Majora's Mask: Full Background Theory

[Calebmoore]

All so the other night my cousin and I were talking, and this got me thinking about Majora's Mask. This is the back story we believe to be true:
We believe Majora and the Happy Mask Salesman are the same person. We believe this because
1: the kids in the moon look like him even though the mask was connected to Skull Kid.
2: He feels he is responsible for the mask.
Now he's where the story starts up. First off, Termina has pictures of the mask all around as if they worship it like a god. Majora/salesman/leader of the dark tribe notices this so he develops a plan to rule Termina through that image.
The mask salesman and the Dark Tribe both know how to imprison certain aspects of someone into a mask through the song of healing. So the tribe seals away all of the darkness and evil within their leader into a mask of Terminas god. They plan to use it as an ultimate weapon against Termina, but the salesman, being all good now, realizes what he's done. He quickly traps each member of the Dark Tribe into a mask of their own which he carries on his back to make sure they don't escape. This explains the disappearance of the tribe.
The salesman hides the mask within the stone tower and heads to Hyrule hoping to escape his past life and start fresh. There he meets Link. Who later saves Hyrule.
He senses something is wrong with the mask and quickly returns to retrieve it. However he is ambushed by Skull Kid. Because of his naughty ways, Skull kid is attracted to the dark masks. Majora's specifically because of its strength.
When the salesman comes to, he realizes Termina is in danger. Because the mask stemmed from the salesman he was able to mentally persuade it into leading skull kid to the border of Termina and Hyrule in hopes of attracting Link. Why link? Because the salesman already knows Link is a hero. However the mask notices what the salesman did and tries to flee back to Termina. Link persues Skull Kid until they cross over. Majora realizes he cannot out run Link.
Majora knows that he is weaker while sealed into a mask so he seals link into a mask as well hoping to stop him. The salesman teaches link the song of healing and basically the game begins.
The reason we think this is plausible is because of the reason I listed earlier and also in the moon the kids run around with the masks. It's possible that each of them represent the tribe member trapped inside that mask.
Now thank you all for reading and thank you to Hunter for help coming up with this. He deserves half credit now tell me what you guys think

 

[A Link In Time]

Since the Happy Mask Salesman makes a point of having to leave in three days and frequently remarks about having to leave Termina in three days, it's probable he witnessed Majora's power before. Rather than the demon himself, I think the Happy Mask Salesman is Majora's alter ego as Agahnim is to Ganon. Additionally, although it's non-canon, the Happy Masked Salesman displays sadistic undertones in the Majora's Mask manga.

When the salesman comes to, he realizes Termina is in danger. Because the mask stemmed from the salesman he was able to mentally persuade it into leading skull kid to the border of Termina and Hyrule in hopes of attracting Link. Why link? Because the salesman already knows Link is a hero.

The Happy Masked Salesman couldn't have known Link is a hero because Majora's Mask occurs on the Child Timeline, therefore, Link never defeated Ganon or became the Hero of Time.

 

[Calebmoore]

Actually at the end of carina of time when Link returns to the past/present, he informs Zelda and e father of what is to come. Though he never fought Ganondorf, he still stopped him and was seen as a hero to Zelda and the kingdom. The kingdom that the mask salesman was currently in.

 

[A Link In Time]

Actually at the end of carina of time when Link returns to the past/present, he informs Zelda and e father of what is to come. Though he never fought Ganondorf, he still stopped him and was seen as a hero to Zelda and the kingdom. The kingdom that the mask salesman was currently in.

Yes, I'm aware that Link prevents Ganondorf from rising to power, but regardless, the Child Timeline's Happy Masked Salesman is ignorant of the Hero of Time.

 

[Calebmoore]

I get what you're saying, but while he may not know of "The Hero of Time" per say. The kingdom was likely to know who informed Zelda and her dad. That being said, the salesman would most likely know Link told the king. He may not know Link is the Hero of Time, but he knows Link is the reason Ganon was stopped.
Also, I would like to point out that the salesman does seem to know more than what he lets out. But it is just a theory. Maybe it's wrong, but you never know.

 

[Wolf Sage]

I don't feel like dismantling and addressiing each part of your theory, but there are some parts on which I agree. For instance, the part at which you mentioned the HMS's connection to the Dark Tribe draws parallels to my hypothesis regarding the mask of Majora. In it, I conjectured that the Moon children are a part of the Dark Tribe that once sealed the real Majora. Masks in general may have played a huge role in the tribe's culture and customs, and might have perhaps been worshiped by them.

