The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask/WMG

Majora's Mask may be the most ripe for fan theories and what-not than any of the other games in the series. Here is a list of such theories.

Majora's Mask is a nightmare
Think about it. The Legend of Zelda Links Awakening provides precedent for a Zelda game being All Just a Dream. Why not MM as well? Termina is similar to Hyrule in many ways and filled with expies of people Link got to know well in Ocarina of Time, usually with horrible things happening to them. (And ever wonder why there's no expy of Link in Termina?) It's just familiar enough to be a product of his own psyche. Creepy things happen in MM, repeatedly, especially given the day cycle, which smacks of someone reliving all the fears he encountered during his earlier quest. OoT contained a decent amount of horror as well, did it not? Now, what the Song of Time actually does, instead of actually changing time, is wake Link up. The next night, he has the nightmare again, until he can finally overcome and banish his fears by defeating the Mask.
 * I always thought that Skull Kid was the Link of Termina.
 * Agreed, and this Troper suggests that Fierce Deity Link is likewise meant to be a Termina version of Adult Link. Not sure how all that works out, but it makes perfect sense...if you aren't entirely sober.
 * I thought Termina!Link was the Deku Butler's kid, hence the Deku Mask, which he turned into, being the first transformation you get (and the only one you're Mode Locked into).
 * Definitely Kafei. I mean, isn't Anju Termina's Saria? They look an awful lot alike.
 * Anju is the cucco lady. There is no Terminan Saria.
 * I always got the idea that the "Link" in Termina was split between the four corners of the map. Darmani was the goron hero, Mikau was decendant of zoran heroes, then maybe either Deku Link's orginal form, or the monkey, is the hero of the swamp. It gets confusing with Ikana, though. But, Majora/Skullkid takes down the heroes one by one. Link=their combined strengths.
 * This Troper believe that no multipes of any person can exist in Terminia. Link coming into Terminia temporarily cancelled out whatever Link was already there (or the two blended, and the original Link became dormant.) The same goes for the Skull Kid. Why him too? Because at one point he says something along the lines of "You smell like that kid who taught me that song in the woods..." from OOC when Link taught Saria's Song to that one Skull Kid. So, of course, they know each other and are both from Hyrule.
 * Word of God says that Termina is an aftereffect of the Goddesses creating Hyrule. Apparently, there was enough creation energy left to create an alternate/parallel universe that was dangerously unstable and it's link to Hyrule had to closed to protect the worlds. And who's a better hero than a person named Link?
 * This troper, personally, always saw Kafei as that universe's expy of Link...but why no Zelda?
 * ......Majora?
 * ...Tingle?
 * As absurd as it may sound, there is actually some validity to Tingle being Link's equivalent. When you think about it, Tingle is the Yin to Link's Yang: while both run around in strange clothes, have adventures, and possess strange personalities (*Heroic Mime vs *Camp), it is the way that they are treated by everyone around them that makes the two different. Most of the people who meet Link in Termina are very impressed with his precocious behavior, extreme courage, and amazing skills; on the other hand, Tingle is a 35 year old man, a boomerang child of the most extreme variety, and even considered by his own father to be a general ne'er-do-well.

Majora was of the Lost Tribe.
It's Majora's Mask, so if it represents the Lost Tribe, then Majora was the creator of the Mask.

Expanding on the above, Majora was a child of the lost tribe.
All of the transformation masks have the soul of a person in them, so why not Majora? And this game does seem to carry a theme of creepy children. Anyway, my guess is the ancient tribe needed a sacrifice for the mask. They chose Majora. However, considering the masks use, Majora was subjected to things NO mortal was meant to see, much less a child. The trauma this caused turned Majora into what we saw it as. A pure heart is not nessecarily good after all.

Related WMG: Majora's Mask's power is to create and control horrible nightmares.
Link has to defeat its dreamworld avatar (its weak point) to to destroy its illusion and be released. That's why time travel doesn't work, and why the Plot Coupons don't disappear- he's too emotionally invested in getting the items, and creating them himself instead of simply carrying around fragments of the world like rupees and trade items. The four giants and the  are beings that police the dream world that Majora corrupted or enslaved (or in the case of , may not have been so Lawful in the first place). The Great Fairie and other helpful aspects were just bits of his memories (as in the above guess) that Majora or its mask couldn't yet corrupt completely. The Colony Drop is when Majora finally kills, breaks, or otherwise makes it impossible for Link to recover, and the Song of time disrupts the spell.

Majora's Mask is a dream caused by the Temple of Time to get Link ready for his Post-Time-Skip adventures.
What else was Link doing in the seven years he was sleeping there? And because time is so flexible in the Temple, he meets people he will be running into as an adult. You can also get a Hook Shot in Majora's Mask--something that only Adult Link can use in Ocarina of Time.

Thus the Majora's Mask version of Link, or at least a representation of his inner child, is the Skull Kid, who represents Link's fears of growing up. But upon realizing that 1) growing up means he gets to take a level in badass (the Fierce Deity Mask), and 2) he'll still remain who he is on the inside (the Skull Kid sniffs him and is happy to find that Link is the kid who befriended him in the Lost Woods), Link is finally ready to wake up and take the mantle of responsibility.
 * Then why does he start the game looking for Navi? She was just as suspended as he was.
 * Flash forward to when Link actually loses Navi? * shrugs* Haven't quite worked out all the lumps in this WMG yet.
 * Link's subconscious realization that, because he can grow older, he is truly not a Kokori and thus not entitled to a fairy?
 * Because Navi's also in stasis, she's in her own dream world and is experiencing her own adventure? Link wouldn't know this and began to miss her, thus beginning the plot for Majora's Mask.
 * Each of the different temples reflects a challenge of growing up. The Woodfall Kingdom reflects the anguish of injustice that is so Inherent in the System that defying it seems impossible; the Gorons reflect the sorrow and instability that comes with the death of beloved authority figures; Link's adventure as Mikau has him grappling with the challenges of fatherhood (work with me here); and Stone Tower is the greatest dread of all: the realization of one's own morality, that fact which turns the world upside down.
 * Expanding on this, perhaps seven years was not an arbitrary number chosen by the sages but the amount of time it took him to defeat Majora and therefore be worthy of the Master Sword.

Majora's Mask is a hallucination caused by Ganondorf in order to gain revenge on Link
After Ganon is defeated and banished at the end of Ocarina of Time, he uses his last powers to take control of Phantom Ganon's spirit, trapped in the "void between dimensions", to which there is a portal in Kokiri Forest. He then uses the influence of the void to take control of a Skull Kid, and eventually, both Link and the Skull Kid (and Epona) end up in the void, which is really nothing more than a void. It is now that Ganondorf induces a grand hallucination into the minds of his captives, hoping to break Link's mind. However, the Happy Mask Salesman, a mysterious entity, appears into the void to help Link escape the hallucination before it's too late. Eventually, Link succeeds, but both he and the Skull Kid (and possibly Epona) have no idea that it was a hallucination, and spent the rest of their lives thinking it was all real. Oh, and the fairies weren't actually real, just aspects of Ganon's will. If you choose to believe the "Link commits suicide" theory, then Ganondorf actually did succeed in breaking Link.

Majora was a Woman.
Majora's Incarnation and Majora's Wrath have awfully womanly figures about them, and if you listen to it/her when hit, there is a shrill scream.
 * If Majora is a woman, does that mean that she is the immortal or reincarnating Termina counterpart of Princess Zelda?
 * Or, perhaps somehow the counterpart to the goddesses? There are three versions, after all...
 * If Majora = Zelda and Fierce Deity = Link...oh, the Foe Yay implications.

Majora is the evil side of Kamaro, the spirit dancer.
First off, Kamaro's dance music sounds suspiciously similar to Majora's Leitmotif, especially at the beginning. When you meet Kamaro, he is expressing his regrets toward the moon that he didn't get a chance to spread his dance to the world. Majora's Incarnation also seemed to have a love of dance, although in his case, it was an insane, manic dance as opposed to Kamaro's gentle motions. Perhaps Majora's mask was created by a ritual that transformed the evil (or perhaps the "id") of a person into a mask, leaving the soul to wander the earth as a ghost, sort of like a corrupted version of the Song of Healing?


 * Don't forget that Kamaro stated more than once that he was dead.

Kamaro created Majora's Mask.
Related to the above, Kamaro is a member of the lost tribe that created Majora's Mask, and his dance is the "anti-Song of Healing" ritual that transforms the id of a person into a mask. Why does he want to spread his dance to the world? Why does he say that he wanted to "stir the world into a giant melting pot" with his dance? Why is he expressing his regret toward the moon? Because he died after creating only one mask, which only had the power to bring down the moon slowly. Since then, he's been perfecting a "long-incubation" version of his dance, which would have a chance to spread across the world before transforming everyone who witnessed it into evil world-destroying masks. And you just taught it to a pair of dancers. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.

Majora is Satan
It had to be said. There are three Goddesses, with the Triforce that represents them (perhaps unintentionally) evoking the Christian Holy Trinity. Obviously, they're God. Ganondorf is "only" a human, albeit one who somehow gained a piece of God's power. Not quite Devil material. Then who would be the Zelda Satan? Well, certainly none of the villains who ended up Hijacked by Ganon. But of those who weren't, Majora has the whole bit of "mocking" God. Three forms: the "Mask", the "Incarnation", and the "Wrath", as a parody of the Holy Trinity. Remember that in The Divine Comedy, Satan himself had three faces in a similar mocking. The Number of the Beast is also a "trinity" (of sixes, in this case) in an attempt to mock God.


 * Flat, the composer brother, sold his soul to the devil. It's stated plainly in the game. Since there doesn't seem to be any other devil around, he's probably referring to Majora. That's right. Majora is Satan and Flat sold his soul to him. Rated E for everyone.
 * Actually it was Sharp who sold his soul. Flat states this when you free him from the Iron Knuckle: (Referring to Sharp) "He sold his soul to the devil and was the one who locked me in here."


 * Majora could also be Demise's counterpart in Termania.

These tendrils hanging from Majora's Mask are how it controlled Skull Kid.
The tendrils wormed their way through his body and manipulated it like People Puppets.

Majora's Mask actually limited the Skull Kid's power.
The reason he was more destructive was because it was goading him on, not because he had any greater abilities.

Majora's worshipers were an alternate universe counterpart to Dark Link's race
If you've played TP, chances are you remember that creepy cutscene where Lanayru described the history of the Fused Shadows. Now, as everyone and their mother has pointed our on the WMG page for that game, Majora's Mask bears an uncanny resemblance to the Fused Shadows. Thus we can assume that the tribe that worshiped Majora's Mask and used it in dark rituals was the counterpart to the Twili's ancestors, and that the sealing of the proto-Twili in the Twilight Realm happened at the same time as the disappearance of the ancient tribe. But check the cutscene again. Who stands in for the Dark Interlopers? It's Dark Link. This at least implies that Dark Link's race was the proto-Twili, and thus the Majora worshipers.

