Twili

The Twili are a race of beings who inhabit the Twilight Realm. Most of the inhabitants are of the "monster" variety throughout your adventure, due to Zant's evil rule. However, their true forms are more impish in nature with black and red markings, while other members of the race have more humanoid bodies like Zant and Midna.

Background
Eons ago, the Twili were a group of dark sorcerors, ethnicities unknown, that were sent to the Twilight Realm by the Sages of Hyrule as punishment for their misgoverned attempt to use old magic to claim the Triforce. Their "old magic" became known as the Fused Shadows, a powerful instrument, however, their powers proved too weak for the power of the gods. They were banished and their Fused Shadow were split into four pieces and scattered throughout the two realms, The Twilight realm and Hyrule. This tribe lived in the Twilight Realm for centuries until evolving, mere shadows of what they once were, the Twili tribe became used to their surroundings and came to accept their fate. While some came to love the beautiful peace that can be found only in Twilight, it drove some of it's inhabitants mad. After centuries of rule, Midna became just one of many rulers in a long line of royalty, the Twilight Princess. It was around this time that a rebel force grew from within the Twilight, spearheaded by Zant. It is revealed that Zant was next to become Twilight Ruler, but was passed over. In a terrible rage, he used the power of his false-god, Ganondorf, to transform most of the inhabitants of Twilight into monsters. Zant also transformed Midna into an imp creature as a form of humiliation. Midna's only hope was to find the magic of her ancestors, the Fused Shadows, and use it against Zant to save the realm.

The Twili in Twilight Princess are usually seen as enemies, however when Link goes to the Palace of Twilight, he reverts several of the Twili back to their true forms. The Twili have strange glowing markings on their skins, which are a blue/grey tinge mixed with black, this complexion may be due to lack of full light as the Twili have changed from what they were when they were ejected from the World of Light. They also have oval, yellow eyes and are (usually) quite thin and lanky.

Midna's true form seems to be quite a lot more human-like than this as she has distinct eyes and has many other different charactaristics that differ from the Twili. This could be due to her lineage as their may be a seperate sub-species of Twili in the Royal Family that have more human qualities in them. Another possibility is that all female Twilis have the same distinct differences from the males, as Midna is the only female Twili seen in Twilight Princess. However, at the end of the game when Midna's true form is revealed, she appears as a tall beautiful woman. Zant had placed a curse on Midna before she fled the Twilight Realm, and also cursed the rest of the Twili into shadow beast forms. Once the Palace of Twilight is beaten, the Twili are turned into an impish form, resembling Midna's form. It is quite possible that once Ganondorf is killed, and Zant's spirit dies, that the Twili race as a whole are turned into a race of tall, handsome people, with a more human appearence. After all, the Twili were once Hylians who were banished to a world of darkness.

Timeline, Ocarina and Majora's Mask
The events described in Twilight Princess were not specified as occurring before or after the events of Ocarina of Time, officially the first Zelda game in the timeline, it is also never made certain, although hotly debated weather or not the Twili had any inclusion the events that lead to the creation of Majora's Mask as one would assume that the Mask was also forged before the events of Ocarina of Time.

Debates arose when similarity between the design of Midna and Majora's Mask were spotted by a number of fans, and now many players choose to believe or speculate that the Twili are in fact responsible for creating Majora, in a separate attempt to obtain the Triforce. Others still believe that the Twili are ancestors or descendants of the Zuna Tribe see in Four Swords Adventures.