Ghost (Majora's Mask)
From Zelda Wiki, the Zelda encyclopedia
This article is for the enemy from Majora's Mask. For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation).
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| Game(s) | Majora's Mask |
| Habitat(s) | Romani Ranch |
| Effective Weapons | Hero's Bow |
Ghosts are enemies appearing in Majora's Mask. They are based on various depictions of aliens and other unexplained creatures in American folklore and media. The Majora's Mask guide by Nintendo Power also occasionally calls them "aliens" as well as referring to them as ghosts.[1] Their ambiguous nature and origin mirrors real-life UFO myths, but they do bear a strong resemblance to Poes and are perhaps related.
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Characteristics and History
The ghosts,[2] according to Romani, are the rather strange spirits that come to invade the barn of Romani Ranch to abduct their rare, precious Romani-bred cows,[3] which they inherited from their father.[4] They resemble ghostly, glowing aliens, and are quite similar to Poes. According to Romani, they come at night every year when the Carnival of Time approaches.[5] They disappear at first light, just before dawn.[6] If Link fails to save the cows on the first night they will abduct Romani, leaving Cremia, Romani's sister, saddened.[7] On the second day, the ghosts will return Romani with all her memories of their existence removed,[8] with apparent side effects on her personality.
Strategy
The ghosts are not a difficult enemy to fend off, and all of them die after one arrow shot. Therefore, there are some ways to prepare Link for the attack.
- Romani's dog will run towards and bark at whichever ghost is closest to the barn, making prioritizing targets fairly easy. In addition, if Link purchased a map of Romani's Ranch from Tingle, there will be moving white dots on the map in the corner of the screen. These dots are the exact location of the ghosts, allowing the map to be used as a radar.
- As he can only kill them with arrows, there is a danger that Link may run out of arrows and fail the quest. There are arrows in the crate outside the barn, and arrows are occasionally dropped by the ghosts upon death. Link's quiver can also be upgraded to a larger capacity from the shooting galleries in East Clock Town and near the Southern Swamp.
- It is suggested to use the Inverted Song of Time to slow time. It is not necessary, but slowing time also slows the ghosts (all the ghosts' movements are directly related to the current in-game time). However, by slowing time, the engagement also becomes longer, requiring more arrows.[9]
- Epona and the Bunny Hood can be used to increase mobility.
Trivia
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- It is possible to ride into the ranch while the invasion is underway and still save the ranch, but this can be quite difficult, and nearly impossible without Epona's or Goron Link's rolling speed. It is estimated that the latest time of arrival is 3am, if the ranch is still to be saved, and it is confirmed that 5am is too late.
- The ghosts are likely inspired by the Kelly-Hopkinsville encounter of 1955, a well-known and well-documented alleged Close Encounter event in the history of UFO incidents. One testimony describes the beings from this encounter as, "a luminous, three-and-a-half-foot-tall being with an oversized head, big, floppy, pointed ears, glowing eyes, and hands with talons at their ends. The figure, either made of or simply dressed in silvery metal, had its hands raised." The creatures were also said to have moved by hovering, due to having legs that appeared to be atrophied. This description is reminiscent of the ghosts in Majora's Mask. Also, both incidents occur in a rural farm area. They may also be based on the flatwoods monster due to their similar appearance to the monster and how both aliens' spaceships are flying balls of light.
- Every part of the ghosts that is not concealed by their robe or cowling emits a bright light, suggesting that their species is bio-luminescent.
- Romani's training balloons bear a much stronger resemblance to traditional poes than to the ghosts themselves.
Gallery
The ghosts beginning the invasion
The ghosts reach the barn
The ghosts abducting cows
The ghosts abducting cows
Romani being abducted
The balloon used by Romani to practice for the invasion
References
- ↑ "Ghost-busting begins at 2:30 a.m., so be at the ranch to fend off the aliens with your arrows." (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Player's Guide (Nintendo Power), pg. 114)
- ↑ "Became ranch hand - Romani Ranch - Help get rid of ghosts at 2:30 a.m." — Bomber's Notebook (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "The special Romani-bred cows are the source of Chateau Romani, the most desired of forbidden milk!" — Cremia (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "These are Romani-bred. My father left them for us." — Cremia (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "They... They come at night every year when the carnival gets closer. They come riding in a bright, shining ball, and many of them come down...to the barn..." — Romani (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "They run away at first light of the sun, so we'll have to keep fending them off until then!" — Romani (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "Oh...Sorry. Now...I'm kind of...Thinking... Last night...My sister... The cows are all gone... But please...Enjoy yourself..." — Cremia (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "But...This... What is this practice for? ...Romani...can't remember..." — Romani (Majora's Mask)
- ↑ "The battle will be easier (albeit longer) if you’ve slowed time’s flow using the Inverted Song of Time, since the ghosts will slow down, too." (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Player's Guide (Nintendo Power), pg. 114)
 Names in Other Regions 
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| Language | Name | |
| Japanese | 
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オバケ (Obake) |
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