- Joined
- Jun 28, 2020
In The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the last mask we can receive is the Fierce Deity's Mask. I see several theories based on what the Fierce Deity's Mask is supposed to be or represent. Most of the theories I see can work with other theories without contradiction. I take popular interpretations and try to tie them all together in a single theory, where each part can stand on its own but is strengthened when together. If you have more inspirations behind the concept or in-game mask and entity, please add on to this post! Overall, I believe the Fierce Deity’s Mask represents resolve, maturity, and enlightenment.
Here are some main points that I plan to expand on later:
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Holds All the Experiences of the People of Termina
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Represents Growing Up and Moving On
Buddhist Fierce Deities
The Moon is the Fierce Deity
The Fierce Deity Resembles Link
Manga Story
The Fierce Deity's Mask and the Giant's Mask were originally a single mask (during development)
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Holds All the Experiences of the People of Termina
Inside the moon, in a sunlit, blue-skied field, there are four children, wearing whited versions of the Skull Kid’s clothes, wearing Boss Remains, playing around a tree. Before Link reaches this place, he has to free the four guardian deities of Termina, the Giants. Each Giant protects their own region, collectively protecting the entire land of Termina, and the people within. They may not witness the experiences of all the people, but they receive their prayers. The people also make masks of the Giants to celebrate in the Carnival of Time. Under the Clock Tower, the Happy Mask Salesman will comment on all the masks Link has, feeling the experiences of the people behind them. At the end of the game, the Happy Mask Salesman says this: "...But, my, you sure have managed to make quite a number of people happy. The masks you have are filled with happiness. This is truly a good happiness.".
In a 2015 interview with GameInformer, when asked about the soul inside the FD Mask, Eiji Aonuma says, "The best I can give you is just a suggestion. The best way to think about it is that the memories of all the people of Termina are inside of the Fierce Deity Mask.". This aligns with what a Gossip Stone in Ikana reads, "The Fierce Deity's Mask, a mask that contains the merits of all masks, seems to be... somewhere in this world…".
The masks you collect from the people you help are more than masks; they are extensions of how the people of Termina feel. There are fragments of memories, experiences, and emotions behind these masks, culminating into the Fierce Deity's Mask. If the mask is already stated as “somewhere in this world”, the mask already exists, and isn’t just formed when Link arrives in the moon. Perhaps the masks that Link gives away to the moon children physically coalesce to form the Fierce Deity’s Mask, similar to how the Sun and Moon masks combine to create the Couple's Mask, and that "in this world" implies all the components of the FD Mask are in the world, just not as a single mask yet. Either way, regardless of whether the Terminians give Link a mask or not, the Fierce Deity would still reflect the mental state of the Terminians, or the merits of their masks. In-game, Link has to give all of his masks to the moon children before getting the Fierce Deity's Mask. After Link gives his happy masks to the moon children, the moon children leave.
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Represents Growing Up and Moving On
Inside the moon, in a sunlit, blue-skied field, there is one child, wearing whited versions of the Skull Kid’s clothes, wearing Majora’s Mask, sitting alone at the base of a tree. Judging by the whited Skull Kid's clothes and the parallel of a single, sad child losing four friends, we can assume that Skull Kid’s thoughts are influencing the interior of the moon. Through the Skull Kid’s perspective, the four other children would be the Giants. When the Giants announce their leave to protect the worlds in their sleep, an imp (shown as Skull Kid in the story), a close friend of the Giants, becomes confused and angered. After wreaking havoc on people to the point of the Giants threatening to tear him apart, Skull Kid "returns to the heavens". He can't fathom the idea of his friends choosing their responsibilities as protectors over spending time with him. Skull Kid sees this as abandonment because he can't understand maturity. The Skull Kid is struggling to accept the leaving of friends. I see this as a foil to Link's struggle.
In "Ocarina of Time," Link begins as a child, and despite the 7-year gap, he remains a child trapped in an adult's body. Over the course of the game, witnessing time's effects on familiar places and people, he matures. By the time of the Spirit Temple, even within his child's body, Kaepora Gaebora recognizes him as an adult. At the game's conclusion, after being sent back in time 7 years, Link inhabits a child's body but retains the mind of an adult.
