Majora
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Majora's Mask | |
|---|---|
 The evil wish-granting Mask.
|
|
| Game series | Legend of Zelda series |
| First game | The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask |
| Creator(s) | Mitsuhiro Takano Eiji Aonuma |
| Character designer(s) | Yoshiki Haruhana Satomi Maekawa Yoshiyuki Oyama Satoru Takizawa Daisuke Kageyama |
| Voice actor(s) | Takeharu Oishi |
Majora's Mask (ムジュラの仮面 Mujura no Kamen?), also known as Majora, is the title character , antagonist and final boss in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
The Mask possesses various demonic powers, from transformations to the heightening of the wearer's senses, and a very mischievous nature, as well as a sadistic one, often making its victims suffer emotionally for no reason other than its own amusement, rather than causing them physical harm – often inducing or suggesting madness and sorrow.
Its madness is also evident in that its method of destroying lives is seemingly random and nonsensical as opposed to other Zelda villains who lust for power. However, its host's memories mixed with a large emotional surge from that host can apparently cause the Mask great mental pain and stress as it struggles for dominance over its body. The entity, Majora itself seems deeply disturbed, such examples include the interior of the moon and its surreal environment (or the final battleground) and its choice of children as its manifestation inside the moon. In addition to maniacal insanity it randomly seems to exhibit moments of sheer sorrow, such as when manifesting as a child in the moon it sits alone and cradles itself in a depressed and sad manner.
In the video game's story, the Mask was briefly in the possession of the Happy Mask Salesman; however, a scarecrow-looking creature known as Skull Kid robbed him of his treasure. From that point, the Mask begins to corrupt Skull Kid's mind and wishes, to the extreme of making the Moon crash into his world, a doomsday the player must prevent.
Wether the entity Majora is or was an actual being or merely evil incarnate is widely debated among fans. Regardless of its origin, it carries obvious intelligence and sentience, regarding its wearers as "puppets."
Contents |
[edit] Background
The origin of the mask was only mentioned once in the game, in an explanation of it coming from the Happy Mask Salesman. After finding out that Link's first attempt at recovering the Mask failed, he tells Link that Majora's Mask is an accursed item from legend, said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. The Mask grants its wielder's wishes, but possesses them with an evil, apocalyptic power. According to this legend, the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great that the ancient ones, fearing catastrophe, "sealed the Mask in shadow forever", preventing its misuse. But by the time of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, the legendary tribe had vanished, and thus any other information about the origin and true nature of the Mask was lost.
Being trapped in the shadow makes it unknown how the Happy Mask Salesman obtained it; although eventually, Skull Kid and his fairy sibling companions Tatl and Tael managed to ambush him and steal it. Skull Kid began to wear the Mask, and eventually, it possessed his wishes, weaken his inhibitions and bringing out his repressed feelings, such as anger and loneliness. By the beginning of the game, Skull Kid has already used the Mask to cause trouble in Termina, from small evils such as turning Kafei, a soon-to-marry young man, into a child, to greater destructive actions, like sealing the Four Giants, Termina's protectors, behind Masks, causing sudden weather and geographical changes that threaten to kill the many Terminian races.
[edit] Original side story
The manga by Akira Himekawa, although not by official Nintendo authors, provides a side story that attempts to explain the origin of the Mask.
The Mask is revealed to be an ancient and dangerous artifact made from the body armour of a legendary beast, Majora. According to a myth devised "by the humans themselves," the beast's armour was supposed to grant wishes and hold of a great and terrible power. Nevertheless, all who approached Majora, warriors, men and women alike, even with good intentions, were devoured without remorse by the beast. After centuries of a woeful and solitary existence, a being disguised as a human musician (resembling the Fierce Deity) approached Majora, and offered it eternal rest, not by fighting, but by playing music. Majora happily danced to dying exhaustion after three days of agony. The musician removed the armour's body parts from Majora, and from them he carved Majora's Mask, attempting to bring an end to the solitude of the beast and the fear and ambition of the people.
Somehow, Majora's Mask ended up in the hands of early Terminian tribes, and became known as the Mask of the Devil. Majora's Mask gained its power from the evil desires that people had in their minds as they were devoured by the beast, or when they cast the hexes when the armor was made into the mask. As it passed from member to member in the tribe it accumulated its power until it was too much to control. The tribe died out, but the mask still rested in darkness, until the Happy Mask Salesman recovered it after a long search. In the end of this story, the Mask's wish-granting power is destroyed, but the reasons behind its apocalypse and the motivation behind the Salesman's quest for it are never revealed.
[edit] Termina's final days
Some time soon after sealing the Four Giants, Skull Kid started to wander around the boundaries between the Termina and Hyrule worlds, and it is then that he meets Link, the Hero of Time, steals his Ocarina of Time and horse, then transforms him into a Deku Scrub using the masks power. One of Skull Kid's fairies, Tatl, is separated from the group, and teams up with Link to track down Skull Kid, guiding him into Clock Tower, where he meets the Happy Mask Salesman, who has a nervous disposition when asked about the Mask, but strikes a deal with Link: if Link can regain his Ocarina, he'll turn him back to normal. In exchange, all he wants is the Mask. Link gets outside Clock Tower, into Clock Town, Termina's central city.
