When Link defeats the Garo, they compliment his fighting skills and respond by offering their knowledge they then commit ritual suicide, saying “To die without leaving a corpse… That is the way of us Garo.” By defeating Garo in this way, Link is able to progress through the canyon, eventually meeting the king of the Ikana and gaining access to the Stone Tower Temple, where the fourth Giant is sealed the only other encounter Link has with Garo in the game is within the temple, where he must defeat a Garo Master who serves as a miniboss within the Temple. In order to draw them out, Link must wear the Garo Mask to disguise himself as a Garo leader Garo then appear, thinking that their Master has arrived, and, upon realizing that Link is an imposter, confront him in a duel. As spies, they are extremely knowledgeable about Ikana Canyon, and are therefore valuable assets to Link in exploring the region.
Ikana castle lore code#
The Garo are ninja ghosts, who posses a strict code of honor. “Majora” is rated E for Everyone, and there is a story of the Garo that a child can easily take at face value. They do not appear within Zelda canon outside of “Majora,” making them one of the ontological elements peculiar to Termina their history is only ever vaguely described as the would-be invaders of Ikana in a long-forgotten Garo-Ikana war that was resolved long before Link arrived in Termina they cling to life in spite of being dead, manifesting as what Buddhists would call “hungry ghosts.” Yet there is a more insidious and provocative side to the discourse on Garo, which only becomes apparent when we consider their persistent relationship with the Ikana. Even now their spirits–emptiness cloaked in darkness–continue to spy… are still ninja and they will not show themselves in front of people.” The Garo are intriguing for a variety of reasons. They have been unable to forget their living days.
They’re the shells of spies from an enemy nation sent to investigate Ikana.
Pamela’s father, a scientific surveyor of paranormal phenomena in Ikana Canyon, describes the Garo as “merely shells that are empty on the inside. I will return to the Ikana later, but I presently want to focus on the creatures not meant to be in the canyon: a race of once-ninjas, now ghosts, called the Garo. The fourth and final corner of the world of Termina that Link must traverse is the desolate Ikana Canyon, home to the kingdom of the Ikana, a warrior clan of skeleton-like creatures. In this post, I argue that the ease with which one can miss this game element is precisely what makes its content so impactful. It was not until recently, for instance, that I realized the game contains a thesis on how groups are marginalized by society. Yet the more I review the game, the more I am awed by the level of very thinly veiled adultness in virtually every aspect of its content.
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“Majora’s Mask” is rated “E for Everyone” by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), which recommends the game as suitable to people of all ages.
Ikana castle lore series#
The following is an entry in “A Comprehensive Theory of Majora’s Mask,” a series that analyzed the storytelling of Majora’s Mask from the time its 3D remake was announced to the time the remake was released.
A Comprehensive Theory of Majora’s Mask.