Masks of Interest in OOT

(Images courtesy of Zeldawiki.org. From left to right: Bunny Hood, Spooky Mask, Mask of Truth)

Bunny Hood

The Bunny Hood is traded to the Marathon Man in exchange for a wallet full of rupees, and returning to the Happy Mask Shop afterwards unlocks the final four masks available in OOT. The Bunny Hood is interesting because it has several unique effects. It appears to make the Marathon Man run faster than he could before, an effect it has on Link in Majora's Mask, but not in OOT. When worn at night in Hyrule Field, the Bunny Hood prevents Stalchildren from appearing, yet does not seem to have the same effect on the Marathon Man. It is quite possible that the Bunny Hood is based on or made from a Pols Voice (Pictured right), a volume-sensitive enemy featured in many previous Zelda titles (Although not in OOT). The Marathon Man's response upon seeing the mask for the first time, "I bet with those long ears you can hear the voices... Oh, these are genuine rabbit ears from the animal of legend!" seems to support this idea, implying that the "Animal of legend" is in fact a Pols Voice, and the part about hearing the voices is a reference to it's weakness, loud noises (Generally the Ocarina). However, since at the time of OOT's release, one could never actually use his voice to kill a Pols Voice (You could eventually in Spirit Tracks), this may be a clue to something different entirely.

Spooky Mask

The Spooky Mask is the third mask in the OOT mask-trading quest, traded to the little kid in the Kakariko Graveyard for 30 rupees. When worn for Dampe, he remarks "Do you know what kind of mask you're wearing...?And you're still wearing it?", and the scientist at the Lakeside Laboratory tells you "That was manufactured from a plank from a coffin. Yes, it was!", leading us to believe that this is in fact some sort of burial mask. The strong resemblance it bears to the head of a ReDead (Pictured right) furthers this supposition. Since there are no caskets in the Kakariko Graveyard (Only skeletons), the coffin it was carved from quite possibly came from the grave at Lake Hylia. In addition to all this, the Spooky Mask glows in the dark, leading us to belive there may be some sort of magic enchantment placed on it.

Mask of Truth

The Mask of Truth could be considered the "Prize" for completing the mask-trading sidequest, and purportedly allows you to "See into other people's minds". While this does hold true for Gossip Stones, ordinary people just seem to talk to you, although most of them are noticably frightened by your appearance while wearing it. This could be explained by them just thinking the same thing they would say normally to a scary mask, or it could be that Link is simply too kind to go around reading everyone's thoughts. Additionally, the Mask of Truth bears the Eye of the Sheikah, a symbol also present on Gossip Stones, the Lens of Truth, and on the clothing of numerous potential Sheikah in other games, implying that it is in fact an artifact of the Sheikah. The fact that the Happy Mask Salesman has such an artifact in his possession is one of the main clues towards his potential Sheikah ancestry. When worn at the Forest Stage, the Mask of Truth nets you a Deku Nuts upgrade. Wearing the mask while speaking to the people in the House of Skulltula when they are still cursed will cause them to scream audibly, which is interesting as they are themselves Sheikah.