a connection between the Fierce Deity Mask (which is known as the Oni Mask in the Japanese version of the game) and being "it".

I do get lost at the end, though, due to the formatting; are you proposing that the Happy Mask Salesman is Majora, or are you proposing he has a close tie to Majora, possibly familial (Majora his ancestor) if Majora was originally just a Hylian/human child?

I'm sorry for the formatting, I just copy / pasted it out of word where I used tabs... I'll fix it up right away. As for the "giving him the mask because he played with the other kids" I believe that the mask represents evil (Oni = demon = evil). And it drives out the evil parts in Link. That also explains why Fierce Deity looks like Link. I can't agree with your tag thing because Zelda isn't happening in Japan and I don't see much japanese culture in it. I do know about the Triforce symbolism though. Maybe it could be both things combined? I also don't think he gave it to him as a punishment. But look at it like this:
He wanted to play with Link. And since Link made Majora trouble in the past and now he played with the other "cruel" kids too he saw Link as evil. So he thought of Fierce Deity as the most suitable form / personality that Link can take in the game (remember that he has to "pretend" that he is someone else in the game).
As for the Happy Mask salesman, you will probably see it once I clean the article up, but I suggest that he is the kid who is sitting under the tree, the one who created Majora's Mask. it is fairly possible because it has been already proven that the Happy Mask Salesman is not / no longer human.

EDIT: Ok fixed up the formating and the spelling mistakes. Thanks for pointing them out.

Thank you for tightening up the formatting; it's a lot of information, and you don't want to miss anything.

Zelda takes its inspiration from all over the world. While Hyrule is a fantasy setting, comparisons to the real world still applies, such as applying facts from the real world cultures that cultures in Zelda are based on. For instance, the Hylians are based on Germanic culture and the Gerudo are based on Middle Eastern culture. They are not one and the same, obviously, but they are major influences.

Keep in mind, too, that Zelda is made first for a Japanese audience; indeed, most video games debut in Japan first, and there are thousands of games that never see the overseas markets due to lack of interest. The reason Tingle continues to stay in the games is because he's massively popular in Japan. A Japanese audience would get the word play, while Nintendo of America glossed over it in translation. Amazing what a language barrier can do, huh?

The "oni" reference refers both to evil and to the child being "it"- it's a clever play on words. It boils down to "you wanna play? here, you're going to be it!" where being "it" requires being Fierce Deity, who, in your theory, is Majora's idealized "bad guy".

It hasn't been proven (i.e., confirmed by the big N) that the Happy Mask Salesman is nothing more than a Hylian mask salesman, and I haven't run across any theories that have convinced me he is immortal and powerful. He does possess knowledge of the Song of Healing, yes, and he comes come off a little obsessive, but it's nothing that is not within the realm of a mortal Hylian man, either from Hyrule or Termina. I'd love to hear your evidence for his immortality/powers, if you have any.

Well it's not much of evidence as it is some facts in the games. I'll try to lay em out.

Here's a wikipedia quote.

Near the end of Majora's Mask, Link travels to the moon and meets several kids who resemble the mask salesman. One of them even hints that all of them are destined to become mask salesmen. This adds many questions to the origin of the Mask Salesman. The Mask Salesman, knowing of the apocalyptic nature of the Majora's Mask, hints that he has experienced it firsthand. Further with this evidence is if the Moon falls, it will show you with The Mask Salesman, and he will say, "You have met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" Given this shows hints of a type of immortality, or an ability to reset things to the way they were, as perhaps he has had to do this before, or deal with Majora himself.

It doesn't prove anything but it's a theory alright.
Also Termina is an alternate dimension. Most characters have their doubles in that world. But note that for example, the FARMER Talon is now BARTENDER Talon and so on... Most of the characters kept more or less of their original roles but they changed a lot too. Everyone except the Happy Mask Salesman. And the fact that you see children representing the Happy Mask Salesman on the moon / inside Majora's Mind is weird enough. What does Majora have with the Happy Mask Salesman. I mean, if you were a demonic entity fighting the hero of legend after your destruction masterplan was stopped, would you imagine the image of somebody who found you somewhere and carried you in his backpack for _some_ time?
Hope I was clear enough with that... If the Happy Mask Salesman only found Majora's Mask, and is no way related to it... Why would he appear on that moon?