Skull Kid is Link's Terminian counterpart.
Before he became a Skull Kid, he probably had a backstory similar to Link's, i.e. his parents fled some disaster and wound up in Kokiri woods. He was raised by the Deku Tree as well, but got lost in the Lost Woods before getting his fairy, which is why he became the Skull Kid. this would also explain how he wound up in Termina, since his counterpart was able to cross the dimensional boundaries (when he was a baby, but still) then the law of equivalent exchange would grant him the same ability/luck/power/whathaveyou. this seems to be supported by a few key singularities the two share, like affinity for playing musical instruments, becoming friends with Saria, and being way to curious (as all players are when they first play a Zelda game and don't really know what to do)

The Skull Kid from Twilight Princess is the same one from Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask
That he knows how to play Saria's Song, which Link taught to the Skull Kid in OoT, seems to be proof enough. This is made even more plausible by the fact that TP apparently takes place in the same "Hyrule survives" timeline created by MM. Also, he appears in the Sacred Grove, an area that bears a conspicuous resemblance to the Lost Woods (in both background music and terrain), where the original Skull Kid lived. It's even possible that he was drawn to TP's Link because he reminded him of the old Link.
 * Supporting this is the fact that the grandmother's tale implies that said Skull Kid predates the creation of Termina by the four giants, meaning that he's immortal (given that he's a playmate of the local creator deities, one wonders why the witches describe pre-Majora's Mask Skull Kid as a harmless little punk).
 * The Skull Kid is recalled by Tatl when you first enter the Southern Swamp to have been completely friendless when he first arrived in Termina. He wouldn't necessarily have been a playmate of the local creator deities prior to the start of the game.
 * I'm pretty sure he was friendless because the giants, who were his friends, left him to go guard the four areas. Greater good and all that.
 * The four Giants didn't create Termina. That was the Goddesses (by accident, according to Word of God). The Giants are guardian spirits.
 * It's implied that skull kids are immortal in OoT. It is stated that if a Kokori stays in the woods too long, they'll become a skull kid, a cursed, faceless being who's lost in the woods forever. Also, the Kokori seem to be immortal to begin with.

Majora's Mask was made by the Twili
A tribe using black magic made it, eh? And it's behaving a LOT like Zant. Oh, and don't forget that OTHER artifact of doom, which Link and Midna had to reassemble, which was said to be just as dangerous and had pretty simmilar markings to the Majora's Mask on it.
 * Except this implies that the Twili made the fused shadow. The way Midna speaks about it seems to indicate that it's older than they are.
 * Of course it is! Didn't you read the part about The Twili being descendants of the makers? They weren't Twili yet!
 * Not only are the markings similar, the Twili seem obsessed with masks in general. So much so that Midna wears link's sheild on her face when trying to figure out how human weapons work (and yes Midna even implies at the time that she thinks the sheild is a weapon). This implies that the Twili think of masks as weapons and essential battle gear. As such if they were to make some ultimate weapon, they would make a mask... IE Majora's mask.
 * In TP, Midna points out at one point that the Twili lost a previous king to his own lust for power. Wouldn't be surprising if 'lost' actually means 'had to be trapped inside a mask and sealed away before his psychotic shenanigans killed EVERYTHING'.

Majora is another product of Demise's curse.
It's established in Skyward Sword that Demise is the Ultimate Evil, and the curse he places on Link and Zelda at the end of the game states that their descendants/future incarnations will be forever plagued by a manifestation of his hatred. Link of OoT and MM is clearly one of those, and it's never clearly stated that Ganon is the only result of Demise's hatred. Since Termina was also created by the goddesses, it seems possible that some bit of his evil managed to seep its way inside and eventually take the form of Majora's Mask.

Majora's Mask's spirit isn't Majora, it is Uka Uka
Probably Uka Uka was transferred to alternate dimension when he was locked to his underground prison?

Majora is on of the gods worshiped by The Order
It's a Cosmic Horror that tries to destroy the world, and it's later forms certainly look like something out of Silent Hill.

Majora is Demise's God Behind The Demon King
Majora's main stick in the story is its being a master in manipulating every single event so to spread chaos and destruction. As Majora's main nature is unknown, it might also be that what we saw, being just a mask, is only a fragment of its very power and that could do much, much worse. As the Moon crashing Termina is among the most striking moments in the whole story and that Kaepora Gaepora defines Majora's as 'the most powerful threat [Link] has ever faced', and the dozen of blasphemous signals in the Stone Tower alongisde its obvious relationship with Majora's Mask, makes Majora a way worse and superior dark equivalent to Demise, as while he is an Evil Counterpart to Hylia, Majora seems almost as if being the dark opposite to the Golden Goddesses themselves. What is to say it wasn't Majora to create Demise? As to why Majora never came up, it's because he is both sealed inside an Alternate Universe (which he was about to destroy, and that he would have survived to, as the cutscene of Termina destroyed suggested) and because, as a good old textbook Lovecraftian Eldritch Abomination, Majora is not going to intervene directly, because Hyrule is that meaningless

The Happy Mask Salesman is a living shell
Take a look at the shell of Link next time you do the Elegy of Emptiness in human form. Creepy, huh? Especially with that freaky grin, what's up with that? Now imagine it given life. Know anyone else in the Uncanny Valley with a creepy-ass grin? That's right, the Happy Mask Salesman! Somehow, the empty unmoving shell of a human left behind after the Elegy of Emptyness was given life, perhaps through a mask that didn't fit right. He became obsessed with the masks, fitting for one whose life began with a mask, and went to strange new lands while seeking them, eventually opening a shop in Hyrule Castle Town. But Hyrule had so few masks, as they hadn't become a part of everyday life like they did in Termina, so he returned home on his way somewhere else when he was pranked by the Skull Kid.

The Happy Mask Salesman is a native of Termina and travels to Hyrule
Notice that there is no Happy Mask shop in Termina. Why? Because the demand is low with everyone having their own masks, and magical masks are presumably expensive. But by traveling to Hyrule, he can sell cheap non-magical knockoffs of his home dimension's masks for a wildly inflated price. Notice how the Truth Mask, considered a powerful artifact in Hyrule, is just a curiosity in Termina when compared to some of the more potent masks.
 * Alternatively, the salesman sold those masks to the Terminans and once everyone had masks he moved on.
 * Another alternative is that he stumbled onto the gateway between the worlds and discovered a world without the masks his world embraced. Most of the masks in Termina probably aren't magic either, though the Keaton Mask may/may not be based on the real thing; and before anyone calls foul, the guard only states that Keaton is a popular character with children. Who's to say the HMS doesn't hold occasional puppet shows or the like to bring more happiness to the world? The guy (assuming he's just a man with a creepy smile/a mask) is from an AU, and travels enough and collects enough stories and lives that he should have some pretty interesting tales to tell...
 * It seems as thought the demand for masks in Termina would be quite high, way higher than Hyrule, considering how masks seem so important to the Termians, the town has an enormous mask-related festival every year, and, in general, masks are some Serious Business.

The Happy Mask Salesman is/was Majora
Since the game came out, people have wondered who Majora is, as we only see the titular mask. The happy Mask Salesman was hysterical about getting his mask back - perhaps when he says that it's "MY" mask, he actually means it in more ways than one? Suppose that Majora was a powerful being long ago, known for causing mass havoc such as was demonstrated in the game. There would, of course, be those who would challenge him, such as the being whose face the Fierce Deity mask is modeled after. Majora beats the Fierce Deity and turns him into a mask, but something he says makes him see the chaos he has caused (Perhaps calling him childish). Majora packs all of his evil and insanity into the mask, as well as the mask he made of the Fierce Deity, to keep it in balance, and just in case somebody finds the mask again. That being done, he becomes the Happy Mask salesman and sets out to spread happiness, to make up for what he had caused. Eventually, though, the mask was found by a tribe that used it in its hexing rituals, disrupting the balance between Majora's and the Fierce Deity's powers. He sets out to retrieve it, does, but then has it stolen by the Skull Kid... This theory would explain several things: Why the HMS is seemingly omniscient, why the kids in the Moon looked like him, why the kid wearing Majora's mask would give Link the Fierce Deity mask, with which Link can easily defeat Majora's Mask, and why the HMS is so desperate to get it back - because he knows exactly what it does.
 * Notice how he just had to leave in three days? He doesn't even mention the moon falling. Either he doesn't know about it and is extremely lucky to get out in time, or he actually has something to do with it.
 * Also why he's able to teleport. He doesn't just walk off-cam and vanish, he actually freezes mid-step and fades from view!
 * This may not be completely reliable, since it is from the manga, but the HMS states that he is no match for the Skullkid 'as I am right now'. He makes it sound like that at one time he could have handled the Skullkid, even with the mask. What does THAT tell you?
 * Further evidenced by the Moon Children. Look at them, especially their heads, and try to tell me they don't resemble him. He's definitely got more to do with this than just trying to regain a collection piece...

On a related note-

The entire world was set up by the Happy Mask Salesman
Think about it. Everyone in this world instantly accepts the powers of masks; some of them react favorably even to insanely creepy masks, and no-one questions why a kid in green clothes runs around with the face of a Molblin. Most of the people look a lot like the inhabitants of the Happy Mask Salesman's previous home, Hyrule. After you chase the Skull Kid down the tree stump, you end up in an arboreal world of hollow tree trunks and giant empty spaces, and then you hit a corridor that sends you to the base of the Clock Tower in Clock Town. You can't get back to that corridor under any circumstances. That tree-trunk world was still Hyrule. Then the Happy Mask Salesman accosts you and informs you that you've suffered a hideous fate and that he can help you.

HE WAS RIGHT THERE. THE SKULL KID FLOATED STRAIGHT PAST HIM. THE GUY THAT STOLE "HIS" MASK FLOATED STRAIGHT PAST HIM AND HE DID NOTHING TO STOP IT.

After that, he teaches you how to take the dying and turn them into faces that you can wear to change shape. Hyrule's magic didn't work that way- it was handed to people by the Goddesses themselves, through the Fairies. But in his little mask world of insanity and torment, it does. All of a sudden Link can heal people's wounded souls through magic.

Who gives you the main quest? He does.

Who knows ahead of time that you'll be able to take on the Skull Kid and his God Mode Sue mask on your own within the three day time limit? He does.

Whose evil, conniving, petulant laugh do you hear should time run out and the world end? Not the Skull Kid's. His.


 * He then says, "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" as if he's been watching what you've been doing like it was some sort of a live-action movie!

The Happy Mask Salesman is the human incarnation of the moon.
Every person from Hyrule has a "clone" of themselves in Termia, right? Well, the Happy Mask Salesman's "clone" is actually a being created by the moon to retrieve Majora's Mask before the Skull Kid could use it to crash the moon, thus destroying it. This would also explain why the kids on the moon look so much like the HMS; they're of a similar nature.

