Which Zelda is Darker? Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask?

[Link_man]

There is no doubt that Twilight Princess is much more darker than Majora's Mask. I also find Twilight Princess more addictive too. I have it for my Wii and all I catch myself doing is playing the game with any free time I have.

[Link428]

It would be MM because everyone thinks they are about to die so its really a no brainer

[Hanyou]

Majora's Mask is darker, not because everyone thinks they are about to die, but because its presentation is more focused on the psychological aspects of Link's quest, as well as the direct impact of the events (and not always just the moon!) on many of the characters.

The fundamental problem with Twilight Princess is that its characters are so detached from everything that it is difficult to take their problems seriously. Whatever "darkness" is in the game is superseded by the indifference I felt to those characters.

[Kitsu]

Without a doubt, I would say Majora's Mask. There were a variety of aspects that make it 'darker'. This is not to say that Twilight Princess is not dark - it most certainly was, but I think the way the issues contributing to the darkness, were greater and presented in such a way in Majora's Mask, that made it much darker.

Psychological Aspects

Majora's Mask dealt more with psychological and internal issues - especially with Link - than Twilight Princess. Again, Twilight Princess touched on this sort of thing too, but it was more prevalent in Majora's Mask.

For example, in the beginning of the game, Link is literally tossed into another world that he knows nothing about, with people he does not know, and is in the height of an impending apocalypse. Link's search for his lost friend is abruptly ended and he is forced to save a world he is unfamiliar with.

Further, he only has three days to accomplish said task. This puts an incredible amount of pressure on Link, and stresses him mentally, and physically.

Also, there are all the little things, so to speak. Throughout his quest to save Termina, he encounters a variety of characters, each one relating to another. All of the lives of the characters are intertwined, therefore his actions in one of their lives ultimately affects others.

Another major psychological issue is the fact that each time he resets the Three-Day cycle, his interactions with the people (save for things in the Bomber's Notebook, Temples, etc.) are erased, and reset. Thus, he is the only one who remembers what had just happened. No doubt, this added a sense of loneliness.

---

Looking more closely at the other characters, they each have their own issues - even outside of the coming apocalypse.

Take Kafei and Anju for example. There's a major issue here, that Kafei can't see Anju, even though he has to soon because of their upcoming wedding, because he had his mask stolen, and more so because he has been turned into a child.
The issue complicates when Anju and her family eventually leave town to go to the ranch to hopefully evade the effects of the devastating impact that will occur soon.

This also leads into another point, that makes it 'darker'. The people of Clock Town (or at least Anju and her family) believe that if they move far enough from the impact site, they will be safe - obviously a desperate and sad situation.

---

Twilight Princess was dark in the sense that the Twilight Realm was expanding throughout Hyrule, having adverse affects on the Light World, and consequently its people. Hylians were transformed into shadow beasts, and so on and so forth.
Evidently, this is 'dark', and depressing.

In both games, there is a situation that present immediate problems - both apocalyptic. However, I don't feel Twilight Princess is as dark for a number of reasons.

One being that, in the Twilight Realm, it isn't quite as 'apocalyptic' as in Majora's Mask. In Twilight Princess, the people become Twilight beings, or Shadow beasts, and therefore the race isn't necessarily exterminated, as with Majora's Mask, where the whole world is destroyed by the moon.

Likewise, I didn't feel the same sort of psychological affect as I detailed about Majora's Mask. Sure, it was sad and emotional at parts, but it did not have the severe urgency that Majora's Mask did, whilst still managing to retain a sense of 'everyday life'.

[UsayEldaZay]

Majora's Mask was more dark in my opinion. There was a sense of urgency when you played (knowing the limited amount of time you had). Also, going inside of the moon and seeing that one...lone...tree. That was kind of creepy I thought. And that moon was quite the stalker. Walking around and then I look up and, hey, it's the moon. Twilight Princess was a game with a dark storyline but I don't think it was as dark as mm.

[Dungeon killer]

It would have to be Mm, the presure of the moon coming down on Termina and killing you and evry single living life from made me think it was a dark game.

