History VideoGame / TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask

The game was released in its home country of Japan on April 27, 2000, where it is known as Zelda no Densetsu: Mujura no Kamen. Six months later, it was released in North America on October 27, followed by Europe on November 17.

* SurpriseCreepy: ''Majora's Mask'' is actually pretty unsettling from the start, but anyone coming out of almost any other game in the series with no warning is in for a shock.

* WhiteWolvesAreSpecial: The White Wolfos is a larger, slightly tougher version of the standard gray Wolfos enemies (basically wolves with gorilla-like builds and a prediliction for attacking with their claws) seen in the Lost Woods. It serves as the miniboss of the Ice Cavern, but becomes a DegradedBoss when a few are fought in the Gerudo's Training Ground later in the game.

* BadassAdorable: In addition to retaining his innocence and competence from ''Ocarina of Time'', Link manages to perform even bigger feats in this game like fighting off aliens with a bow and arrow, chasing down a mechanical goat, becoming the captain of an army of skeletons, and ''suplexing a giant sand worm!'' His Deku and Goron forms are cute and badass in their own ways.

* DualBoss: The last boss (Twinmold, the giant worms) before Majora, found in Stone Tower Temple. Due to its gigantic size, using the Giant's Mask is recommended (though not required). In the 3DS remake, the mask is required, but can only be used when one of the worms is defeated.

* SegmentedSerpent: The dual boss Twinmold resemble a pair of giant burrowing worms / centipedes composed of multiple armored segments, with their heads and tails being their only weak spots.

* AttackTheTail: Twinmold are two giant centipedes whose only weak points are the head and the tail.

** You can fight the second boss, Goht, by standing in the doorway and shooting fire arrows as he approaches. You'll probably take a lot of damage from getting trampled, and it takes a long time to finish. The inclusion of a weak point in the [=3DS=] remake nullifies this strategy.

** The Giant's Mask, which you get 2 rooms before fighting Twinmold (the penultimate boss), can only be used when fighting Twinmold, and it drains your magic meter like nothing else. That said, using the mask allows you to curbstomp Twinmold faster than anything else [[spoiler:(it's even stronger than the Fierce Deity's Mask)]]. In the 3DS remake, you obtain it [[spoiler:''while fighting the boss'', after you beat the blue Twinmold]], and it is required to defeat [[spoiler:the red Twinmold]]. While it makes Link fight and taunt like a wrestler, its magic cost is still high.

** In the original version, [[GetBackHereBoss Goht]] could be defeated with little risk by remaining in the entryway to the BossRoom and sniping him with arrows in human form. The remake removed this weakness, forcing you to defeat him in the intended fashion.

* ChasingYourTail: In the boss battle against Goht, you can technically defeat it with carefully placed bombs or arrows (and loads of patience), but it's a lot more entertaining to mow him down with Goron!Link's spikes.

%%%
%%Please put Crowning Moments in their respective subsection. This includes Crowning Music of Awesome, which belongs in AwesomeMusic/TheLegendOfZelda.
%%%

* DualBoss: The last boss (Twinmold, the giant worms) before Majora, found in Stone Tower Temple. Due to their gigantic size, using the Giant's Mask is recommended (though not required). In the 3DS remake, the mask is required, but can only be used when one of the worms is defeated.

* FeedItABomb: In the 3DS version, Gyorg's second phase requires you to disconnect aquatic mines chained to the floor of the [[UnderwaterBossBattle flooded arena]] when it attempts to inhale you. Doing this will make Gyorg inadvertedly swallow the mine and stun him upon the ensuing explosion.

** Goht is a mechanical bull who runs in a circular track and fires back at you, never stopping. Then he resorts to rocks, and ''bombs.'' The way to defeat him is chasing him as Goron Link and bumping into his legs to make him trip. You could also shoot Fire Arrows at his forehead, but this isn't the intended method.
%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** In the 3DS remake, the Twinmold fight can be an exercise in frustration if you don't know how its second phase is programmed. The red worm must be punched a certain number of times for it to be stunned; however, the counter is reset when it burrows, meaning all those hits must connect within a single cycle of its attacks. When Twinmold falls to the ground, it's left vulnerable, yet normal attacks are useless against it. To inflict damage, you have to grab the monster's tail, which is done by pressing the '''A''' button while NOT L-targetting. Additionally, rotating the circle pad while Link spins Twinmold deals extra damage, which is ''never'' hinted in-game.

** The game contains a particularly unique example in Goht, who is plain sight the moment Link walks into the Boss Room, but is frozen solid and must be hit with a fire arrow to be awakened -- at which point he promptly tramples you [[GetBackHereBoss and runs off]].

* HighSpeedBattle: One approach to the boss battle with Goht is having Link to don the Goron mask and pursue him, [[RammingAlwaysWorks by rolling into him]] at high speed. Goht's running speed increases as he takes damage, so does the speed of his attacks, and the number of obstacles that litter the cavern. The alternative of simply waiting on the side and shooting him with arrows whenever he nears is extremely boring by comparison, but easier.