The Happy Mask Salesman is Nyarlathotep.
To wit, HMS "teleports" from position to position and facial expression to facial expression in a manner natural only to those who live outside of conventional geometry. Of course, the big clue is the thousand masks, natch...
 * It follows, then, that the magical effects produced by the masks Link uses in that game stem from Nyarly's true form- Azathoth; this explains why Link is in such excruciating pain when he transforms (shits and giggles), what the song of "healing" does to the target souls (food!), and why the Song of Time is so much more powerful- he's being helped by an Outer God. Majora is probably then an Elder God.
 * After Link leaves Termina, Nyarly probably conquers it, as it has been softened by the fight and Nyarly himself is fresh as a daisy, not to mention in posession of the souls of three very influential figures which he can presumably now use to his own advantage.

The Happy Mask Salesman is Mario.
He happens to have a Mario mask, which most probably means that Mario is dead. The Happy Mask Salesman probably found his grave/body (like how Link found Darmani and Mikau) and he turned into a mask, so that the Happy Mask Salesman could continue his legacy.

The Happy Mask Salesman is Link's Termina Counterpart
Link and the Happy Mask Salesman were actually born around the same time, but Link stopped aging due to living in the Kokiri Forest, while HMS grew up into a not-quite-young man. The HMS did his part of Heroism by wandering across the lands - including Hyrule - to spread happiness with his wares. He took it upon himself to rid the world of the evil that is Majora's Mask. When Link left the forest and took up his mantle as the Hero of Time, the HMS went back to Termina because his power was nullified - if two counterparts exist in the same world, one will sap the power of the other. So when Link arrived in Termina, the HMS could only stay beneath the Tower and watch as his world die - and assist his Hylian counterpart any way he could.

Something else to consider: the HMS has a Hammerspace organ that has similar properties to the Ocarina of Time. It helped to heal Deku Link of his curse. If you don't play the Song of Time before the Moon falls, never fear; the HMS plays it and reverses time for you.
 * Of course, this takes the apparently unpopular viewpoint that the Happy Mask Salesman is not evil.

The HMS is an alien.
Specifically, from the moon. You know when you get on the moon? The moon children look like him and have an affinity for masks! Methinks the reason he would leave when the Earth crashes on Termina is so that he can get back home.

The HMS is the Spirit of Masks.
Hyrule and its associated alternate realms have spirits for everything else. The shop is his way of spreading his 'element' - like the Light Spirits spread light where they make their homes, the Happy Mask Salesman seeks to spread masks. He's not a particularly benevolent nor evil spirit, more Chaotic Neutral than anything: masks hide who you are, but it's still your choice whether to use that for good or for evil.

The Happy Mask Salesman has no face.
Look at the way he speaks. His face snaps back from happy to sad to pissed off almost unnaturally. He's also very prone to Mood Dissonance, given the way he smiles as he informs you of things that are horrible. He's wearing a mask to give the appearance of a face, either because he wants to protect his identity, or he has no face of his own.
 * Reminds me of a certain faceless character from a completely different thing then...
 * "Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... the face under that mask... Is that... your true face?"
 * That was true of everyone in OoT. They're not wearing masks.

Ganondorf's Termina parallel is the Happy Mask Salesman
Snap back to Ocarina of Time for a moment, back to the Forest Temple. After you defeat Phantom Ganon, Ganondorf apparently sends the thing into a void between dimensions. This would imply that he both has knowledge of alternate dimensions, with or without the Triforce; and the ability to open gates through them, probably with the Triforce. That in mind, look at the Happy Mask Salesman. He himself resides in a world in between dimensions, and probably has knowledge of both Hyrule and Termina; this fact is intensified if you believe that the Happy Mask Salesman from OoT is the same as from MM. Their MOs are also quite similar: they desire a relic of incredible power, and they're willing to manipulate Link in order to do so. Finally... Both of them are quite obviously evil in some way.

The Salesman is a Time Traveler
Building on the above idea that the salesman is from Termina, traveling to Hyrule, he mentions that he has to leave in three days at the start of the game. He is traveling to Hyrule, most likely, as the place where you first meet him is the connection between Hyrule and Termina. He probably moved back in time while he was traveling to Hyrule, thus being able to meet Link there. In addition, he has a Mario mask. He probably traveled forward in time to the point at which Mario dies to play the Song of Happiness for him.

Alternately, the cave is a time-bridge between Hyrule and Termina, and you go forward in time going from Hyrule to Termina, and backward in time going from Termina to Hyrule. This would explain that, and the fact that Termina is considerably more technologically advanced than Hyrule.


 * He's obviously the Terminian counterpart of The Doctor

The Happy Mask Salesman is Vaati.
They both have the same laugh sound effect.
 * Alternately, the Happy Mask Salesman could be Vaati's Termina counterpart. Although Vaati doesn't show up in OOT, evidently Minish Cap and Four Swords take place before it and Four Swords Adventures takes place in the same timeline branch as Majora's Mask does.

The Happy Mask Salesman is one of the Moon Children.
Specifically, the one wearing Majora's Mask. He calls it "his mask" because it is his mask. Naturally, this means that he's Majora, and by giving him back his mask you've doomed the world.

The Happy Mask Salesman isn't evil.
I know, it's the most wild of the wild mass guesses on this site, but think about it. There's nothing in any of the games that he's appeared in that suggests that he is evil. (Granted, I've only played Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time, if there's a game he appeared in that did have him as evil, feel free to correct me.) People always assume that he'd evil due to his creepy nature, but not all creepy people are evil. Heck, The Doctor has a folder to himself on that series's Who Nightmare Fuel page, but no one's going to say he's evil. The only thing that he does that even comes close to evil is when he shakes Link around like a rag doll, but a) he was in the middle of a monumental freakout due to the idea that Termina's ultimate evil might return, I think we can forgive him for a brief moment of losing control, and b) Link getting shaken like that is nothing new. Aside from that, yeah, he gets that creepy face, but both times it appears, it's justified. In Ocarina of Time, Link has taken his products without giving him his money back. What kind of business would it be if he just let that slide? Compared to what others might do, a little nightmare face seems benign. The second time, in Majora's Mask, is during the aforementioned monumental freakout, when he was afraid that Termina's ultimate evil would bring about the apocalypse, and learned that Link hadn't followed through on his promise to get the mask back. A little anger there wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility, and he cools down as soon as Link swears to get the mask back at all costs. And finally, when he says that Link's met with a terrible fate, the first time is when Link's been robbed completely, transformed into a Deku Scrub, and trapped in another dimention due for apocolypse in 3 days, and the only other time is when the moon crashes down, in which case Link is experiencing the apocolypse. That's not evil, that's stating the obvious. If anything, he seems relatively benign from some of his lines at the ending. No real proof of evil.

The Happy Mask Salesman
Well, not technically. He is only

The Moon ALWAYS had a face.
Practically nobody aside from the juggler twins in Clock Town mentions the fact that the moon has a now hideous face, whereas realistically it'd be one hell of a talking point along with the "its falling" problem. Perhaps Termina's moon always had a frightful face, to warn off anybody that would try to bring evil to Termina. Perfect fodder for Majora to give the land an ironic death: Its scariest guardian becomes its armageddon.
 * I like to think of it as the moon always having face, but that it is normally a happy smile or something similar, and that it changed to the really scary grin when it was cursed and began to fall.
 * YES.

The Moon isn't the moon at all.
Darth Vader was just trying out some new designs.

The Moon isn't the moon at all. It was something Majora created.

 * Majora's Mask is powerful enough to transform Link into a Deku Scrub, as well as rob a Deku kid of it's life (presumably,) completely brainwash a Skull Kid, bring a giant rock crashing down from the heavens, and was once used in ancient hexing rituals. Creating a big white rock with a scary face probably wouldn't be too much of a challenge.
 * Also take into account that the 'moon' was crying. It could be the trapped spirit of some poor schmuck.
 * Or a spirit, fairy, etc,.
 * Maybe it's the trapped spirit of the HMS's TWIN BROTHER!

The inside of the Moon is actually representative of Link's psyche, not Majora's.
After the events of Ocarina of Time, Link is unable to claim the childhood that he lost. Tormented with the memories of the future he averted, he leaves Hyrule in order to search for Navi, one remnant of the past, a solid tie to the Kokiri Forest where he lived as a child. However, as he progresses through Termina, he is forced to act as his adult self to stop the moon falling (for example, using weapons such as the bow that he could not wield previously as a child) and must ignore his personal goal of finding Navi in order to help many other people. The interior of the Moon is a clear representation of Link's childhood in the Kokiri Forest, with the children under the lone tree symbolising the Kokiri protected by the Great Deku Tree. By going through each of the other children's 'games' he comes to term with his past, until only the Majora child remains. The final child, outcast by his friends, is representative of Link himself. The child sees the Fierce Deity mask as that of a 'bad guy' because he hates how his childhood was stolen from him as he was forced to become the Hero of Time, going through nearly insurmountable trials and hardships, as well as what he became, having the role of an unstoppable adult warrior thrust upon him after going all his life up to that point believing that he would live eternally as a peaceful Kokiri child. Link must accept his actions in Hyrule, and the impossibility of ever returning to a normal childhood, and in doing so becomes the Fierce Deity and defeats Majora.

Ganondorf's Termina parallel is the Moon
Its face very closely resembles Ganondorf's, especially his expression during the last we see of him in Ocarina of Time as he's being banished. Like Ganondorf (arguably, it is corrupted by a powerful outside force/artifact (Majora's Mask/Triforce of Power/Anything else that may have influenced Ganondorf in other games). It also seeks to destroy a land, and the 3rd day clock town's ominous, underlying music sounds like Ganondorf's theme (at least in the ZREO version).

The Moon is
Compare the inside of the moon to Twilight Princess' rendition of  Anyone else see the similarity?

Termina is not an alternate universe
It's just another county/country from Hyrule, nowhere in game is it suggested it's another universe (apart from Link's falling in the opening). The fact that many people look the same as people in Hyrule is because they ARE the same as the people from Hyrule. Think about it- Few of the characters had reasons to stay in Hyrule: The carpenters travel around Hyrule in OoT and could easily travel to Termina, Tingle is just there for the money and for ingredients as he is still roaming as he was in Freshly Picked Tingle's Rosey Rupee Land after being cursed with immortality as long as he has rupees, Sakon (The thief) is just a thief and can go anywhere to rob whatever, The Gorman Brothers are related to the people at Lon Lon Ranch (perhaps cousins), Dampe has moved after having learned about Hyrule's future (possibly from Link) and his eventual death and fled to Termina to escape Ganondorf's uprising. The only people who are not the same are Anju and her Grandmother who are just lookalikes of people in Hyrule- same goes for the shop keepers. Plus this also means that more than just an alternate universe is at stake if the moon falls and actually the entire real world is!
 * Twinrova and the Composer Bros.
 * Testing this WMG by fire: How do you explain the initial rabbit hole, the twisted corridor and the different magic system?
 * The Composer Bros. can easily be the same people as most Poes all look identical, so we can just assume that there are a few variations of what a Poe can look like and that they fit into one of the variations. Twinrova is a little harder to justify them being there but it's still possible, firstly they may have left Hyrule briefly during the seven years as they don't really do much other than fight you as a boss, the second possibility is that after you defeat them in that boss fight (after the fight they have halos, but they still seem very much alive and so could well be) they return to the past and try and live peacefully in a swamp. As for the corridor there are a couple of corridors like this in OoT in the Forest Temple (perhaps they're just a common think in the Zelda world) and the magic system has changed before in Zelda, it could just change randomly.
 * Jossed. The manual says that Termina is a parallel universe.

