Monday, May 5, 2025

DBB: Character Chamber - the Cartoon Mask

“Sometimes wearing a mask is the best way to show our true selves” - Lisa Mangum

Welcome to DBB: Character Chamber

They say we all wear masks, metaphorically speaking. We suppress the id, our darkest desires, and adopt a more socially acceptable image. Sometimes when you're going through a rough patch and need something to put a spark in your day to day life, you need to let loose and drop what you're hiding inside to reveal your ecstatic and crazy self. This is of course, metaphorically, but not in this case! We're dealing with the real deal boys and girls and anything else you identify as! We're dealing with the jazziest, deadliest, and most spontaneous man in our century! We're dealing with..

The Mask: the green big-headed alter ego of Stanley Ipkiss

You know me, FMT

And it's time to see if this Green Goof has the best Arsenal, Abilities and Actions to survive Death By Blog

Before We Begin

Now if you came here from the Rick Taylor vs the Mask blog, you'd know that this blog is meant to document the other media of the Mask. As mentioned before, “Gory" Mask and “Goofy"  Mask are very different, different origins, different ways the mask works, and different canons. The mainline Mask comic series and the crossovers stem from the same origin and are basically considered their own canon considering how much they reference each other and their events. The Mask we're using of course has the first movie, the 2nd movie that's connected to the first, a cartoon series based on the first movie, and comics based on the cartoon series. As you can see, while both are being soft-comped, they still have separate canons and continuities. But yeah, for Goofy Mask we're using the movies, the cartoon, the comics, and the game!

Background 

“Let's rock this joint!!"

Stanley Ipkiss was nothing but a loser who worked as a bank clerk, he wasn't getting any dates because the ladies took advantage of him being a "nice guy “ and not really giving him a chance. Sure he met a nice beautiful girl named Tina Carlyle, but she worked for Dorian Tyrell, the right-hand man of the crime Kingpin of Edge City. He was a very unlucky man, his mechanics were purposely fucking him over by overcharging him for car fixes and lending him junk, he was being kicked out of clubs for no reason, and his landlord was an old bag of nails. However his luck would change when he found an old mask in a river and brought it back to his apartment, where he lived along with his dog Milo. Curious by the Mask, he attempted to put it on but goofs, but putting it on would only transform into something else, something incomprehensible, something…. Smokin'! He turned into a green guy with a great sense of style, and found that he had superpowers, he was basically a cartoon character! After scaring away a bunch of criminals, he would announce that he wanted to use his powers for good! But first he would of course pay his mechanics a visit for a good punishment.

Ipkiss would wake up and assume it was all a dream, that was until he was visited by Lieutenant Kellaway who questioned him about the “disturbances" last night. This confirmed to Ipkiss that it all actually happened, he attempted to throw the Mask out, but it only drew itself back to him. He was being questioned about the encounter and even interviewed. After discovering the Mask was still present, he caved in and finally decided to use it again so he could go to the Coco Bongo club and meet with Tina. First he would rob a bank in order to even be accepted there, can't make the scene if you don't have the green. He made one hell of a scene, so much so Dorian would find out he was the one who robbed the bank his boys were supposed to rob, and Lieutenant Kellaway would start to get more suspicious of Stanley. Things were heating up as Stanley would be more and more tired because of his Mask shenanigans, and after some talk with an expert on ancient masks he came to the conclusion that it was possibly created by the god of mischief Loki and Odin sealed those powers inside of it. Truthfully he started to think Tina was liking him back, but he wasn't sure if she actually liked him as Stanley Ipkiss, or the Mask..

That would be halted since he was once again on the run from the police, having to dance number his way out of getting arrested. Thankfully he was saved by his friend Peggy Brant who helped him out of the police’s grasp. But unfortunately his bad luck would only keep going as she ratted him out on Dorian and his crew for her own gain, effectively giving Dorian access to the most powerful artifact alive. Dorian’s Mask would be far different from Stanley's, making him a brute monster with a much more intimidating voice. They then sent Ipkiss the police's way, and they would have him arrested. Stanley would accept that he would be in prison for a long time, until a visit from Tina let him know that she loved him and not the Mask, but also that Dorian was planning something dangerous. After he saw she was getting chased by Dorian's men, Stanley had to escape. So with the help of Milo getting the keys to cell, knocking out a police officer, and holding Lieutenant Kellaway hostage (holy shit he's an actual criminal), he would go to the Coco Bongo club to stop Dorian from bombing the place. Stanley would sneak in the club to attempt to stop Dorian, unfortunately he would instantly get caught and be in the midst of Dorian's turf surrounded by his men. But Tina would trick him into taking the Mask off, allowing her to kick it away and allowing Ipkiss to fight off Dorian. And after getting the Mask back one last plan and EATING the bong, he would flush Dorian's plans down the toilet. Dorian would be blamed for all the crimes and Ikpiss would be let off scot free, and be labeled as the hero who stopped him. After realizing he didn't need the Mask to make his life better, and all he had to do was be himself, Stanley would throw the Mask into the sea, kiss the girl, and live a very happy life…

