Spoiler Majora's Mask: Theories of Deku Link and What Could've Been?

[FayeleneFyre]

So with help from a friend from DeviantART, we've come up with really interesting theories for what pre-Majora's Mask was like. What the story may have been before the final product. Of course, this is all fan-speculation and isn't anything for sure. But still, I thought I'd share this.
This all started when I noticed some interesting things with Deku Link in-game while doing some glitches.

I want to say, I am a huge Deku-nut (pun intended). I especially love Deku Link and the whole Butler's Son story. I've always wished there was more to Deku Link, cause he seems very bare compared to Zora and Goron. Like, Nintendo tried to make him TOO helpless. And, y'know, it works. He is the weakest mask, and most of the people I know prefer Zora or Goron over him. Most people hate or dislike using Deku because they find him hard to use and sort of useless. (You may be surprised how useful he really is, though. Plus, I like using him when I want to make the game a little harder XD Deku Link really gets no love, even though he's the one who started Majora's Mask for us. )
Then there's the butler's son... A blank canvas with no name, no history, no backstory to how exactly he died... It's very tragic.

While playing MM, I like to play with certain glitches and whatnot. I often use the sword glitch with the masks, where you can set the Sword to the B button for the mask forms. But I realized Deku Link is the only mask transformation with sword handling animations, like he once had a swinging weapon. And he has one sound file that I've never heard before when he either uses the Spin Attack or the jump slice. Now Zora and Goron don't have sword handling animations... I do know though that Goron once had a hammer in early development of the game, so it only made sense that Zora and Deku had their own weapons as well.

Another thing with Deku that I learned is that he does have programed swimming animations... Deku used to be able to swim! So sword handling, swimming?
All this leads me to believe Deku Link was a little more useful and important in MM, and that he was meant to be used more prominently than he ended up.

What if the curse on Link was unbreakable through a portion of the game at some early concept?
Deku Link would be the main form throughout most of the game. The original objective aside from saving Termina, was to get your true form back. This would involve obtaining a mask of Kid Link. (So I'm NOT saying Deku Link is your only form. You'd still have Goron, Zora, Kid Link, and Fierce Deity/Adult Link (Adult Link during the beta anyway))

This is supported by the concept art in Hyrule Historia of Deku Link wearing a Kid Link mask http://i.neoseeker.com/ca/zeldamask_conceptart_8OfWL.jpg
And this same exact mask can be found in the game's data with Skullkid's data. And if you know how, you can get into the game's files and change it to where Skullkid is wearing the Link mask. This mask was meant to be in the possession of Skullkid perhaps at the start of the game.
http://tcrf.net/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Majora's_Mask#Link.27s_Mask


In the start, Skullkid had turned Link into a Deku Scrub, sealing his true form in a mask of himself. Skullkid took the mask and left Deku Link. The first part of the game is played similarly to getting the Ocarina back, but this time... You're trying to retrieve your mask. (and maybe the Ocarina if timetravel was vital at this point yet. I know in some beta images, you have the Fairy Ocarina instead). If it does involve the Ocarina and timetravel, you would confront Skullkid and get the Ocarina back. Of course, you couldn't get your mask back, and you are forced to flee back in time before the world ends. At this point, your main (personal) goal, is to get your true form back.

This would answer to why Deku Link was capable to doing more. He was your base form. Kokiri sword is small enough, Deku Link could use it. Deku Link can swim. He can use masks. You eventually find other masks along the way that let you change into more powerful forms. Then at some point, you get your human mask back.

It should also be noted that an adult Link mask WAS in the game, but was turned into Fierce Deity. It probably worked like Fierce Deity. Really strong and only usable in certain places. (like an add-on to the Kid Link mask, I guess?)

Imagine a Zelda game where you were cursed to be Deku Link as your base form. It'd really change things up... And you know, it actually makes sense if this was once considered but quickly scrapped! I mean, there is a Deku Flower in Odolwa's fighting arena, when Deku isn't even needed! But in the early concepts (according to these theories anyway), you'd have probably only had Deku Link because of how early in the game it was. And you had a sword, so you could hurt Odolwa easier than just launching out of a flower, but maybe the flower was needed some time during the fight?

And finally, there are Deku Flower's in Majora's battle arena. Now why would THOSE be there...? Who would even think to use Deku Link against Majora? Unless he was needed in a certain phase in the unfinished version. (actually, there are four phases. And four forms (if not counting "Adult Link"). Deku, Goron, Zora, and human. Maybe at some point, the fight worked in an order? You fought each one phase with a certain mask?)

And it is possible to damage Majora with Deku. Heck, it's possible to BEAT all of Majora's phases with Deku, I've done it before (though it is REALLY hard due to lack of weapon)
I honestly think Deku was FAR more important than he ended up being. He was going to be far more capable of doing many things. But, the concept was dropped, and what little of this evidence that was added into the game was buried in the code. And even if the plot theory is wrong, it's obvious that Deku was meant to be a little more than he ended up being. And that a Link mask WAS involved in some way. Because it's both in concept art and in the game.




