The mask thrums, beating like a heart in your hands. It whispers in your ear, begging you to put it on and feel its power. One little voice in your head tells you to walk away — you won’t be able to handle it. It’s too much. You’ve seen firsthand what happens if it all goes wrong. The mask kills the voice, latching onto your face and claiming your body as its own. You scream, pulling at the mask, but it’s already too late. The mask has full control. The pain fades, and you breathe, adjusting to your new form. You feel that heartbeat again, deep inside of you, along with the power now poised at your fingertips.
Filiana brings the transformation of Fierce Deity Link from Majora’s Mask to life in her dark creation, “Feel the Power.” Darkness and destruction radiate from the piece, pulling me toward the dangerous power as the mask did to Link. His gaze draws you to his hand where I can only imagine that Link is grasping for the power inside of him, reaching for control of the chaos. Shadows wait in the corners, watching and listening. Only Link can keep them at bay if his will is strong enough.
The colors are washed out, mirroring Link’s armor, aside from the blue and red of the mask’s design flickering with life and defying gravity as they try to float upward. Everything within the piece is rising, capturing what the power must feel like to Link. His armor is in tatters, stripping away as if it can’t contain the power inside. The fabric wisps out like flames dancing to a rhythm of madness. For a moment, I imagined Link in the middle of a battle with Majora, worn and exhausted, reaching for the power as a last resort. He needed something, anything, to save Termina from the falling moon.
Amongst the power, the destruction, and the chaos, there is also sadness in Filiana’s piece. The slight blue tone emits a deeper emotion buried beneath the power. There is little known about the origin of the Fierce Deity Mask and the spirit within, but Filiana captures the emotion of that potential spirit trapped inside the ancient mask. The other transformation masks turn Link into a soul that has passed recently, their spirit left behind in a mask and the sadness of death marked across their face. It wouldn’t be stretching it too far to theorize that behind the immense destruction and power of Fierce Deity, was a soul wanting to move on and leave its power behind.
Majora’s Mask is a dark and beautiful game with many characters to meet both alive and in spirit. The Fierce Deity Mask is just one of many to be found within the game but perhaps the mask with the darkest origins. Filiana perfectly captures the tone of Majora’s Mask and the ultimate power held within the Fierce Deity Mask. Power always comes with a risk, corrupting many who try to control it. Even Link, with his kind heart and courageous soul, would struggle to contain the Fierce Deity’s powers. The conflicting emotions and fight to hold onto your soul is what makes Filiana’s “Feel the Power” come alive and beg the question: Would you be able to resist the mask?
