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The Mask of Power is an object that when worn on the face grants the wearer any number of powers, depending on the mask itself.

Often it will get some backstory to explain its power, whether that's where the power comes from or what sort of power it is. Perhaps it was the facial representation of some deity, or it may have been worn by some ancient ruler or mage, or maybe it was connected to some vaguely defined tropical mysticism. The latter point is possibly influenced by the preponderance of masks in Tiki culture.

Then there's the symbolism of taking upon oneself a new face, the metaphor of looking through different eyes becoming literal as well as the sense that masks are just really badass. However the flip side of the power being in the mask and the importance of the "new face" that can have its own personality is that you can get a literal Becoming the Mask situation, with the mask taking over the character.

Compare Evil Mask, Hat of Power, Crown of Power, Ring of Power, Crystal Skull.

Not to be confused with Cool Mask, in which a character who wears a mask is assumed to be powerful but does not necessarily have power because of the mask itself.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • The Visored in Bleach can increase their power tenfold by calling out their inner Hollow and wearing its mask in battle. The trope is also inverted in that Arrancar — the polar opposite of Visoreds — are more powerful because they took their Hollow masks off.
    • Ichigo's Hollow side definitely deserves a mention of its own, because when his Hollow form takes over in his epic fight with Byakuya Kuchiki, it started growing onto his face. Ironically, Ichigo's final and most powerful Hollowfication does away with the mask entirely, instead having his skin bleach white while gaining the mask lines on his face and the horns growing right out of his skull. This is meant to represent his "perfected" Hollowfication since he's finally at peace and one with his power.
    • The Arrancar zig-zag a bit when using their Resurrección. They become stronger and more like their original Hollow form and for many of them it means the fragments of their masks become larger. However some of them have their mask fragments shrink or disappear entirely and some like Baraggan have a complete physical transformation that it's impossible to judge what becomes his mask.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has the Stone Mask, which pretty much gave Dio all his powers. A slight variation in that you only need to wear it once.
    • The mask had to be worn and then spilled with some blood. Then the mask would sprout some stone tentacles that carved into your brain, killing you but also activating unknown areas of it, bringing you back as a vampire. Also they made you food for the Pillar Men, who created/generated the masks.
    • The Masks' creator, Kars, originally created the Masks for the Pillar Men themselves. He discovered that the Masks weren't powerful enough to alter the Pillar Men since they were already superhuman. If a Pillar Man dons a Mask infused with enough power, it would turn the Pillar Man into an Ultimate Life Form with Complete Immortality who no longer has the Pillar Mens' weakness to sunlight.
  • Rino from My Girlfriend Without Wasabi has the ability to imbue the masks she makes with magical powers due to her being the reincarnation of an ancient demon. Given the fact that demonic powers are fueled by negative emotions, all of her masks lose their power once she enters a happy relationship with Nozomu including the three that she enchanted to take on human form and act as her surrogate family.
  • In Tajikarao, the eponymous Shinto god is able to manifest physically when a spiritually suitable human puts a sacred mask on his face.
  • The Cassandra Mask in Ann Cassandra gives its user the power to create evil fates at the price of losing their free will and eventually dying. Supposedly, it was created from the remains of the Greek prophetess Cassandra after she died cursing the people who wouldn't believe her.
  • The "Rabbit of Truth" from The Voynich Hotel turns the user's thoughts into speech, and allows them to see past glamours and illusions.
  • In Bakugan, The villain Masquerade exists because he is a split personality of Alice brought to life by negative energy. His mask manifests his very being and gives him several powers, such as seeing a Bakugan's G-power without assistance, teleportation, and voice distortion.
  • Flint the Time Detective: Big Bad The Dark Lord always conceals his face behind a mask. The reason why is because it's the source of his powers (and what gives him is adult appearance since he's actually a child). Flint finally manages to knock it off his head during their duel in the series finale, depowering the villain.

