The Happy Mask Salesman

The mystery of The Happy Mask Salesman has existed ever since he appeared in Orarina of Time. The creepy smile and almost inauspicious attitude. He gave us masks to help us along the way in OoT which was somewhat benevolent of him but there is a sinister veil over him that all of us notice but don't really think about it.

He first appeared when Link was a child in OoT. He seemed innocent enough, a weird looking shop and a nice sign saying when it would open. But the shop was gone when Ganon took over. (We now know where he went.) He seems almost like a normal Hylian when you first see him. He has the pointy ears like all other Hylians but there is something different about him. He seems to be able to make things appear from midair, like a Organ in MM, but this may just be added for humor. He can also change facial expressions very quickly or change location very quickly too which both also could be for humor. But digging deeper into who he is shows even more.

The Happy Mask Salesman is only one of three people who seem to be able to move from Hyrule to Termina along with Link and the Skull Kid. But, when you first meet the Saleman in Termina it is almost eerie how he knows everything that has happened to you. Like he was there when Epona was stolen, he was there when you confronted the Skull Kid, he was there when you became the Duku Scrub, he even seemed to be there when you were transported into Termina in that small narrow hallway. He's almost omniscient. It's almost like he planned everything ahead of time. It's even stranger when Link doesn't seem to be able to open the door to Hyrule again under the Clock Tower. It's like some invisible force is keeping him from leaving and someone had opened it for him to enter. It's also worth noting that the Happy Mask Salesman doesn't have a counterpart in Termina. So maybe he didn't even come from either Hyrule or Termina.

The Salesman never really tells you why he wants Majora's Mask back so badly. It might be because he is afraid Termina will be destroyed but he doesn't seem to really care about anything else but himself so why would he care about Termina? And even if Termina was about to be destroyed he could just leave and go back to Hyrule. This also raises the question as to how he was able to keep control over Majora's Mask while he had it. It is not know if he ever wears the mask he has but even so, Majora's Mask did seem to have a life of its own at the end of the game. It could move, it could talk, and it was powerful. So, how did the Salesman keep control of it while he had it in his possession?

It is also strange how when Link enters the Moon and meets the five kids under the three they all look like children version of the Salesman and they all have an obsession with masks and one even has the ambition to become a Mask Salesman someday. When you give them all your masks they give you the Fierce Deity Mask, which has ultimate power. What if the Fierce Deity Mask has some sort of connection to the Salesman.

All of these things make you wonder who the Happy Mask Salesman really is? How is he so seemingly powerful? He seems to have so much say in what happens in MM but he really is never involved in the game except at the end and the beginning. The Salesman even seems too strange for even the strange world of Termina. He is a very puzzling character mostly because of the little information we have on him. I just truly hope he plays more of a role in a future Zelda game. It is even possible that he will have a very large role in Twilight Princess but not enough is known about TP to even speculate about that.

Hmmm... very interesting thread there. The mask salesman has always puzzled me. It's weird how he knows a lot about you and he wants the mask back.

Just now think about this some random theory came to my mind in which I was debating over for a long time. Is it possible that the Mask Salesman is the the Mask himself? That can be possibly why he knows a lot about you. He was in 2 places at one time. Even though he is the mask he couldn't do anything about the skull kid so that's why he ask you too retrieve the mask for him. And another thing is notice how he knew how to heal you with that song and make that deku mask for you in which the skull kid put on you? Wierd.

So many wierd strange ideas and theories can be made from this but we will probably never know for sure. That's just my two sense.

Yeah he is weird. But like you said hes so strange. I think hes meant to be some sort of Sheik like in Oot. In OoT he wan't really anything but yeah in MM he even says "Don't think of me as rude but i've been folowing you and saw your tragedy". This means that for some reason he was following him. But remember at some point it mentions that he was robbed somewhere? Maybe he woke up as Skull Kid got away with Epona. But I find it strange that he knows about EVERY mask if you talk to him with it on. Which makes me think that he may have owned every mask. The Fierce Diety mask he won't say anything too but he even knows of the Goron and Zora mask when you recieved that for calming the dead's souls which I find very strange. I beleive he may be one of the godessess or maybe the king of Hyrule. He also moved kinda fast and stuff when you 1st see him in MM. Like I said he seems to know too much about the masks so I think hes gotta be someone in disquise. Maybe even Zelda or a sage in disquise. Well maybe not Zelda but a sage perhaps. Hes just a bit too weird to be a normal Hylian/Terminian so I think hes gotta be a guy in disquise or something.

I've always been of the opinion that he's also the man who is reading the sign before the shop opens and that he also roams the back alley at night.

Same hairdo, same build, same composure... but, if you didn't notice, neither of these other characters allow you to see their faces, so we may never know.

Originally Posted by LionHarted

I've always been of the opinion that he's also the man who is reading the sign before the shop opens and that he also roams the back alley at night.

Same hairdo, same build, same composure... but, if you didn't notice, neither of these other characters allow you to see their faces, so we may never know.

And what game is this?

Originally Posted by HeroOfTime5

And what game is this?

Ocarina of Time.

Originally Posted by LionHarted

Ocarina of Time.

I never noticed that. I'll have to check that out later. Plus that makes him even more mysterious.