Besides Skull Kid, other characters work as foils for Link. Kafei is the most direct parallel counterpart to Link's struggle, as Kafei is an adult within a child's body. Even through his curse, with the help of Link, his fiancé still accepts his identity and they spend the night of the third day together, whether there is a fourth day or not. Link can't stay in Hyrule among adults since he doesn't have any adult friends, let alone those who know him enough to understand his identity. Tingle chooses to maintain a childlike mentality while inhabiting a 35-year-old adult body. Essentially, Tingle is what Link would've viewed himself had he stayed with the Kokiri. Link can't return to the Kokiri Forest to settle as he already doesn't belong, but also, as an adult, he can't relate to children. His body is also going to grow up eventually, something Saria can't relate to. He finds himself without a place to belong since he lacks relatable peers. His only true companion in the world was Navi. And, at the end of Ocarina of Time, Navi leaves forever.
Skull Kid struggles with letting go of his friends as he's still a child. When talking to the Majora Kid after donating all your other masks, he will say, "You don't have any masks left, do you? Well, let's do something else. Let's play good guys against bad guys...Yes. Let's play that. Are you ready? You're the bad guy. And when you're bad, you just run. That's fine, right? Well...Shall we play?".
“You get the Fierce Deity's Mask! Can you use this mask's dark powers like Majora?”, ”Its dark power can be used only in boss rooms.”.
The Majora kid sees the Fierce Deity as the bad guy in a game. To a kid, what is an adult who wants to stop a kid's fun? The game implied to be played here is the Japanese equivalent of ‘tag’, but instead of the chaser being ‘it’, they play as an “Oni”, or demon (like when kids play leapfrog, they play as frogs rather than just leapers or jumpers). I’ve seen this game also be compared to ‘Kagome Kagome’, a traditional Japanese children's game similar to ‘Ring-Around-the-Rosy’, where kids hold hands and move in a circle, but there is a blindfolded kid in the middle (again, the “Oni”) who has to guess the identity of the person behind them when the kids stop moving. The lyrics are eerie and inspired urban legends. The relation to Majora’s Mask is that in the final boss room, Link is surrounded by five masks floating around him. The thing is, in this game, the “Oni” isn’t supposed to run, but I wouldn’t play ‘tag’ by shooting energy balls and lazer beams, either, so both work abstractly. Essentially, we play a kids’ game as a demon. This is a great way to link the Skull Kid’s childish influence on Majora with the dark power in the Fierce Deity Mask, as in Japanese, Fierce Deity Link is referred to as “Kishin Rinku”, or Ogre-god Link, and the mask is referred to as the "Oni Mask" or demon mask.
(I want to add in a section here about why Majora Kid gives Link the Fierce Deity's Mask, but I'll come back to it later)
Buddhist Fierce Deities
In Buddhism, achieving nirvana requires breaking free from the cycle of Samsara. In Majora's Mask, Link finds himself trapped in a recurring three-day cycle. Attaining enlightenment from the Fierce Deity’s Mask represents breaking the cycle. The terms "Oni" and "Kishin" in the game represent more than just demons and gods – they signify Buddhist wrathful deities. In Buddhist belief, "fierce deities" serve as wrathful gods who eliminate obstacles obstructing the path to enlightenment. This concept of fierceness symbolizes the idea of turning challenges into catalysts for liberation, much like the notion of "poison as its own antidote.”
(there's an idea about compass directions for a pantheon that I have to add later)
Karma is another recurring theme in Buddhism, and seems to physically manifest as masks in game. The positive impact that Link's actions bring to the people of Termina generates positive karma. This accumulated karma is embodied by the Fierce Deity's Mask, providing assistance to Link. Conversely, the negative karma associated with Majora is encapsulated within the mask as well, evident in its use against Majora itself. This negative karma fuels the mask's dark power, which originates from the amalgamation of Termina's negative emotions – the anger, pain, and turmoil that have accumulated. The Fierce Deity’s Mask serves as a conduit for the emotions that plague the people of Termina, including Link's own inner doubts and struggles. Bearing the weight of Termina's pain, Link becomes a force greater than Majora could ever withstand. Link unleashes his wrath as a Fierce Deity.