    Comic Books 
  • Doctor Fate's helmet in The DCU. It even got its own mini-series The Helmet of Fate where it passed through the hands of different mystical heroes before finding its way to its new wielder.
  • The DC Comics villain Psycho-Pirate got his emotion-controlling powers from the "Medusa Mask" although this is a subversion, as he had to take the mask off (so people could see his face) to use his powers.
    • The original Psycho-Pirate discovered multiple Medusa Masks, each one expressing a different emotion. The one everyone thinks of melted them all down into his signature gold mask, which by Infinite Crisis worked without removing it.
  • When published in the 1940's The Face was simply a highly skilled man with no super-powers who wore a mask so frightening that it terrified criminals, thus giving him an advantage in combat and interrogation. About four decades later Ace Comics published a three-issue miniseries in which the mask imparts the original Face's grandson with enhanced physical abilities and senses as well as wisdom, implicitly due to being possessed by the spirit of the original.
  • Little Victory: One of Victory Girl's first opponents was a Mexican "god" in the form of a possessing mask.
  • In Throne of Atlantis, Ocean Master's crown controls the storms.
  • The titular mask from The Mask. It transforms its wearers into a very powerful Reality Warper dubbed "Big Head". However, the Mask is incredibly corrupting and lets its wearers indulge in extreme violence before discarding them when they're killed.
  • Doctor Who Magazine: In "The Blood of Azrael", Azrael's mask contains the memories and reality-warping powers of the Omnicidal Maniac Azrael, waiting for a host of a suitable mindset to continue his work. Unfortunately, the mask also comes with Clothes Make the Maniac tendencies.
  • Marvel Comics #1000 is a Milestone Celebration of Marvel's eighty years in publication that's an anthology of various characters throughout its history. Through it is a running story of Jimmy Woo, Night Thrasher and the Blue Marvel investigating an ancient conspiracy centering around an artifact known as the Eternity Mask. Appearing to be a black cloth mask that occasionally shines like a star field, it was created by sorcerers in Medieval England to give lowborn peasants equal power to Arthur's knights. The mask, made from Eternity itself, subsequently has the ability to make any who wears it the equal of whoever they stand against, so long as it isn't used for oppression. For someone already powerful this isn't noticeable but for any underdog it gives them at least a fair chance to win in any fight. The mask is also alive, and knows who will wield it.
  • Wonder Woman: The Mask of Proteus is a Transformation Trinket allowing the wearer to appear to be anyone, living or dead. It is one of the mystical items in the possession of the Amazons, and while generally Diana doesn't use it, Wonder Woman: The Contest had her use of it be the reason her mother didn't realize she was in the tournament to choose a champion until she'd won and removed it.

    Fan Fiction 
  • The Neon Genesis Evangelion/The Familiar of Zero fanfic Points of Familiarity has the protagonist create Angel-type bone Masks with very strange properties.
  • In Blood is Thicker than Bone Orochimaru had spent time looking for a fabled mask worn by Honda Tadakatsu that renders whoever wears it immune to damage. It's also capable of restoring wounds for as long as you wear it, even his sealed arms.
  • In Fate/Parallel Fantasia, one of False Rider's Noble Phantasms is a magical mask which obscures her identity, parameters, skills, and even her class; because she carries a spear, True Rider initially mistakes her for a Lancer.
  • Equestria Girls: Friendship Souls: The Visoreds make their appearance here represented by Ditzy Doo, who's also a Yoruichi expy down to the mask being feline, and while not directly shown yet Screwball and Screwloose also underwent Hollowfication similarly to her. Then there's Starlight Glimmer, who perfected the Visored transformation on herself and shows this by her eyes not turning gold while wearing it like other Visoreds and her reiastu being noted to be much more controlled and less feral than Ditzy's.
  • Jaune Arc, Lord of Hunger: Unlike most examples of this trope, the Mask of Darth Nihilus doesn't even need to be worn in order to draw power from it. Simply claiming ownership over it was enough for Jaune to be granted Force-sensitivity. Subverted as part of The Reveal is that Nihilus's mask didn't grant Jaune his Force abilities, Nihilus himself actually did it and he tricked Jaune into believing his powers came from the mask in order to goad him into putting it on.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • The titular mask from The Mask. It's noted in the film that this style of mask is meant to represent Loki, Norse Trickster god, and Stanley hypothesize that the spirit of Loki was banished into the mask and when Stanley uses it he becomes a harmless goodhearted gangster called The Mask who is easy looking and who eventually uses his powers for good and becomes a superhero at the end of the film while the Big Bad uses the Mask of Loki for evil. The sequel Son of the Mask shows that it was actually created by Loki.
  • In the lucha film El Hacha Diabolica, El Santo's mask turns out to be a mystical artifact and key to defeating the villain.
  • The Halloween series. Especially in the first film; Michael doesn't kill anyone except when wearing a mask. In the intro he only froze when his dad removed his clown mask, and later when Laurie knocks his mask off he takes the time to put it back on, giving her a better chance of escaping. First thing he does before starting his spree is steal the mask, but not for disguise since he never takes it off and few people would recognize him. In the sequel, he still wears the mask (getting an innocent lookalike killed) and is discovered to have scrawled Samhain (basically, Halloween) on the wall of the mask store he robbed, suggesting he somehow links dressing up with murdering people; he becomes the Boogeyman.
  • The Alchemist from Vidocq wears a mask made out of mirror that he uses to eat the souls of his victims. For extra creepiness, it also makes the victim see their own dying face while looking at him. Extra creepiness: it has to be reforged periodically, and the most important step is tempering it with the blood of a hundred virgin girls.
  • The titular MirrorMask. The people of the film believe it created the world, and it certainly has the power to let one escape that world.
  • Italian Superman ripoff and MST3K classic The Pumaman features an "ancient Aztec" mask with alien mind control powers which the villain uses in an attempt to Take Over the World. He succeeds in hypnotizing some world leaders and our titular "hero" before being single-handedly thwarted by his sidekick.
  • In The Huntsman: Winter's War, Freya uses delicate masks of frost with owl-like features to see through the eyes of her Snowlem owl spies.

