Secrets and Easter Eggs

Majora’s Mask hides its jokes in plain sight: five masks that look like the Star Fox crew, tunes from older Zelda games played by the Zora band, a Mario mask in the Happy Mask Salesman’s pack and two scenes that only appear if you are in the right place at the right time. Everything below works in the Nintendo 64 game, and the last section covers a few well-known details that were added later in the 3DS remake so you do not hunt for them in the original.

Quick reference

Star Fox mask look-alikes

Five masks on the mask screen resemble the characters of Nintendo’s Star Fox series: a fox, a bird, a rabbit, a frog and a pig. Fans have long matched them to the Star Fox crew, and the resemblance is hard to miss, although Nintendo has never confirmed the link. All five are worth collecting anyway, and the Mask Collection Guide covers every mask in full.

Keaton Mask (Fox McCloud)

The fox-faced Keaton Mask is the Star Fox leader’s counterpart. On the Final Day, at around 1 PM, the Curiosity Shop owner in Kafei’s hideout gives it to you along with the Special Delivery to Mama. Wearing it and cutting the rustling grass in North Clock Town, on Milk Road or in Mountain Village in spring brings out a three-tailed fox called Keaton, who asks you a five-question quiz for a Piece of Heart. The Keaton Quiz guide has all the answers. The same fox mask first appeared in Ocarina of Time.

Bremen Mask (Falco Lombardi)

The bird-like Bremen Mask matches Falco. Guru-Guru, the old man at the Laundry Pool in the southwest corner of Clock Town, gives it to you at night on Night 1 or Night 2 if you stand and listen to him as Hylian Link. Putting it on and pressing B plays a marching tune that makes small animals march behind you, which you need to raise the chicks at Romani Ranch.

Bunny Hood (Peppy Hare)

The long-eared Bunny Hood stands in for Peppy. Wear the Bremen Mask at Romani Ranch, lead all ten chicks at the Cucco Shack until they are grown, then speak to Grog and he hands it over. It makes you run faster, which helps with races and timed jumps.

Don Gero’s Mask (Slippy Toad)

The frog-faced Don Gero’s Mask is Slippy’s double. You earn it in the Snowhead region: play the Goron Lullaby for the Goron Elder’s Son, finish his tasks and take the Rock Sirloin to the hungry Goron on the ledge in Mountain Village. With the mask on, you can talk to frogs.

Mask of Scents (Pigma Dengar)

The boar-faced Mask of Scents is the match for Pigma Dengar, a Star Fox villain. After you beat Odolwa, bring the Deku Princess back to the Deku Palace and win the Deku Butler’s race in the Deku Shrine to be given it. Put it on to sniff out mushrooms and other smells.

Zora Hall band

The Indigo-Go’s are the Zora band whose members you meet in Zora Hall in the Great Bay region (see the Great Bay walkthrough). Three of them practise melodies that long-time fans will know, and the band’s own tune borrows a famous name. Wear the Zora Mask to be let into the band members’ rooms, because the Zora take you for Mikau, and stay a moment in each room to hear the tune.

Tijo, the drummer

Tijo’s drum riff turns into a few notes of the cave theme from A Link to the Past. Listen to him in his room in Zora Hall, which he shared with the band’s guitarist Mikau. Tijo is the drummer, and the riff only turns into the old tune after he has been playing for a few moments.

Japas, the bassist

Japas plays a slow, gloomy riff on the bass that echoes the dungeon theme from the first The Legend of Zelda. You visit Japas anyway for the Zora Hall jam session, which ends with a Piece of Heart from Evan; see Heart Piece Locations.

Evan, the pianist

Evan’s piano plays the game-over tune from the original The Legend of Zelda. Evan is the band’s leader, and he plays it whenever you step into his room while he is stuck writing songs. Later you return with the finished melody, and he pays you with a Piece of Heart.