Moreover, I believe that each of the boss masks worn by the Moon children were the tribe's guardian deities, meaning that the tribe might have worn them and dance around in reverence to said deities. Either that, or the four bosses may not have been deities at all but instead might have been the tribe that worshiped Majora and subsequently sealed it away. Believe it or not, Odolwa's tribal appearance and chanting played a part in my brainstorming session on this (not to mention the similar purple-y, green-y, yellow-orange-y-esque color scheme that each boss seems to share).

Lastly, the story regarding the Skull Kid and the giants might—either literally or figuratively (perhaps coincidentally)—have paralleled the events that transpired between the original Majora and the four deities (bosses). The Moon children (if not members of the Dark Tribe, as previously hypothesized) were probably playing pretend (cosplaying) and imitating the events that revolved around Majora's banishment and sealing. The anomaly here is the role of the Fierce Deity and the kid wearing Majora's mask's line that referred to him as the "bad guy." Perhaps Link fulfilled the role of the original Fierce Deity in legend?

At any rate, the Happy Mask Salesman must be connected to the tribe and/or Majora itself in some way, shape, or form; perhaps he's an ancestor of the Dark Tribe. Who knows? Gotta love Majora's Mask's mystery factor~

 

[Calebmoore]

I must say, I do love thinking about this game. The reason I believe the mask salesman is part of Majora is simply because of the moon children. They ask questions that skull kid wanted to know yes. But even if the mask adapted to Skull Kid. Why did the kids look like the Salesman? Then I thought about the song of healing. Seeing as how it can seal ones pain into a mask, it must've been how the tribe imprisoned Majora. Well the Salesman knows the song, so he must have some connection to the tribe. Now that I've made the connection to the tribe and Majora, the reason I said he must have been the leader is because, well, I don't know.

I guess he could've been experimenting with the song and tried it on himself, causeing his evil to manifest into Majora's Mask. I just feel like the salesman being part of the tribe and using is own anger and pain to create Majora makes the most sense. And if the masks on his back are the remaining tribe members
(not mario, that's clearly and easter egg)
then, being the last member alive, it would make sense that he would keep those with him at all times. I mean, there must be a reason he doesn't sell the masks on his back in ocarina of time. Maybe it's because those are the tribe members.

I also had a theory in which he was a test subject for the song. This is where the tribe uses him to create Majora's Mask. He gets mad and basically takes revenge by turning them all into masks. Another small reason I believe the salesman is Majora is because you don't even know his name. So maybe it could turn out to be Majora.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Even though I do like some if the connections made in this thread I can't help but think otherwise. I posted a few days ago about the Happy Mask Salesman, so I'll just put it here...

The sudden movements as you mentioned seem intentional, as if he is in a way making small teleportations, whatever action that he is doing it doesn't seem natural by any means. Another note would be that during the first cut scene, when you meet him, you walk past where he is meant to be and suddenly he appears as if from thin air as does his piano.

The fact that he teaches Link the song of healing means that he knows the song himself, which may indicate that he has been trying to heal himself. One more point in favor of this theory would be that during the final cut scenes the Happy Mask Salesman is seen but then suddenly he vanishes.

Overall I think its very possible that the Happy Mask Salesman could be a ghost/spirit. However he is very different from his Hylian counterpart which could indicate that the two are not connected. One theory I have in mind that the Happy Mask Salesman is a spirit that is sent to help out Link in the game, inform him of the dangers of the mask and teach him the song of healing (a key song in the game).

---

So here I basically pushed the notion that the Happy Mask Salesman is in fact a spirit, sent to help Link somehow. Fact is that every character we see in Majora's Mask is a rather unfamiliar counterpart to their Hylian selves. So why is the Happy Mask Salesman different? Well he seems to be same person as he was in Ocarina of Time, I mean he has the same profession, in collecting Masks. So I would think that he too entered Termina to find the Mask. I'm still not fully sure on this theory I'm presenting but I would think that the Happy Mask Salesman isn't part of the Dark Tribe as he refers to the Mask as this horrendous evil, if was a part of the tribe who created it, then surely he would praise it's powers in a brighter light.

Trying to justify me theory would mean I would have to delve deeper into the mystery of Termina itself and what exactly it is, but I'll save that for another thread sometime.

Basically I just state how I don't think the HMS is apart of the Dark Tribe due to him speaking as if he's external to the Mask that the Dark Tribe "supposedly" created.

 

[Calebmoore]

Quick note, doesn't it say they did create Majora's Mask? The "supposedly" you threw in there confused me.

 

[Locke]

It only said that they used it, iirc.

 

[Calebmoore]

Then that could help back up my theory. If they used it then I think it would make sense they used it to try to take Termina, like I said.