Zelda’s Happy Mask Salesman Is Really Shigeru Miyamoto: Theory Explained

The Legend of Zelda‘s convoluted lore makes the series especially susceptible to speculation and theory, but one theory that’s gained traction is whether series creator Shigeru Miyamoto makes a cameo as the Happy Mask Salesman in Majora’s Mask. At the present, most Zelda conjecture focuses around how the series’ larger lore may factor into the sequel to Breath of the Wild, but there are still many unsolved mysteries from Zelda games of decades past, including this possible Easter egg.

Miyamoto created not only The Legend of Zelda, but Mario as well, and was the creative force behind the iconic arcade version of Donkey Kong. He was even a producer on a number of Pokémon games until the early 2000s. Miyamoto’s creative presence and importance at Nintendo – and gaming in general – is hard to overstate. As Zelda‘s creator, he was also an executive producer on many The Legend of Zelda games.

The Happy Mask Salesman is a NPC in Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Oracle of Ages. In Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages, though, he simply runs a (Happy) Mask Shop. However, he’s the primary instigator of the plot of Majora’s Mask. The game’s events are set in motion when Skull Kid ambushes the Happy Mask Salesman and steals Majora’s Mask from him. The Happy Mask Salesman is also the one who informs Link about Majora’s Mask and sets him to the task of retrieving it. The power he displays, in Majora’s Mask in particular, make it obvious he’s no ordinary salesman.

Why The Happy Mask Salesman May Be Based on Miyamoto

The Happy Mask Salesman has bizarre and god-like powers in Majora’s Mask, which go entirely unexplained. He makes an exaggeratedly grandiose and gigantic piano appear out of thin air to teach Link the “Song of Healing,” which disappears just as easily. He seems to teleport at the end of the game. His animations are unnervingly jerky and skip frames in a way not demonstrated by a Zelda character before.

If the game’s three-day clock runs out and the Majora’s Mask’s infamous Moon crashes into Termina, the player hears the Happy Mask Salesman’s laugh as the words, “You’ve met a with terrible fate, haven’t you?” appear – the first lines he says to Link in the game. Then Link appears before him in the Clock Tower as he asks, “How did you do?” This heavily implies that, upon failure, Link is sent back in time by the Happy Mask Salesman himself. Plus, while Link is inside the Clock Tower with him, time does not pass, and the game’s ever-present clock entirely disappears.

Most bizarrely, the Salesman seems to have omnipotent knowledge of Link’s actions. Upon asking Link to find Majora’s Mask, the Happy Mask Salesman says, “What? Is that not a simple task? Why, to someone like you, it should be by no means be a difficult task.” The events of Ocarina of Time did not happen on this timeline, so there is no reason the Happy Mask Salesman should know Link has abilities beyond his possession of a sword and shield. Majora’s Mask takes place on the Child timeline, where, after the Ganon’s defeat at the end of Ocarina of Time, Zelda sends Link back to relive his childhood. The only person who knows the full extent of Link’s accomplishments is Link himself. The Happy Mask Salesman should also not know that the “precious item” Link lost in the beginning of the game is the Ocarina of Time.

There are been many theories about the Happy Mask Salesman’s inexplicable knowledge and powers. Some claim he’s a deity or a descendent of the Ancient Ones who used Majora’s Mask in their hexing rituals, but the most intriguing idea is that he’s the in-game avatar of Miyamoto, which would easily explain his knowledge of Link’s history with Ganon and actions in Termina. The Salesman’s god-like powers to teleport, conjure objects, and manipulate time would also be explainable if he was the game’s producer in “disguise.” This would also give an interesting answer to why the Happy Mask Salesman’s animations are so unnatural compared to his surroundings: he’s of a different world and not technically supposed to be there.

There are interesting parallels between the Salesman and Miyamoto as well. According to a profile from the New York Times, Miyamoto plays piano, which could explain why the Salesman conjures a piano specifically. In addition to drawing, Miyamoto spent his childhood making his own toys and “carving wooden puppets with his grandfathers’tools,” which is intriguing if one thinks of the Salesman’s magical masks as a parallel for puppets, or even for gaming code. More obviously, the Happy Mask Salesman’s wares canonically include a Mario Mask. Many have also commented on the physical resemblance the Salesman bears to Miyamoto.

If this theory is true, the Happy Mask Salesman is a double-edged take on Miyamoto. There is certainly love in the portrayal, but the Happy Mask Salesman has some obviously dark aspects to him. For instance, he can get somewhat distressing when he’s angry, when going so far as to shake Link. In an Iwata Asks interview, former Nintendo President Satoru Iwata quips at one point, “Miyamoto-san gets pretty scary when he’s angry, doesn’t he?” After another employee agrees and laughs, Iwata follows up with, “Miyamoto-san is really merciless when it comes to planning!” So it turns out there might be good reason the Happy Mask Salesman can be frightening.

Majora’s Mask‘s development may have influenced the Salesman’s role in the game. As pointed out on Zelda Universe, Miyamoto initially tasked the Majora’s Mask team to make the game in a year. The game’s team knew this was impossible from the outset, and such a herculean task feels not dissimilar to, say, solving an entire kingdom’s problems in only three days. From this lens, the Happy Mask Salesman’s conduct in Majora’s Mask feels like a wry form of revenge.

Of course, the Happy Mask Salesman appeared before, in Ocarina of Time, but his role in Majora’s Mask was dramatically different and much larger. In Majora’s Mask, he is both helpful and intimidating, which could be a reflection of the team’s own feelings of reverence and frustration towards Miyamoto at the time. However, it’s clear that Miyamoto took this all in good humor, or else the Happy Mask Salesman wouldn’t have made it into the game as is. Any creative knows that, when working on projects under scrutiny and a deadline, tensions can get high, but there’s clearly deep affection for Miyamoto over at Nintendo. And yet, the Miyamoto connection to the Salesman remains a mere theory. The true nature of the Happy Mask Salesman is just one of the many mysteries in The Legend of Zelda.

Sources: The New York Times, Nintendo, Zelda Universe

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