    Literature 
  • In the Star Trek Novel 'Verse, the recitation masks of the Oralian Way religion. This Cardassian faith makes use of ceremonial masks which channel the life energy of the wearer, allowing them to become closer to Oralius and the Fates, even at times serve as a vessel for Oralius. Genuine masks amplify empathic and telepathic abilities, essentially being a form of Amplifier Artifact. Some masks are just replicas, though. The Dithparu's mask is a sinister version of the recitation mask. See: Star Trek: The Lost Era in particular.
  • The Discworld novel Maskerade plays with this trope very well, with a running theme of alter egos and masks revealing someone's true self. First, we see a mysterious Ghost who, while wearing his mask, is intelligent, worldly, supremely confident, and capable of incredible feats of swordplay and agility. With his mask off, he's Walter Plinge, a total nobody and Extreme Doormat with an unspecified disorder who works at the Opera because he loves it. When the Witches find the identity of the Ghost, Granny Weatherwax uses her famed 'Headology' to give him an 'invisible' mask to reveal his true self-confident self. It's imaginary... probably. Like many things Granny does, it's intentionally ambiguous. Also like many things Granny does, it works.
  • The Mask of the Sun was essentially decoration added to goggles which somehow gave the wearer perceptions of the future, along with hints how to manipulate that future in his favor. The first time the main character put it on, it gave him a vision of himself shifting two pieces of furniture. He did so, and the changed positions of a coffee table and a floor lamp led to the people who attacked him a minute later accidentally shooting one of their own guys, allowing the hero to get away....
  • Inverted in Graham Masterton's horror novel Death Trance, when one of the baddies, a psychopathic Vietnam vet, puts on a Balinese demon mask with mocking intent. Only to find this summons the demon whose mask it is, who then demonstrates his irritation by eating the wearer's head - from the inside of the mask. In this case the mask is definitely a doorway to power - only it's not channelled by the human wearing it...

