The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: MAJORA'S MASK

Today, let’s cover The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, the beloved sequel to Ocarina of Time and widely considered one of the darkest and most disturbing games in the canon. The game picks up almost immediately after the end of Ocarina, with Young Link wandering the woods in search of Navi, being accosted by a possessed Skull Kid, and ending up in a new land called Termina which will soon be destroyed by a rapidly descending moon.

The child version of Link is the base version throughout the entirety of the game, so I’d say its fair to list most of this for him. He brings with him a lot of his standards: his sword, his shield, his bow, his hookshot, fire, ice, and light arrows, and bombs, with a few returning items like the lens of truth, the mirror shield, and his Ocarina, with which he can travel back in time three days, slow the flow of time, play the song of soaring to teleport around the map, play the song of storms, wake sleepers from their slumber, and other random uses throughout. New items include the bunny hood that makes him run faster, the camera to take pictures, and the heartless soldier, a statue of himself he can leave behind to hold down a switch or something.

While we’re on the subject of Young Link, we should bring up the mask gimmick of the game. Though many do have random effects, such as masks to draw in fairies, make chicks follow you, get you into a milk bar, get you past the Garo’s defenses, win the loyalty of Stalchildren soldiers, get past Gibdos and ReDeads, become a giant, see people’s hearts, detect certain smells, lead frogs to sing, and summon a Keaton (all of which we might be able to tie to the Happy Mask Salesman, we’ll see), the most important four are the masks of transformation.

These masks, at least the first three, all contain the soul of a person killed as a result of the possessed Skull Kid’s actions, and Link will transform into them when he places their mask on, giving him brand new abilities common to the creature they are. The first is a Deku Scrub, the son of the Deku King’s steward, who can dig into and launch himself from a flower, fly using a pair of spinning flowers, shoot bubbles from its mouth, throw a Deku Nut, do a little spin dance to cross water and such, and play a set of pipes. Second is Darmani, a Goron hero frozen to death, who can throw a massive punch, pound the ground, roll around at high speed, play the drums, and throw a powder keg. Third is Mikau, a Zora musician killed by pirates, who can swim at high speed, punch, throw his fins as blades forward, play the guitar, and project a blue shield around himself. The fourth transformation is Fierce Deity Link, which doesn’t have any new abilities per se, but is more of a god-tier power-up for our little Young Link.

As for our supporting characters, we have a few unique, such as the fairies Tatl and Tael, who take up the “Navi” role in her absence, and the Happy Mask Salesman, who may or may not be able to take up the abilities of the various masks as well as the Song of Healing that he teaches you so that you can collect more masks. Everyone’s favorite fairy boy Tingle makes his first appearance here, floating on a balloon, making maps, and using magic dust. Most of the other NPCs are directly reused character models from Ocarina, such as the sisters Cremia and Romani who reuse Malon’s adult and child forms, and the fiancée of Kafei, Anju, who uses the Anju character model from Kakariko Village. Speaking of Kafei, he is a man turned into a child by Skull Kid and is briefly playable, but you only use him to push things and press buttons. It’s not a big deal. The Great Fairy likewise appears, granting you magical power, teaching you the spin attack, and gifting you a sword.

Skull Kid is our main villain, a lonely child living in the woods who mugs people for fun, having the misfortune of accosting the Happy Mask Salesman and putting on a cursed mask in his collection, which then took possession of his body and used him to do terrible things. Under its influence, Skull Kid can float, cast all manner of terrible curses such as turning Kafei into a child and Link into a Deku Scrub, and, of course, call down the moon to smash into Termina. For the final battle, the mask tosses Skull Kid aside and fights Link in three forms: Majora’s Mask, Majora’s Incarnation, and Majora’s Wrath. As the mask, Majora spins, lashes with tentacles, summons other masks, and fires a laser beam. As Incarnation, Majora does a weird dance. And in the final Wrath form, Majora lashes you with long tentacles and spins like a top.

The four main bosses of the game are all summoned by Majora. First is Odolwa, a warrior wielding a club and a shield. Second is Goht, a giant bull that charges and shoots lightning. Gyorg is a giant fish that tries to bite you and can release smaller fish from its mouth. And finally, Twinmold is a pair of Majora-esque Moldorms that fly around and dig.

Returning enemies include the Skulltula, the Big Octo, a dinosaur-ish version of the Lizalfos called the Dinolfos that can breathe fire, the White Wolfos, Wizzrobes as sorta mini-bosses that can teleport, cast a spell of ice, wield a staff, and cast fireballs, Bubbles, Deku Babas that can now crawl around, hang upside down, and have a mini-form, Gibdos, Poes, Stalchildren, Iron Knuckles, Stalfos that can kick, breathe dust breath, and float around as a head, ReDeads, and Eyegors. New enemies include the Chuchu (though I don’t see the difference between them, Gels, Zols, and Buzz Blobs), Dragonflies, large turtles called Snappers, big charging bugs called Hiploops, shadow creatures called Black Boes, giant bees, snowball-throwing Eenos, birds called Takkuris, aliens that abduct Romani and, um, moving on, Dexihands that grab and throw you, big eyes covered in blobs called Warts, and living bounders called Nejirons. I also want to bring special attention to the Gekko, a recurring mini-boss that’s actually a mutated member of the Frog Chorus, who will punch you, hop around really high, ride on top of an angry Snapper, and protect itself and attack with a Mad Jelly; the Garos, mysterious warriors involved in the Ikana conflict, who will hop around, attack with swords, pop out of the ground, create a barrier of fire, wield flaming sowrds, and leap really high into the air; Gomess, basically a Vire who wields a scythe; and the pirates who reuse the Gerudo character model.

