Character Sheet: Paper Mario

 PAPER MARIO

Are you guys excited? I'm excited. You should be too. You know why? Cause today we get to cover all the freakin' amazing characters from Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario (pre-TOK) series, and even the not so amazing ones too. Here's the full list:

1. Cheep Cheep

2. Bob-Omb

3. Spike

4. Tiny Mouser

5. Mouser

6. Paper Mario

7. Mr. L

8. Geno

9. Mallow

10. Flurrie

11. Tippi & Pixls

12. Kersti

13. Huey

14. Merlon

15. Star Spirits

16. Smithy

17. Kammy Koopa

18. Sir Grodus

19. Count Bleck

20. Dimentio

21. Yaridovich

22. Axem Rangers

23. Lord Crump

24. The Shadow Sirens

25. O'Chunks

26. Mimi

27. Croco

28. Booster

29. Jonathan Jones

30. Valentina

31. Jr. Troopa

32. Doopliss

33. Rawk Hawk

34. Francis

35. Culex

Now, we come to the good stuff. Oooh, I'm so excited! Okay, first up we have Paper Mario, Mario's alt version starring in the Paper Mario games. He will be similar to Mr. Game & Watch in that he'll be entirely 2D, possibly even with the added gimmick of flapping in the breeze and getting crumpled and so on. His moves will likely draw from both the Paper MARIO games and the PAPER Mario games, although a little less than the latter as Kersti, Huey, and Olivia do the job of gimmick rep well enough.

In the story-driven games, a lot of his moves consist of variations on his jump and hammer moves, with badges and items to enhance them in some way. He also has allies to help him out, both in battle and out, although with all of them being part of the roster as a color swap of their particular species (the only exception being Watt), I don't know how much they will come into play here. In Thousand-Year Door, you gained "cursed" abilities like being able to turn into a paper airplane, paper boat, roll up, and turn sideways. Both of the first games gave you added abilities through the McGuffins you were collecting, and those can come into play here possibly. In the third game, you also gained the ability to literally switch from a 2D world to a 3D world. In the craft-themed games, as stated before, Kersti, Huey, and Olivia do the job pretty well of covering those, but all the sticker, paint, and origami abilities from those can come into play as well.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Mega Hammer

Mario will strike with his hammer. It will take after some of the newer characters and have levels to the move's strength based on how long you press in the commands, varying from the basic smack, to the full twisting windup of the strongest hit.

Side B: Companions

I thought this would be a fun way to work in the side characters and make sure they got that last little bit of representation alongside their full color swaps in their species' slot. It will be a randomized move, with you tossing one of your fifteen companions from the first two games, all with varying levels of effect, with the two Goombas being the lightest damage, and the two Bob-Ombs being the heaviest damage.

Up B: Mega Jump

This one is also based on the varying levels principle, with the differences ranging from just a larger jump with a strong damage percentage on the landing, to springing ridiculously high into the air for maximum recovery.

Down B: Flip

Basically a strong defensive move. Mario will flip himself sideways, meaning any attack that comes his way will pass right by. He can hold this state for a short time and can move around that way.

Final Smash: Companion Rush OR Meteor Shower OR 3D Flip OR Real World Item

Basically, I had several good ideas on this one. In order, they are my favorite, the most likely to happen, the cool but impractical, and the one I'd rather not have. Companion Rush is my favorite, where basically you call in all of Paper Mario's companions and they all rush the opponent at once. (I would cry tears of joy at the sight of it). The more likely one to happen though is probably a final Smash based on the Star Spirits or the Crystal Stars from either of the first two games (most likely the Meteor Shower move from both). 3D Flip, based on Super Paper Mario, would be really cool but probably stupid difficult to make a reality, so let's move on. Finally, we have Real World Item, like using the giant fan or scissors or something. I'd rather not personally, and honestly Kersti or Huey could both use it just fine, so I'll let them have it.

Entrance: Popping out of his own Smash letter would probably be really awesome.

Taunt: Turning into a paper boat, waving to the audience for audience points, flipping through his own book. And of course, a secret taunt in the form of Goombario and Goombella tattling on the opponent.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover a semi-echo like Mouser, Mr. L!