Ghost (Majora's Mask)

''This article is for the enemy from. For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation).''

Ghosts are enemies appearing in Majora's Mask. They are based on various depictions of aliens and other unexplained creatures in American folklore and media. The Majora's Mask guide by Nintendo Power also occasionally calls them "aliens" as well as referring to them as ghosts. Their ambiguous nature and origin mirrors real-life UFO myths, but they do bear a strong resemblance to Poes and are perhaps related.

Characteristics and History
The ghosts, according to Romani, are the rather strange sprits that come to invade the barn of Romani Ranch to abduct their rare, precious Romani-bred cows, which they inherited from their father. They resemble ghostly, glowing aliens, and are quite similar to Poes. According to Romani, they come at night every year when the Carnival of Time approaches. It seems aliens have an interest in rare cows with the ability to produce a fine milk and it's up to the young hero to save the ranch from a possible invasion. If Link fails to save the cows on the first night they will abduct Romani, leaving Cremia, Romani's sister, saddened. On the second day, the ghosts will return Romani with all her memories of their existence removed, with obvious side effects on her personality.

Strategy
The ghosts are not a difficult enemy to fend off, and all of them die after one arrow shot. Therefore, there are some ways to prepare Link for the attack.
 * The young hero must come in with a fully stocked quiver. The quiver can also be upgraded from the shooting galleries in East Clock Town and near Southern Swamp.
 * Link must keep an eye on his arrow count, as he can only kill them with arrows. There are arrows in the crate outside the barn, and arrows can be dropped by the ghosts upon death.
 * There are two ways to keep track of the ghosts. First, the barking dog outside of the barn always runs towards the closest one of them. Therefore, that specific one of the ghosts should always be taken out first. Second, if Link purchased a map of Romani's Ranch from Tingle, he will notice that there are moving white dots on the map in the corner of the screen. These dots are the exact location of the ghosts, allowing the map to become a real time radar.
 * It is suggested to use the Inverted Song of Time to slow time. It is not necessary, but slowing time also slows the ghosts (all the ghosts' movements are directly related to the current in-game time). However, by slowing time, the engagement also becomes longer, requiring more arrows.
 * Epona and the Bunny Hood can be used to increase mobility, although it is best to remain in front of the barn, and only move if arrows are needed.

Trivia

 * It is possible to ride into the ranch while the invasion is underway and still save the ranch, but this can be quite difficult, and nearly impossible without Epona's or Goron Link's rolling speed. It is estimated that the latest time of arrival is 3am, if the ranch is still to be saved, and it is confirmed that 5am is too late.
 * The ghosts are likely inspired by the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter of 1955, a well-known and well-documented alleged Close Encounter event in the history of UFO incidents. One testimony describes the beings from this encounter as, "a luminous, three-and-a-half-foot-tall being with an oversized head, big, floppy, pointed ears, glowing eyes, and hands with talons at their ends. The figure, either made of or simply dressed in silvery metal, had its hands raised." The creatures were also said to have moved by hovering, due to having legs that appeared to be atrophied. This description is reminiscent of the ghosts in Majora's Mask. Also, both incidents occur in a rural farm area. They may also be based on the flatwoods monster due to their similar appearance to the monster and how both aliens' spaceships are flying balls of light.
 * Every part of the ghosts that is not concealed by their robe or cowling emits a bright light, suggesting that their species is bio-luminescent.


 * Romani's training balloons bear a much stronger resemblance to traditional poes than to the ghosts themselves.