Finally, I'm gonna get to the Butler's Son. To be honest, I don't think he was planned. When Link got turned into a Deku in the theories, he was JUST a deku! It was himself as a Deku- there was no Deku Butler's Son. That wasn't needed, because it was your base form, it wasn't a mask.
And think about it... Butler's son has literally NO history or story. We never learn anything about him personally like we do Mikau and Darmani. I actually think that when they scrapped older concepts and was finishing up the game, and made Deku form a mask form, they needed a reason for it to have a soul like Goron and Zora.

So, they threw together a quick story of it being the soul of a deku child. No name, no history, not even an explanation as to why he died. It's never even clearly stated that you are the butler's son, it's just hinted at with the dead tree, and the butler saying Deku Link reminds him of his son who left home. Deku Butler's son may have been a last-minute add in to the final game, so to explain why the Deku Mask had a soul.
They left it a blank canvas maybe because they didn't have much time to make Majora's Mask. And if it was a last-minute add in, then a backstory and name for one character who you'd never meet would be the last thing on their minds. They just left it for open interpretation for the players.


In the end, they made a wonderful game! And whether or not the mystery behind the butler's son was intentional or just because they were short on time- it still made for a great story for the Deku Mask... Makes it likable, yet sad.
But still, I WOULD have liked seeing a Deku Link with more to him than just bubbles and spinning I really, truly think that in some way, he (and maybe even the other masks) were intended to have many more skills than they had in the finished game. Because I'm still finding weird things and clues to suggest this. Unused animations, learning beta information, or the fact Goron had a hammer. Just WHAT did they have planned originally? I'd really like to know these scrapped and buried secrets.


Like I said, all just fan speculation and fun research. And I will continue trying to dissect this game for it's secrets and hidden data :>

 

[Shulski]

I think that the Deku form's ability to do a "swinging motion" was likely just him being able to use a Deku Stick. You can also jump-slash with those, so that would explain the voice clip. It would've logically been dropped because the Deku form would be too short to just walk by a torch to set it aflame with a Deku Stick. I don't know why they would've gotten rid of swimming, maybe to make the Deku Mask more useful for short batches of water because the mask isn't all that useful?

As for the Deku Butler's Son's lack of a backstory, I don't think it means much. Maybe they just wanted to make it seem like the Deku Butler didn't want to talk about it. If you think about it, why would anyone else in the Deku Palace speak of it either? Clearly the King isn't a nice guy and the rest of the shrubs there don't have much personality and just go with what the King says.

As for the Link mask, according to DYKG, Skull Kid would've originally used them on you. The whole thing sounds interesting and cool, but I think you have to keep in mind the team that made this is the exact same team that made OOT. Seeing as OOT is probably the most popular Zelda game of all time, they probably didn't want to change the formula TOO drastically especially considering the changes they already made to MM, like the three day time limit or the overall dark atmosphere. Playing as a Non-human character for the whole game would probably turn a lot of fans off and I think that Nintendo would've realized this instantly and would move onto a new idea before even starting the game.

 

[Justac00lguy]

Interesting to read.

I've never really thought too much into it, I mean if you have to use glitches to find this stuff out, then it's kind of hard to really put any truth into it. Conceptually, I just don't think the game would be based around Deku Link. Zelda games revolve around the number 3 and the masks fit that purpose perfectly. A game revolving around transformation masks, visiting different regions, and meeting different races with only one mask seems incredibly odd.

If Nintendo really did originally intend to go down that path then I'm glad they eventually didn't. Which is why I question if Nintendo we're actually going to do it in the first place. And here's why I'm sceptical of some of the things you said. First off, you said Deku Link had a swimming animations and sword animations, correct? What about the other weapons associated with the other masks? The Zora mask mimicked the ability of the boomerang and the iron boots, while the Goron Mask mimicked the ability of the hammer and silver gauntlets. Given that Majora's Mask was pretty much mirroring Ocarina of Time's item usage, these items needed to be included, or in this case, given out as abilities. I don't see how Deku Link would be able to use such abilities, and it would be unrealistic otherwise.

Also the Deku Flowers in Odolwa's boss room, I'm pretty sure that was a tactic to defeat the moths. Same with the Majora fight, the flowers were a tactic as well - this time for evasion.

 

[HeroOfTime]

This is a very interesting post. You've clearly put a lot of thought into your theory here, and I believe that Deku Link could've been used for much more... but I don't think that it was going to have some of those other things, like Deku as your base form. How did you find all that unused art and code?

JCG is right though, that the flowers were meant for defeating the moths, I actually did it on accident the first time because I didn't know how to beat them at first.

Glad you shared it with us, this is pretty cool anyway.

 

[Link Floyd]

Hello fellow deku nut.

I agree that they most likely thought about using deku link throughout the whole game but scrapped the idea because OoT fans would probably dislike that and want to play as human Link.

I think maybe the whole point of the Deku Butler story was supposed to be a mystery. I think that's what makes it so great. You don't exactly know if the Deku mask contains the spirit of the Deku Butler's Son and you don't know exactly know if the dead deku in the beginning of the game is him. (But I must say most signs point to yes based on the last scene in the ending credits.)