In Clock Town it becomes clear that Majora's Mask has possessed the Moon, causing it to reflect a demonic, twisted smiling face with eyes similar to Majora. Majora's Mask is also forcing the Moon to leave its orbit and crash into Termina, an apocalypse that will take place in just three Terminian days, coincidently, the beginning of the Carnival of Time. In the Third Day, Link manages to climb the Clock Tower, where a seemingly mad Skull Kid wearing the Mask awaits, floating in the sky, chanting and waiting for the Moon to fall. Tael, his fairy, quickly tells Link and Tatl to visit four locations (Swamp, Mountain, Ocean, Canyon) and "call the ones" that lie there, before being smacked by Skull Kid. During this, Link is able recover the Ocarina of Time using his Deku powers, which enables him to control the flow of time and returns to the First Day. Then, the Happy Mask Salesman returns him into a human, and asks him for the Mask once again, explaining its power and the impending apocalypse that surrounds them.
Traveling back and forth through Termina's three final days, Link and Tatl figure out Tael's words, and free "them", the Four Giants, from the Swamp, Mountain, Ocean and Canyon, keeping their Masks. The Four Guardians proceed to teach Link a song, "Oath to Order", to call them. Finally facing the end of the world, Link plays the song in front of Majora's Mask during the apocalypse, summoning the Four Guardians who hold the Moon to save Termina. When playing the song, Skull Kid screams, seemingly struggling with the Mask, and is knocked unconscious, falling next to Link.
After a brief celebration where Tatl reunites with her brother Tael, the fairy asks Link to forgive Skull Kid, something that the Four Giants also asked him when he met them. It is then that Majora's Mask takes a life of its own, floating back (with the attached, still knocked out Skull Kid) into the sky, proclaiming that his wearer had far too many weaknesses to use its power. Majora's Mask also says that "a puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage", while shaking a little and throwing Skull Kid away, then adding that its puppet's role has just ended...
As Majora's Mask laughs and flies off into the Moon's mouth, leaving an energy column behind, the Moon's eyes brighten, while the Moon eerily talks: "I... I shall consume. Consume... consume everything'". The Moon becomes too much for the Guardians to hold, and Link runs towards the column. Hesitantly, Tatl follows him. Once they step into it, they fly off towards the insides of the Moon as well, leaving Tael and Skull Kid behind.
[edit] Inside the moon
The insides of the Moon appear as a dream-like, infinite green field, with a clear blue sky, a warm sun, and a huge tree in a hill, the center of the field. Around the tree, four identical children wearing the Guardian Masks, play around, while a lonely, seemingly depressed child sits by himself, wearing Majora's Mask. If approached, the four playful kids ask Link for masks, that the player could have obtained during the three days.
If the player has enough Masks, each child will play hide and seek with Link, transporting him into a small dungeon that he must traverse as each of the different Terminian races to find the child. Upon being found, each child asks for masks again. After receiving them, every child asks Link something different about friendship, happiness, and the philosophy behind the use of masks:
- Odolwa / South Guardian Mask: "Can I ask... a question? Your friends... What kind of... people are they? I wonder... Do these people... think of you... as a friend?"
- Goht / North Guardian Mask: "Can I ask... a question? What makes you happy? I wonder... what makes you happy... does it make... others happy, too?"
- Gyorg / West Guardian Mask: "The right thing... what is it? I wonder, if you do the right thing, does it really make everyone happy?"
- Twinmold / East Guardian Mask: "Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... The face under the mask... Is that... your true face?"
After playing with the children, they disappear, leaving Majora's Mask alone. Note that talking with the other kids is optional: the player can directly talk to Majora's Mask and still beat the game normally. When approached, Majora's Mask kid will ask Link if he wants to play with him. If Link says yes, the kid will stand up, and tell him that they'll play a game of tag, good guys againsts bad guys - Majora will be the good guy, and Link will play the bad guy. If the player gave all of his masks away to the other children, however, Majora will also give Link the Fierce Deity Mask, so Link can fully become the "bad guy".
[edit] Final boss
Majora's Mask teleports Link into a strange rainbow-colored chamber with strange markings and symbols in the walls. As Link steps forward, the Guardian Masks Remains fly towards different markings on the wall, attaching themselves to them. Once all of them are fixed into the chamber, Majora's Mask, before inactive behind a dark altar, brightens its eyes up and again floats on its own, moving its now-flexible border needles and growing tentacles on its back, as the final battle begins.
[edit] Majora's Mask
The first form is the mask itself floating around, high enough to make it unreachable to Link's normal attacks. The Mask's front side is also impenetrable, so Link must aim at its back. Majora's Mask becomes vulnerable when it attacks by hovering in the ground, spinning around with its tentacles, trying to hurt Link; after it flies again, it reveals its back for a brief moment, and Link can aim at it with arrows, his fins (when transformed into a Zora), and other projectiles. In addition to its spinning attack, Majora's Mask can also launch energy spheres at Link.
