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The Interlopers were Yiga (like)

Joined
Oct 10, 2017
I'm a bit sleep deprived, so bear with me, if my thoughts seem a little scattered.

There has always been comparisons between Majora's Mask and the fused shadow, as though they were made by the same person, inspired by one or the other, and so on. On the back of the fused shadow, there is an eye symbol that is similar to the Sheikah eye. The Yiga clan uses an inverted Sheikah eye symbol as their own. They may have even used other alterations, due to many similar eye symbols used by Ganon's minions in other games.

I propose that the Yiga, or at least a similar branch from the Sheikah, revived the power of the mask, after Link defeated it in Termina, and became the Interlopers.

Edit: Emphasis on the Yiga like offshoot from the Sheikah, not the actual Yiga from Breath of the Wild.
 
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Uwu_Oocoo2

Joy is in video games and colored pencils
ZD Legend
Forum Volunteer
While it may have been formed from a wayward branch of Sheikah, it's unlikely the Yiga specifically were the interlopers. We actually get some backstory for the Yiga clan from "Creating a Champion". 10,000 years before the Great Calamity that put Link into his 100 year nap, the King of Hyrule hired the Sheikah to create the shrines, guardians, and divine beasts. But the King of Hyrule at that time came to fear the Sheikah and their technological prowess. He went so far as to ban their technology, destroy data, and imprison those who opposed him. That's when the sheikah broke into their two separate groups- the ones who peacefully settled into kakariko village accepting the king's rule, and the militant Yiga who came to worship Ganon. So while the Yiga could have been the interlopers, it would have to mean this event took place at some point before Twilight Princess. While 10,000 years is a long time it would present a little bit of a time crunch. There's also the fact that we don't see any evidence of Sheikah tech (or Sheikah) in TP, and Ganon at that point is not the Monster we see from BotW overflowing with Demise's malice. He's still just a Gerudo dude at that time so realistically the 10,000 calamity could not have taken place before that point. (All this info is on page 368 of Creating a Champion, thanks for giving me an excuse to use my book again!)
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
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Location
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Absolute unit
I'm a bit sleep deprived, so bear with me, if my thoughts seem a little scattered.

There has always been comparisons between Majora's Mask and the fused shadow, as though they were made by the same person, inspired by one or the other, and so on. On the back of the fused shadow, there is an eye symbol that is similar to the Sheikah eye. The Yiga clan uses an inverted Sheikah eye symbol as their own. They may have even used other alterations, due to many similar eye symbols used by Ganon's minions in other games.

I propose that the Yiga, or at least a similar branch from the Sheikah, revived the power of the mask, after Link defeated it in Termina, and became the Interlopers.

I don't think the Yiga were even around back when the magic tribe were sealed. I think the sealing happened prior to OOT and was during the Hylian civil war in which Links mother became injured and gave her baby to the Deku Tree.

Ganondorf was sent to the twilight realm after the magic tribe had already been sent there which requires them to have been sealed before the events of OOT since Ganons being sent there happened after Link returns to childhood and warns the King of his plans.

The magic users could well have been Sheikah as their people have the potential to use magic, there is also not many Sheikah around in OOT, only one that we see, which could indicate most of them were sealed. However these were probably not specifically Yiga.
 
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This theory makes a lot of sense (once Yiga-like is swapped in). The idea that the Sheikah have had groups in-fighting since before OoT or around TP is thematically rich and evidentially consistent.

I'm kinda gonna theory-dump with some thoughts. Majora's Mask and its connection to the Stone Tower Temple in Ikana Castle and Termina seems pretty solid. I'm not sure what theory I saw this in, but the portal used to fight Twinmold likely connects to the distant vast expanse of the Gerudo desert, much like how the Lost Woods holds a portal to Termina found within the tree trunk. The Garo Master uses this portal to enter and attack Link, and there is a major focus in the game on how the people of Ikana were forced to lock the dark magic of Gomess (and likely Majora's Mask) within the Stone Tower Temple. This magic may have been Ganondorf-worshipping or, at least, Gerudo-aligned shadow-magic users. This shadow magic is likely the same that the Interloper Tribe were accused of practicing to form the Fused Shadow and, likely, the same shadow magic that Astor and the Yiga practice, all of which seems to be based on Demise and his oozing hatred that appears as Malice. Thus, the Garo (ninja-like warriors similar to the Sheikah), the Interlopers (dark magic users with Sheikah symbology) and the Yiga (known former Sheikah) are all part of the same lineage of Sheikah-turned-evil.

This is more of a theory related to BotW 2, but the connection between the Twilight's cyan-green magic and the cyan-green soul magic used by the Zonai and the green magic that is often associated with the element of wind (and its corruption as seen in Vaati's use of such wind magic) suggests that the Zonai may have been another group that veered towards this imbalance of shadow and wind magic found in Termina and in the plight of the Interlopers, leading to their sudden disappearance (like what happened with the banishment of the Twilight or the destruction of Ikana).

Obligatory linear timeline plug: the linear timeline makes this all much more satisfying.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2017
This theory makes a lot of sense (once Yiga-like is swapped in). The idea that the Sheikah have had groups in-fighting since before OoT or around TP is thematically rich and evidentially consistent.