EDIT: This might be small fry but also remember how he moves "instantly". Best place to see this is in the MM conversations in the Clock Tower.

...

What was he doing in the Clock Tower anyway? ... Perhaps he was WAITING for Link in like, he knew Link was coming?

Originally Posted by the_Predator

Also Termina is an alternate dimension. Most characters have their doubles in that world. But note that for example, the FARMER Talon is now BARTENDER Talon and so on... Most of the characters kept more or less of their original roles but they changed a lot too. Everyone except the Happy Mask Salesman. And the fact that you see children representing the Happy Mask Salesman on the moon / inside Majora's Mind is weird enough. What does Majora have with the Happy Mask Salesman. I mean, if you were a demonic entity fighting the hero of legend after your destruction masterplan was stopped, would you imagine the image of somebody who found you somewhere and carried you in his backpack for _some_ time?
Hope I was clear enough with that... If the Happy Mask Salesman only found Majora's Mask, and is no way related to it... Why would he appear on that moon?

EDIT: This might be small fry but also remember how he moves "instantly". Best place to see this is in the MM conversations in the Clock Tower.

...

What was he doing in the Clock Tower anyway? ... Perhaps he was WAITING for Link in like, he knew Link was coming?

The thing you've got to remember is that the Happy Mask Salesman is Hylian; having magical powers is standard issue for his race, not the exception.

As for the doubles; just because we don't see the doubles don't mean they're not there, or weren't there (age and placement in history really don't hamper doubles at all). The Happy Mask Salesman's double may be recently dead, long dead, or the events that led to his birth may have never happened at all- perhaps his parents' doubles married different people rather than each other.

The references to the Happy Mask Salesman on the moon come from Skullkid's psyche, rather than Majora's; his psyche dominates the illusion more than hers does (Four children = four giants) In Ocarina of Time, one could sell him a mask, which made him happy. The Salesman in that case was actually Link, rather than the Happy Mask Salesman himself.

As for the children, the only resemblance they share with the Happy Mask Salesman is their hair color and style. The Happy Mask Salesman doesn't appear on that moon, not by a long shot. It's possible that this is how Skullkid looked before he became Skullkid; Skullchildren are alluded to being lost children per Navi's description in Ocarina of Time.

I'd love to see a proof that he is Hylian... The pointy ears? Yeah sure possible... But (this might be a bit subjective) I do think that he is more then just human and that he can actually travel between dimensions (Hyrule / Termina) so why not change shape? I know that this is just speculation but unfortunately thats all I got at the moment. I'll try to research this a bit more tomorrow. It's late now. But either way, he is not a normal human, that's for sure.

He's not human. Humans are a specifically defined race in the Zelda universe- Ilia in Twilight Princess, Malon and Talon in the Oracles. Pointed ears are the main claim to fame for Hylians, to be honest; only Hylians and Sheikah (who are biologically identical to Hylians) have pointed ears. Hylians state this is because they, as the Goddesses' chosen people, need to hear the will of the Goddesses (which may have some basis in fact, as Ganondorf develops pointed ears over time, despite originally being a round-eared Gerudo). Hylians can perform magic, and perhaps the Happy Mask Salesman is magically talented.

Traveling between Hyrule and Termina isn't a massive magical undertaking. Skullkid had to travel to Termina from Hyrule as a young Skullkid (in order to meet the Giants), travel back to Hyrule for his appearance in Ocarina of Time, and then travel back to Termina, two instances where he wouldn't have Majora's Mask. The game construes it as if you go far enough in the Lost Woods, you'll fall into the parallel dimension. Skullkid and the Happy Mask Salesman seem to have located the specifics of traveling to Termina. It's information, not power.

What I meant by normal human can also refer to normal hylian... You know what I meant... <.<

But the Termina traveling is interesting, never looked at it like that... Perhaps I missed something, but how do you know that the Termina skullkid isn't a double like everyone else? Still I see where you're going, there are not enough proofs that the Happy Mask Salesman is immortal or something... Still your arguments are more or less speculations as well.