    Live-Action TV 
  • Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion involves a teenaged girl being chosen by an enchanted luchador mask that transforms her into a luchador with the power of Super-Speed. She's mentored by another super luchador named Black Scorpion, who has Super-Strength.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Dead Man's Party" - the mask of a Nigerian demon, Ovu Mobani (the) Evil Eye, gave its wearers, typically evil voodoo sorcerers, the demon's power, i.e., raising evil zombies under the wearer's control. When the mask was brought to Sunnydale, it began animating zombies of its own accord. It turns out that if one of its zombies is allowed to wear the mask, Ovu Mobani would be reincarnated. And even though Ovu Mobani reincarnated, Buffy soon disposed of it with a garden shovel.
  • In Power Rangers Wild Force: The Mask of Zen-Aku grants great power, at the cost of also granting a Superpowered Evil Side.
  • In Power Rangers Ninja Storm, there's the mask that held the spirit of Shimazu. (Fortunately, it was on a statue. Of Shimazu.)
  • Mashin Sentai Kiramager: The monsters of the week get their powers from masks created by Carantula. The small-size monsters are promoted mooks while the giants are wild animals from Yodonheim. The Big Bad Yodon wears a unique mask with two more masks attached to the sides that can swing over his face to transform him into his alternate personalities. His alternate selves are weaker than his real form but have different powers than he does and are able to survive in environments that he cannot. The central mask does not give him any other special powers but the mask itself is indestructible and since he is only weak to attacks against his head he can't be defeated as long as he is wearing it. Himitsu Sentai Gorenger also had mask-themed monsters but in that case the masks were apparently part of the monsters' bodies since the monster were artificial beings.
  • Grimm: In the Pro Wrestling Episode "The Silence of the Slams", an ancient Aztec ritual is used to create a luchador mask from flayed Wesen skin that gives the wearer the powers of that Wesen. However, if used outside the ring, it proves to be a Clingy McGuffin and With Great Power Comes Great Insanity.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dungeons & Dragons: There's a fair number of powerful mask magical items in various sourcebooks of 3.0/3.5. Complete Scoundrel also describes a prestige class whose sole purpose is this trope. The player gains the ability early on to forge masks of specified types that grant some degree of magical anonymity versus the player's alignment being felt out, as well as stat bonuses specific to the type.
  • Exalted has Mask of Thousand Faces that allows the wearer to look like another person. Powerful characters can make items, including masks, that grant powerful bonuses.
  • Warhammer Fantasy Battle:
    • The Dark Elf pirate lord Lokhir Fellheart has a magical golden kraken mask that he liberated from an ancient underwater city. It inspires unreasoning otherworldly terror in his combat opponents.
    • The Tomb Kings have the Death Mask of Kharnut, which is even more terrifying, and the High Elves have the Mask of the Merlord, which is not terrifying but does enable its wearer to move through aquatic terrain more easily.
    • The Savage Orc Shaman Wurrzag ud ura Zahubu wears the Baleful Mask, a magical wooden mask in traditional cartoon witch-doctor style that shoots green lightning bolts from its eyes.
    • The Terrifying Mask of Eee! is available in 8th edition's common magic items list. It causes terror among enemy units, but prevents the wearer from leading troops effectively.
  • Betrayal at House on the Hill features a mask that increases Knowledge at the cost of Sanity when worn.
  • Ironsworn: The firstborn conceal their faces behind ornate wooden masks rumored to contain magical powers. If a player characters forge a bond with the elves and receive a mask of elderwood, the player can take the Masked path asset. When a Masked Ironsworn wears this firstborn mask, they receive stat boosts to a chosen stat determined by the type of wood, which can even help the Ironsworn when facing death or desolation.

    Toys 
  • This half the premise of the 80's toy line/TV series M.A.S.K.. The other half being transforming vehicles.
  • BIONICLE had Kanohi Masks that granted powers to the wearer (who were usually Toa). In fact, they were a main theme until a retool, and the franchise could be the Trope Namer as "Masks of Power" was a common name for them from day one. In-Universe they grant a ton of powers, to name a few: shielding, flight, x-ray vision, accuracy, invisibility, teleportation, even altering probablity. (But the series has been ReTooled a bit away from this, now including other headgear without powers.)
    • A full list: Shielding, Underwater Breathing, Levitation, Strength, Speed, X-Ray Vision, Time, Life, Light, Shadows, Concealment, Translation, Illusions, Night Vision, Mind Control, Telekinesis, Fate, Spirit, Detection, Telepathy, Flight, Accuracy, Radar, Kindred, Summoning, Stealth, Gravity, Reanimation, Corruption, Hunger, Silence, Repulsion, Disruption, Time Duplication, Diminishment, Clairvoyance, Quick Travel (Teleportation), Emulation, Growth, Rahi Control (Animal Control), Regeneration, Truth, Dimensional Travel, Charisma, Alternate Futures, Psychometry, Intangibility, Possibilities, Elemental Energy, Mutation, Scavenging, Incomprehension, Adaptation, Sensory Aptitude, Aging, Undeath, Conjuring, Rebounding, Biomechanics, and Fusion.
      • The abstractness of the powers grew as the series aged. One of the very cool features early on was how much the Toa mixed and matched elemental powers and mask powers, a lot like LEGO. Stop a lava flow from damaging an island? Mask of strength and earth elemental powers on the first Toa to dig a trench, mask of speed on the toa behind to push the digger around so that the channel was dug in time.
    • Some masks are more powerful than others, and only some actually grant powers at all. Only Toa and Turaga can use them either way. Matoran can sense if a mask has power, but can't use it. So multiple levels of this trope.
    • Then there's the big three Masks of Power: Time, Life, and Creation. The first one can slow down or speed up time around the user or others, and if broken would cause a Reality-Breaking Paradox via Time Crash. The second one can grant others powers through curses, transform living things any way it wants, imbued inanimate objects with life, is meant to be used to restore the life force of Mata Nui, and is actually alive and sentient itself. The last one is the most hazy on details, but it apparently allows one to create any item to their desire and specification. So powerful these three are that even Toa can barely control their power.
    • Also, it's a breathing apparatus. Since the Matoran were designed to live inside the giant robot body of Mata Nui, leaving Metru Nui to go to Mata Nui essentially put them in a toxic atmosphere.

