Fierce Deity: Spirit of the Moon

The following is a fan-article from forum member HyLorian. It is a theory article, so remember that it is just a proposition of the author that isn’t stated as absolute fact or to represent the opinion of Zelda Informer as a whole. With all of that said, enjoy the read, because it’s a damn good read if I may say so myself.

Lately I’ve been replaying Majora’s Mask, and I couldn’t help but notice that many things in the game are duelistic in nature. For example, the Sonata of Awakening represents awakening, while the Goron Lullaby represents sleep. Likewise, the New Wave Bossa Nova is a song of birth, while the Elegy of Emptiness is one of death. Not just songs are subject to this duelity. While the Snowhead area is getting colder, Great Bay has warmed up. The poison in the Southern Swamp is slowly killing off all life, while Ikana has many dead warriors rising from their graves. It even extends to the masks, where for example, the Postman’s Hat is a mask of freedom, and the Gibdo’s Mask one of confinement.

The interesting thing here is related to Majora’s Mask itself. Despite possessing the moon to crash into Termina, in the final battle, it uses moves and stances which symbolize the sun. Its color is also evidence of this; a harsh and bright purple. Yet with all this duelity, you’d think even Majora’s Mask has an antithesis. And it has: the Fierce Deity’s Mask. This ominous mask is said to be potentially even more evil than Majora’s Mask. However, a quote from a gossip stone reveals its true nature:

“The Fierce Deity Mask, a mask that contains the merits of all masks, seems to be… somewhere in this world…”

This mask seems to have an opposite origin of that of Majora’s Mask. It also seems to be symbolically opposite. If you look at Link’s altered shape while he wears it, a symbol of the crescent moon is seen on his armor. Further evidence is its dominant color; a light shade of blue, again the polar opposite.

The most obvious difference seems to be the effect each mask has on its wearer. Whereas Majora’s Mask seems to be sentient and controls its wearer, the Fierce Deity’s Mask is a transformation, lending Link its power for a while. Transformation masks are all created the same way; the troubled soul of a dying person is brought to peace, and his remains become a mask. Even the Deku Mask is created this way, as evidenced by the Deku butler. So if the Fierce Deity’s Mask follows this rule too, who was the original person from whom the mask came from?

Here is where the theory comes in. The one who was dying, who’s remains were given to you by the child wearing Majora’s Mask, is none other than the moon. Think about it. A mask representing the sun takes control of the moon to destroy a world. This moon is unnaturaly forced down, yet never instantly drops from the sky, despite its weight. It even takes a direct possession from Majora’s Mask to try to force it through the grip of the four Giants.

The moon is obviously corrupted. It has red eyes, a twisted face, and is controlled by the power of Majora. Its eyes are even the same as the mask’s, and begin to glow after Majora’s Mask is swallowed by the moon. However, it takes far too long for an object with such mass to fall. Its rotation had already been stopped, yet it takes three whole days for it to finally reach the ground, as if trying to resist gravity and to stay in the air for as long as possible. The Skull Kid even uses additional power to speed up the falling process in the last few hours. In the scene where Majora’s Mask enteres the moon, it was Majora’s Mask that talked about consuming, not the moon.

At the beginning of the game, Link had to collect the Moon’s Tear, a rock named after the way that it falls from the moon’s eye. Obviously, moons normally don’t cry; however, Termina is a magical land, much like Hyrule, so it wouldn’t be too farfetched to say that the moon may also be some kind of entity. And after all, we clearly see a glowing blue rock falling from its eye. This strongly suggests that the moon is actually sad about the fate of the land, rather than willing to cause destruction.

The most important point though, is the healing process. The other three transformation masks were created by the Song of Healing, a soothing melody that heals troubled spirits. No such melody is played to attain the Fierce Deity’s Mask. However, a condition certainly has to be met in order to acquire it. Link needs to have found every mask in the game, and then have given these masks to the moon children after having played hide and seek with them. The implication here is subtle, but it definitely exists. Each mask you give contains a merit, a sign of a good deed. The Fierce Deity’s Mask is said to contain the merits of all masks. We also know that it symbolizes the moon. Since Link is inside of it at the time, perhaps it is the spirit of the moon that these masks are given to. We know that the scene before the final battle symbolizes the Skull Kid and the four Giants, but the moon children ask some weird questions, something a destruction-thirsting demon wouldn’t ask. The moon watches over all, so perhaps this scene is a fragment from the memories of the moon, rather than from Majora’s Mask. This could very well explain the healing process. The spirit of the moon, witnessing many calamities from the sky, and ultimately the imminent destruction, is a troubled soul. A simple song is not enough to heal such despair. However, Link shows to this spirit, through the masks he has attained, how much joy he has brought to the inhabitants of the land. The moon spirit, dying from Majora’s corruption, can rest in peace, knowing that someone as strong as Link could save Termina.

The moon children disappear one by one, eventually only leaving behind the child who wears Majora’s Mask. If Link has given up all of his masks, this child gives Link the Fierce Deity’s Mask, containing the moon’s corruption, but merit at the same time. At this point, the spirit has died, and its mask is the only thing that remains. After Majora is defeated, the moon’s empty exterior disintegrates into a sparkling rainbow of colors, and so leaves behind the world once and for all.