Majora's Mask (Object)

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Majora's Mask is the primary antagonist of Majora's Mask and must defeated to save the land of Termina from the Moon.

Role in the Game
The mask is first introduced after the Happy Mask Salesman removes the curse that was placed on Link by Skull Kid. The salesman explains the mask is an ancient artifact that was used by an ancient tribe, but the mask's wicked power became so great that it was sealed away to prevent a great catastrophe. He then tells of how now that Skull Kid has the mask that the great catastrophe is going to befall Termina if it is not taken back from Skull Kid.

For the majority of the game, the mask is worn by Skull Kid on the Clock Tower, drawing the Moon to Termina. Before the game, Skull Kid/the Mask also use its power to punish or play malicious pranks on various residents and regions of Temina because of Skull Kid's loneliness, such as Kafei.

On the Clock Tower after Four Giants are called, the Mask abandons Skull Kid and enters the moon so that it can push the moon through the Giant's blockade and complete its destructive path. It is there that Link follows Majora's Mask into the moon and fights it.

The Mask itself manifests in three forms: a hovering mask, Majora's Mask, a pedantic legged-being, Majora's Incarnation, and a vicious humanoid monster with whips as arms, Majora's Wrath.

Majora's Mask
Majora's Mask comes to life and grows hairlike tentacles. To defeat the Mask, Link must stun it with some projectile weapon to make it collapse to the ground, allowing him to strike it with his sword. However, it must be a strike to the back to stun it. An easy way to do this is to transform into Zora Link. When Z-targeting the Mask the Boomerang fins will fly around behind it and strike it in the back, stunning it. After the Mask has taken enough damage, it will shoot a fire beam at Link and the four Boss Remains Masks will attack you as well, but little effort is taken to kill them. The beam can be deflected with his Mirror Shield to reflect it back at the mask. Majora's Mask has tentacles in this form and can use a whirling attack.

Majora's Incarnation
After the Mask is defeated, it grows a set of arms and legs along with a single eyeball; it also loves dancing. To defeat the Incarnation, Link must shoot it with an Arrow or other weapon to stun it, and then strike it with his sword. Majora's Incarnation is very fast and unpredictable but takes very few hits to defeat. While it's various dances are funny, and it's child-like antics entertaining, they can be a bit grating on the nerves. It can moonwalk, can-can, Russian dance, ballerina twirl, and fire energy bolts at you (its only attack). Since the moves are unpredictable, it's wise to keep distance. It has a shrill scream when it's damaged.

Majora's Wrath
After the final scream from the Incarnation is heard, it becomes enraged and its limbs throb and pulse, becoming Majora's Wrath, also known as Majora's Mage. It is a humanoid version of Majora's Mask with a horned head with 3 eyes, whips for arms, and a flaming mouth. To defeat Majora's Wrath, Link must use a projectile weapon to stun it while its paused, then strike it with a Light Arrow or his sword. This process must be repeated until it is defeated. Majora's Wrath's individual attacks are not particularly damaging, however, its immense reach will allow it to attack numerous times very quickly. It will often jump from one side of the arena to the other. Because it is slow to attack, it can, however, be easily defeated. Majora's Wrath attacks by whipping 3 times, leaping across the room, throwing eyeball-shaped tops, grabbing you and tossing you clear across the room, and using a furious whipping attack that it announces only a brief moment before it uses the attack with a horrifying shriek. Killing the Wrath results in it turning into ashes, eliminating the threat to Termina.

Fierce Deity and the Moon Dungeons
Majora's Mask is encountered when Link talks to the lonely child under the tree inside the Moon. Using the Fierce Deity Mask, Majora's Mask can easily be defeated, however, some fans think this takes some of the fun out of the battle.

To obtain the Fierce Deity Mask, however, you need to obtain all 23 other masks and use them to enter the 4 moon dungeons. While on the moon, you will notice 5 children, 4 of which are running around wearing the masks of the 4 bosses you defeated. Each will allow you entrance to their dungeon, for a fee of masks. If you give a total of 20 masks to the four children, (excluding the three transformation masks), at the entrance and exit of each dungeon, the child wearing Majora's Mask will give you the Fierce Deity's Mask for a game of "Good vs. Bad" although the boss battle still is the same.

Theories on Origins of Majora's Mask
Though the game doesn't give much specific history on the origins of Majora's Mask, it does state that in ancient times, the mask was worshiped by an ancient tribe who used it in rituals involving the casting of hexes and curses, until they finally sealed it away from the world in the hopes that its evil power would not be unleashed ever again. Hundreds of years later is was sought out and found by the Happy Mask Salesman. Soon afterwards, the Skull Kid scared the Salesman unconscious and stole the mask from the salesman and began to access its power, awakening the consciousness of the mask.

It has also been suggested by some that the 'ancient and evil' tribe is perhaps referring to the ancestors of the Twili, a race whose existence was revealed in Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, due to similarities between a (series of) weapon(s) dubbed the Fused Shadow (in which the eyes are designed similar) and that share alike powers with one another. However, nothing conclusive has confirmed a connection between the two by Nintendo and is merely fan speculation.

Majora's Mask creation (Manga version)
Majora's creation is explained in one of the Zelda comics that was released at the same time as the game. The story goes that before the time setting of Majora's Mask there lived an evil creature which fed on the desires of the countless numbers of humans who had come before it to try and claim its armor and be granted their wishes. A traveler (who looks similar to the Fierce Deity) came forward to the place where the monster lived. He came up to the man-eater and started talking with it. He found out that the monster itself wanted to die, being so miserable. So then the hero pulled out his bongo and started playing. The monster went into a trance and started dancing. The hero played for three days straight (probably why Majora wants to finish off the world in three days) and then the beast dropped dead from dancing his heart out. The hero took its magical armor but instead of wishing upon it, he carved it into a mask in an attempt to seal the beast's power inside the mask forever. The mask was named after the beast, Majora. The mask had a spirit because Majora's evil power lingered on inside the mask seeking a host, not resting until its wish was granted.

This origin of Majora's Mask can be found in an extra chapter of the Majora's Mask manga, downloadable as scanlations | here

Trivia

 * The eye of the Fused Shadow looks almost identical to the eyes of Majora's Mask.
 * The eyes of Bellum and the eyes of Majora's Mask look similar to each other in color.