Mask Tribe

The Mask Tribe are an ancient clan of aspiring mask salesmen who take the form of children. They all have red hair and lack any faces beneath the masks they wear. As such they have trouble understanding the characteristics of real faces. The Happy Mask Salesman's origin is this clan.

First Appearance and Mentions
They are mentioned unnamedly following the Three-Day Intro to Majora's Mask, by Happy Mask Salesman, as a clan who used Majora's Mask in their hexing rituals. At the Ending of Majora's Mask, he finds the pristine meadow in which they live, just before the stark contrast of the final battle. There are five children in total, playing the game of Oni-gokko (tag), which the one wearing Majora's Mask asks Link to play.

Role
The children assume that Link is there to learn to be a mask salesman as well, but they don't use the term "happy." Due to the malevolence of the masks they wear, off-set by the innocent nature of the inquisitive children, it may be said they are morally ambiguous entities who have not yet developed a concept of right and wrong. This might explain how even Majora's Mask could not influence the Happy Mask Salesman, and why he only desired it for personal significance. They do however have a god, in Fierce Deity, whose mask contains the merits of all masks. It's possible, given the way the turtle serves as a guardian appointed by the gods for the sea, that Fierce Deity is appointed by a higher echelon, purposed to teach them righteousness. What is known is that somehow, they came to fear the power of Majora's Mask and sealed it in darkness after an event symbolized by fire in-game, possibly the very event which resulted in Fierce Deity's death.

History as Prohpets
The Mask Tribe children's rooms have a painted story building up to the fall of the heavens in the Twinmold Child's room. This indicates they are familiar with world-altering extinction events of the past, and explains how the Happy Mask Salesman knew of its impending destruction before it became obvious to the denizens there. This apocalyptic slant to the Mask Tribe correlates with Termina's name meaning "end" in Latin, and the owl's claim that its doom was inevitable with or without its guardian. The Mask Tribe, therefore are a group of stargazers, explaining the astrological theme of the Fierce Deity throne room.

Influence on Termina
Influences of the Mask Tribe upon the land of Termina include: the mask tradition; the way in which masks of the Sun and Moon are revered as sacred, namely to form the white Couple's Mask, which matches the color garbs of the children. The tradition of the Clock Tower and dropping of its giant moon ball comes from their prophecy depicted in the rooms.

Source of Inspiration
The Mask Tribe are among the many Mesoamerican nods throughout Majora's Mask - Ikana being a reference to the Inca, the steppe pyramid of Woodfall possibly inspired by the sunken city of Lake Titicaca, Odowla's chanting in Mayan and his large size matching the story of giants in said cultures, following a great flood. The Mask Tribe's clothing also has a shamanic-like cut along the edges.

The Four Children each might symbolize a world of Termina that has been destroyed, in fitting with the Hopi belief in a cyclical destruction and rebirth. Majora's Mask may then be feeding on these worlds, by possessing the children's faces with its demon masks.

Trivia
1. The meadow the Mask Tribe live on is shaped like the Mask of Truth.

2. Whether or not there are other Salesmen in the world, in the present day of Majora's mask, isn't confirmed, but the appearance of the Happy Mask Salemen in Labrynna, suggests that either he has left Hyrule or there is more than one.

3. When Majora's Mask curses Kafei and reverts him into a child, it may be a residual personality trait from its days with the Mask Tribe.

4. In the 3DS remake, the children were modeled with faces like the Happy Mask Salesman's beneath their masks in error.

5. The garb of the child wearing Goht's mask is whiter than the others, or doesn't reflect the tone of the lighting.

6. Their white garb is reminiscent of Zelda's dress in Skyward Sword.

7. Zelda's song in Skyward Sword may have a deeper meaning yet unrevealed. "Unite earth and sky, bring light to the land" is a reference to her ultimate plan, but it also sounds eerily alike the plot of Majora's Mask and the depictions of the heavens falling in the Mask Tribe children's rooms.