Termina was caught within the inescapable gaze of an overpowering menace for what seemed like an endless amount of time. There was almost nowhere in the kingdom any could go to avoid their dire predicament, as they were reminded of it every time they looked up to the sky. The people’s lives were caught in a constant sense of frustration and turmoil, unsure of what to do. Though they could think of temporary solutions, anything they did was ultimately a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.
Wait, do you think I’m talking about the Moon? Heck no, I’m talking about the much closer and much more chatty menace looming in the sky. I’m talking about Tingle.
When Link first spotted this fellow green-clad wonder, there might have been the slightest of chances that he thought Tingle was merely as strange as everyone else he’d met in Termina. Yes, Tingle was a little man in a onesie, flying around by way of a giant red balloon, but, you know, the Happy Mask Salesman was the first person Link met in Termina, and he set a very high standard of bizarre. In Termina, there was no point in judging a book by its cover when the book was written in a language you don’t know.
Of course, Link’s attempt to stay optimistic about Tingle probably changed after he used his balloon-bursting bubble to return Tingle to the ground so he could talk to him.
Upon meeting Link, Tingle introduced himself and proceeded to give his now-infamous backstory. Tingle dreamed of living among the fairy folk, even believing himself to be the reincarnation of one. His father wished he would act his age, but Tingle knew his place in the sky, like a majestic fairy with a growing gut and a presumably receding hairline. To that skyward end, he took up the business of creating and selling maps to the Terminians.
Hearing these words, a dreaded realization befell Link as he listened to the increasingly strange stranger: If Tingle has the maps of this kingdom, then Link was going to need to speak with him again, and a lot. Link went from being the Hero of Time to the Hero of Patience in a manner of seconds.
In a land of oddballs, credit needs to be given to Tingle for his ability to take the role as poster child. It’s amazing because, aside from drawing maps, Tingle doesn’t really do anything. Tingle’s staying power in the back of everyone’s minds, like the song you don’t actually enjoy but you heard it on the radio and now it’s stuck in your head, is the product of his mere existence. His lack of embarrassment is also something to note and almost respect, but that still doesn’t mean I’d want him hovering over me wherever I am.
As he woefully anticipated, Link did meet Tingle again in his journey. And again. And again. They were fruitful encounters, as the maps Tingle provided were useful, but it almost seemed as if Tingle was following Link wherever he went. What was once “his” journey had become “their” journey. Having a few flashbacks to Kaepora Gaebora would have been fitting for Link during each chat with the fairy wannabe.
If meeting Tingle wasn’t enough, a chance meeting with his father only helped to support and empower the notion that Tingle was a man living in his own world. The swamp tour manager, a large and burly man dedicated to his work, was the father of the 35-year-old drifter. He wished his son would grow up and act his age, but deep down he knew better than anyone how that wasn’t going to happen. Once the unitard was on, there was no taking it off.
Tingle. He showed up in Link’s life when Link could best handle the odd encounter. With everything else going on in the world of Termina, the “it-could-be-worse” mindset was a valuable tool. At least Tingle wasn’t some greedy extortionist with his maps. He was decent enough to wait one whole game before trying to hustle the guy who was trying to save the world.
Be sure to check out the rest of our articles from Majora’s Month, our month-long celebration of Majora’s Mask’s 20th anniversary!
