Spoiler Zelda MM Theory: Fierce Deity- Who Was He?

[FayeleneFyre]

I've been thinking… On Majora's Mask, we know who all the mask spirits are.

The Zora mask = Mikau.

Goron mask = Darmani.

Deku mask = Butler's Son.

So, who was Fierce Deity? He's the only one that is never explained. Some believe he's pure evil, some believe he was good. I happen to think he was good. If anyone remembers what Shikashi said, he said the moon was once feared and worshiped. Was the Fierce Deity the Spirit of the Moon? If the moon was, in a way, a deity itself.



I think Fierce Deity died and Majora cursed his soul to be bound in the mask when Majora had taken the moon. Majora was able to overcome the Moon God, thus taking his sanctuary. Then in the end, he gave Link the Diety's mask, planning to destroy them both once and for all and titling himself as "The good guy", while calling Fierce Deity "The true bad guy". He must've figured it was so easy to overthrow him last time, and Link's just a kid, so how hard would it have been to destroy them both at once? I think Majora was simply consumed in his own power at that point, and really thought that nothing could stop him, so decided to make his last battle "fun". And where does Majora give you the mask? When you're in that realm inside the Moon! Coincidence? I think not!



And if you look at the Fierce Deity, he's got color's reminiscent of night. And he's even got a moon on his armor. And what's with that triangle on the other side of his chest plate? Could he even be in some way linked to Nayru, Din, and Farore and the Triforce? The inside of the moon having another world could very well be linked as well. If the Fierce Deity originally was the moon or resided in the moon as it's God, that'd be his spiritual home most likely; A beautiful heavenly realm. I even have the theory he could be connected to the infamous "Fourth Triforce Piece", and could've once been the Fourth God. Of course, that last bit might be a bit of a stretch. He could even be a step-down God or warrior for the Goddesses, who knows.



Anyway, those are my thoughts. What do you think?

 

[Justac00lguy]

I agree with you. I also believe he is the Moon God or the guardian that represents the moon. I actually made a rather detailed post about FD and Majora. The latter sections focus on Fierce Deity:

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I've always thought of Majora being a demi god of sorts. Around Termina you have multiple symbols of which show the face of Majora - a big example being the Stone Tower Temple. This odd dungeon, when you entered, had what seems to be a section of Majora's face. As you can see from the picture to the right, it does bear some resemblance to the actual mask: you have the spikes (maybe horns) and you have the two eyes - with one being a switch.

Why exactly is the Stone Tower Temple a place of worship for Majora? We tend to associate Majora with all things dark -- the Stone Tower Temple is more so a light related dungeon. I think it's safe to assume this as within this dungeon your primary weapon is sunlight; Link uses his Mirror Shield to reflect sunlight and then goes on to utilise the famous Light Arrows. However, this seems contradictory, why would a place associated with sunlight worship something that dwelled within a moon? Majora, or the incarnation of it which is trapped within the mask, seems to reside within the moon. This baffled me whenever I tried to come up with an explanation on this theory, so I analysed the moon instead.

The moon is one of the main vocal points in the game and is a constant threat; however what if the moon isn't exactly evil? The moon was never meant to crash down, thus the impending doom was conjured up by non other than Majora. Majora controlled the moon, or in other words, hijacked it. The evil mask manipulated the moon so that it would crash down and destroy Termina for reasons we do not know (I'll speculate on this further down). Anyway I don't associate the moon with Majora nor do I associate it with evil. So what dwells within the inner chambers of the moon? Well it seems like a peaceful meadow and a tree that seems to bear much resemblance to the tree of life. Why would something so peaceful and serene be so destructive? Anyway, what am I getting at? Well if you look at the moon closely you can see that it's facd doesn't really look evil; it actually looks somewhat scared. It's facial expression seems similar to when someone "eeks", to phrase it. Now I looked into this further and does anyone remember the first day? You do a number of task and one of them is collecting the moon's tear. This made me think, maybe the moon is showing us that it doesn't want to crash down and destroy the land; it shows its displeasure and empathy by shedding a tear.