    Video Games 
  • Supplemental material for ARMS states that the fighters must wear specialized masks, developed by the ARMS Institute, to control their Extendable Arms.
  • Crash Bandicoot has several:
    • The first and most iconic is Aku Aku; a sentient mask who acts as the Bandicoot's ally and father figure. In-game he can grant Crash and Coco temporary invulnerability and make them faster and stronger for a certain amount of time when three of his masks are acquired.
    • Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped then introduces his Evil Twin; Uka Uka, who not only is the boss of Dr. Neo Cortex and his minions, but also powerful enough to face off against his brother.
    • In side-games like Crash Bash or Crash Team Racing, both masks acts as temporary barriers for the cast depending on their alignment.
    • Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex introduces the Elementals, four evil masks who grant Crunch elemental-themed powers in every boss fight against him.
    • Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time features the four Quantum Masks, who are needed to fix the multiverse rifts created by Cortex and N. Tropy, as well as acting as power-ups throughout the game.
  • Dark Souls has Pinwheel, who wears three of them. The player can obtain these masks, each of them offering unique status buffs.
  • In Death Stranding, Higgs wears a golden, skull-like mask — implied to be made of crystallized chiralium, a quasi-physical element tied to the undead of The Beach — which he uses to summon giant "Beached Things". Unusually for the trope, he prefers to take it off his face while using its power, waving it around in his hand and make it easier to read for the audience.
  • Gabranth in Dissidia Final Fantasy goes from slow, weak and vulnerable in his normal mode to fast, powerful and deadly in his EX Mode. One of the graphical changes between the two modes consists of Gabranth putting his helmet on.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has the Masks of the Dragon Priests, all of which come with a powerful enchantment and a high armor rating. In addition, there is the Masque of Clavicus Vile, which doubles as a helmet.
  • Jack of Blade's Mask from Fable. He is the Mask, and possesses the main character if you choose not to destroy it in the Lost Chapter.
  • God of War:
    • Chains of Olympus has Charon's golden mask, which allows him - and later Kratos when he defeats Charon - to create a green flame that stuns and damages enemies.
    • Ascension features a white mask made out of the oracle's eyes. Kratos punches illusions with it.
  • Each animal mask (besides the one you start out with) that can be worn in Hotline Miami grants a different bonus, like starting out with a specific weapon, being able to issue one-hit kills with your bare fists, or reading everything in poorly-translated French. This really only extends to the gameplay, though, as the game's relatively grounded setting makes it unlikely the masks truly give special abilities to the wearer. Given that most of the game is seen Through the Eyes of Madness, the masks' "powers" might be just part of the player character's hallucinations.
  • Jonathan Kane: The Protector: The terrorist organization called the Scarlet Vengeance seeks an ancient Mayan Mask to awaken a powerful God-King and control the world, and the titular hero needs to stop them. The Scarlet Vengeance's leader, Hakan Akhbar, unfortunately managed to obtain and don the mask in the finale, turning into a powerful Mayan war-god that must be defeated in a lengthy boss fight.
  • The Legend of Zelda:
    • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has the Mask of Truth, which grants the wearer the power to speak to Gossip Stones. The other masks, however, don't have any special powers except repel some minor enemies.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask has 28 collectible masks (including the Boss Remains which allow Link to refight a boss without the need to complete a dungeon again), and many of them grant the wearer some sort of power, ranging from "one specific type of enemy will talk to you instead of attacking" to "transformation into one of the other races (Zora, Deku, or Goron)" to granting minor abilities such as enhanced speed or invisibility. If you get all the masks by the end of the game, you receive the Fierce Deity mask that's an Infinity +1 Sword that turns you into a Physical God and makes the Final Boss fight a Curb-Stomp Battle in your favor. Since the Fierce Deity just turns you into a white-haired version of adult Link with some warpaint and a BFS, plus its immense power and purposefully vague history (it's hinted to be potentially as bad as Majora itself) there's a lot of speculation about where it came from. Then there's the titular mask itself, acting as a Sealed Evil in a Can that corrupts whoever wears it. It doesn't actually need someone to wear it, though — once Skull Kid is of no more use, it fights you under its own power, becoming humanoid in the process.
    • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has the Hero's Mask, which lets you see enemies' HP (if you can figure out how to equip it).
    • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has the Thunder Helm, a fancy golden mask worn by Urbosa and later by Riju that gives them complete immunity from lightning, with the latter also using it to generate a larger lightning-proof field that Link can travel in as they battle Vah Naboris. Riju will give the Thunder Helm to Link after Vah Naboris is purified if he also completes all the quests given by Gerudo Town inhabitants.
