Majora's Mask.
Majora's Mask is an evil mask that takes control of the Skull Kid in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It was used in an ancient tribe's hexing rituals and was later sealed away because of its evil magic.
Story
Spoiler warning: The following information contains spoilers. Please read at your own risk.
Majora's Mask is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals. The legend goes on to say that an evil and wicked power comes upon the one who wears the mask. The troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great that the people of old hid the mask forever, preventing its misuse. The tribe eventually died out, and the true nature of the mask was no longer known.
The Happy Mask Salesman sets out on a quest to find the mask. He goes to great lengths to find the legendary mask and eventually obtains it. As the he continues his travels across the world, Skull Kid, who enjoys playing pranks, knocked out the salesman and began looking at his bag of masks. He eventually found Majora's Mask and began wearing it. His personality changed from a child's to a madman's. The mask eventually consumed him entirely, making him evil.
Majora's Mask forces Skull Kid to manipulate the moon. The moon is taken out of its orbit (whilst it has a creepy face due to the magic of the mask) and is set to crash into Termina. Link manages to save the moon from crashing into the world by calling the Four Giants. At this, the mask abandons Skull Kid and brings Link and Tatl into the moon for a battle.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.
The battle
Majora's Mask transforms into three forms: a hovering mask; a crazy, hyperactive, legged-being; and a vicious humanoid monster with whips as arms.
Majora's Mask
The first form is the mask itself. The spikes on either side of the mask begin to move, and what appear to be tentacles growing in a similar fashion to hair. Majora's Mask will sometimes use the tentacles in a whirling attack. After taking a certain amount of damage, it summons the four boss masks to help it in the battle.
To defeat it, 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. After Majora's Mask has taken enough damage, it will shoot beam fire at Link. The beam can be deflected with Link's Mirror Shield back at the mask.
Majora's Incarnation
The second form is a tall, humanoid creature with a single eyeball for a head and the mask for its body. The boss rarely attacks; it mostly runs around the room, occasionally pausing to do a random dance move, including a ballerina pose, the moonwalk, and the can-can. While dancing, it is vulnerable to attack.
To defeat it, Link must shoot a Light Arrow at it or use some other weapon to stun the monster and then strike it with his sword.Majora's Incarnation is very fast and unpredictable, but takes very few hits to defeat.
Majora's Wrath
The final form is a much more menacing version of Majora's Incarnation. It grows an actual head for the battle, its appendages are adorned with muscles, and it vomits two large, tentacle-like weapons that it uses as whips in the fight. This form possesses astounding agility; it is able to jump across the room in one leap and can dash around the perimeter in a matter of seconds. The tentacles make it capable of attacking from a great distance. It also has an unlimited supply of spinning blades at its arsenal.
To defeat it, Link must use a projectile weapon to stun it while it is paused, then shoot a Light Arrow at it or strike the beast with his sword. This process must repeated until it is defeated. Majora's Wrath can inflict very heavy damage and jump from one side of the arena to the other. However, it is slow at attacking, making it a fairly easy battle.
Alternate history
The manga by Akira Himekawa, although not by official Nintendo authors, provides a side story that attempts to explain the origin of the mask.
The manga reveals Majora's Mask to be an ancient and dangerous artifact made from the body armor of a legendary beast named Majora. Majora lived in a land that was not moving, but not dead either, nor had it stopped. According to a myth devised "by the humans themselves," the armour worn by Majora was supposed to grant wishes and hold a great and terrible power. Warriors, adventurers, soldiers, men, and women sought after Majora for his armour, though he killed them all.
After centuries of a solitary existence, a human, disguised as a musician and resembling Fierce Deity, approached Majora, and offered it eternal rest, not by fighting, but by playing music. As the human beat a drum he carried with him, "making time move", Majora began to dance for three days, and on the fourth day, died. All that remain of the beast was his armour.
The human carved Majora's Mask from the armour. By doing so, all of Majora's power was sealed in the mask. The human believed that by creating the mask, his power was no longer a menace. He threw the mask in an abyss and it was lost for centuries.
Other appearance
Majora Mask as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
Majora's Mask was a trophy in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The following is its trophy description:
- "A lonely Skull Kid put on Majora's Mask and unknowingly allowed a great evil to invade the land of Termina. The mask manifested its evil power into the fearsome looking moon, and the Skull Kid became merely a puppet under its malevolent power. In the ultimate battle with Link, Majora's Mask transformed into three separate forms."