This is why I think all of this started, I think Majora wanted to destroy Termina not for the sake of destroying it, but instead to obliterate the moon. But why though? Well I would like to reference the Stone Tower Temple again--like I said previously--it's a light theme, well more so sunlight. I believe that this Temple worships the sun, but it also shows symbols of Majora - thus why I believe Majora is related to the sun and is in fact the sun god. I was thinking more about the concept of light (sunlight) and Majora as well. If you look at the colours of the mask, even inside the boss stage, it shows multiple colours; it's almost rainbow-like. The colours are actually related to the Visible Spectrum. These are colours that we can see with the naked eye due to a little thing called "sunlight".

So with Majora being ths sun god, or goddess, what about Fierce Diety? Well I believe these masks are the antithesis of one another. We already know that FD is a god of sorts as it's in the name: Deity refers to a god or goddess. I believe FD is the moon god and thus the antithesis of Majora. If we relate this to the colour scheme, FD has a lot of bland colours: whites, greys, blacks. Black is the absence of all colour and white being the existence of all colours. Funnily enough, the moon is white an black. When it's not in sunlight it is absent from colour (black); however the reason we can see the moon is due to sunlight reflecting off the moon and back down to earth (white). To further prove FD's connection with the moon just take a look at his armour: you can clearly see the marl of a triangle and a crescent, which in mythology, represents a moon. (It's located on his chest plate, click the link for a clearer view).

 

[Ocarina_Player]

I really like this theory! Not sure about him being linked to the three goddesses since there was absolutely no reference to them or the triforce (at least none that I remember) in Termina, and this is an alternate world.

 

[FayeleneFyre]

(To justac00lguy)
This theory sounds so spot-on, it's unreal! I never thought of Majora being the Sun God. That'd explain his hate for the moon and Fierce Deity. That'd also explain how he'd overpower Fierce Deity as well at the start of things. The Sun's mass is far greater than the Moon's. But, with Link's help, the Fierce Deity was able to surpass Majora in the end. Very observant, thanks for sharing! : D (Only thing that confuses me is his mask's origin. His mask was created by a tribe for hexing rituals. How did he end up being the Sun God? Unless it had something to do with him tainting the Sun God or something? Or Majora first taking over the Sun God somehow, similar to how he took over the moon? Oh gees, my head's hurting lolz)


(To Ocarina_Player)
The Goddesses and the Triforce have been referenced at having once been present in Termina ^^ The story of the Stone Tower Temple is said to have been about the tribe trying to prove their four Male Deities are more superior than the three Female Deities. The Triforce can be seen all throughout Stone Tower Temple and on the pillars leading to Ikana Canyon in Termina Field. Though, the way they are portrayed adds to the background story of the people of Termina- or rather Stone Tower Temple- resenting them rather than worshiping them. The Triforce is usually placed upside down on the bottom of the pillars.

I believe that the Goddesses made Termina just as they did Hyrule. But Termina wasn't accepting of the Goddesses like Hyrule was.

 

[PalaeoJoe]

There are actually some statues and blocks in the Stone Tower and in the east of Termina Field that have the Triforce depicted on them. And specificly the ones on the blocks are depicted on the tongues of monstrous figures. This may suggest that the goddesses may exist in Termina and that they were hated by the people of Ikona.

