Zelda: 10 Scariest Majora's Mask Moments, Ranked (2024)

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask stands out in the Zelda franchise for its darker themes, psychological horror, and pervasive sense of impending doom. While other games feature a more straightforward battle between good and evil, Majora's Mask immerses players in a world trapped in a perpetual three-day cycle, where time is constantly ticking down to the cataclysmic destruction of Termina. Unsettling characters, haunting locations, and the mask transformation mechanic amplify the eerie atmosphere. This creates a sense of urgency and existential dread typically absent in other Zelda games.

In a franchise known for magical stones that allow access to an omnipotent relic and the foretold destinies of a young boy triumphing over evil, Majora's Mask's world-building is utterly demoralizing. Instead of hope, the game exudes despair. Instead of fulfilling destiny, the goal is to avert catastrophe. Even the land's name, Termina, is reminiscent of a nightmare — the word "Terminal" is defined as "of, forming, or situated at the end or extremity of something". In other words, this is no Hyrule.

10 Nejirons Pop Up Out of Nowhere

The Japanese Word "Neji" Means Twisted

These creepy Goron knockoffs hide underground along the Road to Ikana and within the Stone Tower Temple, only to unexpectedly pop out to attack Link if he ventures too close. This resemblance is what gives them their name, since "Neji" means twisted or warped in Japanese. Their muffled grunts, timed with their slight rotations, are creepy enough, but it's a Nejiron's unblinking eyes that bring it to the realm of nightmares.

While Nejirons are easy to destroy, they explode when hit. Also, their remains quickly regenerate underground and will pop out to attack again in seconds. They're better off avoided under all circumstances, as no enemy scenario requires a Nejiron to be destroyed. They can't harm Link while he's on Epona, though. Alternatively, the Stone Mask renders Link invisible to Nejirons, ensuring they don't pop out at all.

9 Deep Pythons Bite Anything That Approaches Them

They Lack the Charm of Super Mario 64's Unagi

Unlike the Unagi from Super Mario 64's Jolly Roger Bay, Deep Pythons aren't meant to look goofy. The moment Zora Link swims close to one of their nests beneath Great Bay's Pinnacle Rock, it will let out a distinctive growl that reverberates within the water. If Link fails to notice the giant sea snake's advance, it will chew him and spit him out.

Even though players aren't likely to fall for a Deep Python's ambush a second time, it's still unnerving to see something so large with those unblinking green eyes move toward the screen as swiftly as it does. Fortunately, they are not very difficult to destroy — two strikes anywhere on its slender body, aside from its protected face, will suffice. Three of Lulu's missing eggs are in a Deep Python's nest, so Link must destroy these sea snakes to recover them.

8 Aliens Invade Romani Ranch at Night

Cremia Doesn't Believe Romani About Them

Every year, two days before the Carnival of Time, "they" arrive at Romani Ranch in a shining ball. "Them" is the term that Romani uses to describe them, but they appear to be extraterrestrial Poes, for lack of a better term. With no given explanation, "they" come at night annually to abduct the ranch's cows. Romani routinely practices using her bow to repel their invasion, but Cremia dismisses her little sister's concerns as mere fantasy.

If Link is at Romani Ranch at 2:30 AM on the First Night, he will see that "they" are very real. His goal is to fend them off with arrows until sunrise, which forces them to retreat. If even a single one of "them" reaches the barn, the cows, and Romani herself, will be abducted. Romani will eventually be returned but with post-traumatic amnesia that leaves her dull for the rest of that cycle.

7 The Happy Mask Salesman Shakes Link Like a Ragdoll

He Goes From Happy To Demented in an Instant

The Happy Mask Salesman is already depicted as a quirky merchant in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but Majora's Mask takes his bizarre traits up to eleven. The Skull Kid's theft of Majora's Mask from the salesman is the impetus that sets Termina on the brink of annihilation. To avert the impending catastrophe, the salesman appoints Link to retrieve Majora's Mask from the Skull Kid in exchange for breaking the latter's curse with the Song of Healing.

When Link is initially unable to fulfill his end, the Happy Mask Salesman completely flips out. He explains the cursed nature of Majora's Mask in detail, and beseeches Link to get it back. After Link agrees, the salesman remains in the Clock Tower for the rest of the game, offering insightful feedback on any other mask he brings him. The children inside the moon greatly resemble him but are even more unusual.

6 The Creepy Elegy of Emptiness Statues

The Creepypasta, BEN Drowned, Uses It as a Logo

When Link vanquishes Igos du Ikana in his already frightening ancient castle, the latter's spirit appears and teaches him the Elegy of Emptiness. The melody causes Link to leave an empty shell in his likeness — one with a creepy gaze that never moves or reacts in any way. The Goron and Zora shells are even more unnerving. They resemble the dead heroes whose regrets formed their masks but with completely white eyes.

