Link is no stranger to the unnerving feeling that someone is watching you. In Ocarina of Time, Kaepora Gaebora rarely took his owl eyes off you and Sheik constantly dogged your path; in Twilight Princess, the dedicated postman seemingly stuck a GPS into your bag, given that he always delivered mail directly to you; even in The Wind Waker Link had to deal with being eyed up by those little Morth enemies. You know, the sticky, spiky eyes that silently watch and wait for a chance to jump and cling onto Link, as if mischievously saying, “Hey, I’m here to mildly inconvenience you.”
Nowhere is the feeling of being watched more prevalent than in Majora’s Mask, however. The unblinking Moon that dangles in Termina’s sky is like a painting whose eyes follow you no matter where you’re looking at it from. Whether you’re braving the bitter winds of Snowpeak, swimming gracefully as a Zora through the Great Bay, or taking some time off from saving the world to watch the dog races at Romani Ranch, the eyes of the Moon are always up there — and usually much too close for comfort.
This feeling is shared by most players of Majora’s Mask, I imagine, as fan art of the Moon’s toothy grimace and red-rimmed eyes is everywhere — its omnipresence has been bored into our brains. One great example of fan art that recreates this is artist Vincent Bisschop’s piece, which depicts the Moon’s bright red eyes gazing down over the world below it.
What I especially like about this piece is how Bisschop has drawn the eyes to exaggerate the way the Moon constantly watches you in Majora’s Mask. It literally couldn’t be any closer, peering down its nose seemingly inches away from the spires of a castle. Uniquely, Bisschop has chosen to leave out the Moon’s mouth, which is usually an exaggerated feature in fan art. This really allows the eyes to be the focus and fully evoke that unsettling, always-being-watched feeling.
Another interesting fact is that it doesn’t actually appear to be above Clock Town. I imagine this was most likely the artist taking some creative liberties sketching up a quick piece (as its title on DeviantArt implies) instead of drawing a structure that more closely resembles Clock Town. But if we enter speculation territory for a moment, it makes you wonder whether the Moon could also threaten Hyrule Castle. What if Link had failed to save Termina, and Majora took his evildoings across the world? We know Termina is in the same universe as Hyrule after all, as Ocarina of Time is the predecessor. What would happen if Majora teamed up with Ganondorf, akin to Zant and Ganondorf in Twilight Princess? (Okay, this is fan fiction territory now.)
In any case, the Moon is terrifying enough in its appearance without considering what other skies it might hang in — let’s just leave it in Termina and our nightmares.