Majora's Mask was Termina's Fused Shadows.
An object of great power, created by a dark clan of magic users centuries ago, that was sealed away for its corrupting influence. Familiar, no? Then there's how the eye on the Fused Shadows is identical to the eyes on Majora's Mask, as well as how both are capable of sprouting limbs when unleashing their full power. Not actually my theory, but I've seen it elsewhere
 * Here's a picture that supports this theory.
 * Hyrule's MM equivalent was created as either a part of the Shadows or as a related relic.

The tribe that got banished to the Twilight Realm was from Termina, and spawned the HMS' ancestor beforehand.

 * The Fused Shadows and MM might well have been related, as attested by the similarities mentioned in various other WMGs on this page alone. Furthermore, there is a scene in TP in which Midna tries equipping Link's sword and shield by holding the sword and hanging the shield on her face. Also Midna, Zant, the Shadow Beasts, and numerous others associated with the tribe wear masks constantly. Masks have apparently been important in Termina for a long time so it doesn't stretch belief too much to assume that they were cinsidered essential before the banishment.

In Majora's Mask, Link stays in Termina of his own free will.
He continues assisting with the Goron and Zora while wearing the masks with the Zoras' and Gorons' blessing, letting them know that Darmani and Mikau had died, but peacefully. When he is not workign with the Goron and Zora, he is teaching the Skull Kid how to function in polite society (shown when the Skull Kid's lessons are complete and he goes back to Hyrule to carve his image thing) and help Romani get over what happened, if he wasn't able to save her in the last playthrough (which for the sake of the happy ending, I assume he did). He eventually got all of the quests finished that wouldn't be time-sensitive once Link could escape the three days, stole the package back from Sakon, Anju and Kafei were perfectly happy if not in fact ... Everyone is happy, except Majora and possibly the Mask Salesman, though he may have eventually gotten the Fierce Diety's mask in exchange for not stealing the others? Eh, he doesn't count anyway. Jerk. And the Skull Kid finds Navi for Link when he returns to Hyrule. Or maybe she was Tatl and Tael the whole time, thanks to Majora, and is both happy and less annoying that way. Anyway, good endings all around. Not a Downer Ending.
 * The End Credits imply that Kafei is restored to his correct age. We see Anju approach him from what is presumably his point of view, and he is her height. So it all works out just fine. Except for, you know, the flood that will soon engulf all of Hyrule...
 * Wrong timeline.

Termina is the good afterlife and Link got "lost" looking for Navi
It's stated that people become Stalfos when they get lost in the Lost Woods. Whether he got lost while chasing the Stalkid (and the Stalkid can jump worlds at will being already a lost child himself) or he was already gone by that point is up for debate. Perhaps that long fall is just what dying feels like. Why is Termina the good afterlife? Think about it, Link is a hero at heart, more or less the avatar of courage, he's plopped straight into a groundhog-day world where people have so many problems he can reset time over and over ad infinitum in order to play hero until his heart's content. He's basically in the premium-member's club of Valhalla. If you want to stretch it you could also wager that all the games that don't have a definite place in the timeline are simply Link getting bored with the old adventure and Ganon being "sealed" effectively amounts to being forced to be Link's bouncy-ball in the afterlife. It also explains why Termina has so many familiar faces, his first afterlife scenario involved people he knew to ease him into it until he grew less dependent on his old life.
 * What if Link really did die in that fall down the treetrunk, and Termina is the "regular" afterlife?
 * Of course, if you're in a dark mood and want to twist this...

Link is from Termina
When we first find out Link isn't a Kokiri, we are told his mother fled to the forest, and Link was taken and raised along with the other forest inhabitants. The Deku Tree just assumed Link was Hylian, since he had no knowledge of Termina. In actuality, Link's mother fled from Termina for some reason (probably to escape the Lost Tribe, or because Skull Kid was annoying everyone by bitching about the giant leaving him, or whatever) and thought the safest place for her and her baby would be a different world entirely, which she assumes would be safe. Unfortunately, Hyrule is anything but safe, as we know from OoT. This would mainly explain why Link has no Termina counterpart, since he's originally from there. On top of that...
 * Yes, it is explained by the Great Deku Tree(or his sapling) that Link's mother dropped Link off in Kokiri Forest. However, when you go to meet young princess Zelda for the first time, she asks you for your name. When you reply, she states that your name sounds familiar, despite her dream having no speech, as far as she explains. Also, take note of her parents. We know for a fact that with Zelda in the castle is her father, the king, but no queen. Also, if I remember this bit correctly, Link's mother was running from Ganondorf, whose plans were centered around Hyrule Castle because of its proximity to the Temple of Time.
 * Link's mother was fleeing the Hyrule Civil War. Ganondorf wasn't an issue yet.

Termina, the world of the Ocean King and Koholinth Island are one and the same
The Windfish is the united form of the four Giants from Majora's Mask. Also, the Wind Fish and the Ocean King are one and the same (which is supported by the fact that they are both whale-like gods).

Originally, the Wind Fish / Giants / Ocean King was/were supposed to stay asleep to keep the dream world of Termina existing, but after the Majora incident, this dream world was, after all, infested by Majora's Mask's evil and it would latter manifest as Bellum from Phantom Hourglass, AKA The Nightmare from Link's Awakening. Note how Bellum's full title in Japanese is "Dream Demon Bellum". Also: Bellum's eyes look a lot like Majora's Mask's eyes. So--> Majora's Mask--> destroyed--> essence becomes Bellum: Dream Demon = Nightmare.

First, the Ocean King / Wind Fish was able to hold everything pretty well together, so the evil power was "only" resulting in the flooding of Termina (similar to the flooding of Hyrule, only that it happened in both timelines here) but as time passed, the evil grew stronger and stronger and (in Timeline Number 1) consumed most of the dream world, until only Koholinth Island was left and it wasn't possible to stop the evil anymore without giving up on what was left of that world. Because of the split-timeline, however, a sooner Link (aka Wind Waker Link) arrived in the dream world in Phantom Hourglass (Timeline Number 2) and could stop the process, before it was as advanced as in the other timeline in ''Link's Awakening".

So, to sum it all up: The giants are becoming the Ocean King, who is later known as the Wind Fish, and Phantom Hourglass is basically Link stopping the Ocean King's dream world from becoming Koholinth Island in the second timeline as well.

Supporting this theory: All three of this world have many characters who are considered Expies of characters from the corresponding preceding game even in-game. It is common for dream dimensions in fiction to have their population based upon people from "the real world". Then, there's the way Link is entering those worlds in all of the three games: In Majora's Mask, he gets a short sequence that looks like childish doodles on speed, and in Link's Awakening, he, well, awakens on the shore of Koholinth Island. Phantom Hourglass unites aspects of both of this instances, by having Link wake up on a shore after having a pretty acid-like vision of Tetra's light being swallowed by darkness. Another thing that is supporting this theory: the way the Wind Fish and the Ocean King tend to reward Link's helpers. Marin was wishing for wings, Linebeck was wishing for being able to travel the seas in his S.S. Linebeck. Neither of them was wishing to see the "Real World". Yet, both of them suddenly turn up and get their wishes granted in Link's world, after the quest is completed: Marin flies away as an angel/seagull and Linebeck's ship is spoted on the horizon by Link after he and Tetra return. The Wind Fish/Ocean King probably intentionally rewarded them both with "freedom from the boundaries of the dream world", additionally granting their wishes.

Hyrule and Termina are the flip sides of a disc world.
Link falls for what is implied to be a really long time but isn't hurt, and ends up under Clock Town, which could be explained by him falling through the disc's center of gravity and landed over a ledge before his momentum ran out. There's a completely different moon, and as we know, the Earth's moon orbits it at a rate of one revolution per rotation. The moon around Hyrule/Termina could orbit it so that the side with the face is only ever clearly visible from the Termina side, and only the edge of the blank side can be seen from Termina (at least until it starts falling).
 * That would explain why the hallway before the sealed door twists and goes upside down as you're walking through it...
 * But wait... The moon in Termina is mostly brown and dirt-like, while the Hyrule moon looks more like the regular Earth moon. Since the Hyrule moon is clearly farther away from the planet than the Termina moon, is there more sunlight reflected off it to cause a brighter glow, given a lesser chance for the planet to cast a shadow from the sun?
 * The moon in Termina never changes position in the sky, it only gets closer to the ground. Therefore, the Termina and Hyrule moons are, in fact, different. Or, you know, it really is just a dream, or a training program from the Sages, or the Afterlife for Link. ...Now my head hurts.
 * Well, given that the skull kid caused the moon to fall, he could have simply stopped it in its tracks, and then had gravity attract it to the surface (without its motion to keep it in orbit). Or, if the discworld rotates, slow its orbit to match the rotational speed (but not be fast enough to maintain its altitude).
 * If I remember right, the scene in the Lost Woods takes place around dusk, but when you enter into Termina, it's dawn of the first day. That makes perfect sense! Fridge Brilliance

Each of the masks represents the races of Termina.
You get a mask for an important person from each race. The Deku mask is the Butler's son and therefore would have ties to the Deku Royal Family. The Goron mask is Darunia, a hero of the Gorons, and the Zora mask is Mikau, the guitarist for the Indigo-gos, the popular Zora band. Fierce Deity has incredible power, enough to combat Majora easily. Now, where did the Fierce Deity come from? He represents the humans, perhaps a sort of god they worshipped. Finally, Majora's Mask represents the Skull person tribe, or lost tribe. I can't remember where, but I do believe you get a glimpse of the lost tribe somewhere, and they look very much like Skull Kid. Then, on a related note,

