Months have passed since the Hero of Time saved Hyrule from the clutches of Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. Driven by a personal quest, a young Link rides his faithful steed, Epona, deep into the shadowy, twisting paths of the Lost Woods. He searches not for adventure, but for a dear friend lost after their shared trials: his fairy companion, Navi.
Instead of finding Navi, Link’s lonely search is violently interrupted. Two mischievous fairies, the sharp-tongued Tatl and her timid brother Tael, dart out, startling Epona and sending Link tumbling to the forest floor. Before he can react, a figure emerges from the gloom – a strange Skull Kid, his face obscured by a hauntingly ornate, heart-shaped mask pulsating with dark energy: Majora’s Mask.
Possessed by the mask’s malevolent power, the Skull Kid rummages through the dazed Link’s belongings, snatching the precious Ocarina of Time. Link desperately lunges, tackling the Skull Kid, but the impish creature recovers instantly. With a cruel laugh, the Skull Kid leaps onto the panicked Epona and gallops away, vanishing into the gaping maw of a large, dead tree trunk that forms a dark tunnel.
Determined to retrieve his stolen horse and sacred instrument, Link gives chase on foot, plunging into the bizarre passage. The path twists unnaturally, leading him to a sudden ledge. Losing his balance, Link plummets into a disorienting abyss, landing with a thud on a large Deku Flower far below. He looks up to see the Skull Kid, flanked by Tatl and Tael, waiting for him. Mockingly raising the Ocarina, the Skull Kid unleashes a terrifying curse. Dark magic engulfs Link, painfully twisting his body, shrinking him into the wooden form of a helpless Deku Scrub.
His cruel deed done, the Skull Kid darts through a nearby door with Tael, callously abandoning Tatl. Trapped and initially blaming Link for her predicament, Tatl quickly realizes she’s stranded with the transformed hero. Seeking to reunite with her brother and confront the mask-controlled Skull Kid, she begrudgingly agrees to help Link navigate this strange place.
Passing through the door, Deku Link and Tatl emerge not back into the woods, but into the dimly lit base of a colossal Clock Tower. They have stumbled into Termina, a world parallel to Hyrule. Here, they immediately encounter the enigmatic Happy Mask Salesman. He recognizes the curse afflicting Link and reveals the terrible truth: the malevolent Majora’s Mask was stolen from him, and he tasks Link with retrieving it within a mere three days.
Stepping outside the Clock Tower into the bustling center of Clock Town, the true horror becomes apparent. Hanging ominously low in the sky is Termina’s Moon, its face locked in a terrifying, leering grimace. Empowered by Majora’s Mask, the Skull Kid has set it on a collision course. In just 72 hours, the Moon will crash down, annihilating Clock Town and all of Termina.
Trapped in a strange body, in an unfamiliar land facing imminent doom, Link’s quest becomes desperately urgent. Can he navigate this doomed world, find a way to regain his Hylian form, recover the Ocarina of Time to perhaps manipulate the flow of these final hours, rescue Epona, stop the Skull Kid, retrieve the dangerous Majora’s Mask for the Salesman, and save Termina from utter destruction before time runs out? The three-day countdown has begun.
