Skull Kid (character)

The Skull Kid is a mischievous being from the Lost Woods who uses the potent artifact known as Majora's Mask to seek revenge on old playmates, because he believes they abandoned him. The Mask's power overwhelms him and becomes the primary source of conflict in the game.

In Ocarina Of Time
A Skull Kid that may or may not be the same character makes a brief appearance in Ocarina of Time. He can be found in the Lost Woods dancing on a tree stump. The player can teach him Saria's Song. During the Happy Mask side quest, Link gives the Skull Mask to him. His past is shrouded in mystery, and no one knows where he came from. Some say he is simply a forest sprite, but the Ocarina of Time manga states that while his family was on a picnic, a young child ventured into the Lost Woods, deaf to his mother's warnings. He wanted to catch a fairy, but got lost. After his fear subsided, he breathed in the dark air easily, and was gradually transformed into a Skull Kid, the fate that befalls Hylian children who venture into the Lost Woods. The manga and the game both depict more than just one Skull Kid.

In Majora's Mask
In Majora's Mask, his two fairy sidekicks Tatl and Tael ambush Link in the Lost Woods. They scare Link's horse Epona, causing Link to be thrown from her back and knocked unconscious. The Skull Kid comes and pats down Link, looking for anything valuable, and settles for the Ocarina of Time. He starts to play it, waking Link. Link lunges for him, but the Skull Kid hops onto Epona to make his getaway. Grabbing hold, Link is dragged along for a bit but eventually gets shaken loose. He follows the trio into a hollow log, then falls into an crevasse, eventually emerging in Termina. The Skull Kid turns Link into a Deku Scrub and leaves. Eventually, the angry Skull Kid tries to make the moon crash into Termina.

Name origins
In manga and in early translations, his name is roughly translated as Star Kid, coming from the name Sutaru Kiddo, since the Japanese spells foreign words phonetically. However, this was an error; the character is known as "Stalkid" in Japan1, a derivative of the traditional Zelda enemy Stalfos.