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Spoiler The Boss Remains (Majora's Mask) are akin to Transformation Masks, and thus the Fierce Deity's Mask was supposed to turn Link evil.

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Some spoilers for Twilight Princess are included here.

This doesn't have much proof, but anyways, I'll tell the theory.

There being 5 Moon Kids suggests to me that the 4 that are wearing the Boss Remains were actually some lingering amount of spirit of the bosses.

Link carrying the Boss Remains is a really demented thing, unless you look at them as transformation masks, then it makes perfect sense, since Link wouldn't want some innocent stumbling on them and putting them on, becoming cursed in the process.

I believe that the wearers of the Boss Masks are the 4 Giants.

Since they were likely given them by Majora's Mask, and Majora's Mask is the one who gives Link the Fierce Deity's Mask, and he calls it evil, it can be assumed that the spirit of Majora's Mask was trying to curse Link as a last ditch effort after literally seeing that he not only beat the Bosses, but also soothed their spirits (the Moon Children wearing the Boss Masks), thus fearing Link would do the same to Majora's Mask himself.

But wouldn't this fall apart when you realize the Giants are akin to lesser deity's for Termina, and even they couldn't resist the evil influence of the spirits of the Boss Masks? Not necessarily.

Link at the end credits of OoT has the mark of the Triforce of Courage, suggesting he has it despite the Sacred Realm not being unsealed. And when you realized TP Link pretty much auto gained it through being OoT/MM Link's descendant, it makes sense that it isn't a Zelda II scenario, but that Child Timeline OoT Link actually has the Triforce of Courage.

In TP, the ToC protected TP Link from the Twilight, but he was only partially protected, as his form was still changed. If MM Link has the ToC as it's unlikely he gave it back (for the aforementioned reason of TP Link inheriting it), then it would protect him from the evil Fierce Deity spirit inside the mask, thus allowing him to wear the mask without being corrupted.

Anyways, that's my theory.
 
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I believe that the wearers of the Boss Masks are the 4 Giants.
In the Moon sequence, the characters are Happy Mask Salesman people. Idk what that does to the giant theory, but it's important to note. Maybe the spirits of the bosses and the giants could be so intermingled that they both inhabit the vessel of the child?
(Twinmold kid below)
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In TP, the ToC protected TP Link from the Twilight, but he was only partially protected, as his form was still changed. If MM Link has the ToC as it's unlikely he gave it back (for the aforementioned reason of TP Link inheriting it), then it would protect him from the evil Fierce Deity spirit inside the mask, thus allowing him to wear the mask without being corrupted.
This is a super cool theory, what with that weird triangle symbol on the breastplate of the FD armor. It does seem odd to me that the Triforce doesn't appear at all throughout the rest of the game on Link's hand, or even in the opening sequence; you'd think it would come in handy.
 

Uwu_Oocoo2

Joy is in video games and colored pencils
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Well I just skimmed this and I'm probably going to go and do some research on it eventually but off the bat I like this theory. I never really thought of it this way, but the way you put it it makes sense to think of the boss masks as transformation masks. This is especially seeing as once you get these masks the Giants are revealed, perhaps being returned to their natural states.
In the Moon sequence, the characters are Happy Mask Salesman people. Idk what that does to the giant theory, but it's important to note. Maybe the spirits of the bosses and the giants could be so intermingled that they both inhabit the vessel of the child?
(Twinmold kid below)
View attachment 68976
Honestly I take anything inside this trippy dream world with a grain of salt, so I don't really know if them being unhappy mask children is at all relevant or symbolic of anything, really. But given Majora's Mask and the boss masks all take this same form may imply they are either aspects of Majora or something akin to him. Part of the ship, part of the crew. I may go and review the moon dialouge to see if there's any clues.
 
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I am not going to go into lore of Zelda games. MM was part of the Level-maker meant for the DD64 add-on for the N64. Basically they took a bunch of leftover materials and mashed into a new game. Literally the game is heading towards LA ( the GB game ) as everything shares that exact theme. Only difference is the mask theme.