<- click for larger image

 

[Pandanation]

I really agree with that sun god theory! It resembles opposites which always seem to appear one way or another in about every zelda game! The stone temple could be a place of "worship" for them since it is closest to the sky and it's only open on special events.(sorry if somebody mentioned this I have to skim through this since I don't have much time )

 

[Justac00lguy]

(To justac00lguy)
This theory sounds so spot-on, it's unreal! I never thought of Majora being the Sun God. That'd explain his hate for the moon and Fierce Deity. That'd also explain how he'd overpower Fierce Deity as well at the start of things. The Sun's mass is far greater than the Moon's. But, with Link's help, the Fierce Deity was able to surpass Majora in the end. Very observant, thanks for sharing! : D (Only thing that confuses me is his mask's origin. His mask was created by a tribe for hexing rituals. How did he end up being the Sun God? Unless it had something to do with him tainting the Sun God or something? Or Majora first taking over the Sun God somehow, similar to how he took over the moon? Oh gees, my head's hurting lolz)

Hmm, I don't think the tribe actually were stated to have "created" the Mask; it merely said they used it in said rituals. There is a Manga (non-canon) that states that the Mask was created from an evil creature's [Majora's] armour. I think it's safe to say that the topic remains open to speculate and theorise upon. It's a good topic to discuss though ;p

 

[Doc]

The one part I don't really agree with is that Majora gave Link the Fierce Deity Mask. I am not sure, but I don't think there is enough evidence to support that the Mask Children are the same as the masks. I mean, the child wearing the Majora mask acted very contrary to what we had seen of Majora in the rest of the game. Perhaps they were the "Ancient Tribe" or their spirits. Also, you say that Majora defeated Fierce Deity and that is why he is a mask. But what you are forgetting is that Majora was also a mask, due to the Ancient Tribe the Happy Mask Salesman spoke about. Majora may have defeated Fierce Deity, but then were both sealed in masks. But then that would mostly be speculation.

 

[TatlTails]

OK, to argue this whole 'Why is Majora a Mask' thing, I think the tribe somehow sealed the Sun God IN the mask they made, through some elaborate ritual that weakened and trapped him(they probably did this with Fierce Diety too, though he was more docile and OK with it than the ansty, fiery Majora). They then ignorantly used his power, probably making them seem like children in his eyes. Which is why all the 'Wearers of the Masks' either look like or are children. The Moon Children in particular, but also Link and Skull Kid. I mostly agree with justac00lguy's theory, though. Really detailed and epic and stuff. So yeah, I'mma just... go...

 

[SlyPheonix]

It could be said the there are the demigods that exist to balance the world created by the Golden Goddesses, I also want to preface by saying the Golden Goddesses may have created many worlds and left demigods as stewards over these worlds.

I was thinking that if Hylia, the Goddess of Time, gave up her divinity to be reborn as Zelda (and her subsequent reincarnations along the game timeline) it would follow that Link and Ganondorf are of the same origin.

I get that Ganondorf is the reincarnated hatred of Demise, and Demise is the "Demon King" but let me draw you a parallel. Loki from Norse mythology, Anubis from Egyptian, etc etc etc. I would even go so far as to lump in Lucifer from Christian religion. While not necessarily a god Demise could be a divine being (demigod?) with considerable influence over the land, his darkness influencing the creatures living there and certainly influencing the realm of magic. It can be argued where he came from, but let me move on to Link and the Fierce Deity.

Link could be from the Fierce Deity being. Just like Hylia the Fierce Deity could have been a guard for the beings living in the world. A being of balance perhaps? A warrior god? When Demise and his power took physical form in the world, as is detailed in the events of Skyward Sword's past, the Fierce Deity and Hylia give up their divine power to be reincarnated into Hylians throughout time to balance Demise/Ganondorf's reincarnations?

We see in the events of Majora's Mask that Link gets the mask that turns him into the the Fierce Deity. If Link is the reincarnation of this divine entity he could be embracing more of his divinity, in the case of the mask literally, and becomes the Fierce Deity in this land. The Fierce Deity being the Moon God as suggested above could be his role in the larger LOZ universe. Another notable touch here is that the moon has phases (I'm extrapolating our world and moon to act the same as Termina and her moon), full, varying degrees of waxing and waning, and new moon. Never is the moon one particular shade all of the time. This can be compared to Link and Dark Link, two sides of the same coin from the Moon God?

