Of all the mysteries to be discovered throughout the land of Termina, few are as personal as the tale of the Deku Butler’s son. The Deku Butler is known to keep to himself, choosing to maintain an air of professionalism during the majority of his screentime in Majora’s Mask. However, if Link goes out of his way to connect with the Deku Butler during the Mask of Scents sidequest, he learns that the Deku form provided by the Deku Mask is the spitting image of the Butler’s missing son. The Deku Butler and his son are not terribly influential to the world of Termina, so their story could easily be overlooked. But if you look beyond the surface level, you can see that there is more to the tale of their family than meets the eye.
Going back to the very start of Majora’s Mask, Link is cursed to wear the Deku Mask until he is able to heal himself. Later on, it’s revealed that transformation masks contain the souls of deceased individuals who died with unfinished business. While it’s not explicitly stated in the game’s text that the Deku Mask came from the Deku corpse encountered early on in the game, or even that this same body is that of the Deku Butler’s son, the evidence is pretty undeniable. Tatl mentions the similarity herself, and its proximity to where the Skull Kid forces the Deku Mask upon Link is surely no coincidence either. This begs the question, though: what was the Deku Butler’s son doing here, and what great regret did he leave behind?
Unfortunately, there are next to no clues given about the intentions and regrets of the Deku Butler’s son, though it’s easy to make some educated guesses. If Links wears the Deku Mask within Clock Town, the guards block him from entering Termina Field because they see him as a child, and children aren’t allowed to leave without adult supervision (or weapons). It’s entirely possible the poor son of the Deku Butler was playing at the Deku Playground in North Clock Town and simply got lost, was unable to get home on his own, and met an unfortunate fate at the hands of the Skull Kid while regretting the time he wouldn’t get to spend with his father.
Thinking more dramatically, it’s also possible that, like his Goron and Zora counterparts Darmani and Mikau, the Deku Butler’s son possessed a courageous and heroic spirit. Imagine a brave little Deku setting off on his own adventure to rescue the Deku Princess and save all of Woodfall by stopping the Skull Kid on his own. It is worth mentioning that in the Majora’s Mask manga, it’s implied that the Deku Princess was in love with the deceased Deku boy. Perhaps that romance could have been his reason for taking on such an impossible task.
Though the spirit of this Deku Scrub lives on within the Deku Mask, the scars left by his passing have not yet healed. If nothing else, this tale is quite a testament to the Deku Butler’s ability to remain stoic, masking his concern for the well-being of his beloved missing son. That being said, it does make his loss of composure upon seeing his son’s corpse during the credits, now knowing the terrible truth about what happened to him so long ago, all the more tragic.