The Moon is the Fierce Deity
Termina's version of the goddess symbol features five dots: four representing the giants and one enigmatic entity, possibly the moon itself. “The moon has long been considered a mystical body, which people worship and fear.” (- Shikashi, professor of astronomy).
To NPCs, the peculiarity of the moon is always regarding the size, never the face. The back of the mayor’s chair has the face of the moon on it, implying it is a normal aspect. This moon deity becomes a pawn, crying Moon Tears, under a curse forced upon it by Majora to bring about destruction. As a guardian and observer, the moon witnesses with its own eyes the experiences of all the people of Termina and receives their prayers. If Majora’s Mask is trapping the moon’s soul the way the Boss Remains trap the Giants’ souls, then the embodiment of the moon's soul would rightly be found inside the moon. It’s as if Majora “defeated” the moon, and the mask is a spoil. The other transformation masks for Link were based on people who used to be alive. The final transformation mask would be based on the moon spirit, the Fierce Deity’s Mask.
The pale, periwinkle tunic references the moon's color pretty clearly. Interestingly, Majora appears to symbolize the sun in contrast. Anytime Skull Kid uses Majora’s Mask, like when calling the moon from the top of the Clock Tower, the Majora’s Mask emanates colorful, sun-like rays. Even the final confrontation with Majora has the mask coming out of a sun-shape on the wall. When white light scatters, it produces color. Majora’s Mask and its boss room are vibrant while the Fierce Deity keeps the whites and silvers of the moon’s palette. Also, on the right breastplate, there is a crescent moon insignia.
The Fierce Deity Mask Resembles Link
On the left breastplate, there is a single yellow triangle. I see this as representative of Link’s third of the Triforce. The whole form of the Fierce Deity is that of Link’s Adult form from Ocarina of Time, slightly larger in scale. The Fierce Deity’s Mask is highly similar to that of OoT Adult Link’s. Whenever Link puts on a transformation mask, the form he is in keeps Link’s green clothes, or some part of Link’s identity remains physically with part of the prior spirit present. When talking to Pamela’s Father while wearing a transformation mask, he responds, “Oh! Hmmmm! My Ghost Radar is reacting fiercely. But...This is minutely different from its usual response. This is a verrrry intriguing response! Hmmm...”You seem to be both similar to a ghost and different from one at the same time...”. Both Link and the spirit inside his transformation masks are represented physically, implying the previous form is that of an adult Hylian male. This could possibly be making reference to a true counterpart to Link, or a chosen hero, in Termina. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild describes it with, "Legend has it this armor once belonged to the hero of a world in which the moon threatened to fall. When you wear it, you feel a fierce, godlike power flow through you.". The hero may or may not refer to the young Hero of Time, but I wouldn’t consider him owning the armor as much as I would consider him owning the Deku Pipes or the Zora Guitar. My first thought is that they are “owned” by their past incarnations, meaning there was a past hero in Termina represented by the mask. With it being a mask, did someone need to play the Song of Healing for it to form, meaning the mask creation was intentional? Perhaps the hero being sealed in a mask was a way to ensure that another hero could wear the mask, combine their powers together, and stop evil, (maybe specifically Majora), if it rose again. Since the interior of the moon seems susceptible to mental expression, the appearance of the mask may have been edited to represent Link instead.
Manga Story
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is manga a loosely based on the story of the game. Its canonicity is questionable. Majora is an armored dragon and the magic armor grants wishes. Majora has killed countless warriors before an unknown warrior arrives, uninterested in making a wish. The warrior plays a drum, entrancing Majora in a dance for three straight days, until Majora dies from exhaustion. The warrior carves the Majora's Mask out of the armor instead of making a wish. This can explain the three day cycle of pain before the destruction of Termina. Majora's Mask having come from a wish-granting armor could explain why it was involved in hexing rituals - the Ancient Tribe could have been trying to regain that wishing power. The warrior in this story is implied to be the Fierce Deity.
