I wanted to approach my first monthly musing the way I've approached most of my other articles, with a sense of humor that boils down to the lowest common denomenator in funny-bone tickling. Toilet humor and Michael Jackson jokes. Then I noticed that writing a satirical blog would defeat the purpose of this monthly musing, as it serves as a tribute to our nostalgic gaming culture.

I realized that naming a single character from a game would be insencere. Characters have always had an impact on me more by their interactions with others, rather than being a relatable character. The first living, breathing, in-game world that I fell in love with was with The Legend of Zelda: The Majora's Mask.

Termina (the setting of the game) struck a chord with me because it was a land caught in a morbid situation. The residents of Termina had been cursed to suffer the brunt of the end of the world, the moon would crash into Termina in three days. The sense of urgency reached me at a personal level, making me feel for the inhabitants of Termina. Perhaps the thing that affected me most, was the fact that you were there to witness it all, and you were there to control it. You could restart the doomsday clock over and over again, but if you so choose, you can sit around and watch the day of judgement.

In the game you relived those three days so often, that you eventually memorized everyone's actions, where abouts, and stories along the way. You became a witness in a world full of victims. Majora's Mask was the first game I could possibly call art when I was young. The people in Majora's Mask were the first characters I could somehow grow attached to even if they were just blocky shapes upon my television screen.



Link, in my opinion, was the most unfortunate soul of all. Link would actually have memory of those three days, while others would not recolect any of it after cycling back in time. Link was a blank slate. You could've played the game with an anonymous black shroud and you would have still had the same effect. He was your connection to the world of termina and it's citizens.

The world of Termina was filled with people, almost all with a story to tell. Every character had his/her own pattern during the three days, every character had his/her own interactions with the world. Sometimes I would attempt tasks characters would assign me in the game, and if i failed their errand, I would genuinly feel like they were dissapointed in me. The fact that if you failed to please them you would have to start over from (literally) day one to attempt the chore again.



Skullkid probably had the largest effect on me, making the least effort. He was never a large part of the plot, he never recieved too much screen-time. He was a haunting precense behind the plot. Althought this sounds menacing, skullkid was just a puppet of the titular mask. His memorable, haunting theme was menacing but skullkid himself never was evil. Like everyone in Termina, he was a victim as well.



Majora's Mask had an effect on me because the entire game was centered around urgency, and the citizens of Termina. You genuinly felt like you had to stop those three days from cycling over and over and save Termina as well as the rest of the world. The moon hung from the sky lower and lower each day, to serve as a reminder of your limited time.

A well written fictional character can leave a mark on people, but only the world around him can truly make it shine as a protagonist.