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Apr 30, 2022
Ok I know everyone hates edgy takes on Majora's Mask about how Link is dead or in purgatory, etc
I agree because Majora's Mask exists to develop further the character of Link and thus he must have a future, or else the game has no purpose and that would be sad.

But i think i have cracked the code to Majora's Mask....well, sorta.

I am always kind of disappointed with some of the theories found in youtube or other places since they always make interesting in-game arguments but never seem to point out to real word inspirations that Nintendo developers must certainly take into account—the different encyclopedias of course would also never discuss this— These ideas don't exist in a vacuum after all and Westerners are not very familiar with Chinese and Japanese folklore.

First of all i want to say that i have been doing a full musicological analysis of both The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and, in the process, i have found a lot of influences in the series, So it would be cool if you all could check it out, even if you are not interested as much in the music, I am sure you will find very interesting information.

This take is still not very organized because I have not reached Majora's Mask yet, but hear me out.........
...... The Water Temple from Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask are exactly the same thing
:look:
:look:
:look:


:ironic:
i know, i know, it sounds totally bonkers but I promise i am not losing my mind or trying to do out there fan fiction. In fact, i would appreciate if some of you can help me further with the research and expand on it.

i am now tending towards the idea that Nintendo indeed took very seriously the notion of a "personal journey"for Link in Majora's Mask and perhaps he is indeed the only "real"character"—whatever reality means in our most literal sense— of the entire adventure.

the Zelda series has huge Buddhist influences all across its games and since the music of Majora's Mask is influenced by Chinese opera and Japanese drama i knew there was some connections between the masks and chinese folklore. it's very complicated to fully explain but you can imagine that their concepts of heaven, hell, purgatory, etc have great differences to most western ideas so saying Link is in purgatory is not as simple. however, he is still in a rebirth cycle trying to gain karma (represented by masks) in order to attain enlightenment; defined as: when a Buddhist finds the truth about life and stops being reborn because they have reached Nirvana.

If you have the time, Here is an essay explaining how these ideas are exactly what forms the basis for the design and concept of the Water Temple:

officialmusictracks.wordpress.…-soundtrack-water-temple/

There is a very good reason this is the place where we fight Dark Link


Majora's Mask is jut a more elaborate culmination of this whole concept.
the basis of Majora's Mask is the Nuo folk religion from China. the oriental influence was there even from the beginning in ocarina of time, where the Happy Mask Salesman—a blatant Chinese character— ran a "happiness" shop and he encouraged Link to basically give happiness through masks to different characters in Ocarina of Time. Nuo culture is mainly a hexing religion that exorcises demons and people, or alternatively, heals them. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Nuo folk religion is its iconographic style, which represents the gods as wooden masks or heads. For now, i can only say that the music that accompanies the character Majora is unmistakably from these cultures.


This particular mask is from japanese Noh theater, a successor of the nuo folk religion traditions.

Ever wondered what is the deal with the Happy Mask Salesman? he is a figure called a Fangxiangshi. What is that?? The definition in Wikipedia reads:

A Chinese ritual exorcist whose name is translated as "one who sees in all four directions" His primary duties included to chase out disease-causing demons from houses and buildings and leading a funeral procession to exorcize the deceased.

Clock Town Architecture itself is Chinese based. inspired by the towns known as Fujian tulou:






All these concepts have their counterparts in Japanese religion so i still have to do more research to try to sort out what are the specific influences. but In learning the Song of Healing Link is basically taking the role of the Happy Mask Salesman, becoming an exorcist himself.

Sadly, there is little information out there about Nuo culture at the moment. But on the other hand, the Buddhist influences are surely there in the game: the emphasis on the number four is a staple of Buddhism, the cycle of rebirth and gaining karma is right there imbued into Majora's Mask design. and Inside The Moon is nothing more than the same allegory from the Water Temple. That being the Bodhi Tree where all the Buddhas are said to have attained enlightenment.


After seeing all this, some things that can be said are

From the very beginning of development, the concept of Navi was based around her being a guide for the player; Navi is short for "navigation" and since early in the making of Ocarina of Time, the developers knew that the game would start with Navi arriving and end with Navi leaving no matter what happened in the story. The reason is because the player does not need navigation anymore after the end of the game, the control can be unplugged now.

so Navi has slightly more connotations to the developers. Link looking for Navi at the beginning of Majora's Mask is also Link looking for "direction"in life

The character of Majora is nothing more than the dark side of Link and all the reflections made in the game definitively concern what Link is living tthrough right now. It would be ridiculous to focus on the sentiments of a Skull Kid. This is the reason why Majora's Mask is shaped like a dark heart. In turn, the Fierce Deity Mask is the good side of Link he gained by accumulating karma throughout the game. Eiji Aounuma even hinted at this on an interview. That is the explanation of why it has the face of Link.