(I need to add a part on what this says about the Fierce Deity, especially since he doesn't seem too "fierce" in this story, but I'll add it later)
The Giant Fierce Deity's Mask
The last reference to reference is how the Giant’s Mask and the Fierce Deity’s Mask were originally supposed to be the same item. During development, there were issues with power balancing a gamebreaking Giant Fierce Deity, leading to them splitting it into two masks. The boss room exclusivity is an artifact from development. Both masks would’ve been accomodated to be worn anywhere, but this would require extra time to integrate. The Fierce Deity would’ve needed new ducking animations when opening doors. Who knows how the Giant’s Mask would’ve fared? The point is, the two masks used to be the same item. This allows the Fierce Deity to represent a fifth Giant of sorts while explaining the redundancy of two extra transformation masks that are seemingly apart from the main three. Connecting the Giant’s Mask, some fun speculation comes to mind. If the Skull Kid returned to the heavens, and the Stone Tower Temple could be used to reach the heavens, and the Giant’s Mask was found within the Stone Tower Temple, could the Giant’s Mask originally been for Skull Kid? Could Skull Kid use it to talk to the Giants on their level? Maybe that’s how Skull Kid tormented Termina in the past. Or maybe, Skull Kid ran from the responsibility, unable to face his own turmoil to mature (the Giant Fierce Deity being enlightenment). Since this is no longer canon, who knows how much solid info can be garnered from this, but it’s interesting to think about.
Overall, there's a lot of potential ideas that are behind the Fierce Deity's Mask. Regardless of its origin, the mask's role as an embodiment of memories, dark powers, positive energies, awareness, and enlightenment reinforces its significance in the rich narrative tapestry of Majora's Mask.
I know there’s more info I got scattered around the internet that I didn’t save, but these were the most influential:
“The Legend of Zelda Theory: The Fierce Deity”, Vortexxy, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5NHn_Nnqpc
“Majora's Mask - as seen by gamtos”, gamtos, 2019
https://zeldauniverse.net/forums/index.php?thread/205370-majora-s-mask-as-seen-by-gamtos/
“The Fierce Deity Unmasked - Zelda Theory”, Zeltik, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlEnGbsnnUU&list=TLPQMTEwODIwMjMKBHHOx9wU1Q&index=1
“Every Copy of Majora's Mask is Personalized”, DidYouKnowGaming, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPWSmizffuw
Here are some main points that I plan to expand on later:
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Holds All the Experiences of the People of Termina
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Represents Growing Up and Moving On
Buddhist Fierce Deities
The Moon is the Fierce Deity
The Fierce Deity Resembles Link
Manga Story
The Fierce Deity's Mask and the Giant's Mask were originally a single mask (during development)
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Holds All the Experiences of the People of Termina
Inside the moon, in a sunlit, blue-skied field, there are four children, wearing whited versions of the Skull Kid’s clothes, wearing Boss Remains, playing around a tree. Before Link reaches this place, he has to free the four guardian deities of Termina, the Giants. Each Giant protects their own region, collectively protecting the entire land of Termina, and the people within. They may not witness the experiences of all the people, but they receive their prayers. The people also make masks of the Giants to celebrate in the Carnival of Time. Under the Clock Tower, the Happy Mask Salesman will comment on all the masks Link has, feeling the experiences of the people behind them. At the end of the game, the Happy Mask Salesman says this: "...But, my, you sure have managed to make quite a number of people happy. The masks you have are filled with happiness. This is truly a good happiness.".
In a 2015 interview with GameInformer, when asked about the soul inside the FD Mask, Eiji Aonuma says, "The best I can give you is just a suggestion. The best way to think about it is that the memories of all the people of Termina are inside of the Fierce Deity Mask.". This aligns with what a Gossip Stone in Ikana reads, "The Fierce Deity's Mask, a mask that contains the merits of all masks, seems to be... somewhere in this world…".