  • The Masqerenes from Masquerada: Songs and Shadows are carnival-like masks that grant Elemental Powers, they were created by Precursors and, as it later turns out, the reason they were wiped out. Masqerenes require a Human Sacrifice to create and killing a person using one destroys the Masqerene too. The Precursors originally used prisoners to make them but as the Masqerenes kept getting destroyed the population rebelled out of fear they might be used as raw materials next.
  • The Shakalaka from Monster Hunter wear masks both to conceal their faces and also as weapons of war. The King Shakalaka, which debuted in Freedom Unite, can lob fire from the BBQ Spit he wears on his head. Also, both Cha-Cha (Monster Hunter 3 (Tri)) and Kayamba (3 Ultimate) change personality and behavior based on the masks they wear. The Ancient Mask enshrined in Moga Village serves as an important item in the hunt for the Ceadeus, as it produces oxygen from the water it takes in. Unfortunately for the Wyverian Craftsman and Junior, all the stuff that makes this possible makes it too small for a human to wear.
  • In Persona 5, the heroes' Personas, Anthropomorphic Personifications of their own personalities that allow them to use Functional Magic, transform into customized masks when not in use. They can be summoned with one hand upon the mask, and their very first summoning requires removing the mask itself... along with a sizable chunk of the skin behind it. It heals quickly, thankfully.
  • In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet “The Teal Mask” introduces Ogerpon, whose type changes depending on which of its masks the player gives it. It is Grass-type by default with the Teal Mask and becomes Grass/Water with the Wellspring mask, Grass/Fire with the Hearthflame mask and Grass/Rock with the Cornerstone mask.
  • The Mask of the Wraith, from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, allows a person to exist twice in the same timeline.
  • The Mask of Chaos in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. The gentleman who wears the mask, known only as the Masked Gentleman, displays all sorts of supernatural abilities which he attributes to the mask, including growing wings, walking on thin air, turning people into stone, bringing paintings to life, and making people just plain vanish... and this isn't even close to a complete list. These abilities were all elaborately faked. The only power the mask has is to raise the ruins of an ancient civilisation... which, to be fair, is arguably more impressive.
  • The Mask of Kan'Ami in The Secret World, which not only translates every language known to man and quite a few that have been forgotten, but also provides the wearer with the ability to see emotional auras left in the air. It's also sentient and quite exasperated about the whole thing.
  • The Mask of Shadows from Shadow Man. In the source material comic books, the Shadowman would wear the mask on their face like normal, but Michael LeRoi, the newest bearer, has had it permanently fused to his sternum by voodoo priestess Mama Nettie. As his shadow power increases, the fiery blue glow from his eyes begins to expand and form the shape of the mask on his face.
  • The Mask of Dark Earth from the "Rumble Down Under" level of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves certainly counts. It overlaps significantly with Evil Mask due to it's tendency to latch onto unsuspecting hosts and feed off their negative emotions, making them grow huge, powerful, and extremely aggressive — all of which causes the host to die in a short span of time.
  • In Splatterhouse, whereas by donning the 'Terror Mask', seemingly normal Rick Taylor turns into a badass with a habit of punching out Cthulhu and every punches turned everything he touches into plasticines. The mask is also alive with a mind too. In fact, it's trying to use Rick to Take Over the World. Though eventually Rick has amassed enough power to kick its behind through a Battle in the Center of the Mind.
  • In Sundered, the boss Dominion is an Evil Sorcerer whose magical powers seem to come from his three masks. As soon as he puts one on, all three of them start glowing, his throne sprouts tentacles, and he begins casting his spells.
  • This a recurring theme in Utawarerumono and the sequel duology. First with Hakuowlo, whom has a mask glued to his face which happens to contain a god, one who is responsible for the decline of humanity and the rise of their animal-eared creations. Next with the 4 "akuruka", which grant their users immense power (and the power to transform into a giant monster) but eventually consume their user (they are based on Hakuowlo's mask and are significantly weaker than it). Eventually, Haku, the protagonist, gets his hands on one of the masks and finds out that the masks grant normal humans even more of their power but are fused to their user's face in return (they were meant to be used by normal humans and not demihumans).
  • Wasteland 3: The Monster Army was at one time a conquering horde that terrorized Colorado (now, they're mostly just merchants). They wore masks, but given that these were goofy Halloween costumes from the 80s, one can be forgiven for being skeptical that they gave the Monsters power. But then they explain why they think that: by wearing a mask they create a new persona for themselves, one that is completely unbound by morality, compassion, or customs, allowing them to commit atrocities they would shrink from in horror with their normal faces out.
  • Ys: Memories of Celceta has the plot-important Mask of the Sun and Mask of the Moon. The villains also have power-enhancing masks that are usually used to make brainwashed soldiers more powerful, but a few characters wear one willingly.