As for stages, Termina is laid out sort of like a clock, with Clock Town at the very center, surrounded by Termina Field. To the east lies Woodfall, a dense swamp whose waters have been poisoned. To the north is Snowhead, a mountain trapped in an eternal winter. To the south is Great Bay, the location of the Zora Music Hall and the Pirate Fortress. And to the west is Ikana, a land of ruins, including the Castle of Ikana and the Stone Tower. Finally, you can go inside the moon in the finale.

All items as listed above.

Now, here’s what we’ve got so far:

Characters:

Link: Master Sword, Hylian Shield, Epona, Iron Boots, Megaton Hammer, Pegasus Boots, bombs, fire arrows, ice arrows, light arrows, hookshot, boomerang, bombchu, lens of truth

Young Link: jumping, rolling, crawling, Kokiri Sword, Deku shield, Epona, slingshot, Deku stick, bomb flowers, hookshot, boomerang, bombchu, Navi, lens of truth, mirror shield, travel back in time three days, slow time, song of soaring, song of storms, song of awakening, bunny hood, camera, heartless soldier, masks, Fierce Deity Mask

Princess Zelda: Zelda's Lullaby, jewel, light arrows, remove bars, spell of light, seal Ganon

Sheik: Zelda's Lullaby, Sun Song, Song of Storms, Song of Time, Epona's Song, Saria's Song, warp songs, disappear, leap, harp

Impa: disappear, Zelda's lullaby, Lens of Truth

Saria/Kokiri: Deku Sticks, Deku Nuts, Deku Sprouts, Great Deku Tree, Saria's song, slingshot, Mido

Darunia/Darmani/Goron: rolling, defensive curl, strength, bomb flowers, hammer, dance, punch, ground pound, roll, drums, powder keg

Ruto/Mikau/Zora: swim, dive, high speed swim, punch, fin blades, guitar, blue shield

Nabooru/Gerudo: twin blades, guard, spear, Iron Knuckle

Deku Scrub: launch from flower, fly with flowers, shoot bubbles, Deku Nut, spin dance, pipes

Happy Mask Salesman: draw in fairies, make chicks follow, milk bar, past Garos, Stalchildren, past Gibdos and ReDeads, become a giant, see hearts, detect smells, lead frogs, summon a Keaton, song of healing, shake

Tingle: balloon, maps, magic dust

Great Fairy: Din's Fire, Farore's Wind, Nayru's Love, magical power, sword, spin attack

Malon: Epona, Epona's song, Cuccos, Lon Lon Milk, bow

Dampe: dig, float, fire

Kafei: push

Ganondorf: horse, blast of light, waves of darkness, ground pound, ball of lightning

Phantom Ganon: ride horse, float, lightning tennis

Beast Ganon: two giant swords, barrier of fire.

Skull Kid: dance, steal, float, curses, call down the moon, Tatl and Tael

Majora: spins, tentacles, summon masks, laser beam, weird dance, long tentacles, top

Gohma: climbs, drops eggs

Dodongo: dig, leap, breathe fire, roll around, swallow bombs

Kotake and Koume/Twinrova: quicksand, fly around on brooms, fire and ice magic, combine.

Dark Link

Iron Knuckle/Darknut: giant axe, slam, collapsing pillars.

Stalfos: stalchildren, kick, sword, shield, dust breath, floating head

Poe: disappearing, throwing flames, spinning with lanterns, paintings, puzzle blocks, illusions

Armos: Beamos

Octoroks

Moblins: charge with spears, clubs shockwaves

Deku Baba: crawl, hang upside down, Mini Baba

Deku Scrub: hide, shoot Deku Nuts, merchants

Wolfos

Lizalfos/Dinolfos: jump, swords, breathe fire

Gibdo

Octorok: spit rock, Big Octo

Wizzrobe: teleport, spell of ice, staff, fireballs

Stalchildren

Chuchu

Gekko: punch, hop, ride a Snapper, Mad Jelly

Garo: hop, attack with swords, pop out of ground, barrier of fire, flaming swords, leap high

Bosses:

Gohma

Dodongo

Barinade

Phantom Ganon

Volvagia

Morpha

Bongo Bongo

Twinrova

Beast Ganon

Odolwa

Goht

Gyorg

Twinmold

Stages:

Lost Woods

Kokiri Village

Hyrule Field

Lon Lon Ranch

Hyrule Castle

Castle Town

Temple of Time

Kakariko Village

Death Mountain

Zora's Domain

Lake Hylia

Gerudo Valley

Great Deku Tree

Dodongo's Cavern

Lord Jabu-Jabu's Belly

Forest Temple

Fire Temple

Water Temple

Shadow Temple

Spirit Temple

Ganon's Castle

Clock Town

Termina Field

Woodfall

Snowhead

Great Bay

Ikana

Inside the Moon

Thanks for reading! Next up, we cover Wind Waker!