As for the fate of the Mask? Well…that's a story for another day…

Skill and Experience

The Mask as an artifact has existed for hundreds to thousands of years, being made by the Norse God Loki and being locked away by Norse Vikings. In fact, it has existed for exactly 4 thousand years, and has been worn by Genghis Khan and Blackbeard. It allows your innermost self to come out, along with all your skills. Everything you know as your normal self translates to the Mask, and Stanley is actually a much more decent fighter than you'd think considering the fact he was able to beat Dorian in a fight and was able to knock out a police officer with ease. He's much smarter than you'd assume, he was able to trick everyone into believing Dorian was the Mask and he was able to get away with his crimes scot free. Another Mask user named Tim could use the Mask to fight Loki in a boxing match, and was even winning in the ring too. He could even make himself much smarter by enlarging his brain.

Arsenal

The Mask of Loki

Originally being locked in a chest by Norse Vikings in order to hide its power away, the ancient Mask would only find itself being released once again hundreds of years later. They say that the Mask was Loki's most powerful tool of mischief, which he created and tossed down to earth thousands of years ago to create mayhem upon the mortals. The Mask brings out your inner self in the most dramatic way possible, that means the Mask is different for everyone who wears it. Like Ipkiss who loved cartoons and was generally a joke-y guy, the Mask brought those characteristics out to an EXTREME. Or when Dorian wore it, and he became a big bad monster on steroids because of his connections to power and crime. It has some pretty interesting properties, sometimes if the user attempts to throw the Mask out, it could pull itself back in the opposite way. According to legend, the wearer of the Mask is imbued with the powers of Loki himself, which we'll get to in a minute. While Ikpiss and the Mask are mostly separate as the Mask refers to Ipkiss as separate, they are still somewhat the same as the wearer's nature affects the Masks nature. A good protection from someone ripping the Mask off is the Mask being able to create endless new masks/faces so it'd be difficult to take the real one off. Breaking the Mask in half won't incapacitate it, in fact you can still wear just one half, but it'll make it so the other half of your body IS the Mask. 

Horn

Sometimes you just need a small horn that can yell AWOOOOOOGA and shatter the windows of a cat door.. because it's funny.

Time Machine

Yeah the Mask can just very casually create a fucking time machine that allows him to travel to the future

Giant Grenade

It's big, it splodes, and it can do a lot of damage.

Tommy Gun

Hey it's a lot less rated R than the other time he pulled this off…

Tool Weapons

Call him Tool-verine!

Wonder Gro

The Mask has a fun little growing potion that allows him to grow anything he chooses!

Shrinking Spray

As opposed to the Wonder Gro, the Mask also has some shrinking spray!

Bazooka

Don't worry, don't worry, he's got a permit for it…

Banshee Buster Equipment

While they may only seem like mock Ghostbuster equipment (or…. Mockbuster), they actually could absorb and seal ghosts!

Giant Hammer

Stop! Hammer time!

Knights Armor

The Mask is your knight in shining armor! Whether or not you want him to save you however…

Fake Guns

The Mask is capable of pulling out a BUNCH of weapon weaponry ranging from guns and missiles, then revealing they were fake.

Laser Guns

Forget a lousy sword, insert Indian Jones gif

Rejuv-A-Lotion

Are you old and absolutely horrendous?? Do you have wrinkles despite only being 34?? Try the Mask's Rejuv-A-Lotion! This lotion can instantly make you younger than ever before, making you look like a teen! Plot twist, you are! Turns out this lotion actually makes you younger, and applying it will continue to make you younger and younger until you stop existing. You can only negate the effects of it if you wipe the cream off.

Road Runner

This baby can jet into the road with its many boosts and jets, and it looks badass too.

U.F.O

You could say the Mask is technically out of this world, but this is an Unidentified Fraggin’ Object!

Helicopter

The Mask really shows his love for the skies, why bother with the ground when the air has more opportunities!

Smoke Bomb

The Mask could launch a smoke bomb that seemingly makes anyone near it disrupted.

Bi-clops laser beams

Forget cyclops with him one lame laser beam, the Mask has two of them!