Termina is outside of the time flow of Hyrule, so that while there are two Hyrule timelines there is only one Majora's Mask timeline.
Link isn't flung back in time, everything but certain extremely powerful beings and magicked (ensouled?) items get reset to how they were three days ago. this is possible because Termina is a completely separate time-universe from Hyrule. However, the main reason I want to believe this is that the Wind Waker (Link sleeps for seven years) version of Termina would suck.
 * This is a horrible understatement, considering the Wind Waker version of Termina would probably be a huge crater in a giant wasteland, with the shattered Moon of Doom in the center and Majora's eternal laughters the only thing to be heard ever.
 * The Terminan Postman has a descendant in the Wind Waker world, he's the Rito who works at sorting letters at Dragon Roost Island, apart from a striking resemblance his figurine states hes descended from a legendary postman, which means he can't be descended from the Marathon Man. It's possible that the postman, upon being freed from his job, warped into Hyrule by mistake. This would seem to enforce this theory in that those who were fleeing the moon went to Romani Ranch for safety, so as the moon was falling if would have made more sense that he would go to the Ranch rather then flee elsewhere and accidently access Hyrule.
 * Also, why does Termina have to be destroyed in the Wind Waker Timeline. It takes place after the Adult portion of Ocarina of Time right? And who's chilling in the forest (and shooting deku nuts at Adult Link if he's too close) in that timeline. The Skull Kid, who would have either died along with Termina when the moon hit, or still be controlled by the mask if he survived. It's possible that whatever variables led to him taking Majora's Mask from the Happy Mask Salesman never happened which means Termina might still exist in that timeline.
 * So Termina's still out there in the WW timeline, and Majora's Mask remains...GET ON IT, NINTENDO
 * The realm of the Ocean King is implied to be a parallel universe...maybe the apocalypse-by-moon, not prevented in this timeline because Link was busy being sealed in the Master Sword, resulted in some sort of nuclear winter, causing a Great Flood? Different reasons, same outcome: a destroyed world covered in water, populated by the legacies of a few survivors, some looking strangely similar but apparently different people (I'm looking at you, Beedle).
 * What the above poster said. I've pondered this before. Then I came to a conclusion: We all know that the Happy Mask Salesman was ambushed in the Lost Woods shortly after the end of Ocarina of Time in the timeline that Link returned to. Ganondorf never getting the chance to do what he did that led to OoT's future timeline is more than likely the reason he was able to head into the Lost Woods for whatever reason. The Lost Woods, and Hyrule in general, remained the same rather than becoming much more dangerous. Termina's future timeline didn't get messed up because the Happy Mask Salesman in the future timeline never entered the Lost Woods and therefore was never ambushed by the Skull Kid, thus never leading to the Skull Kid being possessed by Majora's Mask which would've led to the Skull Kid causing all sorts of trouble for the people of Termina which would've been topped off by their eventual destruction via the moon crashing into them. When you think about it, by saving Hyrule, Link indirectly screwed Termina over. The thing is, though, that we're uncertain of what happened to the future Termina. For all we know, after Ganondorf was taken care of, the future Happy Mask Salesman probably went into forest just as his younger self did and got ambushed by the future Skull Kid, leading to bad things happening to future Termina, only this time with no Link to save them. Why did the HMS even need to go into the Lost Woods in the first place? Any chance Majora's Mask may have had something to do with him being there? I mean, it does seem odd that he'd be carrying a demonic mask around in an unsafe place like that... Then again, better to carry it with him than leaving it some place where somebody or something else could get to it.
 * Seven more years with Tatl and Tael's influence probably made Skull Kid become enough of a better person to not want to mug The Happy Mask Salesman. Therefore, everybody wins! =D

Every time link travels back in time he creates a different Termina timeline
In Oo T when Link is sent back to the past it creates two timelines, so each time Link Travels back in time in MM he creates an alternate Termina, meaning there are several Termina's where everyone died horribly regardless of whether or not Termina exists outside of Hyrules flow of time.

Similarly, masks in Termia are inherantly powerful and magical. They gain their power upon creation.
Would explain why every mask in the game does at least some supernatural thing.

Sometime in the past, Termina experienced a bout of revolutions
Instead of Hyrule, overlooked by the Royal Castle, there is only Clock Town, governed by a mayor. The Gorons have a chief rather than a king, and there seems to be at least some democracy involved in his selection. The Zora seem to lack a king as well, their society being either a democracy or an oligarchy. The only race retaining royalty are the Deku, who are sort of isolationist anyway.


 * So Termina suffered The Great Politics Mess-Up kind of like the Soviet Union. It once was united and whole but it all split up. My guess would be that the Zoras were the only ones who didn't really set up a government, as they don't seem to have a leader or a military of any description. Which of course made the Great Bay a haven for pirates, kind of like Somalia.

Ikana is Hyrule.
Expanding on the Termina as more advanced Hyrule theory, the kingdom of Ikana is Termina's version of Hyrule, with Ikana Castle as Hyrule Castle. There are major differences, with Ikana favoring a more Egyptian look as compared with Hyrule's medieval castle feel. It collapsed in Termina's version of the Great War, meaning it's king is the counterpart to Hyrule's king, and the Redeads are the Market Town's populace.
 * Given the theory that the Pyramid of Power in ALttP is the Dark World counterpart to the Castle, it's not much of a stretch.
 * Adding to this: the people of Termina refer to themselves as human, even if they are of obvious Hylian ancestry. In the Terminan version of the Great War, the humans gained the upper hand and won, thus meaning that they didn't have the seemingly "backwoods" station in life (basic farming and such, compared to the far richer and advanced Hylians) that they would have had in Hyrule.

Termina is outside of the time flow of Hyrule, so that while there are two Hyrule timelines there is only one Majora's Mask timeline.
Link isn't flung back in time, everything but certain extremely powerful beings and magicked (ensouled?) items get reset to how they were three days ago. this is possible because Termina is a completely separate time-universe from Hyrule. However, the main reason I want to believe this is that the Wind Waker (Link sleeps for seven years) version of Termina would suck.
 * This is a horrible understatement, considering the Wind Waker version of Termina would probably be a huge crater in a giant wasteland, with the shattered Moon of Doom in the center and Majora's eternal laughters the only thing to be heard ever.

Everytime Link travels to the past he creates a different Termina timeline
When Link was sent to the past to relive his child years in Oo T it created two split timelines so we can assume each time link sends himself back three days in MM he creates a new timeline, leaving AT LEAST four Terminas where everyone died horribly, regardless of whether or not Termina's universe exists independently of Hyrule.

Sometime in the past, Termina experienced a bout of revolutions
Instead of Hyrule, overlooked by the Royal Castle, there is only Clock Town, governed by a mayor. The Gorons have a chief rather than a king, and there seems to be at least some democracy involved in his selection. The Zora seem to lack a king as well, their society being either a democracy or an oligarchy. The only race retaining royalty are the Deku, who are sort of isolationist anyway.


 * So Termina suffered The Great Politics Mess-Up kind of like the Soviet Union. It once was united and whole but it all split up. My guess would be that the Zoras were the only ones who didn't really set up a government, as they don't seem to have a leader or a military of any description. Which of course made the Great Bay a haven for pirates, kind of like Somalia.

At the end, Link chooses to keep traveling between Termina and Hyrule, becoming the Hero of Two Worlds
He's had one hell of a bonding session with Termina, so it's unlikely he'd just stay out of there forever. If nothing else, he'll have to keep sneaking back for more Chateu Romani. But the people of Hyrule are equally precious to him. Well, with the biggest threats to both worlds eliminated and only some odds and ends to take care of in each world, surely Link has enough time for both.

Termina is a metaphor for the five stages of grief.
This troper didn't come up with the idea, but it's interesting. At worst, good for maybe a quick chuckle. .
 * Maybe switch the Gorons and Zora's stage. The Goron's seem to be laying around, depressed and hopeless. For example, The two gorons outside of Darmani's tomb are cold, though one of them knows about the hot spring inside the tomb and could easily go inside and pull open the hotspring to help itself. Then, the Zora's are the ones who are bargaining, since Evan and Mikau were trying to take action and get the singer's eggs back. The Zora's take a lot of action, in fact, and are oblivious to Mikau's death, actually.

Termina is more than just an a parallel universe, it also stands out of time from the normal universe.
Unlike the various dark and twilight realms, which are perfectly parallel, time works differently. You can access any point in history to and from Termina.. We already know Termina is not a perfect mimicry of Hyrule, but has extra elements and is missing many elements. This could be explained by it being connected to many times, rather than just the one. This would explain how Skull Kid knew the giants and Link without him being hundreds of years old, the technological level being beyond that of Ocarina of Time, how Majora was able to cause so much damage in so short a time, and possibly how the HMS was able to get Majora's Mask in the first place, as we see plenty of evidence the mask was from Termina.

Termina is the first universe created in the Zelda multi-verse.
The three goddesses (Din, Nayru, and Farore) are daughters/creations of the four Giants, who were sent out to create their own worlds. Many of the new worlds contain similar elements to the first one, which explains the similarities that Termina and Hyrule share. This also explains why the giants are present in their world but the goddesses are not, since the goddesses are continuing to seed and create new worlds while the giants remain in the first one. The giants are also portrayed as being somewhat abstract elderly beings, while the goddesses are young women- they are both younger and closer in form to the various human-esque people of the worlds.

Termina Counterparts
Contains related entries from other folders.

Majora's Mask is a nightmare
Think about it. Link's Awakening provides precedent for a Zelda game being All Just a Dream. Why not MM as well? Termina is similar to Hyrule in many ways and filled with expies of people Link got to know well in Ocarina of Time, usually with horrible things happening to them. (And ever wonder why there's no expy of Link in Termina?) It's just familiar enough to be a product of his own psyche. Creepy things happen in MM, repeatedly, especially given the day cycle, which smacks of someone reliving all the fears he encountered during his earlier quest. OoT contained a decent amount of horror as well, did it not? Now, what the Song of Time actually does, instead of actually by defeating the Mask.
 * I always thought that Skull Kid was the Link of Termina.
 * Agreed, and this Troper suggests that Fierce Deity Link is likewise meant to be a Termina version of Adult Link. Not sure how all that works out, but it makes perfect sense...if you aren't entirely sober.
 * I thought Termina!Link was the Deku Butler's kid, hence the Deku Mask, which he turned into, being the first transformation you get (and the only one you're Mode Locked into).
 * Definitely Kafei. I mean, isn't Anju Termina's Saria? They look an awful lot alike.
 * Anju is the cucco lady. There is no Terminan Saria.
 * I always got the idea that the "Link" in Termina was split between the four corners of the map. Darmani was the goron hero, Mikau was decendant of zoran heroes, then maybe either Deku Link's orginal form, or the monkey, is the hero of the swamp. It gets confusing with Ikana, though. But, Majora/Skullkid takes down the heroes one by one. Link=their combined strengths.
 * Word of God says that Termina is an aftereffect of the Goddesses creating Hyrule. Apparently, there was enough creation energy left to create an alternate/parallel universe that was dangerously unstable and it's link to Hyrule had to closed to protect the worlds. And who's a better hero than a person named Link?
 * This troper, personally, always saw Kafei as that universe's expy of Link...but why no Zelda?
 * ...Tingle?
 * ......Majora?