[Emicon]

Majora's Mask is much darker than Twilight Princess on so many levels. First of all, the main focus is about the end of the world. If you let the clock run out, you are forced to watch the Moon fall and destroy everyone. First time I let that happen I got chills and was disturbed for a little while. If you run around during the night of the third day, you can find various reactions to the moon falling. Personally, it made me sad when Anju would be at the ranch, crying because she left Kafei behind. Also, when the sword trainer was hiding in the back of his dojo. The game incorporates so many details to make the end of the world seem real.

MM also deals with death. We see how Darmani and Mikau have regrets after they have passed on. Darmani regrets he could not save and protect his people while Mikau cannot be with the band and leaves behind a girlfriend who has just lost her eggs (perhaps he fathered them?). They leave their responsibilities for Link, who has only three days to set them right.

What makes TP dark is the Twilight covering Hyrule, the children being kidnapped, and the Twili race being sealed away. However, none of those things seemed as real as trying to beat the clock so you could save the world. I felt that the tragedy and despair in MM touched the player more. Link couldn't ignore everything and the world would go on. Everything that happened was relevant to the player and determined is he would live or die.

[Kybyrian]

Honestly, I think that Majora's Mask is a lot darker of a game. Twilight Princess just didn't give me that sense at all. There were some really bad and dark times in Twilight Princess, sure, but there were also a lot of happy ones, and most of the time when you're traveling through places it doesn't seem all that dark at all.

In Majora's Mask, it seems like almost everywhere you went there was something dark. Of course, something could be done in some cases to make it seem a bit better, but that just doesn't cut it for me. It seems to me that the whole game was just really dark in general. All of Termina was simply falling apart, and the worst part was that while some people were in town not knowing what was going to happen, others were out there suffering at some point in the game, and then at the end everything was looking completely down. Even though there are pick-me-ups in the game it is simply still the darker Zelda game for me.

[Aki Graham]

There are lots of elements that make each game scary in it's own way:

1. Presentation
The graphics and light are a good way to make things creepier. Graphics play a big part in showing the actual content. TP has a lot of darkness in the literal sense, and in a certain, creepy way. It has the slight orange tinge to the twilight realm, and the floating... pixel things. So, TP wins in this category.
MM has the in-game 12 hours of darkness. Along with the temples, and that is pretty much it.
2. Music and Sounds
TP has some sad/creepy music, especially at night and when Midna is cursed. The twilight realm, however, doesn't have that creepy music, which is weird. The music in general isn't that scary.
MM, however, has lots of different scary music. During the final fight, the music is just plain insane. It has lots of signs of creepiness and insanity, to make it scary. The dungeons have spooky music also, so i have to say MM wins in this category. As a friend of mine says, during a horror movie, don't cover your eyes, but your ears. Music is a very influential thing on your mind.
3. The Plot
TP is about an evil overlord that isn't really that powerful trying to usurp the pure kingdom of Hyrule. He takes control of things by covering them in darkness, and scoring each region with deadly creatures.
MM is about an evil creature trying to destroy the world with the moon crashing into it. He/she is a deadly creature that has three different forms, and he can take control of people in his 1st form. He uses one of his possessions to cause chaos throught the world of Termina just because he wanted to, and is senile.

MM wins, IMO.

[lonely_moon]

Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess are dark in their own ways, and it's actually quite difficult to tell which one is darker than the other.

Majora's Mask was dark mainly because of impending doom (the moon) and how many of the characters were unhappy, fearful or ignorant in some way. Anju and Kafei were unhappy because their wedding plans had gone seriously awry, Romani tries to protect the cows from the aliens but ultimately fails, and her memory is wiped, with Cremia being in denial of the whole thing until it actually happens. Mutoh (is that his name? The one organizing the carnival?) is also in denial, as he believes the moon will not fall. The entire game actually paints a picture of denial, with the art style and music being bright and happy, but the story being absolutely depressing.

Twilight Princess was more open with its darkness, in a visual and musical sense at least. The colours were more muted, the music was melancholy and the whole presentation generally a dark fantasy. OK, so it could be chalked up to graphical advancements, I suppose. But anyway. There's dark elements in the story, definitely, with Ilia losing her memory, Twilight covering Hyrule and, most of all, Midna's story. Kicked off her throne by a maniac, turned into an imp and almost died at one point.

