The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was released in 2000 as a follow-up to the successful Ocarina of Time. The game reused many character designs from Ocarina of Time, allowing Nintendo to release a new game relatively quickly. To explain the similarities between the two games, Majora’s Mask was determined to take place within the world of Termina, an alternate reality to the Kingdom of Hyrule where the games usually take place. Despite mainly being a game filled with recycled characters and concepts, Majora’s Mask managed to be a truly unique gaming experience that fans of the series still cherish to this day. It may have not received the top marks that Ocarina of Time did, but many Zelda fans remember the game as one of the best in the series.

What has truly separated Majora’s Mask from other Zelda games is its maturity level and the reliance on creepy elements. One of its central themes is the overwhelming presence of passing away and trauma throughout the world of Termina. Horror is seen everywhere, from ghosts, to the undead, to weird transformations, and the looming apocalypse. Mix in the repetitive nature of the game through the the continuous three-day cycle and the looming destruction of the world literally hovering over your head in the form of a terrifying moon, and you have a truly unsettling gaming experience. In a world filled with crazy content and adult themes, there are still many inappropriate game elements that you may not have noticed when you were playing it the first time as a kid.

15 Everyone Loves Their Milk

Zelda milk majora's mask
via Typewriter Monkey Task Force

Milk has played an important role in several Zelda games, but no installment praised that cool white liquid quite like Majora’s Mask did. Romani Ranch is a big farm within Termina, and their entire operation seems to be based around the production and selling of milk. It can be a useful elixir to keep within a bottle over the course of your adventure, but the people of Termina see it very differently.

Within the confines of Clock Town, there is the Milk Bar, which can only be accessed by those with the proper credentials. The entire establishment is set up like an actual bar, and guests seem to drink the stuff as if it were spiked. Even if the milk doesn't have anything added to it, it’s scary to think of what else it might be laced with if this was Nintendo’s nod to A Clockwork Orange.

14 You Can Take Out The Thief

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As a rule, the Legend of Zelda franchise won’t let you hurt NPCs like Skyrim allows you to do. That is, unless it is Majora’s Mask and you’re attempting to apprehend the thief Sakon. At night on the first day, Sakon steals a bag of bombs from an old lady in North Clock Town. Link can knock the bag out of his hands to get the Bomb Mask, or he can do something more horrifying.

If Link uses a projectile against Sakon and manages to hit the bag of bombs, the package will go off in a large explosion. After the smoke clears, you’ll notice that Sakon is now nowhere to be found, showing that you not only eliminated the thief, but he was actually vaporized by the explosion. No one seems to care that a man just blew up, though, so it’s extra disturbing.

13 What Is That Smell?

Zelda Majora's Mask Mask of Scents
via youtube - MALICEDOLL79

Over the course of the game, Link collects many different kinds of masks. Some of them are more useful than others, and a few are only used for one specific task. The Mask of Scents is given to Link by the Deku Butler and can be used to find magic mushrooms in the Southern Swamp. A few can also be found within Clock Town, where things get a little weird.

For some reason, Link can find two magic mushrooms inside the Stock Pot Inn. One is inside the bathroom and the other can be found on a pair of underwear lying out on one of the beds. It’s supposed to be played up for laughs, but it’s actually pretty gross when you think about it. Majora’s Mask introduced inappropriate toilet humor into the franchise.

12 The Only Way To Thank You

Majora's Mask Zelda Cremia
via youtube - Ye Old Fox Pub

Time travel can get a little funky in Termina sometimes. You spend the game traveling through the same three-day cycle collecting different masks, however, Link can’t receive multiple versions of the same item. This is what happens when you help Cremia escape the Gorman Brothers. If she already gave you Romani’s Mask, she will give you a different gift the next time around.

On occasion, she will give Link a rather suggestive hug for his help protecting the delivery of milk. She notes that “this isn’t very big” and then proceeds to push Link’s face into her chest. The narration reads that Link feels warm and fuzzy inside and that he could do this all day. There’s also an impassioned sigh added in there for extra emphasis. It’s quite the gift.

11 Whose Hand Is That?

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Keeping with the horror elements of Majora’s Mask, Link can encounter a mysterious hand coming out of the toilet in the Stock Pot Inn after midnight. Only identified as ??? in the game the hand asks for toilet paper to finish up whatever he’s doing in there. Forget for a second how gross this whole thing is; Nintendo based this character on actual Japanese ghost stories.

Hanako-San is a Japanese urban legend about the spirit of a young girl who haunts school bathrooms around the country. The story is often used by children as a right of passage or in the hazing of new students. It is this story that Nintendo used to create the character ???, making it all the more creepy. Just like American kids remember the Bloody Mary stories, this one was sure to scare kids in Japan.

10 No One Has A Problem With This?

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Most of the Terminian counterparts are vastly different from their Hyrule partners, however, Dampe is basically the same guy in both worlds. He may be more fearful of ghosts in Majora’s Mask, but both versions are old gravediggers who don’t move very quickly. They also both happen to be graverobbers, though no one seems to talk much about that.

In Ocarina of Time, he charged people to dig up graves and find treasure, so it’s only right that you find him inside an open tomb in the graveyard on the Final Day. Apparently he’s looking for some treasure, which is seemingly more important than his job as the guardian of the deceased. Sure, Link does his fair share of graverobbing, but in the land of Termina, nothing is sacred.

9 These People Are Creepy

Many of the masks Link wears over the course of the game can invoke specific responses based on what they look like. Apparently the people in the world of the Legend of Zelda video game franchise take masks extremely seriously. The Great Fairy in Majora’s Mask gets something of a questionable reaction when you wear it and talk to the Swordsman in Clock Town.