I heard that the Happy Mask Salesman is actually Miyamoto... So it might as well be an easter egg...

I know, but since humans are an actual race in the game, you have to be more specific.

Eh-hee-hee...You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods...

Skullkid says this at the end of the game to Link- he is the Skullkid from Ocarina of Time that Link teaches Saria's Song to and sells the mask to.

It's thought he's designed after Miyamoto, due to some physical similarities, but it's never been confirmed. And I doubt they'd explain away a character with "Oh, it's just Miyamoto, don't worry!". If anything, Miyamoto would roughly be analogous to the Golden Goddesses, since he created Zelda.

So... in the end we can conclude... Nothing can be proven but he seems like a regular weirdo... ^^
Guess that beats part of my theory... Or at least shakes it, since I still can't imagine him being a normal person. But if he is, then the kid who made Majora Kid isn't the Happy Mask Salesman.

I'd focus on the idea that Majora was originally just a sad little boy; most theories (and my own!) take Majora to be a female demon.

Just because he's Hylian..doesn't mean that he automatically has magical powers and so on. He's pretty much a magician, almost like Ganondorf...with of course less aspiring goals. I think the salesman is somehow linked to the mask...he found the mask, became linked with it...and thats why all the children appear like him. It's all in his psyche, as Majora is just a mask...and can take whatever form it wants...but in the end, it's just a mask that needs a host. The problem, it was still linked to the salesman...and then was stolen by the skullchild...which caused all the problems.

Perhaps it felt lost...or needed to find an identity, or something. It was created by that dark tribe...not by the salesman, as he would've said that. He just happened to find it, and got "linked" to it. This is of course just a theory.

It never said that it was created by the tribe. And if you were searching for an ancient demonic artifact which perhaps even you created and you want a little boy to look for it who has no idea of its power... Would you say that you made it?

I just don't think the salesman created the Mask, I really do think it was that tribe...possibly where Ikana was. I think this was discussed in an earlier forum. But yeah, he's a mask salesman...he basically hunts rare masks. Kind of like a rare weapon hunter would do....except with sword.

He found the mask in Termina, probably in the stone tower, he was coming back to Hyrule with it...when that damn skullchild stole it from him, just like he stole Links ocarina. Do you see a link here for that skullchild? You gave him a mask...and played a song for him with an Ocarina in OoT. Do you not think that he would want to also start collecting masks and musical instruments too?

So no, I don't think he created it at all!

Again, it can be true, it can be totally false too. Nintendo gave us very little explanation about the stuff which is happening in Majora's Mask. I just thought of that theory and wanted to share it.
As for the skullkid, if it's the same... How come he didn't recognize Link after Link saved him from the MM?

Originally Posted by the_Predator

Again, it can be true, it can be totally false too. Nintendo gave us very little explanation about the stuff which is happening in Majora's Mask. I just thought of that theory and wanted to share it.
As for the skullkid, if it's the same... How come he didn't recognize Link after Link saved him from the MM?

He does recognize Link. He even says he smells like that "ocarina kid", I believe.

Link is just a Kokiri, it's easy to get them mixed up. Yeah, he's not really a kokiri...but he sure does look like one. And the lost woods can cause people to go crazy as well, its only a matter of time before he forgets.

But going with the timeline theory, that skullkid may have never even seen Link either...but then that would discredit the idea of the skullchild being obsessed with Masks and Ocarinas. Of course, if he never got the skull mask in the child timeline, which goes with MM...then maybe he would search for his own, thus earning him the Majora Mask.

He does recognize Link. He even says he smells like that "ocarina kid", I believe.

Never noticed that... Let me look it up.

EDIT: Nothing found when searching for "ocarina kid"; "ocarina" and "smell"...

I posted this quote already in this thread, but this is the quote that shows you Skullkid recognizes Link.

Eh-hee-hee...You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods...

Who knows? Maybe Skullkid's sense of smell is his dominant sense, which is why he doesn't recognize Link on sight.