Ghost (Majora's Mask)

This article is for the enemy from Majora's Mask. For other uses, see Ghost (disambiguation). Template:Enemy

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. Their ambiguous nature and origin mirrors real-life UFO lore, but they do bear a strong resemblance to Poes and are perhaps related.

Characteristics and History

The ghosts, 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, which they inherited from their father. 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. They disappear at first light, just before dawn. If Link fails to save the cows on the first night they will abduct Romani, leaving Cremia, Romani's sister, saddened. On the second day, the ghosts will return Romani with all her memories of their existence removed, 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.
• Epona and the Bunny Hood can be used to increase mobility.

Cultural Analysis

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File:Flatwoods Monster.jpg

Flatwoods Monster. Note the clawed 'zombie hands' pose.

The behavior of these "ghosts" and their invasion is 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 somewhat reminiscent of the ghosts in Majora's Mask. However, the Kelly-Hopkinsville alien visually resembles (and probably was, in fact) a Barn Owl, the physical appearance of "Them" is more akin to the Flatwoods monster; both aliens' spaceships are flying balls of light. Additionally, the stealing, consumption or mutilation of cattle has been a subject of both UFO and cryptozoologic lore, with incidents of cows being found (supposedly) drained of blood being attributed to aliens, but also to Earth monsters such as the Chupacabra. Also, both incidents occur in a rural farm area.

The Flatwoods design is popular in Japanese UFO culture, having been used in other games and media such as the 1988 NES game Amagon, and the Sgt. Frog anime: it is a common cultural shorthand for "Alien" in Japan, in close standing and frequency of use as the Grey alien depiction of extraterrestrial life. In contrast, Greys are vastly more popular and common in American culture and UFO lore, far more than any other alien depictions. Examples include the Sectoids in the X-COM series, the Colonists (the invading race that is the primary motivator of the series) in the X Files, Kif Kroker from Futurama, and the infamous "Alien Autopsy" hoax.

Lastly, the "battle music" that plays throughout the invasion shares themes with various scores and motifs from the UFO films of the 60's-80's.

Given the technological and cultural equivilency of Termina and most of the Zelda series, it is unlikely that Romani is familiar with the concept of other planets and alien life-forms. The label of "Ghost" may be a total misnomer on her part. In the Medival Europe time period (that the Zelda series tends to emulate), there were, in fact, stories of abductions, erased memories, and "rituals" performed on humans that are taken in their sleep: these were attributed to creatures such as succubi and incubi, and other supernatural forces, in cultures all around the world. Such occurrence became more commonly attributed to extraterrestrials after the Betty and Barney Hill abduction claim. In modern times, such reports are attributed to sleep paralysis. And throughout human history, from the Old Testament and other mythologies, events depicted in paintings from the Middle Ages, and even during WWII, there have been reports of lights and objects in the sky that UFO enthusiasts claim were aliens all along.

Relationship to Poes

Despite similar appearance, there are a number of differences between these ghosts and Poes:

• While these ghosts are bioluminescent, they do not carry lanterns, which have been ubiquitous to Poes since their first appearance in Template:ALTTP.
• While Poes are spirits of hate and malice, these ghosts do not react in any way to Link, except to his arrows, and the minor collision damage they cause him.
• Poes, due to their lanterns, often have some sort of flame effect involved in their encounters (such as the blue flames encountered beneath the Ikana Graveyard or Beneath the Well, both in Ikana Canyon, which spawn Big Poes). These ghosts, however, have a steady, non-flickering light in their appearance, as well as their "teleportation" sound and light effect when they spawn (as well as the bright and energetic "snap" light/sound they emit when they're hit).
• Poe attacks are meant to kill directly, such as Sharp's Curse. However, when these ghosts steal the cows, they abduct Romani, and return her alive (albeit mind-wiped).

In short: while "They" are obviously aliens, the residents of the Zelda multiverse are unlikely to know the term, and would name them as demons or ghosts.

Trivia

• 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.
• 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.

• The Ghosts behave like aliens in that they come from a ufo (literally, it is unidentified, it is flying, and it is an object) and abduct livestock. In fact, the design of the ghosts is nearly identical to the Flatwoods Monster.
• Romani's training balloons bear a much stronger resemblance to traditional poes than to the ghosts themselves.

Gallery

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  The ghosts beginning the invasion

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  The ghosts reach the barn

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  The ghosts abducting cows

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  The ghosts abducting cows

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  Romani being abducted

• MM TheyPracticeBalloon.png

  The balloon used by Romani to practice for the invasion

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Names in Other Regions
Language		Name	Meaning
	Japanese	Template:Japanese	Ghost

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