Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.
Cover of the English manga
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a manga book written by Akira Himekawa, released in Japanese in 2000 and in English on February 3, 2009. This book is an adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It is one volume, and the last chapter includes an original side story, composed entirely of the artist's speculation of where Majora's Mask originated. This chapter's secondary purpose was to flesh out some of the space they hadn't used due to a lack of detail on the storyline, due to the manga being released chapter by chapter at around the same time as the game came out in Japan. That meant that the authors couldn't get anything more of the plotline than what was shown in the trailers, gameplay demos, etc.
According to the side story, which is a different story than that of the game itself, the mask itself was an ancient and dangerous artifact made from the armor of a legendary and evil beast named Majora that was danced to dying exhaustion by a being disguised as a human traveler. According to a legend devised "by the humans themselves", any who obtain the beast's armor gains hold of a great and terrible power. All who approached it, warriors, men and women alike, even with good intentions, were devoured without remorse. The early Terminian tribes used the mask in their cursed hexing rituals, but when the evils caused by the mask became too much to bear, they sealed it away in darkness forever... so they hoped.
As the mask of the devil, Majora's Mask gained its power from the evil desires that people had in their minds as they were devoured by the beast, or when they cast the hexes when the armor was made into the mask. As it passed from member to member in the tribe it accumulated its power until it was too much to control. The tribe died out, but the mask still rested in darkness. The Happy Mask Salesman went to great lengths to get it, but while traveling in the Lost Woods it was stolen by Skull Kid and his fairies, Tatl and Tael. When the Skull Kid wore it the evil essence trapped within possessed him, beckoning him to Termina, and making him cause harm amongst the townspeople, most notably interfering with the engagement of Anju to Kafei. The most serious problem caused by the mask was that the Moon was torn out of its orbit, and was on a collision course with Termina's capital city. The moon would have exterminated all life in a cataclysm of fire had it not been for Link's intervention. With the power of the Fierce Deity's Mask, he destroyed Majora's Mask and saved Termina. The moon was destroyed after these events.
As stated above, while Skull Kid was possessed, he wronged many of the people in Termina. In addition, he sealed his former friends, the Four Giants in the Masks of evil deities and sealed them in the temples located in the four compass directions. Link had to free all of the giants in order to ask for their aid in stopping the Moon.
Chapters[]
- Skull Kid and the Demon Mask
- After defeating Ganondorf, Link soon went on a journey to find Navi. While taking a break, both the Ocarina of Time Princess Zelda entrusted to him and Epona were abducted by a Skull Kid and his two fairies. Link pursued them down a hole, only that Skull Kid had a nasty surprise for him...
- Link the Deku Scrub
- Turned into a Deku Scrub by Skull Kid, Link and the left-behind Tatl went to Clock Town. There Link saw familiar faces and ran into trouble, being a Deku Scrub. He was saved by Anju who revealed he was in Termina and that a rumor had spread that in three days, the moon would crash into Clock Town because of an evil Imp. Realizing the imp is Skull Kid, Link and Tatl confront him on top of the clock tower...
- The Happy Mask Shop
- Retrieving the Ocarina of Time back from Skull Kid, Link managed to reverse time. He ended up in the Clock Tower, three days prior and restored to his human-self with a Deku Scrub mask. The Happy Mask Salesman arrived, asking Link to help him get Majora's mask back from Skull Kid. Link accepts and heads out into Termina for another adventure...
- Odolwa: God of Woodfall
- Arriving at the Marshland, Link fell victim to the poison that polluted the waters. Saved by monkeys, they pleaded with Link to save the Deku Scrub Princess, who was abducted by the monster responsible for the poison. Arriving at the Deku Scrub palace as a Deku Scrub, he tries to reason with the king, who was wrongfully accusing others. Things got worse when the monster responsible for taking the Princess, Odolwa, appears. Link saved the princess and defeated Odolwa, whose mask shattered into a giant...
- The Monster of Snowhead
- Link heads toward the Snowhead Mountains, where he encountered the frozen remains of a Goron named Darmani, who fell in battle against the Masked Machine Goht. After Link plays the Song of Healing for his spirit, Darmani gives Link his spirit in the form of the Goron Mask. His final words were for Link to carry out his final mission to destroy Goht and teach a Goron child the lullaby he promised...
- The Great Bay
- Arriving at the Great Bay, Link encountered Mikau of the IndiGo-Gos who were attacked by Gerudo pirates who stole the Zora Egg. Near death, Mikau's spirit was sealed inside of the Zora Mask so Link could use it to retrieve the egg. But the fight caused the gem to react and summon the Giant Turtle from its slumber. He guided Link and Lulu to where the Masked Fish Gyorg dwelled. Defeating Gyorg, Link then fulfilled Mikau's final wish...
- Anju and Kafei
- After defeating Twinmold, Link learns that the four giants are the protectors of Termina who will offer their services to him when the time is right. Returning to Clock Town, he encounters a strange boy wearing a Keaton Mask with a letter for Anju from Kafei. After learning of a relation between the giants and Skull Kid, Link and Tatl tracked down the masked boy, who was Kafei himself. He bumped into Skull Kid and was turned into a child for unintentionally insulting him. Kafei joins Link in tracking down Skull Kid...
- Stop the Moon!!
- Link and Kafei head toward the clock tower as the carnival is about to begin. The moon descends minute by minute as Skull Kid enjoys the anguish of Kafei of being a child and unable to show his face to Anju. But Anju arrived and was informed of Kafei's situation (thanks to Tatl), willing to accept Kafei no matter what form he's in. This annoyed Skull Kid just as the Four Giants arrive to stop the moon. But Skull Kid is suddenly in pain...
- Fierce Deity Link
- It soon was revealed that Skull Kid was friends with the Four Giants. But when they went their separate ways, Skull Kid was devastated. His sadness was exploited by Majora's Mask, who no longer needed Skull Kid as it removed itself from him and tried to kill his ex-host. But Link stopped that. Majora's Mask offered a new game, giving Link the Fierce Deity's Mask. Despite everyone's warnings, Link put the mask on and became a frightening warrior. Once on the moon, he defeated Majora's Mask in its many forms. The Happy Mask Salesman pops up to take back the seemingly powerless mask, but Link destroyed it to ensure no one would fall victim to Majora's power ever again. After the wedding and Skull Kid learning the giants still consider him their friend, Link was reunited with Epona as they return to Hyrule to resume their search for Navi...
- Original Side Story
- The original story depicts how Majora's Mask came to be and from what it is made from; a dragon. A traveler played him a song, causing him to dance for three days and three nights, then causing him to drop dead of exhaustion. The traveler then cut a piece of the dragon's magic armor, sealing his powers inside of it.
Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.
Releases[]
- ISBN 4091496032
- ISBN 1421523299 (English)