* MechanicalMonster: Goht, whose epithet actually ''is'' (Masked) Mechanical Monster. It's an enormous mechanical goat-like monster that [[GetBackHereBoss constantly runs away,]] and the only way to make it stop after waking it up is to destroy it.

* MonsterInTheIce: Goht, the boss of the Snowhead Temple, is frozen solid when Link enters his boss chamber, and needs to be defrosted before being fought.

** You can actually defeat Goht without ever transforming into Goron Link by shooting him with arrows, but it is far more time-consuming since you're forced to stay in one spot and take potshots as the boss runs around the large, circular room. The 3DS version requires you to use Goron Link, as a weak spot was implemented that can only be exposed by ramming into the boss while rolling.

* PostDefeatExplosionChain: The Twinmold pair in Stone Tower Temple dies this way. When one of them has its HP depleted (their weaknesses are the head and the tail), it will fly erratically for a moment while agonizing, and then have its slender body explode piece by piece from the tail, only leaving the head intact and letting it fall down. The same thing happens to the other insect upon its defeat, and Link wins the battle as a result.

* SegmentedSerpent: The dual boss Twinmold resemble a pair of giant burrowing worms composed of multiple armored segments, with their heads and tails being their only weak spots.

** [[GetBackHereBoss Goht]], the boss of the Snowhead Temple, attacks with lightning strikes from his horns should the player get too far, even when attacking him while going in the opposite direction.

* SpectacularSpinning: Not only does this include both the Hylian and the Deku Link's SpinAttack, but defeating Twinmold in the 3DS remake involves knocking it out of the air, grabbing its tail, spinning around, and ''slamming'' it into the ground.

* DubNameChange: Strangely, a case of a name ''not'' being changed. Wart is known as Arrghus in every other localization it appears in. Arrghus is the name of a boss in ''A Link to the Past'', and Wart is the name ''both'' creatures have in their respective games' Japanese version, confirming they're the same species.

** The game contains a particularly unique example in Goht, who is plain sight the moment Link walks into the Boss Room, but is frozen solid and must be hit with a fire arrow to be awakened— at which point he promptly tramples you [[GetBackHereBoss and runs off.]]

* InconsistentDub: The eyeball miniboss in the Great Bay Temple is known as Wart here. Its name was previously changed to Arrghus in the English version of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' (in the Japanese version of both games, it's called Wart).
* InexplicablyAwesome: The game has a few characters who qualify. Who is the Happy Mask Shop Man, how did he come by Majora's Mask, and why is he the only guy with time-travel-proof memory besides Link and co.? Majora's Mask itself toes the line between this and EldritchAbomination, as does its opposite number, the Fierce Deity Mask - Majora has some backstory alluded to in-game, but it's fairly vague.

* BigBad: Skull Kid is the one using the eponymous mask to [[ColonyDrop bring down the moon]] onto Termina, [[spoiler:The mask itself is the GreaterScopeVillain, as it turns out to have been possessing him all along and be the true culprit]].

In the wake of the success of its predecessor's 3D VideoGameRemake, ''Majora's Mask'' also received a remake for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS; it was developed by Creator/{{Grezzo}} in conjunction with Creator/{{Nintendo}}.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: There's a minigame in Zora Cape where Zora Link can toss his boomerang to see if he can break all the pots. However, if you fail, the host of the game will charge Link (or Mikau, as he thinks he is) 10 Rupees for jar repairs. Even if you win, the prize is normally revealed to be 100 Rupees, but the host will deduct 10 Rupees for repairs anyway, leaving you with 90.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What Link is trying to prevent with the GroundhogDayLoop.

* TimedMission: Aside from a few timed mini-games and sidequests (like recovering Kafei's stolen Sun Mask), when you first arrive in Clock Town, the Skull Kid still has your ocarina and you have only three days to get it back before the moon comes crashing down. For every other cycle, though the time limit remains, you can control time with the Ocarina.

** All the Bunny Hood does is make you run faster and jump farther. This is why you're probably going to have this on the most outside of transformation masks. (Speedruns all but require this mask.)

* ContractualBossImmunity: This trope is inverted, albeit unintentionally. When using glitches to wear the Fierce Deity's Mask outside of boss battles, most enemies won't take damage from the {{Sword Beam}}s that shred bosses in seconds. The game has no programming to account for the situation. This means the being that can defeat the final boss in a minute can't even hurt a ''Keese'' with the sword beams. (They're not immune to the sword itself, though.)

** There are certain places in Ikana Castle where you can become trapped by several Redeads. You can pacify them with the right masks, but if you don't have any of the masks that can do this, you have little choice but to watch them repeatedly paralyze and then suck the life out of you until you die. (Thankfully, without using glitches, it's impossible to enter the area of Ikana until you have possession of one such mask.)