The game was cute and all, but they literally took the Happy-Mask Salesman, A revamped Skull-Kid, and made up some new NPC out of old NPC. Allowing them to focus on bosses, level-designs, and other tid-bits of the game itself.

FD-mask is more like what Link should have appeared as after LA. But since we are still Young Link world, it is only suggested. In fact they could have made an entire game based off the Wind-Fish being awaken, and maybe what was the "nightmare" was really some kind of evil leftover in the world of Zelda. Nintendo did not continue the series down that path. LA is the last game in the series. We get no resolution.
 
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In the Moon sequence, the characters are Happy Mask Salesman people. Idk what that does to the giant theory, but it's important to note. Maybe the spirits of the bosses and the giants could be so intermingled that they both inhabit the vessel of the child?

I have long pondered the significance of those children. An idea I had when I first played the game, was that it suggested that the Happy Mask Salesman was a deity in disguise the whole time. A fifth giant, if you will.

But, There are a few theories about the Salesman, and his involvement in the greater plot, that I like a lot more, now. There is the idea that he is, or was, a member of the Sheikah, explaining his abilities, and the liberal use of purple in his clothing. There is also the idea that he was a villain to begin with, and his happy demeanor is just another mask. The children on (in?) the moon could be a result of whatever magics that the Salesman was doing to the mask before it was taken by the Skull Kid.

Either way, there does seem to be a connection between the mask of Majora, and the Fused Shadow, which has a Sheikah eye on it's back. It is not a big stretch to suggest that the Fused Shadow is the result of researching the giant transformation masks.
 

Fierce Deity Link

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The Fierce Deity Mask maybe evil and dark, but Link’s purity of heart and the Triforce of Courage kept him in control of it.

A YouTuber showed that the marks on Fierce Deity face match The Hylian Shield:

IMG_5880.jpeg
IMG_5889.jpeg


On his chest plate is a single triangle, one of the pieces of The Triforce, Courage:

IMG_5890.jpeg

The Crescent is speculated to be Gerudo.

I believe these markings prove Link is in control and uncorrupted.
 
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I always viewed the Fierce Deity as a “necessary demonification”, something made specifically to counteract Majora. Whereas Majora’s mask was fueled by someone making childish decisions, the FD mask was borne of Link’s deeds to fix problems caused directly by him, and represents Link’s own growth as a person, into someone mature enough to move past things such as loss.
 
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This theory is wrong. The Fierce Deity being "evil" or "demonic" has been debunked so many time it makes me sick (just like the "link is dead in MM" theory or "MM is just a dream or a dreamworld" when Hyrule Historia clearly says it's a parallel universe and we see Skull Kid doing carthwheels and playing with the fairies a very long time ago like thousands of years ago before the Giant Deities split the world into four regions, we know it wasn't a "dream" or a "dreamworld" and that it's one of many parallel universe or alternate realties acros the multiverse, Termina is just as real as Hyrule and the World of the Ocean King, Link even took his Terminan bow back to Hyrule and left it in the care of the Gorons and TP Link get that bow from the Gorons in Twilight Princess, the same Hero's Bow, and when Hero of Wind Link pulls the Phnatom Hourglass out of his pocket at the end of PH he proves that the World of the Ocean King is real and wasn't a so-called dream even if time pass differently in that other world and only like 10 seconds or a minutes passed in the original universe, people would do well to remember that Termina and the World of the Ocean King are very real parallel universes, meaning alternate or parallel versions of Link's world with an identical past but the history of each of these two universes diverge from the original universe's at some point. For more information of multiverse theory, look it up in the science books).