The Happy Mask Salesman may be an already enlightened one or guiding spirit, or even the consciousness of Link himself

The giants are based on Pangu from Chinese folklore, a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology, Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant who created the world by separating heaven and earth.

The fact Hyrule is referrd as heaven makes me think Termina is indeed some kind of underworld and Stone Temple Tower was built to escape it. Also c'mon! calling the land Termina and Link literally going to the land of the dead as his last quest can't be for nothing. Maybe it is really some kind of purgatory but in an Eastern conception that we need to dig up more. (As a side comment, the Clock Tower is full of symbols of Ikana, so it must be a landmark not built by the people of Clock Town, they just put the giant clock in it; the stonework is also different from the rest of the town)

I am pretty sure there is a lot more of Eastern influences on various Zelda games, like use of colors, symbols, the giant turtle, the monkeys etc to uncover.

At the end, what i wanted to point out is that these ideas are inspired by something, and looking into the real world can also shed light on what the developers were going for. Even if the specific points that i made are all wrong, i am convinced that Buddhism played a part into Majora's Mask

(The man responsible for these surrealist takes in Nintendo is Yoshiaki Koizumi, His is the main driving sensibility in Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening, He even managed to somehow inject weirdness in the ending for Super Mario Galaxy!)
 

thePlinko

What’s the character limit on this? Aksnfiskwjfjsk
ZD Legend
My only real counterpoint for this theory is that a large chunk of the masks, environments, and even a few NPCs are very clearly Mesoamerican in design, most notably in the Woodfall area.

On the topic of religious Influence though, Stone Tower always reminded me of the Tower of Babel more than anything else. A tower made to reach the heavens by an overconfident civilization, only for said civilization to be punished with ruin.


(The man responsible for these surrealist takes in Nintendo is Yoshiaki Koizumi, His is the main driving sensibility in Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening, He even managed to somehow inject weirdness in the ending for Super Mario Galaxy!)

3 of my favorite games of all time. He definitely knows how to inject soul into a game when Miyamoto lets him.
 
Joined
Apr 30, 2022
My only real counterpoint for this theory is that a large chunk of the masks, environments, and even a few NPCs are very clearly Mesoamerican in design, most notably in the Woodfall area.

On the topic of religious Influence though, Stone Tower always reminded me of the Tower of Babel more than anything else. A tower made to reach the heavens by an overconfident civilization, only for said civilization to be punished with ruin.




3 of my favorite games of all time. He definitely knows how to inject soul into a game when Miyamoto lets him.


Yeah, no doubt woodfall has south and central american influences, Snowhead, and great bay? who knows. the Chinese influence is mostly clock town and ikana. (the king of ikana has kinda the same hat of ancient Chinese emperors and i think it all plays with ancient china and the terracota army, invaders from other lands etc. i am trying to pin down the style of music of stone temple tower. it sounds folky and celtic but i am pretty sure there should be a Chinese style that sounds like it.
 
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Dio

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Ok I know everyone hates edgy takes on Majora's Mask about how Link is dead or in purgatory, etc
I agree because Majora's Mask exists to develop further the character of Link and thus he must have a future, or else the game has no purpose and that would be sad.

But i think i have cracked the code to Majora's Mask....well, sorta.

I am always kind of disappointed with some of the theories found in youtube or other places since they always make interesting in-game arguments but never seem to point out to real word inspirations that Nintendo developers must certainly take into account—the different encyclopedias of course would also never discuss this— These ideas don't exist in a vacuum after all and Westerners are not very familiar with Chinese and Japanese folklore.

First of all i want to say that i have been doing a full musicological analysis of both The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and, in the process, i have found a lot of influences in the series, So it would be cool if you all could check it out, even if you are not interested as much in the music, I am sure you will find very interesting information.

This take is still not very organized because I have not reached Majora's Mask yet, but hear me out.........
...... The Water Temple from Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask are exactly the same thing
:look:
:look:
:look:


:ironic:
i know, i know, it sounds totally bonkers but I promise i am not losing my mind or trying to do out there fan fiction. In fact, i would appreciate if some of you can help me further with the research and expand on it.

i am now tending towards the idea that Nintendo indeed took very seriously the notion of a "personal journey"for Link in Majora's Mask and perhaps he is indeed the only "real"character"—whatever reality means in our most literal sense— of the entire adventure.

the Zelda series has huge Buddhist influences all across its games and since the music of Majora's Mask is influenced by Chinese opera and Japanese drama i knew there was some connections between the masks and chinese folklore. it's very complicated to fully explain but you can imagine that their concepts of heaven, hell, purgatory, etc have great differences to most western ideas so saying Link is in purgatory is not as simple. however, he is still in a rebirth cycle trying to gain karma (represented by masks) in order to attain enlightenment; defined as: when a Buddhist finds the truth about life and stops being reborn because they have reached Nirvana.

