Are Majora's Mask's Characters Overrated?

[DarkestLink]

As I continue to play through Majora's Mask...I find myself less and less impressed with the characters than I used to be. This is less so for the main characters (Link, Tatl, Tael, Skullkid) and more for Majora's Mask often-praised side characters and villain. It really got to me when I replayed Anju and Kafei and saw how weak they were as characters and how...unmoved I was by their story because of that.

What do you think? Are the Majora's Mask characters overrated? If not, do you think you could depict the characters you liked?

For anyone who wants to try this, here are the rules: Describe Majora's Mask characters without giving away their appearance, occupation, or role in the story. Imagine you were describing this character to a friend who has never played Majora's Mask.

NOTE: You cannot make anything up. No bringing theories into this. Only go by what the game has given us.

Extra points for side-characters seeing as this is the focus.

If you liked the character, please tell us what about the character you liked in particular.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Interesting thread. Let me see if I can think of some...

Pamela's father (sorry I don't know what his name is). A man who cares about his research, to the point of putting his daughter in trouble. Yet, he still loves and cares for her. So... just a fatherly figure.

Sakon. A weasley man who preys upon the weak and elderly.

Mayor Dotour. A weak-spined fellow who caves in to the demands of others, even though he is in a position of power.

King Deku. An arrogant and prideful father, who lets his temper get the better of him frequently and lashes out at those who would try and help him.

Skull Kid. A child who feels abandoned by those he considers friends. Suffers from depression and because of this latches onto power, which he uses to lash out and harm others. Underneath it all, though, he still has a good heart.

Kafei. A lover who has self-esteem issues but who would do anything to be with the one he loves. Yeah... that's all got on him.

Anju. A very forgetful woman, who does her best to help those she cares about even though the fruits of her labor are sub-par. A lover as well, one who gets very depressed as a result of her fiance's absence and takes it out on her self. Very low self-esteem, she sees herself as the source of others' problems.

I'll think of more later.

 

[Cfrock]

Describe Majora's Mask characters without giving away their appearance, occupation, or role in the story. Imagine you were describing this character to a friend who has never played Majora's Mask.

Someone likes the Red Letter Media Star Wars reviews ^^

It's been a while since I last played but let's see what we can do.

Anju

Anju is absent-minded and forgetful, always preoccupied with other matters and she worries a lot. She is easily frustrated by her family and feels trapped in a rut. She's a bad cook as well. However, she is also loving and kind, eager to please others before herself and often apologetic. She is a commited lover and has great faith in those she loves too. She also displays great bravery and she comes across as a character deserving of more than what she has.

Kafei

Kafei has what could be described as an inferiority-complex. He is doubtful of himself and easily disuaded from seeking what he desires. He has a real capacity to love and is devoted to Anju completely. He is also a bit head-strong and rushes into decisions without thinking them through fully. He could also be described as inconsiderate and, arguably, oblivious to the feelings of certain other characters.

Cremia

Cremia is a hard-working and friendly woman. She is outgoing and welcoming and cares greatly for her sister and their life on the ranch. She is steadfast as well as courageous. She shows signs of sentimentality and has a very realistic, yet not cynical, view of the world. She displays some skepticism of supernatural things and her life and behaviour is based very much on the world she can see with her own two eyes.

Romani

Romani is a vibrant and energetic young girl who loves her sister and desires to help out as much as she can. She is also very stubborn, in a way, refusing to deny something she believes in her heart to be true. She is brave and loyal and cares deeply for animals. She is not quick to trust and maintains some emotional distance until she knows a person more. She also has a very childish innocence about her, despite the life she lives.

Gorman

Gorman is a man who hides his emotions. Outwardly he projects austerity and discipline, a man who knows how to make money and is driven by that very goal. Inwardly, he is very remorseful and bears much sentimentality towards his brothers and the life he left behind. He is tormented by his love of family conflicting with his dreams of a life outside of farming and harbours guilt and shame but no pride.

Kamaro

Kamaro is a man dedicated to his craft and longing for legacy. He shows great commitment to his life's work and sorrow that he never passed it on.

I can't be bothered doing more now but I may add to this in future.

 

[SNOlink]

I don't think that MM's side characters are overrated. One of the things I really like in MM is the sidequests. Most of the time it's just "Can you do this for me?" MM turns sidequests into a more personal relationship with the charactes allowing you to know their character better rather than you just doing chores for random people

 

[Zorth]

Majora

Destructive spirit that simply likes to cause trouble for mysterious reasons. He/She does so indirectly in MM through a Skull Kid.

