Ghosts (The Legend of Zelda)

Hostile Species
Full Name	Unknown
Alias	Ghosts Them They Phantoms (Official Perfect Guide only)
Origin	The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Homeworld	Unknown
Abilities	Immunity from all attacks except arrows Brainwashing stowaways
Members	No named individuals
Hobby	Stealing cattle from the Romani Ranch.
Goals	Kidnap the cows from Romani Ranch before the Carnival of Time (player dependent).
Crimes	Theft Trespassing Brainwashing
Type of Hostile Species	Alien Kidnappers

“	Romani was practicing... For tonight...Tonight... They are coming... They... They come at night every year when the carnival gets closer. They come riding in a bright, shining ball, and many of them come down...to the barn... My older sister won't believe me... But Romani must protect the cows!	„
	~ Romani telling Link about the Ghosts.

The Ghosts, also referred to as "Them", are minor antagonists in the 2000 Nintendo 64 game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and its 3DS remake. They are a group of mysterious paranormal aliens that intend on abducting the cows from the Romani Ranch.

Biography

Every night, several days before the annual Carnival of Time, the Ghosts appear above Romani Ranch and abduct the cattle residing on the farm. Romani, the youngest daughter of the late farmer, plans an idea to stop the aliens from taking the cows this year and insists Link to help her, as Cremia, her older sister, does not believe her story and instead believes that the cows simply ran away. On the first day, she enforces Link to help her defend the farm against the Ghosts, telling him that they will start their invasion at night.

On the night of the first day at 2:30 a.m., the Ghosts begin their invasion of the farm, where a large shining ball appears and drops multiple Ghosts around the farm, all targeting the barn. They pay no attention to Link as his weapons deal no damage to them and appear to go through them, except for his arrows. Link must use the Hero Bow to stop the Ghosts in their track; shooting an arrow at a Ghost causes it to burst into light, respawning in its original spot after a few seconds. Although Link can use Epona to run across the farm and shoot at the Ghosts when they respawn, it is possible to just stay camped around the barn, where Romani's dog will run and bark at the Ghost that is closest to the barn. The only danger here is if Link runs out of arrows, which he can obtain more by cutting grass around the farm, or a rare chance of a Ghost dropping some if defeated. If Link successfully prevents the Ghosts from reaching the barn by 5:30 a.m., the morning Sun vaporizes the Ghosts in their tracks, forcing the ball of light to retreat back into space. Romani will then reward Link with a bottle full of milk.

However, if Link is unable to stop the Ghosts from reaching the barn before 5:30 a.m., the ball appears above the barn, where Ghosts smash through the roof. A large beam appears that drags up the cows and Romani into the ball before flying away. On the second day, Romani will appear wandering around dazed in the field of the farm, having appeared to be brainwashed or traumatized by the Ghosts. She will then be seen on the final day sitting on a small box in front of her house, shaking her head in confusion. During the remaining two days, Cremia can be found grieving in the ruined barn, regretting not taking her sister seriously.

Trivia

• The Ghosts' design appears to be based on the Flatwoods Monster, a UFO-related cryptid from West Virginia.
• During production for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a concept involving flying objects abducting various cattle was proposed by members of the development team, similar to the Ghosts.
• If Link is away during the invasion, Romani will be automatically abducted by the Ghosts at 3:50 a.m.