If you have the time, Here is an essay explaining how these ideas are exactly what forms the basis for the design and concept of the Water Temple:

officialmusictracks.wordpress.…-soundtrack-water-temple/

There is a very good reason this is the place where we fight Dark Link


Majora's Mask is jut a more elaborate culmination of this whole concept.
the basis of Majora's Mask is the Nuo folk religion from China. the oriental influence was there even from the beginning in ocarina of time, where the Happy Mask Salesman—a blatant Chinese character— ran a "happiness" shop and he encouraged Link to basically give happiness through masks to different characters in Ocarina of Time. Nuo culture is mainly a hexing religion that exorcises demons and people, or alternatively, heals them. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Nuo folk religion is its iconographic style, which represents the gods as wooden masks or heads. For now, i can only say that the music that accompanies the character Majora is unmistakably from these cultures.


This particular mask is from japanese Noh theater, a successor of the nuo folk religion traditions.

Ever wondered what is the deal with the Happy Mask Salesman? he is a figure called a Fangxiangshi. What is that?? The definition in Wikipedia reads:

A Chinese ritual exorcist whose name is translated as "one who sees in all four directions" His primary duties included to chase out disease-causing demons from houses and buildings and leading a funeral procession to exorcize the deceased.

Clock Town Architecture itself is Chinese based. inspired by the towns known as Fujian tulou:






All these concepts have their counterparts in Japanese religion so i still have to do more research to try to sort out what are the specific influences. but In learning the Song of Healing Link is basically taking the role of the Happy Mask Salesman, becoming an exorcist himself.

Sadly, there is little information out there about Nuo culture at the moment. But on the other hand, the Buddhist influences are surely there in the game: the emphasis on the number four is a staple of Buddhism, the cycle of rebirth and gaining karma is right there imbued into Majora's Mask design. and Inside The Moon is nothing more than the same allegory from the Water Temple. That being the Bodhi Tree where all the Buddhas are said to have attained enlightenment.


After seeing all this, some things that can be said are

From the very beginning of development, the concept of Navi was based around her being a guide for the player; Navi is short for "navigation" and since early in the making of Ocarina of Time, the developers knew that the game would start with Navi arriving and end with Navi leaving no matter what happened in the story. The reason is because the player does not need navigation anymore after the end of the game, the control can be unplugged now.

so Navi has slightly more connotations to the developers. Link looking for Navi at the beginning of Majora's Mask is also Link looking for "direction"in life

The character of Majora is nothing more than the dark side of Link and all the reflections made in the game definitively concern what Link is living tthrough right now. It would be ridiculous to focus on the sentiments of a Skull Kid. This is the reason why Majora's Mask is shaped like a dark heart. In turn, the Fierce Deity Mask is the good side of Link he gained by accumulating karma throughout the game. Eiji Aounuma even hinted at this on an interview. That is the explanation of why it has the face of Link.

The Happy Mask Salesman may be an already enlightened one or guiding spirit, or even the consciousness of Link himself

The giants are based on Pangu from Chinese folklore, a primordial being and creation figure in Chinese mythology, Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant who created the world by separating heaven and earth.

The fact Hyrule is referrd as heaven makes me think Termina is indeed some kind of underworld and Stone Temple Tower was built to escape it. Also c'mon! calling the land Termina and Link literally going to the land of the dead as his last quest can't be for nothing. Maybe it is really some kind of purgatory but in an Eastern conception that we need to dig up more. (As a side comment, the Clock Tower is full of symbols of Ikana, so it must be a landmark not built by the people of Clock Town, they just put the giant clock in it; the stonework is also different from the rest of the town)

I am pretty sure there is a lot more of Eastern influences on various Zelda games, like use of colors, symbols, the giant turtle, the monkeys etc to uncover.

At the end, what i wanted to point out is that these ideas are inspired by something, and looking into the real world can also shed light on what the developers were going for. Even if the specific points that i made are all wrong, i am convinced that Buddhism played a part into Majora's Mask

(The man responsible for these surrealist takes in Nintendo is Yoshiaki Koizumi, His is the main driving sensibility in Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening, He even managed to somehow inject weirdness in the ending for Super Mario Galaxy!)

Koizumi is great. I am aware he snuck in many story elements in both OOT and MM that Miyamoto didn't want to bother with and those games are all the better for it. It is great to discover where they might have gotten their inspiration from.
 