* EarlyGameHell: The game has a rough beginning due to some cruel factors that affect Link since the beginning. Since his Ocarina of Time was stolen, he's unable to travel back in time and thus unable to save his progress. Until he's able to revert the situation, he has to perform several tasks under a time limit of three days, which even pass on a much faster rate than in later gameplay sessions. (Each hour normally lasts 45 real life seconds, but in this first loop it only lasts 27 seconds; symbolically, this represents the urgency Link has to improve his situation.)

** Wizzrobe, a normal enemy in other games but a miniboss here, does the whack-a-mole method, as it fires, disappears, and appears elsewhere to fire again. (They do that in all games, but in this one, there are several specific points where he can appear. You have to spot him, avoid his blast and hit him before he can disappear again, or [[QuickDraw be quicker at shooting him]] and cancel his attack entirely as he disappears. Like any good Zelda villain, hit him enough times and he TurnsRed before you can actually kill him).

** Goht is a mechanical bull who runs in a circular track and fires back at you, never stopping. Then he resorts to rocks, and ''bombs.'' The way to defeat him is chasing him as Goron Link and bumping into his legs to make him trip. (You could also shoot Fire Arrows at his forehead, but the former method is more fun.)

* LowFantasy: Termina is much lower on the fantasy scale than the general Hyrule games. Specifically; Link's use of even basic magic fascinates characters and lead them to wrongfully assume he's capable of greater feats like resurrection. There is a legend of a hero who can change Termina's destiny, but it's never specified that Link is the ''only'' one who can do it. (Indeed, he pulls it off more because of favorable circumstances than any divine plan.) Finally, the game's villain is a child corrupted by forbidden, uncontrollable power, quite different from the consciously malicious villains of other entries.

** The Indigo-Gos' hit song is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening "The Ballad of the Wind Fish"]]. (Though, that's just its title.)

* WorthyOpponent: The [[GratuitousNinja Garo]] {{Ninja}}s, although minor in their appearance, consider Link a worthy opponent. They not only praise him upon their defeat, but also provide him with some helpful tips as a token of their respect before they finally [[NoBodyLeftBehind dispose of their own bodies]]. (Majora itself deliberately provokes Link at the end, seemingly for the amusement of battling him.)

** Taken to ridiculous extremes with the Stone mask, that makes you invisible to most enemies, even as you loudly hack away at them.

* ShapeshifterGuiltTrip: You can attempt this twice, once against Igos Du Ikana with his knight captain's mask ([[spoiler:which fails completely]]), and once against the Gorman brothers with their brother's mask ([[spoiler:which upsets them so much they can't fight]]).

* DubNameChange: Strangely, a case of a name ''not'' being changed. Wart is known as Arrghus in every other localization it appears in. Arrghus is the name of a boss in ''A Link to the Past'', and Wart is the name ''both''
creatures have in their respective games' Japanese version, confirming they're the same species.

* DrunkOnMilk: {{Lampshaded}} by Gorman, who gets plastered at the Milk Bar (and requires you to cure his hangover in the 3DS version).

''Majora's Mask'' has only four dungeons, so the gameplay places great emphasis upon various {{sidequest}}s. Numerous people in Termina need help of some form or another, and by exploiting the GroundhogDayLoop, Link can help all of them (albeit temporarily) to acquire Pieces of Heart, new Masks, and other rewards. These include [[MatchMakerQuest helping a young couple reunite with each other]] and defending a farm from [[AliensStealCattle cow-stealing UFOs]]. The game is also well known for its grim, disturbing atmosphere, as well as its thematic examination of issues such as despair and inevitability. It's often noted that ''Majora's Mask'' paved the way for deeper storytelling in the ''Zelda'' series following ''Link's Awakening''.

''Majora's Mask'' has only four dungeons (though they're much harder than any of the ones in ''Ocarina''), so the gameplay places great emphasis upon various {{sidequest}}s. Numerous people in Termina need help of some form or another, and by exploiting the GroundhogDayLoop, Link can help all of them (albeit temporarily) to acquire Pieces of Heart, new Masks, and other rewards. These include [[MatchMakerQuest helping a young couple reunite with each other]] and defending a farm from [[AliensStealCattle cow-stealing UFOs]]. The game is also well known for its grim, disturbing atmosphere, as well as its thematic examination of issues such as despair and inevitability. It's often noted that ''Majora's Mask'' paved the way for deeper storytelling in the ''Zelda'' series following ''Link's Awakening''.

A follow-up to ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' in terms of both story and gameplay, the development team re-used the engine and character models from ''Ocarina of Time'', which reduced the development time of this game to one year. Fitting, as the devs only ''had'' that one year to make it, owing to a bet Creator/EijiAonuma made with series creator Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto. The game was notable both for being the [[DarkerAndEdgier darkest]] entry in the series at the time, a title that it's still in the running for to this day, and for being one of two games that required the [=N64=] Expansion Pack alongside ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' (though technically ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' needed it as well in order to function properly).

* BareYourMidriff: It takes a bit of trickery with the camera to see them, but the Treasure Chest Shop attendant and the desk clerk at the Mayor's Office in Clock Town both wear short belly-baring shirts. The Gerudo Pirates do so as well, being clad in much more revealing tube tops.