theory on the interlopers

[iarenitsuj]

In twilight princess, when link had the vision of the interlopers who tried to establish dominion over the sacred realm with some powerful sorcery that they created. it got me to thinkin' "was there only three interlopers or is this a figuritive number for many more", also " are they the fathers of many tribes in the twilight realm or of only one single tribe that midna refferred to", also "if there is more than one tribe then maybe there are other sorcery objects besides the fused shadows and just maybe majora's mask is one of them" "after all it seems it fits with the timeline" " and majora's mask and the fused shadows seem to act in the same magical way." Please let me know what yall think. :-\

[Eralk Fang]

I had a similar idea about Majora's Mask being a Fused Shadow- specifically, made along the lines of the one Midna likes to wear as a hat after the ending of Twilight Princess, and then realized that wasn't possible, as Twilight Princess comes a couple decades after Majora's Mask. ...oops. However...

It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals.

But now, that tribe from the legend has vanished, so no one really knows the true nature of the mask's power...

The quotes above are from The Happy Mask Salesman, telling of the origins of Majora's Mask. This is all we know about the ancient tribe- they use hexes and disappeared. This could reference a group of Twili that retreated back into the Twilight Realm, leaving the mask they created behind (as it was the "ancient ones" who had to seal the mask away into shadow).

As for the interlopers, I think it was a figurative number. After all, there had to be enough to populate the entire realm. I also think, at first, that the realm was empty, perhaps even created on the spot by the goddesses to banish the Twili to. They were one tribe at the beginning, perhaps due to number, but may have splintered off into other tribes when the population grew large enough. Thus, there's enough Twili to refer to the Twili who created the mask as a tribe.

[Harashi]

Yeah but the story of the interlopers dates back to the beginning of hyrules creation making majoras mask a possible artifact, although the previous Link destroyed it.

[LadyNintendo]

Majora's Mask is not destroyed, "Majora" is simply banished from it. I tend to wonder if it really is gone/dead, or just formless at the moment.

Anyway, don't forget we have another dark tribe too: the one from FSA.

[Eralk Fang]

I haven't played Four Swords Adventure, so if I'm wrong about any of the following, correct me. All my information is coming from here:
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45438

That post theorizes that the Dark Tribe is, in fact, the Zuna Tribe. They get sealed away by the Dark Mirror, but some get away, flee to the deepest desert, and eventually become good after decades and decades.

In order for them to work with Majora's Mask, we have to place them in Old Hyrule. Since they tend to live in the deepest desert, it makes sense that we haven't encountered them- they're even more isolated than the Gerudo. They're evil at the time before Ocarina of Time. They're known for hexes (Agahnim from A Link to the Past is often theorized to be an evil Zuna, so that could work), and create Majora's Mask. It grows out of their control, and could have ruined their establishments. They abandon camp and the Mask, and flee to the even deeper desert (have I run out of desert yet?), in a sense, vanishing. The Mask is found by travelers, found to be extremely bad news, and sealed away into shadow. Perhaps sealed away into the Shadow Temple, or at least the beginnings of it. That could explain the Happy Mask Salesman's quote:

I went to great lengths to get that legendary mask. When I finally had it...
I could sense the doom of a dark omen brewing. It was that unwelcome feeling that makes your hair stand on end.

as he had to work through the modern Shadow Temple to find it.

The Dark Tribe could work with the Happy Mask Salesman's story. If the Zuna are in fact the Dark Tribe, then they could very well be the "ancient tribe" from his story. The only trouble is placing them in Old Hyrule, while it's established that the Twilight Realm has, at least, some form of contact with Old Hyrule. I'm tempted to say that they work better because they refer to themselves as a tribe, but the Twili do that as well, so even a splinter group making evil masks would probably refer to themselves as such.

[Evilslayer]

In a fan fic aga I'm writing, I have a theory about the interlopers. According to the theory there were once, even before the descendants of the Hylia came to Hyrule, three Underworld tribes that each made a mask of great evil power. They were the Majora's Mask, the Fierce Deity and the Fused Shadows.

