Why Majora is Nintendo's greatest villain

Skwonky · 2 months

Let's not forget the ensemble cast that truly made Majora's Mask the game that it is. I could talk about the happy mask salesman forever - he's such an enigma in this game and there are so many theories as to what he truly represents that it's astounding. He gives off almost an aura of omniscience and makes you wonder if Majora and the giants are truly the most powerful characters in the game.

The dead Goron hero (who you turn into) is such a tragic figure for the Zelda universe. He died helpless and through you becomes the hero the Gorons need once again.

The angry deku mob who search desperately for any scapegoat; so much that they're willing to execute an innocent monkey. The behavior of these dekus is so human it's hard not to become reflective.

Anybody watch to the end of the game where the deku butler is seen crying at the lifeless form of another deku? Remember how he remarked that you reminded him of his son in the beginning of the game? Majora killed his son and trapped his soul inside the mask you now wear.

ANJU AND KAFEI!? "We will greet the morning together." Theres precious few moments in video gaming history that had such a profound emotional effect on me as this one did when I was a child.

I should stop now as I can go on forever but Majora's Mask stands out as one of Nintendo's greatest works because it's so starkly different than what we're used to. Going on a mission to rescue the princess because Bowser kidnapped her to clean for him/be his son's mom/who else knows is commonplace and nobody really dies or deals with tragedy. Majora's Mask is FULL of adult themes Nintendo hadn't ever tackled before and still have yet to this day to replicate those themes.

TL;DR Majora's Mask took Nintendo out of it's comfort zone to tell a dark and tragic tale full of adult themes while being shrouded in mystery. It remains one of the greatest works of art in the gaming industry.

Feel free to fact check me. It's been YEARS since I last played through the game and probably got some things wrong.

TheFuriousLeftNut · 2 months

Awesome villain. I'd love to see Majora come back somehow!

If Nintendo sticks to their "official" Zelda timeline, Majora is technically still alive in two of the three splits. Would be easy.

outoftoner · 2 months

Nitpicking here but the Fierce Deity mask isn't necessary to defeat Majora. It helps run it down like a freight train though.

wutever · 2 months

fake, but relevant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P50d9xsLzB0&feature=player_embedded

bootymaster · 2 months

To anyone who's concerned about the constant time travel and losing everything -- time travel is prominent in this game but it is almost never a hassle. With the song that slows down time you can beat a dungeon comfortably. If it looks like you're going to run out of time, the dungeons are designed in effect to have a central spoke so that you can come back to the area where you were very quickly. I believe you don't lose keys/etc.

You don't lose your money because there is a bank that stamps how much money you have on your hand or something like that (which is funny because you're stealing from him repeatedly in effect whenever you go back in time). Arrows/bombs/whatever I believe disappear, but you could buy these when you come back, or find them easily (who actually buys bombs/arrows in Zelda games?). I don't remember if there is a warping song but the game also has a central spoke and you can get around super quickly with Goron if you need to get back somewhere.

The side quests in this game are huge and numerous and could comprise a full game by themselves.

Overall the game is absolutely amazing, and definitely worth playing - one of the best ever made. With that said, does anyone know which emulated version won't crash? I hear the one that comes on the Gamecube Zelda CD crashes. I guess I do have the N64 version somewhere.

Phosepahtaerorus · 2 months

Fierce Deity Link vs Majora picture for those wanting it:

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/283/e/0/mm__fierce_deity_vs_majora_by_kurkoboltsi-d2pxou9.jpg

justcauseofit · 2 months

This description reminds me of Iago, from Shakespeare's Othello. Possibly the greatest villain ever written by the bard and arguably an absolute sociopath. Chaos for chaos' sake.

FuckinJabberwocky · 2 months

Maybe my favorite game ever

GordonOfFreeman · 2 months

You shouldn't have done that.

;)

mikeylikey420 · 2 months

I love how they just took most of the characters from OoT and recast them, yet it was still an amazing game. If anything, it made it better, seeing all the familiar faces, it was kind of like a dream.

redtophat · 2 months

But does he know why kids love cinnamon crunch?

sidewinderucf · 2 months

I would submit Kefka from Final Fantasy VI as a rival to Majora in terms of video game villainy. There are the obvious parallels between the two: Kefka commits gross acts of genocide and other crimes against humanity, not for any material gain, but simply to destroy, or as he puts it, "To create a monument to nothingness!" He keeps Terra as his own personal mind slave in the events at the beginning of the game, and uses her to kill tons of his own troops before sending her out onto the world. And then, even when he's brought about the apocalypse and destroyed the world, he continues to rain down death and destruction, again for no better reason than to destroy.

But the main reason I'd pick Kefka over Majora is this; Majora is the metaphorical Satan of Hyrule, and can be defeated by becoming another deity. Kefka, on the other hand, starts off as a mortal, becomes a god via magic, then ascends to the point of being BEYOND deities, BEYOND good and evil, becoming the very embodiment of magic itself, so that the only way to destroy him is to actually destroy all magic. And again, for NO other reason than to bring ruin and destruction.

