The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask turns masks into much more than collectibles. Across Termina’s three-day countdown, Link wears faces belonging to the dead, adopts supernatural identities and encounters items tied to curses, spirits and disturbing rituals.
There are 24 masks in the game, but the nine below stand out for one of three reasons: they contain a dead person’s spirit, carry a curse or simply look as though they escaped from a nightmare. The ranking moves from unsettling to genuinely haunted.
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9. All-Night Mask
Haunting factor: forced insomnia and a history of torture.
After preventing the thief from robbing the old woman outside the Bomb Shop, Link can buy the All-Night Mask from the Curiosity Shop on the Final Night. It costs 500 rupees and has an unnerving design, with perfectly round eyes and red pupils.
Wearing it prevents Link from falling asleep, making it possible to listen through the kindly grandmother’s stories without interruption. A Gossip Stone reveals the darker truth: the mask was created as a torture device intended to keep victims awake. Its previous uses are left disturbingly unexplained.
8. Mask of Truth
Haunting factor: a spider curse and knowledge that cannot be switched off.
The Mask of Truth is obtained after Link enters the spider-covered house in the Southern Swamp and defeats all 30 Gold Skulltulas inside. Doing so frees a man who has been trapped with the spiders and cursed to endure them for life.
Once equipped, the mask lets Link hear the secrets of Termina’s Gossip Stones. Their stories may be useful, but their constant chatter is hardly comforting, particularly when the moon is falling and the world has only three days left.
7. Garo’s Mask
Haunting factor: hostile spirits and reanimated dancers.
Link wins Garo’s Mask by defeating the Gorman Brothers in a horse race. The reward resembles a golden face beneath a purple hood, and wearing it attracts the Garo: desert-dwelling, ninja-like spirits who act as spies against the Kingdom of Ikana.
In Ikana, the Garo attack Link on sight, but defeating them provides clues that help with progression. The mask also causes ReDeads to pirouette rather than shriek, a strange advantage when exploring the Ancient Castle of Ikana. Watching zombies suddenly perform ballet is useful, but never quite normal.
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6. Stone Mask
Haunting factor: invisibility and the lonely fate of a forgotten soldier.
On the road to Ikana, Link can use the Lens of Truth to discover Shiro, a wounded soldier lying in a circle of rocks. Shiro is effectively invisible to everyone passing by, despite calling for help. A healing potion allows him to recover, and he gives Link the Stone Mask in thanks.
The mask makes Link invisible to guards and most enemies, which is particularly valuable at the Pirates’ Fortress. Its unsettling side is Shiro himself: without the Lens of Truth, he could have remained unseen and ignored indefinitely.
5. Kamaro’s Mask
Haunting factor: a dead dancer’s face taking control of Link’s body.
Kamaro appears at night in Termina Field near the route to Snowhead. The dancing spirit is crying because his ambitions were never fulfilled. Playing the Song of Healing helps him, and his talent is sealed into a mask that copies his face.
When Link wears it, he performs Kamaro’s energetic dance routine. The result is entertaining, but the mask briefly replaces Link’s face and directs his movements. That makes the sudden dance party feel considerably more supernatural than cheerful.
4. Captain’s Hat
Haunting factor: a skeleton captain’s spirit commanding the dead.
At the end of Ikana Graveyard, Link awakens the enormous skeleton Skull Keeta by playing the Sonata of Awakening. The ensuing chase involves arrows, barriers and a battle through the darkness. Defeating Skull Keeta grants access to the chest containing the Captain’s Hat.
The hat houses Skull Keeta’s spirit. When Link wears it, Stalchildren mistake him for their commander and obey his orders, including opening graves. The ability is useful, but it is difficult to ignore that Link is wearing the essence of a dead captain while directing an undead army.
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3. Gibdo Mask
Haunting factor: a mummy curse and a conversation behind a closet door.
Pamela’s father is in the middle of becoming a mummy, so she hides him in a closet. He eventually emerges in one of the game’s most memorable jump scares. Playing the Song of Healing breaks the curse and leaves Link with the Gibdo Mask.
The mask lets Link speak with Gibdos, the zombie-mummy creatures found around the well. Their cooperation is frightening, but necessary for uncovering what lies beneath the nearby haunted well.
2. Majora’s Mask
Haunting factor: possession, malice and a moon sent crashing towards the world.
Majora’s Mask is said to have been made by a vanished tribe that sealed an ancient demon’s spirit inside it for hexing rituals. The game does not explain exactly why the tribe created it, but its power becomes clear when Skull Kid steals the mask.
The mask has a will of its own and manipulates its wearer’s loneliness, resentment and anger. Under its influence, Skull Kid unleashes chaos and brings the moon down towards Termina. The Happy Mask Salesman warns that its power is deadly, making the mask’s cheerful name particularly deceptive.
1. The transformation masks
Haunting factor: three dead people, three stolen identities and a scream every time Link transforms.
The Deku, Goron and Zora masks become familiar tools during normal play, but their origins remain deeply unsettling. Each contains the spirit or identity of someone who has died.
- Zora Mask: contains the spirit of Mikau, guitarist of the Indigo-Gos, whom Link finds dying on the beach.
- Goron Mask: represents Darmani the Third, who died while trying to reach Snowhead.
- Deku Mask: is probably linked to the Deku Butler’s son, although the game leaves that connection less explicit.
When Link puts on one of these masks, he becomes recognisable as the dead character. Non-player characters may react as though a lost friend has returned, which makes each transformation both useful and heartbreaking. The violent shriek that accompanies the transformation scenes only reinforces the sense that these masks are not harmless costumes.
Why Majora’s Mask makes masks feel haunted
The game’s masks work because they connect gameplay mechanics to grief, identity and memory. A mask can grant speed, stealth or access to a new area, yet it can also force Link to carry somebody else’s unfinished story. Even the most practical items feel uncomfortable when their powers come from curses, ghosts or the dead.
That tension is part of what makes Majora’s Mask such a distinctive Nintendo 64-era adventure. For a compact way to revisit classic games, take a look at bartop arcades and other dedicated retro gaming setups.
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