CP-2000

Also known as the CouchPotato 2000, this comfortable looking couch comes with a helmet topped with a cool remote with crazy powers. The Mask could make individuals pause, rewind, and fast forward because, remote lol. And he could also summon cartoon characters as backup, and could even erase things from existence.

Time-Stop Watch

It's pretty similar to the previous weapon, but a lot more potent. The Mask could age people forwards and backwards in time, slow people down in time, fast forward them, stop them in time, could make themselves go back in time to commit an action, and could summon a time machine that allows them to travel anywhere in the past or future.

Misc. Weapons

The Mask can create a shit ton of weapons, like a barrage of guns ranging from rifles to mini-guns to RPGs, to fucking missiles and other explosives, and whatever the fuck kind of gun this is. The Mask could really just summon absolutely any weapon he wants, like a slingshot, multiple cartoon-like bombs, a cannon, a mech suit with a teleportation gun, a barrel of eels, and multiple giant rockets! 

Abilities

Toon Force

This version of the Mask is very well known for his toon force, he can basically move and squish like a cartoon character, or even bounce around as seen above. He could bend any part of body like they're noodles and stretch them to whatever lengths could make for a swell scene. He can even bend his entire body like taffy in order to do the impossible, like dodging bullets. He can also enlarge his mouth to eat a bomb with ease, or stretch his limbs to very far lengths, or squish through vents to travel between them. A fun thing about the Mask is that his toon force affects the world around him, whatever he interacts with is capable of having a similar toony effect.

Hammerspace/Summoning

Like any cartoon character would have, the Mask has a hammerspace that allows him to summon any weapon he wants from his sleeve, like…an actual hammer! He could summon a large metal wall, a giant grenade, and could even summon doors that contain monsters and brick walls.

Immortality

Being a toon means you're basically unkillable and are invulnerable to any damage, as seen above when the Mask fell out of a window and ok only came out as flat as a piece of cardboard. He can also survive being shot in the stomach, shot multiple times, survive as a skeleton, and Loki could reform himself after being reduced to pencil shavings. He could also instantly regenerate his entire body after it was completely destroyed by becoming a Mask Bomb, instantly reforming himself after being punched into glass, and regenerate from being vaporized into dust.

Shapeshifting

Ipkiss loves his cartoons, which is why he has the ability to shapeshift into whatever he feels like if it's funny for him, like a cartoon wolf that's horny for a lady. He could transform himself into many things if he feels like it, like a cowboy or Elvis Presley. He's not just capable of Shapeshifting himself, he could also shapeshift people around him into different clothes, and shapeshift his arms into a metal shield. Even Loki is capable of transforming himself into a bee, or mimicking the appearance of someone else. The Mask could inflate his ass, turn his body into a Terminator, can transform objects like his car, turn into a jet and create a Mask bomb, can change his form into a buff wrestler, and can turn his car into a rocket that can fly at warp speed.

Size Manipulation

The Mask can manipulate his size in many ways, here he could make himself bigger than a football stadium in order to battle a giant plant monster. He could also turn himself into the statue and liberty, transform into a giant boxer, and even transform into fucking Godzilla. The Mask could even shrink himself and others down to microscopic size. He could even make himself bigger than the fucking moon!

Transmutation

Lookee here, it's my favorite balloon trick! The Mask is capable of transforming any object he has into any item he wants, like a weapon. Loki himself actually states a couple times in the film that he wanted to transform certain people into animals or objects, here we actually see him do that when he turns the neighbors head into a nose.

Ice Manipulation

When you say freeze, he will LITERALLY freeze.

Shadow Manipulation

The Mask is able to manipulate his shadow and use ir to fight physical beings.

Weather Manipulation

Loki is capable of manipulating the storms and lightning, casually summoning it around himself for dramatic effect.

Duplication

The Mask could duplicate himself into multiple Masks, as if one of them wasn't difficult enough. He does this again and he duplicates himself into 4 army men, and duplicates himself into sound.. yes, he makes a duplicate made of sound. The Mask could also pull a Courage and rip himself apart, but making it so he's duplicated. He's not even just limited to himself, the Mask ITSELF can duplicate. That's right, the Mask can duplicate its own mask and force it onto others, making a bunch of other Masks to spread chaos. This has no limit to its duplication, it's only negated if you take off the Mask of the original wearer.

Fire Manipulation

Because the Mask has the same powers as Loki, that means he also could potentially create a giant fireball

Ksam!

Just by saying the word “Ksam!" The Mask could transport himself with others to the shadow lands, which thankfully the Mask could escape from.