Alex Hall, also known as "Jadusable", used Link's statue as the logo for his famous creepypasta, BEN Drowned. The phrase "You shouldn't have done that" has become synonymous with the statue, even to those who never played Majora's Mask. Each statue's purpose is to hold down a switch so that Link can scale the Stone Tower. They cannot form if the Elegy of Emptiness is played outside of Ikana Canyon.

5 Each Mask Transformation Makes Link Scream

Their Boundless Sorrow Rushes Inside Link

Every time that Link dons one of the four transformation masks, he spasms for a moment before he finally faces the screen and lets out a muffled scream. As he does, the mask twists around Link's face and fuses to his skin, so the face moves like his own. The whole sequence is designed to unnerve players, and it can't be skipped the first time Link puts a transformation mask on.

Fortunately for Link, he doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects, since the mask can easily be removed to return him to normal. After the 3DS remake of Majora's Mask was released, a Nintendo employee played as the Happy Mask Salesman and explained that the boundless sorrow surrounding each mask comes rushing inside Link when he puts it on. This explanation is arguably worse than a simple physical change.

4 The End of the World Itself

This Is the Price of Failure

The looming threat of an apocalypse is one of the most frightening things in any story, but the ones that avert catastrophe in the end usually don't show the horrific results. That's not the case with Majora's Mask — if Link should run out of time before the moon crashes, players are treated to a detailed scene of Termina being engulfed in fire, followed by Link's agonizing death as Majora's Mask emerges from the flames.

It wasn't enough for the developers to put a Game Over screen with some devilish laughter like they did in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. They wanted players to witness the consequences of their failure — to know that every character they've met, every obstacle they've overcome, and every region they've saved all amounted to nothing.

3 The Stone Tower Temple May Cause Casadastraphobia

The Fear of Falling Into the Sky

The Stone Tower Temple is already imposing when Link first climbs it. The King of Ikana deems the Stone Tower to be an impenetrable stronghold, and the temple's entrance is depicted as a haunting face with a hand whose burning finger points to the sky. The Garo Master sheds some light on the temple — if Link shoots a Light Arrow at the bloodstained red emblem outside, it "will rearrange things so that the earth is born in the heavens and the moon is born on the earth."

In other words, the tower's gravity literally flips upside-down. With the sky beneath Link, he must explore the temple while upside-down. As he does, the threat of losing his footing and falling into an endless blue void is ever-present. Granted, the game treats this like any other bottomless pit and spawns Link back to the entrance of the room he's in, but players may feel extremely disoriented by this shift.

2 A Man Is Transforming Into a Gibdo

Only His Daughter Lives With Him

When Link first ascends the plateau in Ikana Canyon, he will see a single music box house in the distance. Upon getting closer, he will see several Gibdo shuffling around the house waiting for their "friends". After Link restores the spring that powers the house and drives the Gibdo away, he can sneak past Pamela and get inside to find the source of their unusual activity: her father.

Once Link gets downstairs, Pamela's father suddenly bursts out of the closet in a half-Gibdo state. As he lurches toward Link threateningly, the noises he makes are sped-up versions of a Gibdo's moan. If Link runs to attack him, Pamela intervenes and reminds what's left of her father who she is before locking him back in the closet. The only way to save him is to play the Song of Healing, which Link needs to communicate with the other Gibdo beneath Ikana's well.

1 The Moon Has a Frightful Face

It's Visible From Anywhere in Termina

As terrifying as the impending apocalypse is, the moments preceding it are equally so for one bizarre reason: the moon has a grimacing face. No explanation of this is given as this celestial body continually descends to Termina, but Link can see it from any exterior location in Termina. Many first-time players may make the mistake of looking toward the sky in the Southern Swamp only to see the moon staring directly at them.

The moon's eyes are the same as the ones on Majora's Mask, which signifies their connection. It's quite far away during the first day, but it suddenly gets much closer during the second day. Even worse, the moon slowly descends in real-time during the final day. It's actually possible to watch its descent until the time runs out — a testament to the attention to detail this game was given during development.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Majora’s Mask is easily the strangest, most risk-taking adventure in the Zelda series. It’s completely unlike any of Link’s other games and delivers a tense, bizarre, and somber exploration of what it’s like to experience the end of the world, again and again. Most of its crazy ideas pay off just as well on the Nintendo 3DS today as they did on the Nintendo 64 original 20 years ago, which is the mark of a great game.

Action

Adventure

Franchise

The Legend of Zelda

Platform(s)

Nintendo 64 , GameCube

Released

October 26, 2000

Developer(s)

Nintendo EAD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Engine

Proprietary Engine

ESRB

E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes