The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask Analyzed

If you have never played through the game the story goes something like this: Link leaves hyrule after saving it as the hero of time and uses some of his newly found experience to venture off into the world. He is confronted by the Skull Kid who puts a curse on him and tries to destroy the “World” by dropping the moon on it by using the power he has gained from the Majora's Mask. Link has three days to retrieve the mask from the Skull Kid and prevent him from destroying the world. During this time Link gathers many masks that help him in his quest and uses the Ocarina of Time to travel back three days to the beginning of the story carrying nothing but the masks that he has collected. If Link fails to stop Majora by the end of day three the moon crashes into the land (named Termina) ending the game.

This retrospective is my own thoughts on the game and no one elses. You may think of the game differently than I do but it’s like when reading a book not everyone gets the same thing out of the book.

The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask is the “direct” sequel to the big time hit The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. I say “direct” because it was the most direct sequel to the game. (Spoilers if you haven’t played the OOT) At the end of the Ocarina of Time, Zelda sends Link back to the past to relive his childhood which he had missed, while he was locked away in time to become the Hero of Time. The Majora's Mask takes place after Zelda sends link back in time thus resulting in Link still being a child. At the beginning of the game you see Link leaving Hyrule to venture forth into the unknown world to search for a lost friend. He takes his leave into the Lost Woods in which tired and lonely the runs into the Skull Kid wearing the Majora's Mask, tired and weary the Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time that Zelda his good friend had given him.

Tired and upset Link chases the Skull Kid down into the rabbits hole. To me the Majora's Mask symbolises madness itself. After pursuing the thief for a while, the Skull kid turns Link into a deku (in a very scary and horrific cut scene (I mean it scared the crap out of me when I first saw it as a kid)). I mean just watch it here look at the way the mask conforms to his face and his body undergoes the transformation ending with that horrific scream as links body transforms into something new. As you go through the game you see many characters in which you had seen in the previous title which makes me believe that this game takes place solely inside Links mind. This journey Link has embarked upon isn’t only his quest to find a lost friend but to also explore his inner being.

I personally believe that the game has the main themes of friendship, and forgiveness. Throughout the game there are many notes of when people who were torn apart are reunited. Take Anju (the innkeeper) and Kafei (The mysterious child wearing Keaton Mask) a couple engaged to get married. Before you arrived in Termina these two have been separated.  Anju is worried about her fiance who has mysteriously disappeared and would like nothing more to find him and to know that he is okay. If you go on you eventually find Kafei but he has been turned into a child by the Skull Kid, fearsome as to what repercussions might be if he goes back to Anju in this form. By day three Kafei has been missing for a month with no word to anyone, but when he returns to Anju instead of being furious she welcomes him with open arms and says: “Welcome home.” Instead of being furious that he disappeared all together Anju is grateful that Kafei came back and that his newfound appearance doesn't bother her one bit. The fact that she forgave him shows how strong the friendship is between these two she could have easily given up hope that he was coming back and moved on but she held on. 

I’m going to elaborate more on this theme in the following paragraphs but I would like to address something before I wrap up this retrospective. That this was like what I saw and I feel are strong themes of the game in general I understand that there are many more themes in the game but these were just the ones I wanted to pick at.

Now I can’t end this without touching at the masks, me to not talk about it is like a fisherman talking to someone about astronomy. The masks play a major part to the symbolism to the fact that the fucking game is based around them. As the game begins you start with the Skull Kid already possessing the Majora's Mask and he doesn’t remove it until the very end of the game. Everyone can see some part of them inside the Skull Kid. WHAT? you must be crazy! (if you do or don’t roll with it I will explain my thought process) First thought we need to go over some the back story about how the Skull Kid came to be the symbol of crazy (He wasn’t always that way was he? Right?). Right. As you play the game you can get the All Night Mask which allows you to stay up all night while talking to Anju’s Grandmother she tells the story from long ago:

“This tale’s from long ago when all the people weren’t separated into four worlds like they are now. In those times all the people lived together, and the four giants lived among them.
On the day of the festival that celebrates the harvest, the giants spoke to the people…
“We have chosen to guard the people while we sleep…”
“100 steps north, 100 steps south, 100 steps east, 100 steps west.”
“If you have need, call us in a loud voice by declaring something such as, ‘The mountain blizzard has trapped us.’”
“Or ‘The ocean is about to swallow us.’ Your cries shall carry to us…”
Now then…There was one who was shocked and saddened by all this.
A little imp.
The imp was a friend of the giants since before they had created the four worlds.
“Why must you leave?”
“Why do you not stay?”
The childhood friend felt neglected, so he spread his anger across the four worlds. Repeatedly, he wronged all people.
Overwhelmed with misfortune, the people sang the song of prayer to the giants who lived in each of the four compass directions. The giants heard their cry and responded with a roar.
“Oh, imp. Oh, imp. We are the protectors of the people.”
“You have caused the people pain. Oh, imp, leave these four worlds! Otherwise, we shall tear you apart!”
The imp was frightened and saddened.
He had lost his old friends.
The imp returned to the heavens, and harmony was restored to the four worlds.
And the people rejoiced and they worshiped the giants of the four worlds like gods. And they lived happily…ever after…” -- Anju’s Grandmother

When I first played Majora's Mask as a kid I didn’t pay any attention to this story so it  was completely new to me when I reread this a few days ago. It tells the story of the Skull Kid who was friends with the four guardians of Termina (who the people see as Gods) when these guardians take their leave to go into slumber until they are needed again the Skull Kid feels betrayed and starts to cause trouble. Until the people of the land call upon the Guardians to stop the Skull Kids reign of terror and he feels more betrayed than before. Now skip ahead many years later and now the Skull Kid torn and broken makes friends with two fairies Tatl and Tael. He hides his true self from them and when he sees the chance to cause trouble he does, and that is when he steals the Majora's Mask from the Happy Mask Salesman. Neither of them at the time knew the evil that lay inside of the Mask and when the Skull Kid put on the mask he betrayed his new fairy friends to seek revenge on the Guardians who had turned their back on him so long ago.

Skull Kid torn and hurt is easily corrupted by Majora when he wears the mask imprisons the guardians and starts to descend the moon upon Termina to destroy the land that they have sworn to protect. Skull Kid is not the only one who hides himself behind a mask throughout the game Kafei hides behind a mask to protect himself from the outside world, then there is the soldier who is wearing the stone mask. The only way to see him is to wear the Eye of Truth, All he longs for is to be noticed, which could symbolize humanities want to be known and have a meaning to life, like Link's journey into the forest that I mentioned at the very beginning.

At the end of the game once Majora is defeated the Skull Kid shows his true face not hindered by an artificial mask. He then proceeds to ask for forgiveness for his wrong doing to his friends the guardians who instead of shunning him even more than they had before saw the error of their ways forgave him. Skull Kid then unmasked and completely open talks to his old friends once agian:
“You guys… You hadn’t forgotten about me?
You still thought of me as a friend?” —Skull Kid

At the end of the game you are once again approached by the Happy Mask Salesman who tells Link this:
“Shouldn’t you be returning home as well?
Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever…
Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time…That is up to you.” -- The Happy Mask Salesman

When Link started his journey to find a lost friend he also left and old friend behind. At the end of the OOT Princess Zelda tells Link that she believes in her heart that one day they will meet again. I see this as more of guidance through life. That no matter where you go throughout life there will always be a friend waiting somewhere for you to go to. Whether to leave for college or to pursuit a new career, you shouldn’t forget about friends that have come. With this newly found wisdom Link departs Termina and heads back to Hyrule with the hopes that someday that his lost friend will once again come back to him just as he is about to do to his old friend.