Ballad of the Wind Fish

The Latte Milk Bar’s song is called the Ballad of the Wind Fish, the same name as a song from Link’s Awakening, though it is a different piece of music. You play it yourself at the Latte Milk Bar in East Clock Town: with Romani’s Mask you can get in from 10 PM until 6 AM on Night 1 or 2, and when you agree to the sound check with Toto, the band’s manager, you play the four parts as Hylian, Deku, Goron and Zora Link. Gorman, who is in the bar, is so moved by the finished song that he gives you the Circus Leader’s Mask. See the Bombers’ Notebook page for the sound check steps.

Nintendo cameos

Mario mask

Once you meet the Happy Mask Salesman inside the Clock Tower, look at the back of his backpack. One of the masks hanging there resembles Mario’s face.

Malon’s counterparts at Romani Ranch

Romani and Cremia are Termina’s counterparts of Malon from Ocarina of Time, and Romani Ranch plays the same part here that Lon Lon Ranch did there, down to the horse and the milk. Talk to the sisters and the resemblance is hard to miss: Romani is the young one who teaches you Epona’s Song, as Malon did, and Cremia runs the milk business. See the Clock Town, Termina Field and Romani Ranch walkthrough for the ranch.

Dolphin sketch

Go down to the Astral Observatory basement, where the scarecrow stands, and smash the jars. A rough dolphin sketch is on the floor underneath. Dolphin was the GameCube’s working title, so this is generally read as a nod to it. The observatory is in Termina Field, just outside Clock Town.

Music Box House melody

The Music Box House in Ikana Canyon, where Pamela lives, plays a melody called Farewell to Gibdos once the river flows again and the waterwheel turns, which keeps the Gibdos away from the house. You restore the river at the Spring Water Cave; the Ikana Canyon walkthrough covers that part.

Hidden dialogue and scenes

Anju and her mother

Get the Room Key from Anju on the First Day, then be inside your guest room at the Stock Pot Inn on Night 2 from about 9:30 PM. Check the ruined patch of wallpaper in the room and you overhear Anju and her mother. Her mother believes Kafei has run off and tells Anju that waiting for him is pointless, while Anju answers that his letter promised he would return. For the whole story, see the Anju and Kafei guide.

Swordsman’s School

After midnight on the final night, a sign hangs where the swordsman usually sits in West Clock Town’s Swordsman’s School, saying he will be on vacation for a short while. Slash the wooden placard on the wall behind his spot and a hidden room opens with five pots, each holding a Blue Rupee. The school is also where you earn a Piece of Heart on the Expert course, so it is easy to fit in this visit; see the Heart Piece entry.

Orange box in the Potion Shop

Behind the counter of the Magic Hags’ Potion Shop in Southern Swamp, Kotake stands on a cardboard box with a picture of a mandarin orange on it. The box shows an orange and Japanese lettering for Shinshu mandarin oranges. Field designer Taeko Sugawara added it as a small joke and has said she nearly removed it. The camera makes it hard to spot, so lock on with Z-targeting and watch behind the counter. The same box was kept in the 3DS remake.

Ocarina secrets

Healing signs

If you cut a wooden sign to pieces with your sword or blow it up, play the Song of Healing nearby and it puts itself back together, just as Zelda’s Lullaby did in Ocarina of Time. Smash the sign first, then stay close and play the song. The song is in the Ocarina Songs guide.

Cliff Notes wall in Termina Field

Set into a wall in the northern part of Termina Field are rows of musical notes, which spell out tunes from Ocarina of Time, such as Saria’s Song, the Minuet of Forest and the Bolero of Fire. Play the notes on the Ocarina and rupees come out of the wall.

3DS remake only

A few popular easter eggs exist only in the 3DS remake, so you will not find them in the Nintendo 64 game. Players report a GameCube and an Ultra Hand toy, the 1960s Nintendo gadget, in the 3DS Bomb Shop in West Clock Town, plush horses in Romani’s bedroom, and R.O.B. in the Curiosity Shop. See the Version Differences guide for the wider list of changes.