Once it receives a certain amount of damage, Majora's Mask summons the Four Guardian's Remains to help it in the battle. The Remains will float and attack Link with energy spheres similar to Majora's own; but during this phase, Majora's attack pattern changes. It will try to kill Link by, still floating, aligning its tentacles and assuming a Sun-like shape, sending off a strange sunlight energy wave that Link can reflect back at the Mask using his shield.
[edit] Majora's Incarnation
After Majora's Mask has been damaged enough, it'll float uncontrollably in the air, and suddenly will begin to grow thin legs, arms, and finally a strange, small, horned eye, retaining the Mask as its body. This second form, Majora's Incarnation, will dance around while a surreal and disturbing music is heard. The Incarnation shows a whimsical nature and rarely attacks; it mostly runs quickly around the room, its speed rendering it practically invulnerable, and occasionally pauses to perform a random dance move, such as ballet, moonwalk, and the can-can. While dancing it is vulnerable to attacks. It has the ability to shoot multi-colored balls of energy and showers Link with them when it is so inclined. In this phase, Majora acts childish, almost cute, while still retaining a demonic aura. It will cheerfully sing along the music, and scream horrifyingly when hit.
- Video: Majora's Incarnation Battle (0'34")
[edit] Majora's Wrath
Also known as Majora's Mage, the final form is a much more menacing version of Majora's Incarnation. It grows an actual head with piercing eyes and a twisted expression for the battle, and its previous single eye grafted into its forehead. Its appendages grow and become adorned with muscles, and its fingers grow into large, tentacle-like weapons. This form possesses astounding agility and uncanny grace: it is able to jump across the room in one leap and can dash around the perimeter in a matter of seconds. The tentacles make it capable of attacking from a great distance and knocking Link onto his back; it also has an unlimited supply of spinning blades, with the eyeball design from the Incarnation (which are actually pulled from its forehead), in its arsenal. After it attacks, it is briefly vulnerable to being shot and stunned. While any arrow works, a Light Arrow increases the duration of the paralysis. It is interesting to note that if a player is grabbed by one of Majora's tentacles while in zora form, using the barrier attack also stuns it as though it were shot with a light arrow. It is susceptible to being attacked while unable to move. During this battle, a more threatening music plays, and Majora displays crazed and spontaneous movements, and can often be heard jabbering to itself or laughing maniacally.
- Video: Majora's Wrath Battle (0'39")
If Majora granted Link the Fierce Deity Mask, on the other hand, the final battle's challenge decreases significantly; while transformed into the Fierce Deity, Link can just target at Majora's Mask and swing his blade, sending off effective and very destructive waves of energy to the Mask, easily destroying it.
[edit] Dawn of a new day
After delivering the final blow to Majora's Wrath, the demonic entity will begin to disintegrate, alongside its chambers, while screaming once again.
Outside Clock Town, all Terminians alongside the Four Giants have gathered, having escaped the city looking for shelter from the Moon. Together, they watch how the Moon shakes, never losing its devilish grin. Then, a light field envelops the Moon, and it begins to shrink, finally turning into a rainbow.
The screen turns white with black text, and bold letters "Dawn of a New Day" is read, as opposed to the white text against black background messages that marked the remaining hours until the End of the World during Termina's three "final" days.
All Terminians cheer and celebrate; Link somehow ends up back outside Termina's field with Epona, Tatl, Tael, Skull Kid and Majora's Mask. The Four Giants, who are in fact Skull Kid's first friends, wave him farewell as they return to their sleeping places. Skull Kid realizes that they haven't forgot him, and joyfully turns to Link, asking him to be his new friend.
The Happy Mask Salesman then appears, and thanks Link for recovering Majora's Mask, telling him that what he has done has caused the evil to leave the Mask, and all the masks he obtained are filled with happiness, a happiness that is worth more than any power. Never revealing why he wants the Mask or where he'll go, the Happy Mask Salesman walks away and vanishes, not before adding that Link should return to his own world now. Tatl, Tael and Skull Kid set off to the Carnival of Time to party with all the people from Termina; the Mask is never seen again.
[edit] Other appearances
- In the 2001 Nintendo Game Cube videogame Super Smash Bros. Melee, Majora's Mask is a trophy, won after winning in Event 47: Trophy Tussle 3 (where it is also that event match's battlefield).
- In the 2006 Nintendo DS videogame Metroid Prime Hunters, Majora's Mask can be seen on one of the walls in Alinos Perch.
[edit] See also
|
|||||
| Great Fairy · Impa · Keaton · Link · Malon · Princess Zelda · Tingle & related characters | |||||
| Agahnim · Ganon · Majora · Onox · Twinrova · Vaati · Veran | |||||
|
|
|||||
| Link's Awakening · Ocarina of Time · Majora's Mask Oracle of Ages and Seasons · The Wind Waker · Twilight Princess |
|||||