Skull Kid is Link's Terminian counterpart.
Before he became a Skull Kid, he probably had a backstory similar to Link's, i.e. his parents fled some disaster and wound up in Kokiri woods. He was raised by the Deku Tree as well, but got lost in the Lost Woods before getting his fairy, which is why he became the Skull Kid. this would also explain how he wound up in Termina, since his counterpart was able to cross the dimensional boundaries (when he was a baby, but still) then the law of equivalent exchange would grant him the same ability/luck/power/whathaveyou. this seems to be supported by a few key singularities the two share, like affinity for playing musical instruments, becoming friends with Saria, and being way to curious (as all players are when they first play a Zelda game and don't really know what to do)

The Happy Mask Salesman is Link's Termina Counterpart
Link and the Happy Mask Salesman were actually born around the same time, but Link stopped aging due to living in the Kokiri Forest, while HMS grew up into a not-quite-young man. The HMS did his part of Heroism by wandering across the lands - including Hyrule - to spread happiness with his wares. He took it upon himself to rid the world of the evil that is Majora's Mask. When Link left the forest and took up his mantle as the Hero of Time, the HMS went back to Termina because his power was nullified - if two counterparts exist in the same world, one will sap the power of the other. So when Link arrived in Termina, the HMS could only stay beneath the Tower and watch as his world die - and assist his Hylian counterpart any way he could.

Something else to consider: the HMS has a Hammerspace organ that has similar properties to the Ocarina of Time. It helped to heal Deku Link of his curse. If you don't play the Song of Time before the Moon falls, never fear; the HMS plays it and reverses time for you.
 * Of course, this takes the apparently unpopular viewpoint that the Happy Mask Salesman is not evil.

Ganondorf's Termina parallel is the Happy Mask Salesman
Snap back to Ocarina of Time for a moment, back to the Forest Temple. After you defeat Phantom Ganon, Ganondorf apparently sends the thing into a void between dimensions. This would imply that he both has knowledge of alternate dimensions, with or without the Triforce; and the ability to open gates through them, probably with the Triforce. That in mind, look at the Happy Mask Salesman. He himself resides in a world in between dimensions, and probably has knowledge of both Hyrule and Termina; this fact is intensified if you believe that the Happy Mask Salesman from OoT is the same as from MM. Their MOs are also quite similar: they desire a relic of incredible power, and they're willing to manipulate Link in order to do so. Finally... Both of them are quite obviously evil in some way.

Ganondorf's Termina parallel is the Moon
Its face very closely resembles Ganondorf's, especially his expression during the last we see of him in Ocarina of Time as he's being banished. Like Ganondorf (arguably, it is corrupted by a powerful outside force/artifact (Majora's Mask/Triforce of Power/Anything else that may have influenced Ganondorf in other games). It also seeks to destroy a land, and the 3rd day clock town's ominous, underlying music sounds like Ganondorf's theme (at least in the ZREO version).

Koume and Kotake are more than just potions-and-parlor-tricks witches.
They are the parallels to Twinrova, who were one of the major bosses of Ocarina of Time and attempted to screw with the deities' will. One of the Termina witches refers to the Skull Kid as a harmless little punk, despite his abilities to warp space, travel between dimensions, and potential immortality (or even having conquered death, which is admittably not that big a deal in MM and other 3D Zelda games). The only things they do in the game are make potions, remotely pilot a boat, and fly on a broomstick, but their comparison to Twinrova should be enough to suggest they can do more, let alone their mostly-dismissal of the Skull Kid even with Majora's Mask.

Kafei is Link's Termina counterpart
Besides Link, Kafei is the only character you can control. He also seems to have remarkable courage, the way he was going to go get his mask back all by himself despite being in a child's body.
 * This works well with the guess on the other WMG page that Link is Older Than He Looks, since Kafei has been aged down to roughly Link's age (or slightly but not much younger), and the Skull Kid could have thought it great fun to remove all the age his Hyrule counterpart spent living in the forest. The purple hair, or even the yellow hair in this incarnation, may have been dyed (magically or otherwise), since neither of Kafei's parents has purple hair (mother red, father brown), especially if he was born with blonde hair and scandal/teasing ensued (considering Link's family members aren't always shown to be light-haired, when they're shown at all).
 * Er...Kafei's father has purple hair. Either way, this theory seems plausible, given the player-control thing, the similarity in that both characters de-age, and the fact that Kafei is seemingly the single most important side character in the series (or at least, the one given the most attention).
 * Who's to say that his counterpart has to be identical to him? I mean, the Gorman brothers could be a split of the dude from OoT's ranch, to say nothing of what would count as a time paradox with Romani and Cremia on the ranch were it the OoT timeline. Kafei can be Link's counterpart without looking like him in the hair colour department, I'd think.
 * Something else that supports this is that Kafei appears to share several of Link's animations, such as his idle/breathing stance, the way he gives you items, and most notably, the way he holds the Sun Mask up over his head when he gets it back.
 * Worth nothing is that Kafei has purple hair and red eyes, whereas Link has yellow hair and blue eyes. Inverted/complementary colors for both.
 * It was actually a bit of a pixellation issue in the SNES, but could Kafei's hair be a reference to the purple/pinkish hue sported by Link in A Link to the Past?
 * This troper supports this theory whole-heartedly. Didn't Tatl say something like "you're just like someone I know" (referring to Link) while talking to Kafei?
 * Kafei is a man trapped in a child's body. For the bulk of his last adventure, Link was a child trapped in a man's body. Hmm...

The Butler's Son is Link's Termina counterpart
Think about it; If Termina is supposed to be a parallel universe to Hyrule, where are all the Kokiri? We never see a single one. In this universe, the Deku take their place as the "forest" race, so if Link WERE to have an expy, it would have to be a Deku too. In fact, the Deku that was Link left the Deku society in order to go on a quest to defeat Skull Kid, because he knew before anyone else that he would try to destroy the world. During an encounter inside the clock tower, Skull Kid lured the original "Deku Link" into an alternate dimension, tore his face off, found the nearest kid he could tease and trick into wearing the mask, then ran back to Termia, leaving the original "Deku Link" in the alternate reality, sealed behind a stone door that can never be opened.
 * The problem with that theory is that Link wasn't actually a Kokiri. I think it was mentioned that Link was orphaned and taken in by the Deku Tree, so that would make him a Hylian.
 * Exactly! Think about it more than at face value. Skullkid is running around. He see's a Hylian that is Link's counterpart. Link was a Hylian raised as a Kokiri, but the two are close enough that they look a like. So for fun and laughs Skullkid decides to make the twinning a tad bit more exact. No Kokiri, so this twin would need mixed in with Dekus. Hmm, he would never blend in like that. *poof* One Dekuized Termina!Link pipping hot.

The Fierce Deity is Link's Termina counterpart.
With no Hyrule War, there was no reason for Link to spend time hidden and unaging/slow-aging in the Kokiri forest. He grows up, becomes a skilled warrior and champion of justice, working from the shadows if this was recently... Then he gets his soul sucked out trying to destroy Majora's Mask where it was sealed in the Stone Tower Temple (and accidentally breaking the seal without killing it) and everything goes to pot. The timeline could vary, depending on how long the Happy Mask Salesman had the mask, but it's most likely either just before the Skull Kid got the mask (and the Happy Mask Salesman was returning from retrieving it), or some time ago.

The Fierce Deity is the Termina counterpart of both Link and Ganondorf.
Going on what has been said about the mask, even though it looks like Link it has been described as being evil or at the least malevolent. My theory is that when this mask was created it used to souls instead of one for more power and since we see no counterpart for Ganondorf I believe his counterparts soul along with Links was used in it's creation.
 * The two blades of the Helix Sword represent the two.

The Fierce Deity is the counterpart of Ganondorf.
If it is actually evil. Also could be used to show that Link and Ganondorf are Not So Different or something.

Sometime in Termina's past, a previous incarnation of Kafei (see above) defeated the Fierce Deity and the Happy Mask Salesman came along and sealed him away in a mask. The Fierce Deity lends Link his power because he doesn't want the land destroyed before he can take it over, or maybe he had a change of heart.

The goron named "Link-goro" is the Termia counterpart of the Link-goron from OoT.
Fairly straightforward, except one is young, and the other is grown.

The Deku Princess and the monkey scapegoated for her disappearance are the counterparts of Zelda and Link
Because who else could be Zelda's counterpart? And monkey-Link just because.

Unsorted
Guesses that either have yet to be sorted or don't quite fit into the above folders.

The "sad tree" in Majora's Mask is the butler's son.
As Link is navigating the strange cave that leads to Termina, he comes upon a knobby little tree with a sad face. During the end credits, the butler is seen apparently mourning over it. Since all of Link's other transformative masks are made of the earthly regrets of the dead and magical curses of the living extracted and sealed into a mask by the Song of Healing, it stands to reason that Skull Kid's curse may have involved the sad tree in some way.
 * This has been confirmed by the Word of God. Fairly obvious, too, I thought.
 * And also in the Majora's Mask Manga; where the mask was the butler's son.
 * Also, the butler mentions after you get the Mask of Scents that the mask reminds him of his lost son, to the point he forgot you weren't him.

The Elegy of Emptiness could restore people encased in masks to their original body.
My group has been discussing it... the Elegy of Emptiness creates another, hollow body that takes the instrument player's appearance. If Link plays it while wearing masks, the bodies resemble the people trapped in them, not (Goron/Zora/Deku) Link's. If you tried to put the mask onto the hollow body, you could potentially unite their 'bodies' and 'souls' and revive them! Well, Link can keep the Zora Band's guitarist away from them forever, f.e.
 * You wouldn't necessarily even need the Elegy of Emptiness to make a new body for the Deku Scrub, just put the mask on the stump and possibly use the Song of Healing, if it's possible to get to where the stump is.
 * Or, the Masks house their souls and the Elegy of Emptiness summons the bodies. If you look closely, only Link's body has pupils in the eyes; everyone else is, well, empty.

Link I (The Hero of Time) commits suicide after Majora's Mask
We know that he doesn't show up in later continuities. We know that he is mortal and will one day die. We know that he's a tough bastard and probably won't get killed any time soon. I don't think he survives to be adult Link, but I can't where I read remember that bit of continuity at the moment.

Add to this all the horror that he lives through. This includes, but is not limited to: being forced to tread through dangerous and painful looking dungeons (including two intestinal tracts in O.o.T. alone), being raped by zombies, losing everyone near him (especially with the above), painful-looking mask transformations, and everything else that happens in the game.