Water Manipulation

Along with being able to just summon a bunch of water, the Mask could also summon a large squid!

Creation/Erasure

By transforming himself into a giant pencil, Loki was able to erase all of the weapons Tim made, and then draw up some flowers to replace them. He was even able to draw a large brick wall.

Non - Physical Interaction

The Mask could just..cut a hole in a shadow…yeah..no other context. Something also very weird is the Mask being able to just interact with his speech bubble, and being able to fuck with the words from other characters’ speech bubbles.

Portal Creation

The classic cartoon movie, making a black hole that people could fall into. He even does this same exact trick again lol

Gravity manipulation

The Mask doesn't obey the laws of gravity either, he really is a rule breaker. He could rotate his head and manipulate the gravity around him.

Immersion

The Mask was able to enter inside a TV, not quite being inside of a TV box, he's actually part of any shows inside or programs inside of the television.

Subjective Reality

Ah, the good ol’ classic cartoon trick! The Mask was able to paint a train tunnel, and it actually created a real train!

Madness Manipulation

The Mask, helping the robotic duplicates of The Goofalotatots (which yeah, are obviously Animaniacs parodies), was able to drive people absolutely insane by just being crazy and wild.

Broadway Force

The Mask is the jazziest guy you can ever meet, he's not an amazing performer, he's a great dancer, and you can join in on it too. As seen above he was able to force the police women to sing and dance along with just the movement of his hands. His Broadway Force was so good, it could make an entire police force dance with him and boogie the night away. His Broadway Force can even work on objects, as it would make a bunch of nearby cars dance.

4th Wall Awareness

The Mask interacting with the 4th wall is a pretty consistent ability, he can look at the viewer and reference them during gags, and as seen above he could cut the “The End" film reel with a pair of scissors. He could also interact with the end screen and open the closing circle, and could even attempt to end the episode itself saying "stay tuned.”

Resistances

Actions

Overall

  • Stopped Dorian from taking over the city and bombing the Coco Bongo club
  • Got the girl of his dreams
  • Has escaped from Kellaway finding out his true identity hundreds of times
  • Became an actual hero despite all of the previous Mask users being incredibly genocidal and evil
  • Has saved Edge City from complete destruction and evil deranged villains many times
  • Crossed over with the goat himself, Ace Ventura Pet Detective
  • Jim Carrey, he's awesome.

Strength

Speed

Durability

Scaling

Loki

Misc. Villains

Weaknesses

The Mask is not without its weaknesses, first of all, it can't work during the day. That is because Loki is a night god, so it only works during the night. And another surprising weakness from this version of the Mask is that you actually can take it off if you're strong enough to do so, like when Stanley was able to just take off the Mask when Milo was wearing it. This was shown again, and again, and again and again (but actually with Ipkiss this time), and again, and again, and again,and again, and AGAIN. Being stronger than the Mask is a very consistent weakness, considering the fact that enough physical force and overwhelming force can make the Mask pop off of the wearer. This is ALSO shown again in the cartoon. Physical force being a weakness is pretty consistent, the Mask has a much harder time overpowering and generally uses his powers on people stronger than him, like……..hi Walter. And an oddly specific weakness, is that if Stanley manages to act like the mask AS himself, then the Mask itself will fade and Stanley can't become the Mask anymore. Also….Son of the Mask…

Before the Conclusion 

Why separate them?

Now you may ask, what's the point in separating the two Masks? What's the point in separating the Gory Mask and the Cartoon Mask? Well that sentence alone may give a lot of people a good reason to separate them. One version is very gory, psychologically insane and very much a villainous son of a bitch. The other is a heroic goofy figure who in canon is different from any other Mask. Nowadays people want a matchup to focus on the gore and insane tendencies on comic book Mask, people like separating them and making matchups for them. Another reason is that they're both separate continuities of Mask's. The Comic Mask has its multiple canon issues and ending to the continuity, crossovers that aren't inconsistent with the way the Mask works, and crossovers that are straight up canon. Lobo/Mask is the only thing that's a little more confusing but generally it's fine a soft comp for that community. As for this one? There's the Jim Carrey movie, the sequel to that movie that's somewhat connected to it, the sequel series that straight up takes place after it, and comics part of the series. The only thing that's a bit weirder to use is Itty Bitty Mask, but yeah like before it's fine for a soft comp cartoon Mask. Yeah it's clear that both versions despite having weird canons are still very much seperate continuities and aren't connected with each other at all. And finally, they're just very much different characters that deserve to have matchups that shine on their unique aspects. Comic Mask is more of a psychological horror soul entity that attempts to make you destroy and kill humanity, and will make you do terrible things even if you don't want to, because it takes advantage of your worst qualities. Sometimes this makes people physically abuse their families and kill themselves, or it makes people take revenge and murder those who slightly wronged them. Comic Mask takes an emotional toll on people, and it's interesting to talk about how absolutely insane and bloodthirsty it can make you. Cartoon Mask in canon is different from any other Mask, seriously it's revealed in an episode. Every other Mask wearer was a monster, absolutely evil, or a genocidal maniac, even possessing mfers like Blackbeard and Genghis Khan. Yet Stanley was the only one who used the Mask to be a superhero, he's the only one who had a good enough heart to use it for good. Even in canon he's a very different Mask, and I really like that. He's a Mask who wants to help people and do good despite the fact the Mask is naturally chaotic, and I want that to shine in his matchups…also they work completely different and have the complete opposite weaknesses loll

