Why masks are made?

Answer 1

Masks worn by samurai warriors were simply to look scary as far as i know. A combination of the mask and the headdress with horns and stuff would have been a most intimidating sight if it was running straight at you! But other masks may have been used in plays (mainly noh theatre) and other drama. I don't know too much about Japanese masks but i know that in Indonesia masks with small eyes and sharp noses are heroes and good guys, where as masks with big eyes and round noses are evil villains. It is different in Japan; the larger the eyes, the more trustworthy the character.

In traditional Kabuki theatre all actors were men, and the actors didn't speak, this was done by a chorus of musicians. The masks portrated the characters being played and clearly showed the audience whether the player was male or female, young or old, hero or villain (or demon).

In your category, ancient Egypt, death masks were made in the likeness, or supposed likeness, of the dead and placed upon the face of the deceased after mummification and before the burial ceremony.

The most famous of all such ancient Egyptian burial masks is that of Tutankhamon, the young 18th-Dynasty Egyptian king born in 1341 BC and who reigned from 1333 to 1324 BC.

Note: there are several commonly used spellings of Tutankamun's name in English, since such methods of writing weren't used in ancient Egypt; this is just one adapted spelling.

Answer 2

There are many different reasons from around the world, you must be more specific. What country?