A series of peeks into the mind of Link as he goes through the seemingly infinite ordeals thrown his way while in Termina.
Tales of Termina
is a series of one-shots that deal with the internal thoughts and psychological struggles of Link during the events of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Not necessarily a novelization nor a retelling according to the author.
Tales of Termina has a prequel series in the form of The Boy Without a Fairy, a darker novelisation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that details Link's first adventure and how it's impacted his psyche.
As of January 2022, the author has begun another adaptation of Majora's Mask billed as a sequel to The Boy Without a Fairy, entitled The Boy in the Mask, which so far borrows heavily from Tales of Termina.
This series contains examples of:
- Adaptation Expansion: Link's inner thoughts are explored whenever an event in the game is being written about.
- Apocalypse Cult: Link discovers the existence of a cult worshipping Majora and that it is a devourer of worlds.
- Armor-Piercing Question: The questions the Children of the Moon ask Link strike his nerves.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: One story shows Link's condition from the perspective of another character, specifically Anju, who is taken aback by Link's behavior. It also counts as P.O.V. Sequel, since the previous stories also play out.
- Cosmic Horror Story: The Cult of Majora has Link and Tatl discover the existence of an evil cult that worships Majora as a world devourer and takes heavy influences from Lovecraft's writing, in particular At the Mountains of Madness.
- Creepy Child:
- Due to his blank stare and quiet nature Link is sometimes seen as this by others.
- The Moon Children are even worse, to the point that Link doesn't even consider them human, with the exception of the Majora child, all of them appear to be completely robotic flesh golems that Majora placed there to Mind Rape Link with a series of Armor Piercing Questions. The Majora child meanwhile speaks with a younger version of Link's voice, and the mere fact that he emotes horrifies Link.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Tatl's behavior towards Link was cruel and downright abusive when they first started working together but as they journeyed through Termina together she steadily became more friendly, eventually regretting her previous behavior and taking somewhat of a motherly role towards Link similar to Navi.
- Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Link's eyes are often described as being blank and void of emotion, often causing other characters to become unsettled when looking into them.
- Driven to Madness: It's heavily implied that the constant time loops took a toll on Link's sanity after he saved Termina. In fact, he keeps mistaking Malon for her Terminan counterparts a for long while afterwards.
- Elective Mute: As In The Castle shows, after arriving back to the child timeline after defeating Ganondorf, Link would occasionally have a 'Silent Day' and refuse to speak as a result of his trauma.
- Harmful to Minors: Link hasn't even reached his teens yet and ends up going through hellish trials in Termina that would have mentally and physically broken most grown men.
- Height Angst: His time as an adult in Ocarina of Time has led to Link detesting growing taller in a Rare Male Example of the "wanting to be shorter" variant, preferring to remain as a child forever.
- Heroic BSoD: Link's time in Termina deteriorates his already fragile mental state, leading him to break down several times.
- Identical Stranger: As in the actual game there are plenty of Hylian lookalikes in Termina. Link's most notable reaction to this is when he meets Romani and Cremia, the Terminan counterparts to Malon.
- Kid Hero: Viciously deconstructed. Link ends up an emotional wreck because of all the traumatic adventures he's had at such a young age.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- After spending so much time together, Tatl ends up greatly regretting the harsh way she had treated Link when they initially met.
- Link gets one himself after he strangles and shoves Romani away in a moment of panic when she tries to kiss him, and ends up permanently ruining their relationship in that cycle.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Link and Zelda in In the Castle are shown to have a strong but completely platonic bond.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Link entered the lost woods to find Navi, by the time leaves he not only fails in finding her but ended up in a hellish time loop that took half a year to escape, greatly deteriorating his already damaged psyche.
- Sick Episode: After attempting to explore Snowhead Mountain and rewinding time, Link becomes bedridden.
- Sleep Deprivation: Shortly after gaining the All-Night Mask Link decides to wear it to better utilize his limited time in Termina by not sleeping. Needless to say, it goes poorly. After restarting the cycle he refuses to wear it ever again.
- Troubled Child: After numerous adventures at such a young age Link is so emotionally broken that expressions, like smiling and laughing, are almost never done by him much to the concern of several adults who meet him.
