The Mask Man, the Mask Manipulator.

[zeldusfanaticus]

Methinks he may be some sort of demigod, right. he vanishes without a trace, he can travel freely between realities. there are many myths aboout being able to completely change one's identity via the use of animal skins or MASKS. Perhaps the mask salesman in infact a Loki like character; a trickster. after all he seems to like testing people, and he knows how to make the transformation masks; to capture somethings essence

 

[Ccrossed]

He sure is Creepy, always smiling, but i still think he's just a mask collector, perhaps an annoying one!

 

[Clucluclu]

I find it interesting that the Mask salesman seems to be concious of the fact that Link is traveling through time and Majora's Mask itself isn't.

 

[Xinnamin]

I've got some odd theories about this fellow. He's a fun character to speculate about, and MM in general is rich with theorizing potential, so bear with me as I try to explain my theory.

Judging by the HMS's actions, I'd say that he's more than human, possibly a mini-deity of sorts, or at least with greater connections to the divine than the average individual. His jerky motions, pulling an organ out of midair, disappearing into thin air at the end of the story, hardly attributes of a normal human/hylian/terminian. At the very least, he has some sort of odd power, not to mention that, from my perspective, it seems that the HMS pulls Link back in time if Link fails to stop the Moon from crashing. If you watch the Moon crashing cutscene, after Link gets engulfed by the flames, he just whites out, then we hear "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?", and suddenly find ourselves with the HMS, who's cheerfully reminding us of the 3-day limit. No Game Over screen or anything. I don't know about you, but I've always felt that the HMS somehow pulled Link back in time to save him.

Now, there's also the fact that he is in possession of Majora's Mask before the game's start, and he seems oddly nonchalant about it being stolen at first. At least, he doesn't seem as panicked as he should, and he doesn't go off trying to get it back himself. In fact, he even seems to have been anticipating Link's arrival, as if he knew Link would come and get the mask back for him. Now, I subscribe to the theory that Termina abandoned faith in the Goddesses and was therefore forsaken by them and doomed to die, yet by either divine mercy or something to that effect, some higher powers decided to give Termina a second chance at redemption. My personal theory is that the Skull Kid, feeling abandoned by the Giants, would be a symbol to the Terminians, who abandoned the Goddesses. If the Skull Kid could overcome the Mask and reconcile with the Giants, then Termina could overcome the Moon and learn to reconcile with faith. Now what does this have to do with the HMS? Simple. The HMS would be the Goddesses' messenger. He would take the Mask down to Termina, guide the hero Link into this adventure (since every doomed world needs a hero), and protect him should he fail (pulling him back through time if the Moon crashed). I found it awfully peculiar that the HMS was relatively calm about the Mask being stolen, yet absolutely maniacal at Link's initial failure to retrieve it. Maybe he was expecting a prophesied success and was outraged it didn't happen immediately.

*shrugs* This is all personal speculation built around my observations of his behavior in-game. I hope it wasn't too confusing to follow. Also, in regards to the Manga adaptation, I don't consider the Manga storyline canonical enough to override in-game evidence. The HMS was seemingly evil in the Manga when he was clearly benevolent in the game, so I'm not inclined to use the Manga for my theories on this fellow.

 

[Ember Incubus]

You may be onto something there. Maybe he is more powerful than the mask itself.

 

[Clucluclu]

I don't remember exactly how the legend of the banished tribe goes, but what if it was the HMS who banished the tribe which created the Majora's Mask. It would explain how it came into his possesion.

 

[Ember Incubus]

You are confusing theories with facts. The banishing thing involved the Interlopers (Twili) and the Sages along with the Light Spirits. The Anceint Tribe new how dangerouse the mask was so they banished it. They banished their own object, not some third party.

 

[Locke]

The Anceint Tribe new how dangerouse the mask was so they banished it. They banished their own object, not some third party.

The Japanese seems to differentiate between the ones who used the mask and the ones who sealed it:

太古の とある民族が 呪いの儀式で 使っていたとされる 伝説の 呪物なのです
A certain race in ancient times used it for their cursing ceremonies. It is a legendary fetish.
It is an accursed item from legend that is said to have been used by an ancient tribe in its hexing rituals.

その仮面をかぶった者には 邪悪で すさまじい力が宿ると 言い伝えられています
The legend says that the one who puts it on will have a terrible and evil power dwell within them.
It is said that an evil and wicked power is bestowed upon the one who wears that mask.

伝説では・・・
The legend says…
According to legend...

ムジュラの仮面が もたらす 災いの あまりの大きさに
The calamity brought about by Mujura’s Mask was so great that
the troubles caused by Majora's Mask were so great...

それを恐れた 先人たちが 仮面を悪用 されないよう 永遠の闇に 封じ込めたといいます
our ancestors who feared this sealed it within the eternal darkness so that it would not be misused.
the ancient ones, fearing such catastrophe, sealed the mask in shadow forever, preventing its misuse.

その力が どんな力なのか 伝説に 記された その民族が 滅びた 今では わかりません
What power does the mask hold? The race spoken of in the legend was destroyed, so we do not know.
But now, that tribe from the legend has vanished, so no one really knows the true nature of the mask's power...

"A certain race from ancient times used it..."
"Our ancestors who feared this sealed it..."
"The race spoken of in legend was destroyed..."
Sure, 'our ancestors' could be the race spoken of in legend, but that's not stated.

 

[Ember Incubus]

I think the Terminians are descendants of the anceint tribe that used the mask now that I see both.

 

[Locke]

Fair enough, though keep in mind that this theory conflicts with the one stating that the tribe was the interlopers. I don't know if that's one you subscribe to or not, but I know others do. The only possibility for believing both is if the Terminians were originally from Hyrule, which I think is unlikely.

 

[Ember Incubus]

I think it is clear that the Interlopers, the Anceint Tribe, and the Sheikah have no connection to eachother.

 

[ironknuckle1]

here is an interesting line from the happy mask salesman from the manga: "If I can only get that mask back, I'll no longer have a need for this world."

I know the manga is non canon but i thought it was an interesting comment.

 

[Pikacondon]

I think the happy mask salesman is a evil, demonic, beastly mask collector. he's real creepy, especialy when he's smiling. there's just an air about him that says " I am the ultimate third person. I know ALL." that's just INSANE, isn't it?

 

[Icetomeetyou]

It might be sort of a God(d)/s/esses on Earth thing. He could be some sort of Terminian God in human form or perhaps some sort of demi-God related to the Goddesses in some way. It makes a little sense to me, seeing as he seems to know something Link doesn't.

Maybe that's not even his real face. He could just be using a mask of some person's soul like Link did in MM. If he is one of the two things I mentioned, he could be using a mask to hide what he really looks like.

 

[Skull_Kid]

I think that even though he may be powerful(afterall he can travel at will between Termina and Hyrule), he is just a creep that is too much in his own thing(masks) to be considered evil.
He didn't even seemed to want to use MM, he just wanted to own it