This one was tricky.

I mean, on the one hand, there is a huuuuge number of items to choose from. But on the other hand, a lot of them serve the same basic purposes (strength enhancement, ranged attacks, explosives, musical instruments, etc.). So, unless I chose something very specific for some reason, I would really be choosing a collection of items.

Thus the question changed from, “What is my favorite item?” to, “What is my favorite kind of item?”

I chose the masks from Majora’s Masks.

Why?

Well, if I were to choose one superpower I could have, it would be shape-shifting. 🙂 I just love the adaptability, ya know? You have a unique problem, you just bring out whatever you need. The only limit is imagination.

In a similar way, the masks offer a great deal of adaptability.

The transformation masks let you become a deku scrub, a goron, a zora, a giant, or even a demon-god of sorts, letting you respond to a variety of situations in a variety of ways.

The bunny hood makes you faster and doubles how far you can jump.

The great fairy’s mask attracts lost fairies, letting you put the great fairy back together and enhancing your capabilities.

Most of the other masks do similarly, involving complex quests to get a piece of heart, but the range of small abilities you gain from them is not unimpressive. Getting information, reading minds, making baby chickens grow up instantly, dancing, talking to animals, talking to legendary creatures, talking to monsters, even commanding monsters, hiding in plain sight, creating explosions, getting money out of mailboxes, an enhanced sense of smell, purchasing life-restoring milk, settling rabid disputes, staying up all night… did I miss anything?

Clearly, they had some fun making these things up! 🙂

And not only does this wide variety of masks offer a wide variety of skills, but getting them all means investing the time and effort in getting to know the people of Termina. The narrative isn’t nearly so straightforward as other games in the franchise. Getting a feel for this world, learning the full scope of this story, is something the player must do deliberately. Each mask has a story, and all the stories together combine into the greater whole.

Which, I think, is poetic. The Fierce Deity Mask, I have heard, is supposed to represent the souls of all of Termina, everyone that Majora’s Mask has hurt. It is all of their souls, combined into one force, which gives the hero enough power to slaughter the enemy who has wronged them all. And how do you get the mask? By collecting all of the others, collecting all the stories, all the souls… and then giving them away. You take all the burdens of Termina’s people onto your shoulders, and then you let them all go. Then you are able to face the enemy with everyone’s combined might behind you.

Which makes all of these masks not only unique, diverse, and handy, but also integral to the game’s specific theme, the act of coming together in the face of a crisis, and overcoming.

Yep. My favorite items: the masks. 🙂