Kamaro

A ghost that wants is for his legacy and famous dance to stay alive despite his death.

Kafei

A citizen of Clock Town that is cursed, His judgement is clouded because of this, He rushes into things without thinking but does so because at all costs he wants to get reunited with his lover.

Happy Mask Salesman

A very mysterious man that is very kind most of the time but lets his rage and insanity show a little when things don't go as planned for him.

Mayor Dotour

A very stressed out person over a town crisis and his fellow workers debating.

Captain Viscen

This is a very cautious person, He likes things better to be safe than sorry and does all he can to convince his friends to follow his judgement.

Anju's Grandmother

This is a caring and old woman, She likes to tell stories and seems to know a lot more than one might think despite her apparent memory troubles.

Someone likes the Red Letter Media Star Wars reviews ^^

Exactly what I thought of too :xd:

 

[DarkestLink]

Someone likes the Red Letter Media Star Wars reviews ^^

It's true. XD I chose the question mainly because it's how I originally saw how poor Phantom Menace characters were and applied it when I was juduging MM characters.

It's been a while since I last played but let's see what we can do.

You actually did a pretty good job, though I question some of the details.

Anju

"and feels trapped in a rut."

"eager to please others before herself"

"and has great faith in those she loves too."

I question where you got the first two from. As for the third, in some ways it feels more connected to Kafei specifically. She had a choice to have faith in Kafei or faith in her Mother. Both are people she loved. She chose Kafei in the end.

Kafei

"Kafei has what could be described as an inferiority-complex."

"He is doubtful of himself and easily disuaded from seeking what he desires."

"He is also a bit head-strong and rushes into decisions without thinking them through fully."

No clue where you got any of these. He was turned into a kid and recognized that he was taken advantage of because of that, but I don't see the inferiority complex. I never saw any doubt. He seemed dead-set on doing the job and keeping his promise. He also seemed to plan it out. He told Link his plan "Wait for Sakon>Follow Sakon>Get Mask back from Sakon" all of which he did exactly.

Romani

"She is also very stubborn, in a way, refusing to deny something she believes in her heart to be true."

"and cares deeply for animals."

"She is not quick to trust and maintains some emotional distance until she knows a person more."

The first two seem to be an extremist look at one thing she does in the story: Stop the aliens. We don't know if he's normally that stubborn or if she's an animal lover. Just as likely she's trying to defend the barn itself so they don't go out of business.

Gorman

"a man who knows how to make money and is driven by that very goal."

I thought his goal was to meet the band members...

 

[Cfrock]

This is all just the way I interpreted the characters, of course, but I'll try to explain how I came to some of those descriptions

I question where you got the first two from.

The "trapped in a rut" comes from the way I see her relationship to her family and her life at the Inn. It comes across to me particularly when we see her bring her grandmother soup and she gets quite frustrated with her. Anju only ever seems happy (or at least not angry) whenever Kafei is around or she's talking about him. To me, it felt like Kafei was her way out and into a better life.

And the pleasing others is based off how she never puts her own needs first. Working a job she seems to dislike, making dinner for her ungrateful grandmother, she even leaves Town with her mother unless Link gets involved. To me, that just shows that she never puts herself first.

No clue where you got any of these. He was turned into a kid and recognized that he was taken advantage of because of that, but I don't see the inferiority complex. I never saw any doubt. He seemed dead-set on doing the job and keeping his promise. He also seemed to plan it out. He told Link his plan "Wait for Sakon>Follow Sakon>Get Mask back from Sakon" all of which he did exactly.

The "inferiority-complex comes from the way Kafei chose to run and hide when turned into a child instead of face Anju. I can't recall exactly but I think there's a line in which he pretty much just says 'She won't want me in this state,' and saw that as him not having faith in himself (or, to an extent, Anju, for that matter). He also only takes the initiative when guided into it by Link. Unless you get involved, he just spends the three days hiding in the Curiosity Shop and even when he does act, he won't go into Sakon's Hideout without Link. All of that just made me view Kafei as insecure and doubtful of himself.

I thought his goal was to meet the band members...

It was but he left the ranch to peruse his dream of being a big-time entertainment manager. He wanted fame and wealth rather than shovelling horse poop, meeting the band members was like a dream of his on the side.