Majora's Mask

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Part of a series on The Legend of Zelda. [View Related Entries]

About

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is the sixth title in the Legend of Zelda video game series, released in 2000 by game developer Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 console. Upon release, the game garnered a notable following within the Legend of Zelda fandom due to it's dark storyline and unique gameplay elements.

Premise

Majora's Mask follows Young Link, a few months following the events of Ocarina of Time, searching for his partner Navi. However, while exploring, he is ambushed by a masked Skull Kid, who steals Epona and his Ocarina, and transports him to the parallel world of Termina, where he is tasked with stopping Skull Kid and retrieve Majora's Mask within the course of 3 days, before it destroys all of Termina.

Gameplay

The core gameplay of Majora's Mask remains similar to that of the previous The Legend of Zelda game, Ocarina of Time, in which Link is tasked to visit a number of puzzle-based dungeons within an open world space. However, the game also introduced a new 3-day time loop mechanic, in which Link is only given 3 days to complete his task. Should Link run out of time during a single loop, he must rewind time back to the start of the loop, retaining any items he collected, but reversing any changes he may have completed in the world, including side quests and bosses.

History

Majora's Mask was first announced in May 1999, shortly after the release of Ocarina of Time the previous year. The game was developed in the course of a single year, compared to Ocarina of Time's four year development, reusing the same engine and assets, before releasing on October 26, 2000 in North America. The game was later ported to the GameCube console on November 17, 2003, as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition promotional disc, alongside ports of Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and a 20-minute demo of the upcoming Wind Waker. A 3DS port of the game was also released, first announced during the November 5, 2014 Nintendo Direct, and later released on February 13, 2015.

Reception

Majora's Mask received critical acclaim upon release, averaging a 95/100 on review aggregation site Metacritic as of February 25, 2017^[1]. The game was also a commercial success, selling 314,000 copies within its first week on sale in Japan, with 3.36 million copies sold worldwide.

Online Presence

Majora's Mask has a notable online presence within Zelda and video game communities. The Facebook fanpage for the Majora's Mask 3D 3DS port of the game reached over 35,000 likes and followers as of February 25, 2017^[2], and the game maintains a notable following on sites such as 4chan's /v/ Video Games board^[3], and Reddit's r/Zelda subreddit^[4]. YouTuber The Game Theorists] have uploaded a number of videos on the topic of Majora's Mask, including "Is Link Dead in Majora's Mask?" (shown below, left), first uploaded on November 9, 2013, and currently holds over 11,000,000 views. On November 24, 2014, YouTuber AWE me^[6] uploaded a video in which he recreated the Fierce Deity Sword from the game (shown below, right), with the video going on to receive over 4,500,000 views and over 68,000 likes.

Majora's Mask Wii U Trailer Hoax

On June 5, 2012, YouTuber MajorasMaskZelda^[7] uploaded a trailer for a potential Majora's Mask Wii U port (shown below, left), re-imagining what the game could look like if released for that console, with the video going receiving over 600,000 views. The following day, YouTuber thegr8stever^[8] reuploaded this video (shown below, right), claiming it to be a leaked E3 2012 trailer, later going on to reveal that the trailer was fan-made, to much fan backlash. As of February 2017, the video holds over 3,800,000 views, and was reported on by a number of gaming news sites, including Kotaku^[9], NowGamer^[10] and 3DS Buzz^[11].

"Terrible Fate" Fan Video

On November 22, 2016, YouTuber EmberLab^[12] uploaded a CG fan film based on the origin of Skull Kid (shown below), and how he stole Majora's Mask, with the video going on to receive over 3,500,000 views and 200,000 likes. The video received numerous media coverage, including articles from Polygon^[13], AV Club^[14] and Gamespot^[15], as well as from Nintendo themselves^[16].

Fandom

Majora's Mask has spawned a significant online fanbase since it’s creation, which has created much fanart and other assorted fan works. On the Japanese fanart site Pixiv, there are over 2,000 images tagged under “ゼルダの伝説ムジュラの仮面”^[17], as well as over 6,000 videos on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga^[18]. On DeviantART, there are also over 37,000 images tagged related to the series^[19].

Ben Drowned

Ben Drowned refers to a Creepypasta based on the Majora's Mask game, in which the author purchases a haunted cartridge of the game, which proceeds to act in several strange ways. The story grew in popularity, particularly on 4chan's /x/ paranormal board^[20], leading to a number of fan works.

Dawn of The Final Day

Dawn of The Final Day is a phrase from within the Majora's Mask game, appearing whenever the final day begins in-game. The phrase is often used by fans in anticipation of upcoming events, similarly to the Imminent Ned image macro series.

The Moon

The Moon is an obstacle within the Majora's Mask game, slowly falling towards Termina over the course of the in-game 3-day cycle. Due to it's memorability, The Moon garnered popularity among Zelda fans, spawning much fanart.