I think both games are as dark as each other. They just present their darkness in different ways.

[Mastersworddude]

I remember seeing a blog post a while back, about how MM was so dark it should have been rated M, but rated that because fact, the story is so dark.

[Luminary]

If you use your imagination, the first could be the darkest.

There are only a few people in the world, and none of them are young, as if there are no children left. They live in caves. There are no houses in the game.
The boulders that fall on Link in the Death Mountain area share the same design as a goron's back, are the boulders really evil gorons? Likewise, the zora are all ugly and evil.
No Zelda since the first has had so many monsters on screen so often.
The world is such a mess two monsters can be found hiding out, rather than fighting. One is starving and the other...just wants to be left along, telling Link to keep his hiding place a secret, then kicks him out.
The whole of east Hyrule is a haunted graveyard.
East of Death Mountain are the Lost Hills, that much like the Lost Woods, is a maze that traps people. Could is area have once been Kakariko?
The game has no Deku Tree, but one dungeon takes place inside a dead tree, a tree much larger than any other in the world...
Ah! Its terrible!






Of course, I'm jus' playing. :p

[peanutjoepap]

Twilight Princess is darker for me.

A lot of people say Majora's Mask is really dark, but I never really saw it that way. The events are strange and sad, yeah, but Link helps the people in every case. He soothes the souls of the dead and helps the living, lifting craploads of curses and solving problems.

As for Twilight Princess... the plot is quite dark. A peaceful village it raided by marauding monsters, the children are kidnapped, etc. It's far more violent than any other game in the series, and the character and creature designs are far more realistic, darker, and more disturbing.

Additionally, there's another key aspect to this. Atmosphere and presentation. Majora's Mask may have had dark aspects, but they were portrayed in a far lighter tone. Twilight Princess makes no such effort. Everything dark is presented darkly. Hell, to me, the whole game (even the happier moments) had a darker, sadder undertone to them.

I think the biggest factors are the disturbing designs and presentation. The undertones help too, though.

I agree with every word, MM had a dark story line but TP had both a dark story line and other dark aspects the the game. At first glance MM looks as light and for lack of a better word, happy as some other games. TP is dark because at times such as when Hyrule was in Twilight, you could really see that the people were afraid and had lost hope. You could sympathize with their struggle and how they uselessly tried to fight back. Much darker than having a moon with a constipated face crush every one.

[Aki Graham]

Twilight Princess is darker for me.

A lot of people say Majora's Mask is really dark, but I never really saw it that way. The events are strange and sad, yeah, but Link helps the people in every case. He soothes the souls of the dead and helps the living, lifting craploads of curses and solving problems.

As for Twilight Princess... the plot is quite dark. A peaceful village it raided by marauding monsters, the children are kidnapped, etc. It's far more violent than any other game in the series, and the character and creature designs are far more realistic, darker, and more disturbing.

Additionally, there's another key aspect to this. Atmosphere and presentation. Majora's Mask may have had dark aspects, but they were portrayed in a far lighter tone. Twilight Princess makes no such effort. Everything dark is presented darkly. Hell, to me, the whole game (even the happier moments) had a darker, sadder undertone to them.

I think the biggest factors are the disturbing designs and presentation. The undertones help too, though.

You only think that it's darker because capturing children is worse than deku scrubs. But in MM, a princess is kidnapped, a whole race almost dies of hypothermia, and an other whole race almost dies of starvation. And the fact that the moon will fall in 3 days time adds onto the fear/darkness. I'm sure that, if MM was on the Wii, it would be more intricately designed and dark. And if TP were on the N64, it would be less dark and intricately designed. No one is happy in MM, because you have to turn back time again every time you do something good, even at the end. No one knows you did anything good.

[Coriolis Effect]

I honestly think that Majora`s Mask would have to be the darkest. The people are seeing the moon begin to get lower and lower everyday. Some don`t notice. Some are in denile. Some are just waiting for death. When you do a good deed it just gets reset and you must make the people live the woes over and over to just help yourself (and them too,but they don`t know that).