One can reasonably conclude that, after giving up the chance that he will find that annoying butterfly, Link wedges his sword between some rocks and hops on. Thank God he never complains.
 * Oh crap, I'd kill myself too.
 * Wouldn't the Triforce of Courage kind of preclude that sort of action? Unless, of course, he lost it when travelling to Termina. Well, regardless, I'm pretty sure he's used to that sort of thing by now.
 * If I am not incorrect, the triforce is reformed at the end of O.o.T., leaving the late Link to his own devices.
 * You are incorrect. Ganondorf took the Triforce of Power into the Sacred Realm with him and the mark of the Triforce of Courage is visible on Link's hand when he goes to visit Zelda in the last scene.
 * Doesn't matter if he has the Triforce or not, since the cause and effect is mixed up. He's not courageous because he has the Triforce, he has the Triforce because he's courageous. It'd be his very nature keeping him from committing suicide, not any Triforce powers.
 * Wind Waker seems to imply he lost it when he went to Termina anyway, if not sooner.
 * If the split timeline theory is to be believed, Link never went to Termina in the Wind Waker's continuity. In Link's point of view, he returned from the Sacred Realm, defeated Ganon, and returned to the past to live out the Majora's Mask/Twilight Princess timeline. In the point of view of everyone in the Wind Waker timeline, the Hero appeared out of nowhere after disappearing for seven years, and after defeating Ganon he just as quickly disappeared into nowhere. The Triforce of Courage must have split into 8 pieces when Link was finally erased from that timeline.
 * If the Hero's Spirit in Twilight Princess is the Hero of Time, he either committed suicide much later in life, or not at all. The Spirit is big and burly. I'm just saying.
 * Seconded, if he did kill himself after Termina there wouldn't be 'countless stories' told about him in Hyrule.
 * Countless Stories? You mean like how countless stories are told of, say, Saint Nicholas?
 * Here's a theory. One of the above theories mentions that the Gerudo were victims of genocide as enacted by the Hylian royal family. Link (with his impressive swordsmanship and connections to the Royal family through Zelda) was made general of the army that went and slaughtered the Gerudo. He then killed himself when he learned that the war was actually a genocide. As punishment for leading a genocide and killing himself, his soul wasn't allowed to move on until it was restored by teaching his descendant the sword techniques that were necessary to save the world.
 * No, no. He doesn't show up in later continuities because now that he's realized he has the power to fix everything around him by rewinding time as many times as necessary, he's still stuck within a few months of the events in the story, desperately racing to make sure that he doesn't let anything bad happen. And of course all of that happens at the speed of time, meaning he hasn't caught up yet.

In a similar vein, Majora's Mask is a Joker-esque test to prove that anyone can be driven to madness and suicide.

 * Just like the Joker wanted to prove that he could destroy Gotham's White Knight, Majora's Mask is a trial in maintaining sanity. To force a kid to witness the same three days over and over is already maddening enough. To force him to go through it without sleep is even worse. Add a shrill, mocking version of the person he was searching for and twisted doppelgangers of his friends and acquaintances, pepper in torture, murder, alien invasion, nightmarish dungeons and a fiendish imp manipulating a world gone mad is enough to drive anyone to suicide. The Happy Mask salesman, probably himself some lesser god or demon, made a bet with the Goddesses a la the story of Job to test Link's strength. So for three days he was stuck in an endless recurrence of time while his Courage was tested. We can assume that Link triumphed over Skull Kid's challenges, saved Romani, reunited Anju and Kafei, etc., all while maintaining his sanity. Then, he realized the door beneath the clock tower wouldn't open...
 * Link is shown riding away from Clock Town at the end - possibly to see if there's an entrance to the Lost Woods in the Deku Swamp (there's an entrance everywhere else, anyway).
 * You know what else is in the direction of the Southern Swamp? Milk Road. Also the witches, and possibly Skull Kid, any of whom might be able to help him get back to Hyrule.
 * On a related yet (er... somewhat) happier note than the last two

Link is a Stalfos and he's really in Hyrule with everything switched around
Same as the above, but in addition to being an undead corpse, instead of being controlled by an outside force while his spirit lives in the afterlife he's just "brainwashed" by necromancy into thinking normal villagers are monsters and sealed-evil-in-a-cans are benevolent giants. When the hero didn't show (or Ganon got out and was subsequently Twilight-banished, whichever timeline the child ending falls under, this troper can never remember) it was just because Link's spirit was controlling a skeleton undoing all the work he did in life.

All of the masks are trapped souls.
Some of them, like the stone mask, are pretty obvious, but every mask with any power is a trapped soul, not just the god masks, the zora/goron masks, and Majora's mask. The inhabitants of the (aptly named) Termina harvest peoples' souls for the Happy Mask Salesman.
 * The implications of this are disturbing, when you consider some of the masks. Notably, one of the Great Fairies gives Link a Great Fairy mask. Man, the N64 Great Fairies were disturbing enough already...
 * Also, it means that stones, bombs, and weddings have souls (gives new meaning to the phrase "life of the party", eh?), and that Kafei is in a child's body because he's soulless, among other things.
 * I'm not sure who could power the stone mask, but here's some Wild Mass Guessing to explain the others: The Bomb Mask is powered by the soul of the Old Lady's husband, the original Bomb Shop owner. Kafei- yeah, Kafei's Mask could be his missing soul, or at least tied to his soul without having to actually remove it. It's also possible (but less likely sticking to the spirit of the guess) that the Mayor's Wife sacrificed a small animal to power the mask (maybe the Stone Mask has the soul of a camouflaged rock gecko?), but it's my opinion that it's not a mask of power, just a mask that looks like Kafei, and maybe has "Have You Seen This Person?" stamped on the forehead. The Couple's Mask, now, I have an explanation that could be sweet or awful: Each Couple's Mask is imbued with half the soul of each of the two people. Kafei and Anju "joining" at the end of the third day finishes it, when you get the mask instead of at the wedding the next day. Like the "two hearts join as one" or "two candles light the big candle and then the individual candles are blown out" stuff at a lot of weddings, but less metaphorical.
 * No, only the masks that hold any real power or can easily deceive beings would have souls. Romani's mask, Kafeis's mask, Couple's mask etc would just be masks. Some of the others, though, are very blatantly the souls or emotions of beings, such as the mask that makes you dance and the Captain's Hat.
 * When you speak to the Happy Mask Salesman while wearing a mask (aside from the transformation masks), he analyzes the mask you're wearing, telling you what it symbolizes and what it means to the one who made it. That gives this idea a bit of evidence.
 * If you want some seriously crawling skin, notice the mask on the top back of his pack. IT'S MARIO'S FACE.
 * This is all your fault, player. You failed.
 * What about Darth Maul, Elvis Presley, Dr. Doom, and Falco/Dededee?

Majora's Mask or Link's Awakening is a retelling of the other.
Part of a guess on the main The Legend of Zelda page is that some games are corrupted retellings of others.

The "Fierce Deity" is the personification of the future.
The Fierce Deity is shrouded in mystery. Plus, it is the last mask to be found in the game. If this is the OoT link, then it cannot be a past Link, because apparently he is the first Link. Many future Links wear different tunics, so this one is a comination of those. One of his attacks is to shoot a beam out of his sword. This is attack is commonly used by later Links. His fate might be to become a god-like being, hence his appearance. The Helix sword is an amalgam of all of his swords to be gotten in the future.

I (User:Fairy Red) believe this, too. Link's sulking as he and Epona trot on for a bit. He stops suddenly, then looks around some. And then...he rides off. We don't see which direction Link rides off to in the end. It's not at all unusual idea for him to want to stay in Termina. You do see "Mikau" in the band playing the guitar. I mean, thanks to the Groundhog Day Loop, he's probably become emotionally attached to everyone in Termina. He cares for them a whole lot. Maybe he learned that Navi won't ever return, or he simply forgot about her, knowing all the chaos he was going through in MM. And sure, Tatl told him to leave, but she clearly didn't want him to leave. Maybe Link and Tatl and Tael and the Skull Kid live in Termina happily.

The horse Link found in Majoras Mask was NOT Epona
Romani never says that they found the horse anywhere, so it is to assume that it had been there on the farm for a long time. Also, the horses name is never mentioned and there are identical-looking counterpart of almost everyone in Termina. It's just Tatl who thinks, that the horse could be Epona. The real Epona has been killed by the Skull Kid right before he put the curse on Link. been taken in by Romani Ranch, south of town...", thus implying that the Skull Kid just left Epona somewhere and she was found and taken in by Romani.
 * This makes sense. I always thought it funny that Epona would survive through the underground. Maybe Skullkid just let her run off a cliff at some point...
 * Then why does Not-Epona still come when you play Epona's Song? Is this just Termina's Mirror-Epona?
 * Exactly. Remember that Romani gives you Epona's song. It's never said how long she's had the horse.
 * A gossip stone (in the Mountains region, this troper seems to recall) says that "A small, lost horse seems to have

The Bombers (or most of them, anyway) are orphans.
They're hanging out around the town at all hours, and don't leave even on the final day, when everyone but essentual staff and a few other people are evacuating. There aren't enough married or widowed/widowered adults in town to account for all of them unless several are siblings, which isn't really that major a point. Aside from the three days you spend playing the game, they spend a lot of time at the astronomer's lab and in an underground waterway with at least three giant, person-killing spiders.
 * I thought of this, too. However, one Bomber tells Link that his parents have the Couple's Mask. He's the only one wearing a yellow bandanna, though and stays put in one place (in front of the astronomer's tower). Maybe he's the exception and his parents live nearby and told him to stay close, unlike the other, orphaned bombers who wander around all over at all hours.

At the end of the game, Link uses the Elegy of Emptiness to ressurect Mikau, Darmani, and the Deku Boy.
He makes the statues, places the masks on them, (Song of Healing optional) and they come back to life and go on with their lives. Because I don't see a good reason why not.
 * It's been said, but I still like it.
 * Possibly makes sense. If you complete the game fully, there are scenes of Terminia celebrating the Festival of Time. One of those scenes has Mikau playing with the band, and Link has already left Terminia. Of course, Mikau is still wearing Link's green outfit, but his diary entry did say he felt that green was his new lucky color...
 * Unfortunately, the ending also reveals that the Deku Butler's son remains petrified.

The Blast Mask was a weapon for terrorists, specifically suicide bombers
After the end of the game, he gives up being Link and acts as Darmani and Mikau full-time. It would be very difficult, but not impossible.

The Blast Mask was designed as an emergency tool for trapped miners.
Such as the guy who was picking through the boulder in front of Romani Ranch. They carry the mine, and either due to their intense defensive training, a lot of single-use (or one reusable) healing items, their knowledge of the proper workings of the bomb mask, or all of the above, they can use the mask to blast the way through the rubble in a pinch. There may be some trick to using it that increases the power to something similar to a Goron Keg and a trick that decreases or nullifies the damage done to the wearer, but Link did not have the time (or local knowledge) to find and learn from a master of the Art of the Bomb Mask. Similarly, the All-Night Mask was designed for watchmen (yeah, right). The abandonment of equipping the guards with the All-Night Mask (likely due to only having the prototype, and it not being worth it to make more) results in Sakon being able to run right past the guard who was asleep on his feet.

