If you haven't played the game, but plan to, or don't want the game's storyline spoiled, then you shouldn't be reading this thread most likely. Although Majora's Mask's Storyline is technically doesn't even really exist... on the surface that is. Before we get into the topic of Termina, I believe it is important to understand the game a little more. By this, I mean a bit of secrets and history of it's design.

Also, if you really don't want to read this wall of text, skip to the bottom and read the TLDR.


Termina... The entire world has been bugging me for a very long time for as to where it ties into from Ocarina of Time. Yes, it is a side story, meaning there is a possibility that the events in Majora's Mask do not even actually happen. I'd like to think they SHOULD have happened though considering Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time were originally both on the same cartridge, and were meant to be in the exact same game together. There's even evidence in the game's data to as proof, and very early beta versions of the game have both games tied together, I even have a code that plays the Master Sword pulling out animation... which is supposed to have the effects of it even, however the code needs a little refurnishing, as all it does is either crash the game, or make a hundred explosions on Link which ultimately kills me. (Oops). On the bright side, it still plays the animation... If I use some invincibility codes. There are also animations such as Link looking at the Tri-force on his hand, and some animations that never existed in either Ocarina of Time, or Majora's Mask, but rather in the Manga. Such as an animation where he was supposed to be tied up to a pole and a fire lit beneath him (Think the monkey in the swamp). This never happens in game, but actually does on the Manga. And then there's really weird ones, such as Links doing push ups, and a different variations of him doing sit ups. In fact, if you want to see most of these animations, you can see them in a two part video I made here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQ6ZVNftiI [Part 1]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLnuul2JoYg [Part 2]


Random Fact: Did you know Link was originally going to only be 5-years-old? That kind of is weird that a 5-year-old boy was able to do back flips and such but at least they changed that XD.




Anyways, as far as the subject on Termina goes, it could be many things. And I've heard a dozen or more theories. I'm going to be squishing the more similar ones together though, and leaving out the ones I think are just complete crap (because there is evidence to completely throw them out the window if you do enough research)


1) Termina is just another realm. (The Manga actually supports this a little bit; after The Great Bay temple, the turtle says something like this: "You are not from this realm, but yet you came here to help the people here... Why?" The manga also supports this as there is a bonus chapter at the end, showing how Majora's Mask came to be. There was a lot of talk of "different worlds" and "other realms" and the like. HOW it is done though is never expressed. Heck, even the Happy Mask Salesman [who should seriously be renamed to "Creepy Mask Salesman for the Manga... Seriously.] states to Link while he is telling him about the Mask while asking him to retrieve it for him, that he had to travel through different worlds to obtain that mask. (Yes, there was no ancient tribe stated in the manga. That does not mean however an ancient tribe found it, felt the evil, and THEN sealed it away
It should be noted for the creation of the mask, the realm that we see during this time, or may not be Termina. It doesn't state. Either way, the ability to travel through different worlds apparently has existed for many many years. Either way, in the game, it is very clearly possible. Link did it, Skullkid did it, and even the Happy Mask Salesman did it. As well with Skullkid, he has done it more then once. There's back story of him meeting Tael and Tatl in Termina, and he enters and leaves the forest as he wishes. But it seems the way the game plays Termina off though is that it's just another country.)



2) Termina doesn't actually exist; it's just Link dreaming. (I suppose this sort of makes sense if it doesn't happen in the Zelda storyline, but there's no real evidence as it was just a side story and doesn't need to happen. It isn't too far-fetched I suppose though. There's many things that goes against it though, such as Skullkid saying he smells like the fairy kid who taught him the song. I see no reason why Link would dream of that. This one borderlines to be thrown out the window, but not enough to make it impossible; just highly improbable.)