I'm kinda gonna theory-dump with some thoughts. Majora's Mask and its connection to the Stone Tower Temple in Ikana Castle and Termina seems pretty solid. I'm not sure what theory I saw this in, but the portal used to fight Twinmold likely connects to the distant vast expanse of the Gerudo desert, much like how the Lost Woods holds a portal to Termina found within the tree trunk. The Garo Master uses this portal to enter and attack Link, and there is a major focus in the game on how the people of Ikana were forced to lock the dark magic of Gomess (and likely Majora's Mask) within the Stone Tower Temple. This magic may have been Ganondorf-worshipping or, at least, Gerudo-aligned shadow-magic users. This shadow magic is likely the same that the Interloper Tribe were accused of practicing to form the Fused Shadow and, likely, the same shadow magic that Astor and the Yiga practice, all of which seems to be based on Demise and his oozing hatred that appears as Malice. Thus, the Garo (ninja-like warriors similar to the Sheikah), the Interlopers (dark magic users with Sheikah symbology) and the Yiga (known former Sheikah) are all part of the same lineage of Sheikah-turned-evil.

This is more of a theory related to BotW 2, but the connection between the Twilight's cyan-green magic and the cyan-green soul magic used by the Zonai and the green magic that is often associated with the element of wind (and its corruption as seen in Vaati's use of such wind magic) suggests that the Zonai may have been another group that veered towards this imbalance of shadow and wind magic found in Termina and in the plight of the Interlopers, leading to their sudden disappearance (like what happened with the banishment of the Twilight or the destruction of Ikana).

Obligatory linear timeline plug: the linear timeline makes this all much more satisfying.

Awesome stuff. I knew there was a connection to the stone tower, with all this, but couldn't remember the theory very clearly. There's a part about spiders, trickling the back of my mind, as well.
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2017
I just remembered the theory that I came up with a while back that the Happy Mask Salesman was a member of the Sheikah. He shares some of the same abilities shown by Impa, and a few other Sheikah. Both he and Impa have a fondness of wearing blue, purple, and gold. Not to mention his open use/lending of a Shikah artifact: the Mask of Truth. With his obsession over Majora's mask, it is a strong possibility that he may have been one of, if not the first Interloper.
 

Uwu_Oocoo2

Joy is in video games and colored pencils
ZD Legend
Forum Volunteer
I just remembered the theory that I came up with a while back that the Happy Mask Salesman was a member of the Sheikah. He shares some of the same abilities shown by Impa, and a few other Sheikah. Both he and Impa have a fondness of wearing blue, purple, and gold. Not to mention his open use/lending of a Shikah artifact: the Mask of Truth. With his obsession over Majora's mask, it is a strong possibility that he may have been one of, if not the first Interloper.
I've heard speculation before that the tribe which worshiped Majora was connected to the Interlopers. And as it stand in the game, the Happy Mask Salesman was the foremost authority on said tribe and the power of the mask itself. He also seems to know a lot of magic, helping Link return to his natural state (aka no longer being a bush) and keeping his awareness of the situation despite the time jumps. He's pretty much the sole link between that tribe / Majora and the outside world. I wouldn't doubt that he was a Sheikah, he's certainly mysterious and seems to know a lot about the dark arts (and as we know from the connection between the Lens of Truth and the torturous Shadow Temple the Sheikah are knowledgeable in these). However, aside from the things you pointed out I can't think of anything off the top of my head further connecting him to the Sheikah tribe.
 

Dio

~ It's me, Dio!~
Joined
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Location
England
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I just remembered the theory that I came up with a while back that the Happy Mask Salesman was a member of the Sheikah. He shares some of the same abilities shown by Impa, and a few other Sheikah. Both he and Impa have a fondness of wearing blue, purple, and gold. Not to mention his open use/lending of a Shikah artifact: the Mask of Truth. With his obsession over Majora's mask, it is a strong possibility that he may have been one of, if not the first Interloper.

It's highly unlikely for The Happy Mask salesman to be a member of the magic tribe mentioned in Twilight Princess who became the Twili. The tribe was shown to have used the fused shadows to attempt to claim the whole triforce for their own. However in OOT and MM the triforce is divided between three people during the game. In the interloper war the triforce was still shown as whole which ensures the war must have been pre OOT. That means the magic tribe were all sealed away in the Twilight realm before the events of OOT so the maskman can't be a member unless you are suggesting he was an escapee who avoided the light spirits punishment.

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my personal theory is that he is a member of the demon tribe along with Ghirahim (far left) and is actually the man depicted on the far right of this image which shares the hairstyle, creepy smile and possibly his round collar that he wears in OOT/MM. It's a heavily stylised artwork so it's definitely not proof but considering the great magic the maskman seems to possess and his demonic rage it is something I consider likely. The manga, whilst not canon, I doubt departs so drastically as to make the maskman a totally different character to what was imagined for him originally. He seems in that to even be excited somewhat for the destruction of termina and the lives to be lost despite not having his mask back. That's demonic indeed.
 
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Joined
Oct 10, 2017
I'm personally split, on the timing issue, Dio. On the one hand, I don't see an issue with the Twili, making a play for the Triforce after Ocarina of Time. The Triforce being whole could be simply a visual thing, even though they were seperate. This allows for the fact that we don't hear about this struggle until after Majora's Mask. If so, the splinter group may have started as a group tasked with getting the Triforce pice from Ganon. From there, they basically went off the deep end.

On the other hand, having the splinter group become the Twili earlier does help to diversify the timeline.

I also really like the idea that the Mask Salesman, or ancestor/pre-incarnation, is that figure on the right. Possibly even the one next to Ghirahim; wearing what could be a white mask.
 

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