That and the clown makeup. Evil clowns always get +5 to villainy.

aeonmyst · 2 months

Majora has eyeboobs. EYE. BOOBS. Creepiest villain ever.

HollowJohn · 2 months

Majora definetly deserves consideration for this role. For a game where Nintendo wanted to present something "mysterious", we are given this nightmare entity. A puppetmaster hiding inside the puppet. A being as mysterious as it is powerful.

silveraw · 2 months

I played it once, and loaned my special edition holographic cartridge to a friend.

Who played halfway through it and gave it away along with all of the rest of his 64 stuff.

sputnikv · 2 months

i would propose giygas as a formidable villain worthy of comparison

Baron_von_Brockway · 2 months

The best villain is from the best game. It makes sense.

pillage · 2 months

We all know the greatest villain is Tom Nook.

average_leopluradon · 2 months

While I love Majora's Mask, and enjoy what this person is saying, I feel that Majora was severely lacking in presence in the game. As a villain, I had very little connection to him and primarily felt the Moon was bad guy since that's what you saw looming above, constantly providing that pressure that you have limited time in the world.

If more time was devoted to exploring what Majora was, how it came to be, (unless I completely missed it or don't remember; it's been a while) and that sort of thing, then he would easily be one of my top favorites.

dmurph10 · 2 months

screw it, I'm playing majora's mask again. Time to re-download project 64

Phantom_shit · 2 months

Have you heard of Kefka?

Qlanth · 2 months

I hope they re-release this at some point on the 3DS. I loved this game as a kid and would love to go back to it.

serioush · 2 months

Hero from another dimension with a time machine.... I now want to play an adventure game with The Doctor in that setting.

Bananajoy · 2 months

Not only was the villain interesting, but the world of Majora's Mask itself felt very deep and alive, it was like adventuring through a dark fairy tale.

Coltrane_baby · 2 months

Since we're all discussing the unbelievable level of detail that Nintendo put into MM, I feel that it's important to raise what I feel is the greatest example of this. When you fight the forest temple boss, Odolwa (my favorite Zelda fight of all time), he performs a sort of haka/crazy war dance around you while chanting in a freaky-ass voice. Playing through this as a kid, I thought it was an awesome battle, and the haka he performed really added to the exotic nature of the boss battle.

What I didn't learn until recently though was that Odolwa wasn't chanting some made up mumbo-jumbo: he was actually taunting you in the Mayan language. He's saying "K'iinam took ool K'iinam took ool!" (Head will ache and burn. Head will ache and burn) "Tookik taali! Tookik taal!" (Come burn! Come burn!) "A'alik beora! A'alik beora!" (Dance now! Dance now!). Video

This level of detail is so above and beyond the call of duty required of game developers that it blows my mind. In creating this game, Nintendo actually had people learn phrases relevant to the battle in Mayan, a very specific and small language, but one that completely fits the setting of the battle. The more I think about it, the more my respect for Nintendo and adoration of MM grows.

Sir_Jeremiah · 2 months

BEN_DROWNED

fuzaco · 2 months

We're posting NeoGAF threads now, ehh?

begentlewithme · 2 months

I fucking love Majora's mask. This guy does an excellent job of explaining just one of the reasons why I love this game so much. It's such a shame that they were limited by the N64. I bet if they were to remake this game with current day technology and expanded upon the story a bit, such as the origin of Majora, more self-reflection on Link's part, maybe even his connection to the Diety's mask, and perhaps a bigger and more explorable world map, this game would rock even harder.

Dunabu · 2 months

I don't know how they managed to pull this out of their hat. I almost want to say it was a fluke. Everything about it is very un-Nintendo like.

A very rare kind of emotional atmosphere exists in this game. Dark, haunting, lonely, nihilistic, melancholy, etc etc.

Every so often, a piece of art (fuck you, Roger Ebert) comes along that brings with it an almost living, entity-like thing. If any videogame has achieved that, it is Majora's Mask.

Ezekyuhl · 2 months

When I was a kid we called Majora "Ma-hor-ra" pronouncing the 'J' with an 'H' sound. Did anyone else do this, I have always wondered.

Effluvium · 2 months

I've said this before, but Majora's Mask is the Blade Runner of video games.

VESIUS · 2 months

Those are some weird looking tits...

Flywn · 2 months

That and there's a theory that's been floating about that Majora is only hours old when you fight him. Basically the mask is similar to Giygas in that it's the fetal form of the boss that passively corrupts everything around it. Which would explain why his second form (when he finally gets personified) is a laughing child.

DoctorSteve · 2 months

No one should want a sequel to Majora's Mask, or to see Majora reused. This game was made as a sidequest, and is perfect in creating a world, telling multiple stories, and closing the book on it.

Incorporating anything from that world would ruin it. It is possible to create a good sequel, but I'd rather see them create another high-concept game, with new characters, than reuse these perfected ones.

Decimater · 2 months

While we're all gushing about the awesomeness of Majora's mask, I'm going to leave this creepy ass story here... http://inuscreepystuff.blogspot.ca/2010/09/majora.html

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