The folks at Nintendo who made the game said again and again that the Fierce Deity Mask contains the hopes of all of Termina. And the Fierce Deity is an humanoid incarnation of the moon that the people of Termina worship (yes, a moon god) as it is said in Anju's grandmother's story that the moon was revered and worshipped, so the moon in Termina always had a face and its having a face had nothing to do with Majora, it was always a living entity that the people of Termina revered and worshipped. Also, the moon was shedding tears (moon tears) and crying because it was held hostage by Majora and didn't want to destroy the planet and kill everyone but was put under a curse by Majora to destroy the world by crashing into it against its will and the moon wanted Link to stop it before it was too late. The Fierce Deity mask as some people have said is obviously an humanoid incarnation of the moon that was revered and worshipped by the inhabitants of Termina, when Link put the Fierce Deity mask and transform you can clearly see that he is wearing a SILVERY WHITE tunic, has hair the color of MOONBEAMS, and even has a MOON crescent on his armor, the other symbol on his armor is a DIVINE ENERGY FORCE GEM kinda like Ocean Deity Oshus' sand of hours in the Phantom Hourglass and the Force Gems found in Oshus' temple (the Temple of the Ocean King, where people used to go to worship the whale sea god), this Force Gem symbol on Fierce Deity's armor hints at divinity/godhood. The mask as the people who made the game said in interviews contains the hopes of all of Termina, the hopes of all living beings in Termina. So no, the Fierce Deity mask and the entity Link turns into is NOT evil nor was it ever "supposed to turn Link evil". This claim about the Fierce Deity being "evil" or "demonic" has been debunked so many times it makes me sick. It's Majora that's evil, trying to commit mass genocide and kill billions of people by crashing the poor moon into the planet. Fierce Deity is a hero who with the help of Link and other Deities who are called the Giants helped save the world of Termina and it's countless inhabitants.
 
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It looks like multiple interpretations can coexist here without contradiction.

Can the corruption angle not work as an artifact whose power corrupts, not necessarily because it's evil, but because it's just too powerful to handle? The power of a Buddhist fierce deity would probably be dark for anyone unenlightened to handle. Maybe Majora banked on this corrupting Link? If Link's own conflicts weren't resolved, maybe he'd fall into demonification. But, as a wielder of the Triforce of Courage, Link bravely faced his doubts and resolved his own conflict (growing up and moving on, physically represented by becoming a version of Adult Link), with the dark powers in service of the Fierce Deity's purpose. According to Wikipedia for Wrathful deities (Buddhism) at least, "fierce imagery represents 'poison as its own antidote, harnessed obstacles as the liberating force'". The dark powers of the mask (representing the negative emotions of Link/Termina) being used as a liberating force? Sounds pretty on point for a fierce deity to me, the deity being the moon in this case.

The Fused Shadow/Mirror of Twilight Shards aren't "inherently" evil, but unchecked, the "dark" power can still corrupt people (like Yetta and Darbus).
 
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It looks like multiple interpretations can coexist here without contradiction.

Can the corruption angle not work as an artifact whose power corrupts, not necessarily because it's evil, but because it's just too powerful to handle? The power of a Buddhist fierce deity would probably be dark for anyone unenlightened to handle. Maybe Majora banked on this corrupting Link? If Link's own conflicts weren't resolved, maybe he'd fall into demonification. But, as a wielder of the Triforce of Courage, Link bravely faced his doubts and resolved his own conflict (growing up and moving on, physically represented by becoming a version of Adult Link), with the dark powers in service of the Fierce Deity's purpose. According to Wikipedia for Wrathful deities (Buddhism) at least, "fierce imagery represents 'poison as its own antidote, harnessed obstacles as the liberating force'". The dark powers of the mask (representing the negative emotions of Link/Termina) being used as a liberating force? Sounds pretty on point for a fierce deity to me, the deity being the moon in this case.

The Fused Shadow/Mirror of Twilight Shards aren't "inherently" evil, but unchecked, the "dark" power can still corrupt people (like Yetta and Darbus).
I call BS on this. There is no evidence whatsoever that Fierce Deity has "dark powers" or is going around "corrupting people". None, zilch, nada, the big goose egg. The only power that Fierce Deity use in Majora's Mask is firing magical beams from his sword when Link is at full health (something that Link could do without that transformation mask in some of the previous installments in this franchise) and making Link a bit stronger which makes the boss fight easier (though it's limited to the boss rooms only). I wouldn't call that a "dark power". Also, people should know that the line of text in the english translation that says, "Could this mask's dark powers be as bad as Majora?", does not exist in the Japanese version, the translators at NoA (Nintendo of Americans) pulled that right out of their ass and made it up. People really need to stop trusting and relying on english translations for their informations and their theories.