3) Termina is a part of Hyrule, but indirectly/Was a part of Hyrule: (While there isn't necessarily a lot of direct evidence, there is a lot of 'indirect' evidence, especially in the manga. While all the NPC's may look like they are all ripped and such, Link in the manga says stuff like: "That looks like Mr.Ingo from Romani ranch!" and in the mountains, he finds Darami frozen, he first thinks he's actually Darunia, leader of the Goron tribe in Hyrule. Link also asks Anju if he was in Hyrule, because everyone looked so similar. Another thing is that he also states that Termina field looks a lot like Hyrule field, (honestly, I think the only similarity is that there's a mock of Death mountain...) but the air feels and smells much different. Finally, there's indirect evidence in the game, when Skullkid tells Link "Hehe, you smell like that fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods." There is one thing that goes against this theory saying it is a part of Hyrule, because in the Manga, Link has actually traveled out of Hyrule territory and then entered the woods. So this "portal to Termina" certainly isn't in Hyrule itself.

There is more evidence stating this in the game, but it's well hidden because you need to think about it, and it has to do with the stone tower. We see symbols of the Tri-force on the way to the Ikanna Canyon which are from erected but worn stone pillars. In the Stone Tower, we see these as well. However, the stone tower was BUILT to be upside down. This means the symbols of the Tri-force become flipped downwards. This structure may be a way of actually trying to insult the Din, Farore, and Nayru...


4) Termina and Hyrule were two different countries, but Termina was sealed away: This kind of goes from the Stone Tower insulting the Goddesses theory.

Anyone who pays attention in Ikanna will know that only the dead live there. However, Ikanna had gone to war. But... who did they go to war with? Is it possible that Ikanna went to rule with Hyrule? I'd love to believe if so, that they lost. Because you know, Hyrule is still Hyrule, while everyone in Ikanna is uh... dead. But beside the point, perhaps this is what triggered the separation by the two, SOME form. But as stated in theory one, the game seems to play off as Termina being another country, and not just another world. The only real world transforming thing we see is when Link falls in the cave at the beginning. I'd also like to point out, that the Skeletons in the Graveyard in Ikanna, are possibly child soldiers. Skeleton's of Link's size...? They're named "Stalchildren"? A bit disturbing. Maybe Nintendo didn't simply think it through, who knows. There's lots of evidence showing this is perhaps the case though.





These are the four most popular theories that, I, at least, have seen. (I still think the dream one is a utter crap... But to each of his own...) I'd love to hear other people's opinions about these theories, or Termina itself. Perhaps even create your own theories.







TL;DR:  I'm curious about Termina, and what other people think of it. The entire game design is strange, especially since many weird things relating to Ocarina of TIme have been seen. Is Termina another world, indirectly connected to Hyrule? Is it all just fake, and is Link dreaming? Perhaps Termina just happens to be another world, as many other worlds are hinted in the Manga. Maybe, even the two were together, but conflict split the two apart to be separate worlds. Discuss your thoughts and opinions.

Well...

I dunno what to call it.

It's like hyrule, I'd call it shadow hyrule.

Seeing as link went into the lost woods without a fairy, I could see the possibility of his soul succumbing to the lure of a darker side of Hyrule.

This Dark Hyrule is known as Termina.

Personally, I always thought Termina was another land and that the developers threw in the characters from OoT just for the heck of it. I think Link did travel to a different land, but perhaps all those other characters did too.

legacyme3 : Maybe, but that didn't happen at all in the Manga. There's a difference though, because in the game, Link somehow magically is in Termina from an underground passage (unless we are to assume that something happened while he was falling in that cave). In the Manga though, he somehow is whisked away as he blacks out from hearing a lot of clock noises. Like ticking and tocking and he feels dizzy until he passes out. This was pretty much at the point where in the game, it would have been at the point with that really twisty tunnel in the game.

Also, Tatl seemed to know where Clocktown was, and was not at all surprised when they both appeared inside the Clock Tower after this weird little event. In any case, as far as the Manga goes, Tatl guided him into Termina. I don't think he ended up there by accident. (Although Link does say to the turtle that he did stumble upon Termina by accident, I believe he meant that he didn't actually mean to get involved in the mess Termina was in at first. He was actually very reluctant to get back the mask until Tatl pleaded with him for Tael's sake.)


vizwiz123 : That's what everyone believed at first thought. But the fact that both games were meant to be as one means that it has to be connected to Hyrule's storyline somehow and it's more then just another land. Especially with the Manga more or less giving a heck of a lot more details about the back story of Majora's Mask way more then the game ever did.