The masks you collect from the people you help are more than masks; they are extensions of how the people of Termina feel. There are fragments of memories, experiences, and emotions behind these masks, culminating into the Fierce Deity's Mask. If the mask is already stated as “somewhere in this world”, the mask already exists, and isn’t just formed when Link arrives in the moon. Perhaps the masks that Link gives away to the moon children physically coalesce to form the Fierce Deity’s Mask, similar to how the Sun and Moon masks combine to create the Couple's Mask, and that "in this world" implies all the components of the FD Mask are in the world, just not as a single mask yet. Either way, regardless of whether the Terminians give Link a mask or not, the Fierce Deity would still reflect the mental state of the Terminians, or the merits of their masks. In-game, Link has to give all of his masks to the moon children before getting the Fierce Deity's Mask. After Link gives his happy masks to the moon children, the moon children leave.
The Fierce Deity’s Mask Represents Growing Up and Moving On
Inside the moon, in a sunlit, blue-skied field, there is one child, wearing whited versions of the Skull Kid’s clothes, wearing Majora’s Mask, sitting alone at the base of a tree. Judging by the whited Skull Kid's clothes and the parallel of a single, sad child losing four friends, we can assume that Skull Kid’s thoughts are influencing the interior of the moon. Through the Skull Kid’s perspective, the four other children would be the Giants. When the Giants announce their leave to protect the worlds in their sleep, an imp (shown as Skull Kid in the story), a close friend of the Giants, becomes confused and angered. After wreaking havoc on people to the point of the Giants threatening to tear him apart, Skull Kid "returns to the heavens". He can't fathom the idea of his friends choosing their responsibilities as protectors over spending time with him. Skull Kid sees this as abandonment because he can't understand maturity. The Skull Kid is struggling to accept the leaving of friends. I see this as a foil to Link's struggle.
In "Ocarina of Time," Link begins as a child, and despite the 7-year gap, he remains a child trapped in an adult's body. Over the course of the game, witnessing time's effects on familiar places and people, he matures. By the time of the Spirit Temple, even within his child's body, Kaepora Gaebora recognizes him as an adult. At the game's conclusion, after being sent back in time 7 years, Link inhabits a child's body but retains the mind of an adult.
Besides Skull Kid, other characters work as foils for Link. Kafei is the most direct parallel counterpart to Link's struggle, as Kafei is an adult within a child's body. Even through his curse, with the help of Link, his fiancé still accepts his identity and they spend the night of the third day together, whether there is a fourth day or not. Link can't stay in Hyrule among adults since he doesn't have any adult friends, let alone those who know him enough to understand his identity. Tingle chooses to maintain a childlike mentality while inhabiting a 35-year-old adult body. Essentially, Tingle is what Link would've viewed himself had he stayed with the Kokiri. Link can't return to the Kokiri Forest to settle as he already doesn't belong, but also, as an adult, he can't relate to children. His body is also going to grow up eventually, something Saria can't relate to. He finds himself without a place to belong since he lacks relatable peers. His only true companion in the world was Navi. And, at the end of Ocarina of Time, Navi leaves forever.
Skull Kid struggles with letting go of his friends as he's still a child. When talking to the Majora Kid after donating all your other masks, he will say, "You don't have any masks left, do you? Well, let's do something else. Let's play good guys against bad guys...Yes. Let's play that. Are you ready? You're the bad guy. And when you're bad, you just run. That's fine, right? Well...Shall we play?".
“You get the Fierce Deity's Mask! Can you use this mask's dark powers like Majora?”, ”Its dark power can be used only in boss rooms.”.
The Majora kid sees the Fierce Deity as the bad guy in a game. To a kid, what is an adult who wants to stop a kid's fun? The game implied to be played here is the Japanese equivalent of ‘tag’, but instead of the chaser being ‘it’, they play as an “Oni”, or demon (like when kids play leapfrog, they play as frogs rather than just leapers or jumpers). I’ve seen this game also be compared to ‘Kagome Kagome’, a traditional Japanese children's game similar to ‘Ring-Around-the-Rosy’, where kids hold hands and move in a circle, but there is a blindfolded kid in the middle (again, the “Oni”) who has to guess the identity of the person behind them when the kids stop moving. The lyrics are eerie and inspired urban legends. The relation to Majora’s Mask is that in the final boss room, Link is surrounded by five masks floating around him. The thing is, in this game, the “Oni” isn’t supposed to run, but I wouldn’t play ‘tag’ by shooting energy balls and lazer beams, either, so both work abstractly. Essentially, we play a kids’ game as a demon. This is a great way to link the Skull Kid’s childish influence on Majora with the dark power in the Fierce Deity Mask, as in Japanese, Fierce Deity Link is referred to as “Kishin Rinku”, or Ogre-god Link, and the mask is referred to as the "Oni Mask" or demon mask.