Preferred Opponent?

Truthfully, I don't know ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Cartoon Mask is a much more unique character than “toon force guy", you'd want to see a matchup that not only focuses on his toon force and his great set of arsenal (you'd have to find a way to bounce off the guns),but also on his hero role. The Mask in the cartoon continuity is a clumsy hero who unintentionally causes destruction and can get easily distracted, but still wants to save people and fight people. He's very much different from any other Mask wearer, Stanley is a good person at heart who has to deal with a more chaotic persona, but his personality still makes the Mask do good regardless. But let's talk about his possible options!

The Mask vs Beetlejuice

Yeahh I don't really like this. This doesn't really go for any of the Mask's or Beetlejuices’ best qualities and why people want them in the show. For me, it's carried by the banter, but I also don't think the dynamic is the greatest for either. The Mask is very much an arsenal-heavy toon force fighter with cartoon gags, Beetlejuice is a reality warping trickster who has some cartoon-ish gags, I think both have much better; especially the juice.

The Mask vs Freakazoid

Arguably the Mask's most thematic matchup. Normal people who can transform into cartoony, overzealous and absolutely bizarre superheroes! Yeah it's basic but for cartoon Mask that's ok! Unfortunately this suffers from mid dynamic and meh banter. Freakazoid isn't really a weapons guy, he never uses any at all. Yes he does have toon force abilities and some other fun things, but the Mask is again, really really weapon heavy and is generally really unique for a dynamic, and I don't think Freakazoid really matches those marks. Again, it generally sounds fun but doesn't really do either character justice.

The Mask vs The Tick

This is basically the same issue as before with Freakazoid, while it has very fun banter, the dynamic between the characters just doesn't do each character justice. Not to mention no real alter ego connection which is a big thing for the Mask, it's fun but definitely not perfect for either.

The Mask vs Slapstick

Despite also not being perfect, this is probably my favorite matchup for the Mask right now. They're both toon force users and 4th wall breakers that fight crime and evil, and equally have adult jokes and fun goofy banter. It really shines on the normal humans turned Cartoon Superheroes in a normal world aspect and I really do like that. And the dynamic does sound decently fun on its own. Although it does have a lot of issues, Slapstick can use weapons but not as variable as the Mask, the Mask has used a TON of weapons he pulls out. Also it doesn't really go for the alter ego aspect of the Mask, Ipkiss is a really important part of the Mask's character. And finally, it's definitely not the best for Slapstick, and the Mask has other aspects that don't really fit Slapstick. Again it's my favorite matchup for the Mask right now, but it's still not the best you could do for him. I'll attempt to find something, but please, try and find something for him too! He's awesome!

Overall, I think most of these guys (except for Beetlejuice) are better off fighting each other since they match the other a lot more. The Mask is basically stuck in alt hell for me, his opponents have way better in my opinion. Beetlejuice has a lot of good options (Ghostbusters being my favorite), The Tick has Earthworm Jim and Freakazoid, and Slapstick and Freakazoid have each other which is my preference for both. In fact, if you really want to comp the Mask's together, I unironically believe Deadpool was the best for him. While I don't think he's good for either individual Mask, if you wanna do a full-on comp then Deadpool fits aspects of both. But like I said before, I will attempt to find something, and make sure to show your appreciation for both versions of the Mask!

Credits:

Ty Stars pookie for some calcs! This was a fun little thing to make! Please make sure to go and check out the Mask vs Rick Taylor!

DBB: Character Chamber - the Cartoon Mask

“Sometimes wearing a mask is the best way to show our true selves” - Lisa Mangum Welcome to DBB: Character Chamber They say we all wear mask...