 

[g-whiz]

I was thinking along the lines of SlyPhoenix

The mask LOOKS like Link.

Skyward Sword refers to Link as the Goddesses Chosen Hero but at the beginning, the Wing Ceremony is reenacting a scene in which the goddess gave the hero a sailcloth. To me, that implies that there was a hero before the goddess shot Skyloft into the air (remember, Zelda/Hylia reincarnate went back AFTER that happened).

Now, in SS, we learn that Ganondorf is the reincarnated essence of Demise. Demise is called a demon but, if he is from Lorule, he could be a god there (pure speculation on my part). That would make Ganondorf the mortal reincarnation of a primordial divine being. Ganondorf has the Triforce of Power.

Zelda is the mortal reincarnation of Hylia-another primordial divine being. She has the Triforce of Wisdom.

The Triforce of Courage then would naturally go to some mortal human kid with nothing special about him whatsoever...wait what? I'm thinking the original hero, pre Skyloft, was another primordial divine being. He was killed in the battle, reincarnated as Link (a dozen or so times) and THAT gets him the Triforce of Courage.

 

[Ocarina_Player]

Well There was a manga short in Hyrule Historia that details the battle that sends Skyloft above the clouds and when Hylia sealed demise. There was a Link and he did die helping Hylia create Skyloft and as a reward she made it so his spirit would never die but be reborn whenever there was trouble. She did the same to herself by shedding her divinity and also being reborn whenever he was. But he was just a regular human, not a demigod.

 

[g-whiz]

Is that manga canon? I'm legitimately asking. I haven't seen it and I know it can go either way with the mangas associated with LoZ. Generally, if it isn't stated in game or Nintendo doesn't say "this is how it happened" it's not considered canon even if it's officially licensed.

 

[Ocarina_Player]

I honestly don't know if it's considered canon. There other works are not canon, but this was put in Hyrule Historia and does not directly contradict anything else in it. I'll let you know if I ever find out.

At any rate, there is nothing to suggest that Link was ever anything more than a regular dude who happened to be braver than the rest and rose up to whatever challenges and so was chosen by Hylia to be her go-to guy for *** kicking for the rest of forever.

I am more inclined to believe the fierce deity mask is not a representation of him.

 

[g-whiz]

That manga aside for a moment (not discounting it altogether but we don't know its status), I always saw Link as kind of a reluctant hero. I guess part of what makes the series great is that he doesn't have much of a personality of his own so you can see him however you want.

In OoT, he's happy living his life in the forest, sleeping in, getting on Mido's nerves etc. then all of a sudden the Deku Tree is sending him on quests and stuff.
In MM, he's just looking for a friend when he meets Lewis Carroll and gets shoved into that mess.
In TP, his friends get kidnapped and he goes to look for them. By the time he finds them, he's knee deep in other stuff and he can't really just back out.
In SS, he's a lazy kid at the academy out on a date or whatever when his friend gets Wizard of Ozed away.

He doesn't go out seeking adventure, it just kind of happens and it usually isn't until later that the Triforce pops up on his hand (I don't remember if it came up in MM at all). That makes me think of SS when Zelda is purifying herself to awaken her memories of being Hylia but we don't know what she was doing except that it involved a harp. Maybe Link is doing the same thing through his questing. He's purifying himself to awaken the part of him that was the original hero so he can use the Triforce of Courage.

It just strikes me as odd that the Triforces of Wisdom and Power would latch onto (arguably) equally powerful immortal beings (Hylia and Demise) and the Triforce of Courage would find itself a mortal teenager. I'm more inclined to think there is some at least pseudo divine connection and that would explain why the Fierce Deity looks like Link (or vice versa).

Although, now that I wrote that, it would sort of make sense for the Triforce to try to maintain some semblance of balance between lesser gods, demons and mortals and that would explain why the most worthy of each group would get a piece.