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The Happy Mask Salesman may be an already enlightened one or guiding spirit, or even the consciousness of Link himself
I don't think the Happy Mask Salesman is part of Link; he seems, just as you say, to be a Fangxiangshi; a ritual leader who uses his masks to connect between the mortal man and the immortal gods.

The character of Majora is nothing more than the dark side of Link and all the reflections made in the game definitively concern what Link is living tthrough right now. It would be ridiculous to focus on the sentiments of a Skull Kid. This is the reason why Majora's Mask is shaped like a dark heart. In turn, the Fierce Deity Mask is the good side of Link he gained by accumulating karma throughout the game. Eiji Aounuma even hinted at this on an interview. That is the explanation of why it has the face of Link.
This also directly connects to the Water Temple: Dark Link/Shadow Link appears throughout the Zelda series, but they never seem to be a manifestation of Ganon's evil. In Ocarina of Time, Dark Link is essentially a mimic robot, probably created by the Sheikah's dark magic, in Oracle of Ages, Dark Link is unable to attack when created by Veran and merely serves as a fauxsimile. In TP, Dark Link is the Interlopers that become the Twili, in ST, Dark Link, who acts just like OoT Dark Link, appears in Joynas' game after completing the Light Temple, in a building that has Vaati's eye on the front of it, and in BotW, the Dark Link set is created by Kilton, a similar mask-creating, endlessly smiling figure like the Happy Mask Salesman. Link's Shadow in Z2 was created by the Old Sage Kasuto guarding the Triforce of Courage, Shadow Link in FSA comes from the Dark Mirror (probably the Mirror of Twilight or a similar portal), and in ALBW, Shadow Link appears when fighting Gramps (ALttP Link), and in TFH, the Shadow Links guard the Fierce Deity Armor. All this to say: Majora being a reflection of Link like these is not far off. However, I don't think this is exactly right. The Fierce Deity Mask is the collection of all the happiness (gratitude in SS, Light Force in PH and ST) of the people of Termina consolidated into the mask of the dark god. Majora, created likely by the same tribe that created the Fused Shadow from TP (which was also created by the Sheikah), could maybe represent the malice in Link? That seems more likely.

The fact Hyrule is referrd as heaven makes me think Termina is indeed some kind of underworld and Stone Temple Tower was built to escape it. Also c'mon! calling the land Termina and Link literally going to the land of the dead as his last quest can't be for nothing. Maybe it is really some kind of purgatory but in an Eastern conception that we need to dig up more. (As a side comment, the Clock Tower is full of symbols of Ikana, so it must be a landmark not built by the people of Clock Town, they just put the giant clock in it; the stonework is also different from the rest of the town)
Naraka is Buddhist purgatory: the waystation to one of the heavens.

Yeah, no doubt woodfall has south and central american influences, Snowhead, and great bay? who knows. the Chinese influence is mostly clock town and ikana. (the king of ikana has kinda the same hat of ancient Chinese emperors and i think it all plays with ancient china and the terracota army, invaders from other lands etc. i am trying to pin down the style of music of stone temple tower. it sounds folky and celtic but i am pretty sure there should be a Chinese style that sounds like it.
In Woodfall, Odolwa literally chants in Mayan. The closest thing for Snowhead Temple I've found is the Dahu in French mythology which resides in the icy, glacial alps. For Great Bay, the World Turtle seems to be the most prominent mythological representation since it is bsically a modern-day factory. And Ikana Valley is a mix of Chinese influence, with the kingdom of Ikana, and Judeo-Christian, with the Tower of Babel.

One of the most distinguishing characteristics of Nuo folk religion is its iconographic style, which represents the gods as wooden masks or heads.
This is also very important in understanding how the rest of the masks in the Zelda series work. In OoT, MM, and OoA, the masks are tied to the Happy Mask Salesman, who we've already established is a ritual leader who essentially communes with the dead and the gods through the masks, if we are to take real-world mythology and apply it (HMS from OoA is also likely how ALBW Link got Majora's Mask on his wall). BotW masks use dead monster parts to neurochemically alter Link to become undetectable by monsters (except Lynels), and Majora's Mask presents this effect to the maximum degree. The Mask of Truth and Hero's Charm from WW are heavily connected to the Sheikah, explaining their properties, and the Hawkeye mask from TP is simply a piece of technology, but the Fused Shadow and Zant's Mask from TP are, once again, heavily connected to the Sheikah and their shadow magic. Then there are the Masked Monsters that emerge from the Bound Chest in Minish Cap: these are the first canonical appearances of masks in the games, and they are representations of the monsters that plague Hyrule from here on in the game.
MCMasks.png
Your read for Majora's Mask is spot-on, but the mask symbology is found throughout the rest of the Zelda series as well.
 

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