I noticed the guy but I never really connected him with the Salesman. Maybe it is him... I should go look later.

Now this may sound strange (shouldn't be surprizing coming from such a unique character), but I've always had the feeling of the Happy Mask Salesman to be a character Miyamoto wanted to represent himself in him. Yes, I know, I know, the two don't look anything a like, but consider this:
Miyamoto is like God to the Zelda Universe (along with all of his other creations). So if something is about to go wrong, wouldn't you want to help the hero if he truely needed it? Miyamoto can do anything he wants in a Zelda Universe, so why not travel from game to game (he also had a cameo in one of the Oracle games, but that isn't too relevent right now) helping the main character? How else could the HMS pull out an organ from thin air like Lem mentioned? From what I know of him, I see him as a Traveling God: Doing good deeds along the way

-BGS

Originally Posted by BigGoronSword

Now this may sound strange (shouldn't be surprizing coming from such a unique character), but I've always had the feeling of the Happy Mask Salesman to be a character Miyamoto wanted to represent himself in him. Yes, I know, I know, the two don't look anything a like, but consider this:
Miyamoto is like God to the Zelda Universe (along with all of his other creations). So if something is about to go wrong, wouldn't you want to help the hero if he truely needed it? Miyamoto can do anything he wants in a Zelda Universe, so why not travel from game to game (he also had a cameo in one of the Oracle games, but that isn't too relevent right now) helping the main character? How else could the HMS pull out an organ from thin air like Lem mentioned? From what I know of him, I see him as a Traveling God: Doing good deeds along the way

-BGS

But what good deeds does he do in MM? He just wants a mask back, he doesn't really care what else happens. He might be Miyamoto but he just only seems concerned in himself. Just the name "Happy Mask Salesman" contradics what he really does. He doesn't even let you keep the masks in OoT. He lets you "Barrow" them. And he doesn't really sell anything, he collects more then sells.

Originally Posted by Ghost of Shadow

I beleive he may be one of the godessess

Yeah I was thinking that maybe he may be a goddess/god or something. He dresses like a nut too.

I thought he was suppost to be based off of Miyamoto too.

I found him to be just another interesting oddity of MM. It's just one more reason for me to like the game...

Originally Posted by Ghost of Shadow

Yeah I was thinking that maybe he may be a goddess/god or something. He dresses like a nut too.

I truely think he might be the Fierce Deity. That is one thing that seems to say something to me as I look at him more. He's a Deity in desguise.

You raise a lot of interesting points. I've always been a little fascinated with the Happy Mask Salesman and those images and symbolism inside the moon. In fact, last year I created my very first thread on ZU about the same subject. What makes him particularly interesting is how enigmatic his character is. He's one of the central pieces of the game Majora's Mask, but we know very little about him. He's just presented as someone who wants his mask back.

I've always wondered whether or not the Salesman is the last descendant of the mysterious tribe that forged Majora's Mask. It would certainly explain how he got the mask in the first place, and it might explain the appearance of the children in Termina's moon. Furthermore, it would make sense that the Salesman would specialize in masks if such a powerful mask was handed down to him over the years. If you look at it the right way, that solution would answer a lot of questions about him.

The first time I played through Majora's Mask, I didn't completely trust the Happy Mask Salesman. His mannerisms, the way he spoke... He really wanted that mask back. Maybe he was simply holding onto the mask so it wouldn't be abused, but the whole thing's a little fishy. It's entirely possible that he wanted to use the mask. I dunno. Power tends to corrupt, so it's a possibility.

That's one of the best things about the Happy Mask Salesman. There's so little we know about him, that it's fun to speculate and theorize about him.

Originally Posted by Jims

You raise a lot of interesting points. I've always been a little fascinated with the Happy Mask Salesman and those images and symbolism inside the moon. In fact, last year I created my very first thread on ZU about the same subject. What makes him particularly interesting is how enigmatic his character is. He's one of the central pieces of the game Majora's Mask, but we know very little about him. He's just presented as someone who wants his mask back.

I've always wondered whether or not the Salesman is the last descendant of the mysterious tribe that forged Majora's Mask. It would certainly explain how he got the mask in the first place, and it might explain the appearance of the children in Termina's moon. Furthermore, it would make sense that the Salesman would specialize in masks if such a powerful mask was handed down to him over the years. If you look at it the right way, that solution would answer a lot of questions about him.

The first time I played through Majora's Mask, I didn't completely trust the Happy Mask Salesman. His mannerisms, the way he spoke... He really wanted that mask back. Maybe he was simply holding onto the mask so it wouldn't be abused, but the whole thing's a little fishy. It's entirely possible that he wanted to use the mask. I dunno. Power tends to corrupt, so it's a possibility.

That's one of the best things about the Happy Mask Salesman. There's so little we know about him, that it's fun to speculate and theorize about him.

Well, one thing I've always wondered is if Termina is a mirror of Hyrule then it should have everything that Hyrule has. So, where is the Sheika? What I believe is the the Mirror of the Sheika from Hyrule are the "Ancient Tribe" they talk about in Majora's Mask. They are the people who made Majora's Mask in Termina. He could very well be the decendent of that tribe but there isn't much there to back that up other then he has the mask and knows all about it.