[Eralk Fang]

I'm partial to the theory that the Fierce Diety Mask is an Ikana relic, but that's neither here nor there.

Reading your theory, I thought of something. In your theory, does the Underworld correspond to the Twilight Realm, or is it another realm completely?

If they are Twili, then I thought that perhaps the Twili, fearing the evil of Majora's Mask, the Fierce Deity Mask, and the Fused Shadows, dispose of them the way the keepers of the Mirror of Twilight dispose of prisoners- tossing them into another realm. Majora's Mask and the Fierce Deity Mask end up in Termina, and the Fused Shadows in Hyrule.

However, it seems the Fused Shadows have always stayed in Hyrule, hidden away like any good Zelda item. The magic of the original Twili was sealed away into them, presumably before their exile into another realm, and were locked away. Now, do we know how Midna came by the helm part of the Fused Shadows? Did she find it in the Twilight-infested Light Realm or the Twilight Realm?  

[Evilslayer]

The Underworld I was referring to isn't a different Realm. It's more like the Underworld in the English version of the two first games.

As for the Majora's Mask and Fierce Deity, I don't see how they can have been sent to Termina. The Mask Salesman was robbed in tte woods, and it seems he haven't been in Termina. And the Fierce Deity is in the mind of Majora's Mask.

Although there is a Gossip Stone who claims the Fierce Deity is somewhere in Termina...

[Harashi]

Majora's Mask is not destroyed, "Majora" is simply banished from it. I tend to wonder if it really is gone/dead, or just formless at the moment.

Anyway, don't forget we have another dark tribe too: the one from FSA.

Sorry forgot about the mask I had a lapse of retardation, and it wasn't banished but given to the mask man and he toodled away.

Also so far we only have about 3 fused shadow relics on our hands from what we have theorized, however we have no idea just how many fused shadows there are, or how many tribes.

[Eralk Fang]

I will remember Majora's Mask is from Hyrule. Repeat several hundred times. I am so bad about that, sorry.

Interesting! Evilslayer, you wouldn't happen to have the exact quote from the Gossip Stone? Because that would be awesome.

[Potato_King]

I think the theory that the Majora's Mask is a Twili relic works best. I don't recall it ever being properly clarified in TP, as to whether the Twili are merely another tribe or Hylians or another race entirely. If anyone could clarify this, that'd be cool. I personally think they were just another tribe that developed magical abilities, and being sealed away in the Twlight Realm transformed them into looking the way they do now.

*Possible spoilers from MM*





But anyway, back on topic. The Twili likely developed more than one magical objects to attempt to keep the Triforce to themselves. Even when you have all four fused shadows, it looks like it could always be part of a larger suit or something. If the Twili did develop more magical objects, Majora's Mask could possibly be one of them. It has similar properties: dark magic; its worn by the wearer on the head; was intended for destruction. Also, if you think about MM, when you fight Majora at the end he has different forms. The first is just the mask floating but with tentacles coming out of the back, the second has arms/legs and the third is a beefier version of form 2 but with whips for arms. As it spends the entire game attached to Skull Kids face, my theory is this:

Majora's Mask was a Twili artifact designed for fighting. It was capable of thinking itself, but required someone to wear it for a short period so that it could absorb their energy to power itself. It could then transform into its true form, and fight in that sense. Now, the Fierce Deity mask. In TP we are told nothing more than the Twili were defeated. Well, what if the Fierce Deity mask was developed in order to defeat the Twili? If they could figure magic out, I'm sure the other races could do something even just from observing the constructions of the Twili. After their defeat, the three artifacts were sealed away, and somehow the Maskman found Majora's Mask and was subsequently robbed, and it came to Termina. Now, although the Fierce Deity mask is found in Termina, its found on the moon, where some weird children are somehow playing their. I'm sure there is some way that someone at somepoint found the Fierce Deity Mask and brought it to Termina.