The translators at NoA add lines of texts to english translations that don't exist in the Japanese version and they make stuff up and some portions of the games are seriously mistranslated. For example, the folks at NoA either made this up or they are seriously incompetent as translators because there's a fake creation story in Twilight Princess and paint the Oocca has being deities who can create life which is absolutely not true, they are but mere messengers who serve the deities and the Hylian royal family. The english translation says that the Oocca, the chicken people, created the Hylian race, are the creator of the Hylian species, when in fact the Japanese version clearly says that the Oocca created (as in built or helped build) the city inhabited by the Hylians. They created a city NOT living sentient beings. According to the legends, it's the three golden goddesses who created the universe and all life within it (and we have no evidence that this is true, all we have is the Hylian royal family's religious belief that this is what happened or the Hylian royal family might have made that up to keep the people and the Link heroes under their thumbs and easier to manipulate, that's just what the Hylian royal family says happened, but there are many different species in Hyrule and they most probably each have their own creation myths, who know what actual deity or what force of nature created the world that Link originates from, none of them were around when the world was created so none of them really know, and they're probably still debating the question in secret and being very cautious not to be caught doing that by the Hylian royal family, people in the Zelda fandom would do well not to believe or trust any and every thing they hear from the Hylian royal family).

There's also Midna's line, "Did you think we'd forget our ancestors who lost their king to such greed?", which doesn't exist in the Japanese version, Midna's dialogue here in the Japanese version doesn't mention any previous King of the Twili.

Also, in the english translation, the Happy Mask Salesman says that the tribe that sealed away Majora's Mask vanished and now no one knows the true nature of that mask. The Japanese version doesn't use the term "vanished" as in disappeared somewhere or moved somewhere else, it uses the word "destroyed", the tribe was obviously mass genocided. And the tragic thing is that the Happy Mask Salesman is the sole survivor of his species (yes, that tribe was his people, why else would he know so much about this tribe, the true nature of the mask and the entity that was sealed in it, and seek to retrieve the mask and stop the dangerous entity from destroying an entire world/dimension?). The tribe is species, was a race of powerful magic-wielding (the Happy mask salesman can summon giant piano and other objects, heal Link's curse with a mystical melody composed by his people, is a time traveler as he's seen on both the child timeline AND on the adult timeline in the credit in OOT and tells Link in Majora's Mask "Do I seem shady? Suspicious? Trust me. Trust me" and "You who have TRAVELLED ACROSS THE BOUNDS OF TIME ARE SURE TO SUCCEED" so he know about Link being the hero and his adventures on the adult timeline and the child timeline, etc) immortal demigods who can't die from old age but can be killed in battle (immortal doesn't mean invincible, the LOTR elves can't die from old age but they can be killed in battle, in the movie Haldir died, and in the books Glorfindel died in the first age and that's just two examples).

I wrote a story about the Happy Mask Salesman and his past, you can read it here (don't hesitate to post a review if you want, I think that's my best written work and I put a lot of time, energy and love into this one, even more so than in my previous written works I think, several months of hard work and I'm rather proud of this little gem, it's a story in three parts and there's also a couple companion pieces):

https://archiveofourown.org/series/1500296

This is just three examples. There's lines of texts in the english version that do not exist in the Japanese version that the english translators just made up out of nowhere and there's portions of those games that have gross mistranslations in them. Yet some people keep making the mistake of trusting and relying on english translators for their informations and their theories.
 

Ragnarokio

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It has been a long time since i have played through majora's mask and have never delved into zelda lore in general, so feel free to disregard my uneducated perspective.

Fierce Diety, per my understanding, is a translation of the word 鬼神 (Kishin), which I typically see translated as "Demon God". The first character here when read alone is pronounced "oni" and is typically translated as either demon or ogre, but refers to a distinct mythological creature known for its strength and evil nature. You can read about them here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni

The second kanji here, the one read as "shin" almost always means god or spirit, and when used alone as a word is read "kami".