    Web Comics 
  • This Oglaf strip has an Artifact of Doom literally named Mask of Power. It doubles as a Dismantled MacGuffin.
  • Plume has a throwaway gag in the Mask of Seraphim, which grants the wearer Hot Wings and Super-Speed. The heroes put it on the horse pulling their carriage.
  • In Kill Six Billion Demons, devils come into existence by being bound into a mask and a name, and transform their masks as they increase in power. Breaking a devil's mask causes it to dissolve into mindless chaos until it's repaired and re-bound, raising the question of whether devils actually exist or their individuality is a lie imposed by the masks.

    Web Video 
  • In Mario & Luigi: The Mask, (a crossover between Super Mario Bros. and The Mask), Luigi uses the same mask (or rather this universe's version of it) that was in The Mask that was created by Loki, in order to become his alter ego, "The Green Thunder"

    Western Animation 
  • The Mask: Stanley still uses the Mask of Loki to become his alter-ego The Mask who is a good-hearted trickster and superhero but there have been others who wore it such as Evelyn who become her alter-ego Eve who is just like The Mask a crazy good-hearted woman and a superhero like him but Dr Neuman becomes a Ax-Crazy supervillain when he wore it and Peggy becomes a egotistical woman but a Jerk with a Heart of Gold when she also wore it.
  • Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series has a mask that gives the wearer the power to see anything that's currently invisible. It was created by the Ducks' greatest hero, Drake DuCaine and later worn by resistance leaders Canard and Wildwing. Also, the mask can only be worn by ducks, it tends to shock anyone else who tries putting it on.
  • In Jackie Chan Adventures there were nine such masks, each giving the user control over one of nine tribes of ninja called the Shadow Khan. It also turns the wearer evil.
  • In Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja the Norisville Ninja is given a ninja mask that is imbue with magical powers. The mask was made from a demon bird called The [[Tengu]].
  • Inverted, surprisingly, in ReBoot. Hexidecimal's power is naturally chaotic and uncontrollable - her white mask actually keeps it in check. A single crack made her Ax-Crazy, removing it completely nearly caused The End of the World as We Know It, and fixing it (via defragmentation) mellowed her out considerably.
  • M.A.S.K. features "masks" (helmets, if you want to get technical about the details) which each have their own powers, ranging from shooting glue to firing blobs of lava.
  • The villain Catra from She-Ra: Princess of Power has a mask that lets her turn into a panther when she moves it over her eyes. It also has other abilities, like teleportation and telepathic communication with cats, but she doesn't know its full potential because it was stolen from its rightful owner.
  • A Thousand and One... Americas: In the seventeenth episode, after being startled by his younger brother with a generic mask, Chris later startles him back with a very terrifying-looking mask located in the attic, and then read about it in the expedition book of their late grandfather. It turns out the mask was originally made by the Haida tribe for use during the Potlach, and signified a status of hierarchy and prestige for whoever wore it.


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Mask of Light: I am Takanuva

Takua dons the Mask of Light and becomes Takanuva.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (19 votes)

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Main / MaskOfPower

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