- "Your true face... What kind of... face is it? I wonder... The face under the mask... Is that... your true face?"
- — A Lunar Child
The Lunar Children are characters from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. They are five children living on the Moon, in its grassy plain.
Biography[]
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
When Link arrives at the Moon, he finds a grassy field with a tree in the center. The four Lunar Children wearing the masks of Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg and Twinmold can be found running around, playing in the grass, while a single Lunar Child wearing Majora's Mask can be found sitting under the tree.
Each Lunar Child has his own mini-dungeon that Link must complete in order to receive the Fierce Deity's Mask. In order to access one of these dungeons, Link must give one of the Lunar Children the masks Link has collected during his quest; the number of masks that must be given increases in the same order that the dungeon bosses are defeated. When Link discovers their hiding places, he must give them a corresponding number of masks to make them accept their loss, or take a portal out (this does not count towards collecting the Fierce Deity Mask). For example, the Odolwa-masked child requires one mask to enter his dungeon and one to count as being 'caught', all the way up to the child wearing the Twinmold mask, who requires four masks for entering and four to count as 'caught'.
When Link finally completes all four dungeons and gives up all twenty non-transformation masks, the child wearing Majora's Mask will ask Link if he would like to play a game of "good guys against bad guys." If Link accepts, he is given the Fierce Deity's Mask and is summoned to the chamber where Majora, in its many forms, is battled. The Fierce Deity's Mask is not required to defeat Majora, but makes the task much easier. (Link can also battle Majora without obtaining the Fierce Deity's Mask. If Link does obtain this Mask, the Deku Mask, Goron Mask, and Zora Mask are disabled for the boss fight.)
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
Motivation[]
- "I wonder... If you do the right thing... Does it really make... everybody... happy?"
- — A Lunar Child
The four Lunar Children each represent a previous boss and all seem very interested in values like happiness, friendship, truth and the "right" thing. When confronted at the end of their respective mini-dungeons, the children will ask Link a question dealing with one of the said motives, ask for more masks, and then thank him and ask him another open-ended question. These questions are never answered, as once they are finished, Link is transported back to the field. The children's questions seem innocent and merely curious, possibly implying they themselves are innocent, despite the evil masks on their faces. Another possible explanation is that the children are not driven by curiosity at all, and being manifestation of Majora's will, simply ask those questions in an effort to make Link question himself and weaken his resolve.
Theories[]
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
Lunar Race[]
- "Masks...You have...a lot. You, too... Will you be... a mask salesman?"
- — Lunar Child
The Lunar Children bear a conspicuous resemblance to the Happy Mask Salesman. It has been theorized that the Lunar Children are a race of ageless beings that have inhabited the Moon for years, and that the Happy Mask Salesman is one of them. This would account for his love of masks, his desire to spread happiness and his ability to disappear and summon objects out of into and nowhere. However, this does not explain how the Lunar Children came into possession of the boss masks they are seen wearing upon Link's arrival.
Boss Remains[]
Another possibility is that the Lunar Children are manifestations of the four boss masks Odolwa, Goht, Gyorg, and Twinmold, while the fifth child that wears Majora's Mask is a manifestation of Majora itself.
Majora[]
Another similar theory is that the Lunar Children are manifestations made by Majora that are synthesized based on Majora's experiences. They seem to draw on the physical appearance of the Happy Mask Salesman and to be obsessed with and pleased by masks. They also represent some characteristics of the Skull Kid. They are young children interested in friendship and playing. The child sitting alone by the tree while his four friends run contentedly around him might symbolize the relationship between the Skull Kid and the Four Giants. And one of the children's questions about whether everyone is made happy by the same thing seems to reflect the Skull Kid's antics, which were mischievous and irritating to other people. In all, the field and the Moon and the Lunar Children could all be an amalgamation of personalities that Majora came into contact with after being unsealed.
Theory warning: Theories end here.