The word Kishin then literally means "oni-like god", and if my understanding is correct the name 鬼神 should definitely convey a demonic or evil vibe to native japanese speakers. The costume design certainly does for me.

Researching it now, it does seem like the word 鬼神 has a complicated nuance, as its originally from china and has come to be used to refer to classes of mythological beings within several distinct mythologies. Generally though, it seems like it still conveys the idea of a demon-like god.

The "Fierce Diety" translation seems to be chosen based on the english translation for a class of buddhist deities (originally called trowo in tibetan, i think?). Japan uses 鬼神 as a translation for these same class of deities (although it also uses it to refer to shinto gods or fictional characters and seems to have originally been used to describe a class of beings in traditional chinese mythology that i'm mostly seeing translated as "ghost" or "spirit"). Presumably the translators thought the intention of nintendo was to evoke some kind of buddhist association when using the word 鬼神, although it also could have been because they wanted to avoid using the more intuitive translation of "demon god" for fear of offending christians (the satanic panic was still fresh in people's minds at the time MM was released). In either case, trowo deities in buddhism seem to convey a similar impression, although it seems like buddhism might not acknowledge a "good/evil" dichotomy so much as a "creative/destructive" one in this instance, and so there's room there for a somewhat more neutral interpretation. I expect the impression on a japanese audience will still be a dark/demonic one, from the name and character design alone.

Based on what little I've read about the lore online , it seems very little is known for sure about who exactly the fierce diety was or what their presumed reign was like, and so i might guess that they were evil or destructive at worst, and dark and edgy at best is probable, given the naming and artistic direction of the mask/transformation.
 
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TheLegendofGoose

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Some spoilers for Twilight Princess are included here.

This doesn't have much proof, but anyways, I'll tell the theory.

There being 5 Moon Kids suggests to me that the 4 that are wearing the Boss Remains were actually some lingering amount of spirit of the bosses.

Link carrying the Boss Remains is a really demented thing, unless you look at them as transformation masks, then it makes perfect sense, since Link wouldn't want some innocent stumbling on them and putting them on, becoming cursed in the process.

I believe that the wearers of the Boss Masks are the 4 Giants.

Since they were likely given them by Majora's Mask, and Majora's Mask is the one who gives Link the Fierce Deity's Mask, and he calls it evil, it can be assumed that the spirit of Majora's Mask was trying to curse Link as a last ditch effort after literally seeing that he not only beat the Bosses, but also soothed their spirits (the Moon Children wearing the Boss Masks), thus fearing Link would do the same to Majora's Mask himself.

But wouldn't this fall apart when you realize the Giants are akin to lesser deity's for Termina, and even they couldn't resist the evil influence of the spirits of the Boss Masks? Not necessarily.

Link at the end credits of OoT has the mark of the Triforce of Courage, suggesting he has it despite the Sacred Realm not being unsealed. And when you realized TP Link pretty much auto gained it through being OoT/MM Link's descendant, it makes sense that it isn't a Zelda II scenario, but that Child Timeline OoT Link actually has the Triforce of Courage.

In TP, the ToC protected TP Link from the Twilight, but he was only partially protected, as his form was still changed. If MM Link has the ToC as it's unlikely he gave it back (for the aforementioned reason of TP Link inheriting it), then it would protect him from the evil Fierce Deity spirit inside the mask, thus allowing him to wear the mask without being corrupted.

Anyways, that's my theory.
Okay, so here's what I understand about the magic LSD dream named Majora's Mask. Okay, so
1. The fierce deity mask is the mask of a fierce warrior made from all the worries and other negative emotions from ALL the hylians in the world, the world played in MM (For newbies, yes MM3D is obviously include smh). Thus the pain and agonising scream you hear when he wears the mask (this goes for the other transformation masks in a lesser extent, bc Link feels the depression and other negative emotions from each respected mask).

2. The [Fierce Deity's] mask is likely based on the Japanese Oni, punishing those who do wrong (correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know an awful lot about Japanese mythology). It was meant to correct evil.

That's as far as I know
 

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