Skull Kid (character)

The Skull Kid is a recurring character in the Legend of Zelda series. A member of the Skull Kid race of creatures, the Skull Kid is a mischievous being. He serves as the primary antagonist for a majority of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and it is believed by many that he makes his first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Skull Kid can be found in a clearing in the Lost Woods playing his flute. If Link approaches him as a child, the Skull Kid will act friendly towards him. If Link approaches as an adult, however, the Skull Kid attacks him on sight, as Skull Kids fear adults. As a child, Link can play "Saria's Song" for the Skull Kid. When this happens, the Skull Kid befriends Link and as a token of their newfound friendship, he gives Link a Piece of Heart.

When Link receives the Skull Mask from the Happy Mask Salesman during the Happy Mask side quest, he can sell it to the Skull Kid for 10 Rupees, despite the fact that the mask's retail price is actually 20 Rupees. The Skull Kid is very happy to receive the mask, and he takes pride in the fact that his friends are jealous of it. Strangely, after receiving the mask, all the other Skull Kids in the game are seen wearing the mask as well.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Arguably, the Skull Kid serves as the main antagonist for a large portion of the game, being the one seemingly responsible for all the terrible events. At the end it is revealed that Majora is controlling him to its own destructive ends. The Skull Kid appears to have existed for a long time: when Link is told the Four Giants story, he is told, 'The imp was a friend of the giants since before they had created the four worlds'. The Skull Kid's friendship with the giants appears to be related to his actions before Majora's Mask. They go to sleep in the corners of Termina where they remain protectors of the people. Their childhood friend 'felt neglected, so he spread his anger across the four worlds. Repeatedly, he wronged all people.' Eventually, the people plea to the giants, and the giants banish the Skull Kid from Termina. He seems to spend time in Hyrule, because he meets Link there during the events of Ocarina of Time. Eventually he finds new friends when he returns to Termina and meets the fairy siblings Tatl and Tael. They forged a close friendship and played together.

One day, back in Hyrule, the Skull Kid triggers the events of Majora's Mask by finding the Happy Mask Salesman in the Lost Woods, knocking him unconscious, and finding Majora's Mask in the salesman's bag of masks. Tatl later claims that this seemed extreme even for the mischievous Skull Kid ('... nobody wanted to play with him. But to do what he did just because of that...'), indicating that the Mask could have driven him to do it. He puts it on, gaining the immense power which the mask houses. Eventually, as Link travels in the Lost Woods, the Skull Kid and his fairy partners ambush him as well. They frighten Epona, causing her to throw Link on the ground, rendering him unconscious. The Skull Kid hesitates when he sees Link (it's later implied that they had met in Ocarina of Time), then tries to find anything worth taking off Link, and settles for the Ocarina of Time. He starts to play it; all the while, Link regains his consciousness. Link approaches the Skull Kid and lunges after him, but the Skull Kid quickly hops onto Epona to make his getaway. Grabbing hold of the Skull Kid's left leg, Link is dragged along for a bit but eventually gets shaken loose. He follows the trio into a hollow log, then falls into a large hole, eventually emerging under the Clock Tower in the center of Termina, a strange parallel dimension. Inside, he is confronted by the Skull Kid again, who tells Link that he "got rid" of Epona and only wanted to "have a little fun with him." He then uses the mask's power to transform Link into a Deku Scrub and laughs wildly as he prepares to lock him in the room. Link runs towards the Skull Kid, but is stopped by Tatl. Eventually, the Skull Kid and Tael reach a large door, and once Tael realizes Tatl isn't behind it, it closes shut, leaving Tatl with Link.

It is not known whether or not this occurs while Link is stuck beneath Clock Town or not; the Skull Kid joins the Bombers Secret Society of Justice in Clock Town, but he breaks their rules and is kicked out. As a consequence, the Bombers decide never to let non-humans into their gang anymore. In addition to this, the Skull Kid may be responsible for other mischievous deeds across Termina, such as the placement of a rock blocking the way to Romani Ranch, transforming Kafei into a child, and threatening to break Shikashi's instruments in the Astral Observatory and steal his Moon's Tear. Eventually, with the power of Majora's Mask, the angry Skull Kid pulls the Moon out of its orbit and sets it on a collision course with Termina. This may have been the Skull Kid's or the mask's goal, though the dialogue from the Mask when it separates itself from Skull Kid implies that it is the latter. It is clear that he had gone insane, largely due to the mask's corruption. On the Final Day, Link confronts the Skull Kid on top of the Clock Tower and calls the Four Giants, who stop the moon from crashing into Termina. They wrestle against the Skull Kid's power, causing him to faint. Majora's Mask finally reveals itself as its own entity and calls the Skull Kid a "puppet who can no longer be used," calling him "mere garbage." The mask ascends to the Moon and invites Link to follow. After this, the Skull Kid is not seen again until the game is over. Once Link defeats Majora, the Skull Kid becomes friends with the Four Giants again. He also retains his friendship with Tatl and Tael and befriends Link. Interestingly, the Skull Kid tells Link that he has "the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods...", launching the widely believed theory that the Skull Kid appearing in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are one and the same.

Other names
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 Japan, a derivative of the traditional Zelda enemy Stalfos.

Majora's Mask: The Abridged Series
Skull Kid plays a prominent role in this popular YouTube series. As in the source game, he has been possessed by Majora's Mask and plans on destroying Termina with the moon. However, he also specializes in witty comebacks and invented the CD-i. He is described as talking like "someone whose throat enjoys pain."