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!