The stone tower is the Termina version of the tower of Babel
Read the article and tell me that it's not really interesting and you don't have too much free time.
 * My friend sent me that link a long time ago after saying he knew of a place where people had weirder theories than the Game FAQs boards (I hadn't yet sold my soul to this site and it was back in 2008, before this theory showed up according to the Page History). And yes, I do have too much free time, but still less than whoever the hell came up with that (who has less free time than whoever noticed the penis-shaped columns).

Link is a Kamen Rider.
He wears masks. He transforms. He rides Epona. He takes an evil power (the Fierce Deity's Mask) and uses it for good. He even has a kicking move as Zora Link (though, rather like Kamen Rider Kabuto, it's not the standard jump-kick). Also, Romani nicknames him "Grasshopper", which is a popular theme for Riders.
 * This troper shall now use this theory to posit that Decade is to blame for all the Zelda games he doesn't like

The game is one of the many alternate-universe tellings of The Dark Tower.
Obviously, the Clock Tower is The Dark Tower. It's at the center of everything, it's the key to saving the world, it's a tower. Link is Roland, continually cycling through timelines which are almost identical until he gets it right -- until he manages to free all four Giants. The reason he is able to succeed in his quest is that he retrieves the Horn of Eld, in this case his ocarina. Link left a faraway, magical land he can't get back to and left behind a beautiful blonde lover -- Zelda, this universe's version of Susan who didn't get horribly murdered.

The Giants themselves represent the Beams, which support the tower and keep it safe from harm.

Each of Link's transformations is a version of Rolan'ds ka-tet. Jake is the Deku Scrub because Link/Roland "meets" him first and they're small and young. Eddie is the Zora, a tall, lean rogue. And Susannah is the Goron by process of elimination. Oly is Tatl, the tiny companion with Roland/Link to the very end.

Each of the other masks represent Roland's guns. They're what makes Link special.

Majora is the Crimson King. The arch-villain, uber-powerful, and you never get a satisfying confrontation with the man himself. The Skull Kid is Mordred, the Crimson King's greatest pawn and the character Link/Roland gets to fight. The Mask Salesman is Randall Flagg, a more fortunate soldier in this incarnation because at the end he gets the mask, and as shown in many Stephen King stories, Flagg always survives.

Igos Du Ikana is actually King Harkinian.
He helped you strive for peace like a true warrior. Also...

The King's servents are Gwonam and Morshu.
Your sword was enough for them, but they didn't give credit.

The cattle-stealing aliens are actually some versions of Garos, summoned by the Gormon Brothers
Think about it. The professor in Ikana Canyon says that Garos have been sited in the ranch. It's possible that he mistook the Gormon Brothers in their masks, but that seems like a very silly mistake for a professor who's dedicated his life to studying spirits to make. Going off of that though, the Gormon Brothers have Garo masks. Which means they have the power to summon Garos. The game makes it quite clear that the Brothers' milk is of much lesser quality than Cremia's and it's implied that they've resorted to other vandalism and theft to get rid of competition. The aliens only steal the cows and Romani says that they come every time the carnival approaches and always just take the cows. On the third day, if you don't stop the invasion, the Gormon Brothers are extremely gleeful and tell Link that they're now the only ones around who can provide milk, now that Cremia has none. "Gormon Brothers "Seems some monstrous Garos appeared at Romani Ranch yesterday. And I heard the wagon carrying their milk was attacked. I tell you, that's a dangerous place... Seems like we're the only ones who have any milk left. Hyuh, hyuh.""

All timelines converge at the end
Think about it. The ending seems to indicate that everyone in Termina got their happy ending. This can only mean one of two things: Either all the possible timelines created by travelling through time ended up converging upon Majora's destruction, or Link went back in time again and helped absolutely everyone.

The entire series of events is a massive scheme by... someone to prepare Link for a future challenge
Simply put, after his return from Termina Link has all the abilities he had before getting sent to the past. Even some items that would have been too large for his child form but just happened to come in compatible size in Termina. And all in three days. There is no way that's simply a coincidence. The only question is whether the someone behind the scenes orchestrated the attack in the first place, or only brought Link to the right place at the right time.
 * Want some extra horror? Who says that said evil has to just pick one host?

The game takes place in the future
Specifically, the First Day is December 18th, 2012, and the Last Day is December 21st, 2012. Hey, SOMEONE had to say it.

Cremia is the Termina counterpart of Malon's mother.
Her Termina counterpart didn't die as Malon's mother did. Perhaps there's a lot of mother-daughter resemblance, Malon always was a bit of an Ugly Guys Hot Daughter.

Building on the 'all masks are lost souls' theory, Kafei's mask is the soul of his real father.
It's not the mayor. Madame Aroma had an afair with someone who died/was transformed into the mask. Kafei just looks exactly like a child version of his father.

Tingle is Michael Jackson
Think about it: Widely hated in the United States (Not so much since Michael died, but his image was tarnished when MM came out. And when TWW came out, the second round of trials were beginning, which really cemented him as a paedophile in a lot of people's minds)... Behaves childishly... Is strangely fond of Link to the point where people suspect paedophilia... Also manages to be fantastic at something which is overlooked because of his personality (in Tingle's case, cartography. In Michael's, singing and dancing)...

Ben haunts every Majora's Mask game.
The Majora's mask is the herald of the anti-spirals, when Link came into Termina it pushed the population limit put on by the Anti-spirals to the point where the Human Elimination Device had to be activated. The Majora's Mask is an Eldritch Abomination, just the same as the anti-spiral Link is a determinator as big as Simon (post time-skip), he never falters despite all the things he has live through His Spin Attack is a form of spiral Energy. The Fierce Deity Mask sword is a double helix, a shape the anti-spiral itself deemed as the natural form of Spiral Energy.

The Fierce Diety was a Chaotic Neutral War God that pre-dated the Four Giants.
The Fierce Diety does look a lot like Link, but the elements unique to him give him a distinctly ancient, even primordial feel. He seems to wear war paint, and even painted designs on his armor. His equipment looks like a split between hewn stone and metal, and his gigantic stature and grim appearance just sort of give the feeling of something left over from a more brutal, warlike age. It's possible that the Fierce Diety was neither heroic nor malevolent, simply ferocious and violent, and was sealed in a mask because the people of Termania (or perhaps the three goddesses) wanted to contain his rampages. Afterwards, the Four Giants replaced him as the gods of Termania, giving the people more benevolent protectors and leaving the Fierce Deity trapped in the mask until Link awakened him to fight for Termania one last time.


 * Perhaps he was a previous skull kid, AKA the previous puppet in Majora's scheme, but was locked in a mask for this reason.

The Garo are the Terminan counterparts to the Sheikah.
As well as a near inverse, attacking rather than swearing allegiance to the Royal Family (Ikana), but they have a lot of similarities in values and fighting style and are nearly as mysterious.

Cremia isn't in love with Kafei.
She's in love with Anju. Romani says there is someone in town that Cremia likes, but not by gender:

Romani: ''Romani knows... My sister, Cremia, has someone in town she likes... But that person will get married the day of the carnival. It's hard for my sister... Going into town...''

Cremia doesn't mention Kafei either when talking about Anju's upcoming wedding.

Cremia: ''In town...I have a friend. Her name's Anju... Anju... The day after tomorrow is her wedding.''

I know it doesn't make sense, but every time I go to the ranch at the 2nd night to help Cremia, I can't help but think that it might actually be Anju that Cremia loves, even with Anju's mother trying to imply that Cremia and Kafei ran off together.
 * That just makes it even better and even more twisted.
 * That...actually makes a lot of sense and fits into the Fridge tropes this game has a ton of.

Oni Link is God

 * Double helix sword = DNA (Inspired by this)

Tael was a Poe.

 * I mean, look at the Poe's souls from Twilight Princess. and Tael.
 * Cool story bro, but it's not hard to

The Banker is a Time Lord.
And the cow ornament is really his TARDIS. How else can he hold on to Link's ruppies when he travels back in time?
 * Doesn't the guy at the Sword School also have one of those?

The Fierce Deity was the one who originally defeated Majora, and also a predecessor of the line of Heroes from which Links spawn.
In the Majora's Mask manga, there's a side story about a traveling warrior who wanders into Majora's realm and defeats him with music. This warrior has more than a passing resemblance with Link, and by extension, the Fierce Deity. So, what this troper proposes is, is that the Fierce Deity was a man or God, who defeated Majora. His lack of a hat can be explained as the events of Minish Cap not yet having occurred.

The Deku Butler's son was either a member of the Royal Guard or an Assassin
The Deku Scrub that the mask transforms you into is a lot better at combat than any of the other ones that you meet. He can walk on water, he can spit poison bubbles when he's magicked up, and he can perform a spin attack that stuns EVERYTHING and is carrying a very effective shield. You can actually take out most of the enemies in the game (including the Garo Master) using him. His dad also mentions that he and his son would regularly run the obstacle course under the Deku Palace, a course filled to the brim with traps that would be fatal to the average scrub. All this evidence paints a very nasty picture of whoever the Deku Mask used to be. He may have been on a mission from the Deku palace to find the Princess before the Skull Kid and Majora took him out.

The Fierce Deity Mask is just that.... an ordinary mask.
At the end of Ocarina of Time, we observe Ganondorf using the Triforce of Power to go One-Winged Angel and become Ganon. According to this theory of mine, the Fierce Deity is, in reality, Link's One-Winged Angel / Super Mode, using the Triforce of Courage to unleash his full potential at once. The mask, therefore, is nothing more than that - a piece of wood or plastic carved and painted in the shape of a face.... that just happens to be the Fierce Deity's face. The reason Link doesn't use this transformation until he gets the mask is because he's aware of the game mechanics and knows that, in terms of gameplay, he can't transform without a mask. In-story, it's because until Majora, that was no enemy strong enough that he might need his Super Mode in the first place. Why haven't we seen the Fierce Deity in any Zelda game before or since? Because aside from Majora, there's never been a villain Badass enough to warrant his intervention. Onox, Vera, Ganon(dorf), etc. were genuine threats, rest assured, but Majora's the only one whose true aim was The End of the World as We Know It purely For the Evulz. He/she/it also came much, much closer than any enemy before or since. As for why, even when facing Majora, Link only transforms while in the mask? Again, game mechanics. In-story? Um... Because Destiny Says So? Regarding the child on the moon who has a mask that resembles the Fierce Deity's face.... Hrm... possibly the result of either a Stable Time Loop or Timey-Wimey Ball. Reason for this theory in the first place? Purely for Rule of Cool.

The Goddess's created a trio of of Lesser Gods
Each one representing there powers.
 * Din created Majora
 * The one most obsessed with displaying his showing its power.
 * Farore created the Fierce Deity
 * The one with the courage to stop Majora
 * Nayru created the one that uses The Happy Mask Salesmen as an avatar.
 * He/She has the knowledge of how to contain the others two power into masks.

The Hand in the Toilet, this is Japanese Zombie
THEY COME
 * IN THE TOILET