He’s already a weird-looking dude, but things get weirder when he remarks how beautiful the mask is. He tells Link that the mask will distract him from his ability to teach sword training, so he needs to either leave it at home next time or... allow this man to keep it for himself. Who exactly wants to know what the Swordsman has planned for this mask? Absolutely no one, that’s right.

8 What A Way To End It

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Long ago, Ikana was in a war with the Garo, ninja-like people who invaded the kingdom in order to spy against their enemies. Well, after the war was over, the Garo are all gone, yet still they remain as ghostly manifestations. Upon defeating them, the Garo will vanish. However, when it comes to their leader, the Garo Master, things get a little dark.

The Garo Master is the mini-boss inside the Stone Tower Temple, and after he is defeated, he says that he will go leaving no body. This makes it sound like he might be still alive, and instead of vanishing, he pulls out an actual bomb and blows himself up. He basically just ends himself in order to keep with the customs of his people. It’s actually kind of tragic.

7 What Is His Life?

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There are no fairies in Termina, but there is one character who thinks he is one. Tingle is a helpful little character who sells you maps and helps you through your adventure. He’s certainly a little weird, but nothing too crazy for a Zelda game. That is, until you head over to the Southern Swamp and talk to his father.

He reveals that Tingle is actually a 35-year-old man who never wanted to grow up and has decided to dress up like a fairy and sell maps. His flamboyant nature and crazy style of dressed help to make him one of the more memorable characters in the entire Zelda franchise. While Japanese fans embraced him, gamers in the west were far more put off by his inclusion.

6 No One Will Escape

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It isn’t enough to play a game with the imminent destruction of the world hovering over your head at all times. While many people attempt to downplay the falling moon, people start to panic on the 3rd day. As a result, many of the characters futilely attempt to find shelter during their last few hours of life.

The guards in Clock Town start to get scared, yet they stay because they must remain at their posts. We see the Postman conflicted over his desire to flee and his official duties. Anju and her family retreat to Romani Ranch, hoping to survive the fall of the moon. The Swordsman cries in a corner. You basically get to see everyone cower in fear as they wait to perish. There are also a few characters who become resigned to their fate.

5 What Happened To Her?

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Link can work with Romani to help save Romani Ranch from an alien attack. The experience is scary enough, with creepy music, ghostly apparitions, and an intense feeling of dread. Nintendo seemingly created these aliens based on the Flatwoods monster. This was a purported alien entity found in the woods of West Virginia back in 1952. They look exactly like the depiction of this creature.

The most horrifying thing about this entire plot, though, is that if Link fails to protect the cows from abduction, Romani is also taken. She can then be found sitting in the field confused and afraid about what happened to her. If you talk to her, it’s clear that her memories have been erased or the events of her abduction were just too traumatic for her to handle.

4 They Weren’t Always Ghosts

Igos du Ikana Majora's Mask
via Legend of Zelda Wiki

In Majora’s Mask, the Kingdom of Ikana seems to be some kind of alternate version of Hyrule. However, this kingdom was wiped out long ago and is now filled with ghosts. The thing you might have missed about them the first time around is that they weren’t always skeletal ghosts. It’s never stated outright, but it can be inferred that everyone perished in a great war against some unknown enemy.

Igos du Ikana mentions that they were all cursed by the Skull Kid at some unknown point. Captain Keeta makes mention of his defeat within his own kingdom, and now that he’s a giant skeleton, it can be reasoned that he actually perished. It’s possible that the Garo were responsible for their demise many years ago.

3 Those Two Were Kind Of Creepy

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While Link is trying to save the world, he also finds himself helping Anju and Kafei’s trouble relationship back together again. You see, as part of the Skull Kid’s reign of terror over the people of Termina, he used Majora’s Mask to transform Kafei into a child. He then disappeared from society and secretly hid because he was ashamed of what happened to him.

Link can help the two repair their relationship, but he can’t actually fix Kafei’s predicament. Only upon completely the game is it implied that he returns to his normal size, but we never get to see it. Instead, we are treated to a few images of Anju lovingly embracing the body of a child. At the end of their quest, Link reunites them and they express their love to one another. It’s kind of creepy.

2 Bad Things Went On Here

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The Stone Tower Temple is one of the four main dungeons in Majora’s Mask, but it is by far the most uncomfortable. There are many elements throughout the temple that make it seem some kind of satanic devil worship took place in there. Depictions of what look to be Majora’s Mask also bring into question who built it and what is their connection to the evil mask.

There is also the presence of what appears to be blasphemous imagery. The Triforce is not worshipped in Termina like in Hyrule. A theory suggests that the depiction of an inverted Triforce and the nature of many of the statues were all built as an affront to the gods. The idea is that they rejected Din, Nayru, and Farore and instead worshipped the four Giants.

1 They're Great... Greatly Creepy, That Is

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The Great Fairies are a staple of any Legend of Zelda game, and Majora's Mask is no different. There's several to be found in the game, including ones in North Clock Town, Snowhead, Woodfall, Great Bay Coast, and Ikana Canyon. Though it's not necessary to find all of them in the game, they'll give you special upgrades and bonuses if you do.

And man, are these fairies weird. Just the way that they look is a little too much for a kids' game, and they're fairly unclothed for the most part. But they're also just... really weird. They act strangely towards Link and are just very sensual. They get more so as the games go on, but the fairies in Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time just have a bit of a creepy vibe.