(I want to add in a section here about why Majora Kid gives Link the Fierce Deity's Mask, but I'll come back to it later)
Buddhist Fierce Deities
In Buddhism, achieving nirvana requires breaking free from the cycle of Samsara. In Majora's Mask, Link finds himself trapped in a recurring three-day cycle. Attaining enlightenment from the Fierce Deity’s Mask represents breaking the cycle. The terms "Oni" and "Kishin" in the game represent more than just demons and gods – they signify Buddhist wrathful deities. In Buddhist belief, "fierce deities" serve as wrathful gods who eliminate obstacles obstructing the path to enlightenment. This concept of fierceness symbolizes the idea of turning challenges into catalysts for liberation, much like the notion of "poison as its own antidote.”
(there's an idea about compass directions for a pantheon that I have to add later)
Karma is another recurring theme in Buddhism, and seems to physically manifest as masks in game. The positive impact that Link's actions bring to the people of Termina generates positive karma. This accumulated karma is embodied by the Fierce Deity's Mask, providing assistance to Link. Conversely, the negative karma associated with Majora is encapsulated within the mask as well, evident in its use against Majora itself. This negative karma fuels the mask's dark power, which originates from the amalgamation of Termina's negative emotions – the anger, pain, and turmoil that have accumulated. The Fierce Deity’s Mask serves as a conduit for the emotions that plague the people of Termina, including Link's own inner doubts and struggles. Bearing the weight of Termina's pain, Link becomes a force greater than Majora could ever withstand. Link unleashes his wrath as a Fierce Deity.
The Moon is the Fierce Deity
Termina's version of the goddess symbol features five dots: four representing the giants and one enigmatic entity, possibly the moon itself. “The moon has long been considered a mystical body, which people worship and fear.” (- Shikashi, professor of astronomy).
To NPCs, the peculiarity of the moon is always regarding the size, never the face. The back of the mayor’s chair has the face of the moon on it, implying it is a normal aspect. This moon deity becomes a pawn, crying Moon Tears, under a curse forced upon it by Majora to bring about destruction. As a guardian and observer, the moon witnesses with its own eyes the experiences of all the people of Termina and receives their prayers. If Majora’s Mask is trapping the moon’s soul the way the Boss Remains trap the Giants’ souls, then the embodiment of the moon's soul would rightly be found inside the moon. It’s as if Majora “defeated” the moon, and the mask is a spoil. The other transformation masks for Link were based on people who used to be alive. The final transformation mask would be based on the moon spirit, the Fierce Deity’s Mask.
The pale, periwinkle tunic references the moon's color pretty clearly. Interestingly, Majora appears to symbolize the sun in contrast. Anytime Skull Kid uses Majora’s Mask, like when calling the moon from the top of the Clock Tower, the Majora’s Mask emanates colorful, sun-like rays. Even the final confrontation with Majora has the mask coming out of a sun-shape on the wall. When white light scatters, it produces color. Majora’s Mask and its boss room are vibrant while the Fierce Deity keeps the whites and silvers of the moon’s palette. Also, on the right breastplate, there is a crescent moon insignia.
The Fierce Deity Mask Resembles Link
On the left breastplate, there is a single yellow triangle. I see this as representative of Link’s third of the Triforce. The whole form of the Fierce Deity is that of Link’s Adult form from Ocarina of Time, slightly larger in scale. The Fierce Deity’s Mask is highly similar to that of OoT Adult Link’s. Whenever Link puts on a transformation mask, the form he is in keeps Link’s green clothes, or some part of Link’s identity remains physically with part of the prior spirit present. When talking to Pamela’s Father while wearing a transformation mask, he responds, “Oh! Hmmmm! My Ghost Radar is reacting fiercely. But...This is minutely different from its usual response. This is a verrrry intriguing response! Hmmm...”You seem to be both similar to a ghost and different from one at the same time...”. Both Link and the spirit inside his transformation masks are represented physically, implying the previous form is that of an adult Hylian male. This could possibly be making reference to a true counterpart to Link, or a chosen hero, in Termina. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild describes it with, "Legend has it this armor once belonged to the hero of a world in which the moon threatened to fall. When you wear it, you feel a fierce, godlike power flow through you.". The hero may or may not refer to the young Hero of Time, but I wouldn’t consider him owning the armor as much as I would consider him owning the Deku Pipes or the Zora Guitar. My first thought is that they are “owned” by their past incarnations, meaning there was a past hero in Termina represented by the mask. With it being a mask, did someone need to play the Song of Healing for it to form, meaning the mask creation was intentional? Perhaps the hero being sealed in a mask was a way to ensure that another hero could wear the mask, combine their powers together, and stop evil, (maybe specifically Majora), if it rose again. Since the interior of the moon seems susceptible to mental expression, the appearance of the mask may have been edited to represent Link instead.
Manga Story
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is manga a loosely based on the story of the game. Its canonicity is questionable. Majora is an armored dragon and the magic armor grants wishes. Majora has killed countless warriors before an unknown warrior arrives, uninterested in making a wish. The warrior plays a drum, entrancing Majora in a dance for three straight days, until Majora dies from exhaustion. The warrior carves the Majora's Mask out of the armor instead of making a wish. This can explain the three day cycle of pain before the destruction of Termina. Majora's Mask having come from a wish-granting armor could explain why it was involved in hexing rituals - the Ancient Tribe could have been trying to regain that wishing power. The warrior in this story is implied to be the Fierce Deity.
(I need to add a part on what this says about the Fierce Deity, especially since he doesn't seem too "fierce" in this story, but I'll add it later)
The Giant Fierce Deity's Mask
The last reference to reference is how the Giant’s Mask and the Fierce Deity’s Mask were originally supposed to be the same item. During development, there were issues with power balancing a gamebreaking Giant Fierce Deity, leading to them splitting it into two masks. The boss room exclusivity is an artifact from development. Both masks would’ve been accomodated to be worn anywhere, but this would require extra time to integrate. The Fierce Deity would’ve needed new ducking animations when opening doors. Who knows how the Giant’s Mask would’ve fared? The point is, the two masks used to be the same item. This allows the Fierce Deity to represent a fifth Giant of sorts while explaining the redundancy of two extra transformation masks that are seemingly apart from the main three. Connecting the Giant’s Mask, some fun speculation comes to mind. If the Skull Kid returned to the heavens, and the Stone Tower Temple could be used to reach the heavens, and the Giant’s Mask was found within the Stone Tower Temple, could the Giant’s Mask originally been for Skull Kid? Could Skull Kid use it to talk to the Giants on their level? Maybe that’s how Skull Kid tormented Termina in the past. Or maybe, Skull Kid ran from the responsibility, unable to face his own turmoil to mature (the Giant Fierce Deity being enlightenment). Since this is no longer canon, who knows how much solid info can be garnered from this, but it’s interesting to think about.
Overall, there's a lot of potential ideas that are behind the Fierce Deity's Mask. Regardless of its origin, the mask's role as an embodiment of memories, dark powers, positive energies, awareness, and enlightenment reinforces its significance in the rich narrative tapestry of Majora's Mask.
I know there’s more info I got scattered around the internet that I didn’t save, but these were the most influential:
“The Legend of Zelda Theory: The Fierce Deity”, Vortexxy, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5NHn_Nnqpc
“Majora's Mask - as seen by gamtos”, gamtos, 2019
https://zeldauniverse.net/forums/index.php?thread/205370-majora-s-mask-as-seen-by-gamtos/
“The Fierce Deity Unmasked - Zelda Theory”, Zeltik, 2021
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlEnGbsnnUU&list=TLPQMTEwODIwMjMKBHHOx9wU1Q&index=1
“Every Copy of Majora's Mask is Personalized”, DidYouKnowGaming, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPWSmizffuw