Tribal Head Statue

are objects that appear in Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. They are mostly involved in puzzles and riddles which Link must solve in order to gain access to a new area or treasure.

Phantom Hourglass
In their first appearance, Head Statues only appear a couple of times in Phantom Hourglass. The first time that Link encounters them is in northern part of Molida Island. Here he must activate the three Head Statues scattered around and focus their light beam on the entrance of the Temple of Courage, which will allow the young hero to access the temple.

A single Head Statue is also located in Mercay Island near the Temple of the Ocean King. To access it, Link must go through a cave which will take him to a higher portion of the island. Once again, Link can activate the statue's ray of light by hitting it with his sword. By shining the beam parallel between the Temple of the Ocean King and Mercay Island, the Head Statue will reveal a bombable wall in the direction of its ray.



Spirit Tracks
Head Statues have a more prominent role in Spirit Tracks, where they first appear in the Forest Sanctuary. They are located at each of the five sanctuaries scattered throughout the five different realms of Hyrule, and they are involved in puzzles that must be solved in order to gain access to the Lokomo sage that guards its respective sanctuary and realm. Puzzles include connecting the two Head Statues that are facing each other to solving a riddle concerning the Door of Friendship.

Interestingly, there are four giant Head Statues placed around the Sand Realm whose gazes cross where Link should bomb in the Sand Sanctuary to reveal the entrance that leads to Rael.

Trivia
Head Statues resemble mildly the Stone Heads from The Wind Waker. The statues could also evoke the Four Giants from Majora's Mask.