An unused Child Link mask discovered the game files could have completely changed Majora's Mask, and even explored a darker, sadder side of Skull Kid.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is already one of Link's darker adventures, but one detail removed from the final game would have been particularly harrowing. Though Majora's Mask was not the first Zelda game to introduce masks as a gameplay element, it significantly increased their effects and importance. Link can gain special abilities or even transform into other creatures, with the Deku transformation perhaps being most synonymous with the game.
Majora's Mask centers around an ancient mask of the same name stolen by Skull Kid, a recurring Zelda character. The mask takes advantage of his mischievous nature and loneliness and attempts to use him to bring about the destruction of Termina, Majora's alternate version of Hyrule with ambiguous origins. As a result of Majora's Mask essentially controlling Skull Kid, players never see him changing masks like Link. However, there is one mask hidden in the game files that suggests the developers originally had other intentions.
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Pointed out by Reddit user NxsserBA, Majora's Mask originally featured a Child Link mask that Skull Kid could wear. The mask is terrifying to see, with Link's blank stare and doll-like smile. The mask exists only in the game files, so there's no telling what the mask was actually intended for or why it would have been removed. Perhaps developers thought it was simply too creepy, but its existence opens up some interesting conversations about Majora's Mask Skull Kid as a character and how the game might have been different if it remained.
Given the transformational quality of masks in Majora's Mask, and the fact that the Child Link mask was designed for Skull Kid, one possibility is that it was created from Link's original form when Skull Kid turned Link into a Deku. At some time during development, perhaps Link's human form was an additional mask that players would switch between. The pacing of the game could still work surprisingly well with this, given that in the final game, Deku Link fights Skull Kid to retrieve the Ocarina. At that point, the Happy Mask Salesman from Ocarina of Time teaches Link the Song of Healing to restore his original form. This could have played out differently, with Link retrieving the mask of his own face instead, allowing him to switch back to his original form that way.
Majora's Mask is also not afraid of shying away from heavy themes, so rather than a gameplay mechanic, it might have just been a way of exploring Skull Kid's loneliness. At the beginning of Majora's Mask, fairies Tatl and Tael find Skull Kid alone in the woods, lost and abandoned by his friends. Since it's believed that Skull Kids are simply children who wandered into the Lost Woods, wearing Link's mask, or even transforming into him, could have given Skull Kid some semblance of being a normal kid again.
Currently, players with Nintendo Switch Online can experience Majora's Mask as part of the service's selection of Nintendo 64 games, along with its predecessor Ocarina of Time. Regardless of what the original intention of the Child Link mask might have been, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask remains a dark, nuanced entry in the franchise and well-worth playing even years later.
Christopher Aaron is a freelance gaming writer for Screen Rant. New to the world of journalism, Christopher has been working in the publishing industry as a designer and illustrator since 2019, primarily working with children's books. He continues his freelance illustration business on the side. Growing up a Playstation fan, JRPGs and platformers are still his bread and butter. Christopher also has a passion for all things retro and recently built his own arcade machine. Find him writing about 90s games, Disney, and The Last of Us.