Someone Has Too Much Time On Their Hands...

[Warlock]

Basically, analyzing Majora's Mask:
http://zelda.vgrc.net/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1210462851

Uhh yeah. This is an interesting read, but this guy is REALLY over-analyzing the game. The whole "Tower of Babel" thing and the phalic pillars (seriously?) is really a bit much. It's a game :P

Now that is to say, there isn't *some* merit in analyzing it. I do think the game has a deep message to it, and there are a lot of mysteries. But this guy definately goes overboard.

It is nice to read some of the quotes though. He tries to make themes out of them, which is ok I suppose, but also a little pointless (honestly, some of that, like the "don't give up!" stuff, reads to me more like Nintendo being patronizing as usual than anything else :P). But I never did notice the connection between the Skull Kid and the Giants before, so that was interesting (and probably one of the few things in his article that made a lot of sense - mostly because it explicitly comes from in-game text, just not something you'd necessarily notice off hand).

[DarkDragoonX]

Phallic pillars? Seriously? Yeesh, that's uh, certainly a... unique interpretation.

I really doubt the game has any terribly deep message to it, really. The problem with this kind of over-analysis is that you can wind up with something that actually makes sense when you think about it... yet is in no way what the creator intended. In the case of Majora's Mask, given the theme of the game, you could probably dig into it and come up with all sorts of interesting interpretations that show the game having some kind of incredible depth, which won't change the fact that the designers likely never had more than a passing thought about any "deep" meaning.

[Russ]

Wow. I have to say, I don't think nintendo even anylized it that much. But good find. I especially like that picture it has of the early version of the Stone Tower. And, I really like that article, as the Stone Tower is my favorite level of any video game.

[AlexMax]

you haven't seen "mundane overanalyzation" until you've watched one of ulillillia's videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25bjSoyXlw0)

[Dechipher]

I think with things like this, it's cool if you can pull a message out of it. There are a lot of times in literature and music where there are allegories and hidden messages, and I doubt the author always intends it. But that doesn't mean there aren't accidental parallels. I'm not sure Nintendo had all of that in mind, but I think the general concepts of forgiveness and friendship are intentional.

[Russ]

I just found an error in his analysis. He states the tower was inverted by the goddesses to lead to Hell. But, why are there guardian armoses with the symbol on invertion guarding the key that leads to the portal room (the boss room), and why does the portal lead not to Hell, but to a sandy arena with two giant lanmolas?

[Yoshiman]

That was rather interesting. Though I don't quite see Stone Tower as a reference to the Tower of Babel, some parts of it were rather interesting, especially the Inverted Tower showing Majora's Mask.

But I do doubt that Nintendo intended for it to be interpreted that way. Friendship and forgiveness themes, sure. But phallic imagery and sacrilege are a bit extreme for Nintendo.

Then again, Majora's Mask was a rather "dark" game. I mean, how many first-party Nintendo games have Apocalyptic themes and so much death? Darmani, Mikau, the Deku Butler's son... I'm kinda surprised it got away with an E instead of a T.


Great, now I'm over analyzing the game. :p


... and why does the portal lead not to Hell, but to a sandy arena with two giant lanmolas?
Well, one could see Hell as an endless wasteland inhabited by giant monsters. It doesn't have to necessarily be fire and brimstone. Silent Hill 4's interpretation of Hell is a long spiral staircase that gets darker and filled with symbolic imagery as you go down. In The Darkness, Hell is portrayed as a WWI battlefield, set in eternal twilight with sudden cliffs.

[AlphaDawg]

Anybody else think TSA might have written this? I believe he still has the world-record for the fastest MM speedrun (too lazy to look it up right now), so what else is left to do after that?

[Icey]

Anybody else think TSA might have written this? I believe he still has the world-record for the fastest MM speedrun (too lazy to look it up right now), so what else is left to do after that?

It's certainly possible. This does look like some of the other things I've seen him write up, and he does waste an inordinate amount of time on things of this nature.

[Warlock]

Anybody else think TSA might have written this? I believe he still has the world-record for the fastest MM speedrun (too lazy to look it up right now), so what else is left to do after that?

No, I can guarentee you he would not write something this freaking stupid.

Also, it's not by him, period. The author is listed as "Hylian Dan" (which is not him), and he would not be posting this to Zelda Informer when he has his own Zelda site...

[Russ]

Well, one could see Hell as an endless wasteland inhabited by giant monsters. It doesn't have to necessarily be fire and brimstone. Silent Hill 4's interpretation of Hell is a long spiral staircase that gets darker and filled with symbolic imagery as you go down. In The Darkness, Hell is portrayed as a WWI battlefield, set in eternal twilight with sudden cliffs.
Hm, I guess your right. Then again, the fact that the creatures are surrounded by pillars depicting Majora and are masked (like Majora) might suggest that they are creations of Majora, or possibly creations of the goddesses to prevent anyone from sneaking off with Majora's Mask. But if they were made by the goddesses to protect the mask, how would the people of Ikana get the mask? Furthermore, how did the mask salesman end up with it?

[vegeta1215]

No, I can guarentee you he would not write something this freaking stupid.

Agreed. As much as people analyze the Zelda timeline, this goes far beyond that. That guy is looking for something that isn't there, and probably can't imagine that someone just thought, "man, it'd be cool to have a dungeon that you could turn upside down".

Some people do really have too much time on their hands.

[MasterSwordUltima]

But the Twilii Race made Majora's Mask! :O

Or atleast thats my theory, considering pretty much all [if not all] of the Twilii creatures in Twilight Princess wear masks, and seem to have a serious craft going on. Not to mention how they were sealed away.

My theory > Hylian Dan

[Warlock]

Agreed. As much as people analyze the Zelda timeline, this goes far beyond that. That guy is looking for something that isn't there, and probably can't imagine that someone just thought, "man, it'd be cool to have a dungeon that you could turn upside down".

Some people do really have too much time on their hands.

This is my problem with deep analysis like this. You can find evidence to support just about any hypothesis you want. That doesn't mean it's right. My personal stance is to always put myself in the author's shoes. Like you said, is he trying to create this huge parallel to the Tower of Babel? Or did he just want to do a kick-ass upside-down dungeon? Occam's Razor. The simplest answer is usually the correct one.


I mean, you look at Zelda stuff too - sure, you could say "Oh, this area in this game has forests, so it must correspond to the Lost Woods in this other Zelda game". But are the map makers really thinking it through that far? On the other hand, you see something like the Master Sword on a pedestal in the middle of a forest in Twilight Princess, and it's quite clear the intention was to reference ALTTP. So it works both ways.