Mario

Mario is the main protagonist in the Paper Mario series, as well as his other adventures. Being made of paper, both Mario and his surroundings have very unique effects and abilities, which can be seen in all five Paper Mario games. Paper Mario is very similar to his 3D counterpart, in that he is a silent Italian plumber who must rescue Princess Peach and defeat Bowser in some way. Mario primarily uses jump and hammer attacks in his paper form, and nearly always encounters allies who join him on his journey to rescue Princess Peach.

Paper Mario
Paper Mario starts out with Parakarry delivering a letter from Princess Peach to Mario’s House. Mario and Luigi learn that Peach is throwing a party and wants them to come. Mario goes to Princess Peach’s Castle, but Bowser and Kammy Koopa burst through the window when Mario and Peach are alone. Bowser planted his lair underneath Peach’s Castle, and so Bowser makes his lair float into space, making the castle go with it. Bowser has stolen the Star Rod, which contains the power of the Seven Star Spirits. With the Star Rod, Bowser can make any wish he wants come true, and so he wishes to become invincible. Bowser defeats Mario with the Star Rod, and sends him flying through the window. Peach is captured by Bowser, and is thrown into her room to be guarded by Bowser’s minions.

Mario lies down on the ground unconscious, and the Seven Star Spirits come to him in his dream. They tell him to go to Shooting Star Summit and find them there. A Goomba girl named Goombaria finds Mario, and brings him to the Toad House in Goomba Village. Eldstar, the leader of the Star Spirits, talks to Mario again. Mario wakes up, and meets the nice Goomba family. After Mario arrives at Shooting Star Summit and talks with the Star Spirits, Mario learns that Bowser trapped all of the Seven Star Spirits into cards and gave them to his seven strongest servants. Mario also learns that the only way to defeat Bowser is to rescue all of the Star Spirits so that they can give Mario the Star Beam ability. The Star Beam is the only attack that can get rid of the Star Rod’s powers momentarily.

In this game, Mario has three primary stats: health points (HP), flower points (FP), and badge points (BP). Health determines how much life Mario has, Flower Points determine what special abilities Mario can use and badge points lets Mario wear certain badges. Badges give Mario powers, spells, stat changes or other effects. Mario’s two major attacking strategies are variations of jumping and using a hammer.

Mario also has Star Points, which let him use different Star powers given to him by the Star Spirits. Mario gets a Lucky Star item that teaches him Action Commands, which help attack and defense by pressing the A button at a certain time. Mario also uses his allies to solve several puzzles he cannot solve alone. Mario gets two upgrades of both his shoes and his hammers, letting him solve more puzzles he originally could not and lets him use more abilities. Mario shows his paper qualities during different parts of the game, as does his allies and the background, making for Paper Mario.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario is the main protagonist in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as well. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Princess Peach sends Mario another letter, this time containing a Magical Map. Peach says that this map could lead to treasure, and insists that Mario goes to a town named Rougeport. Mario does, and finds a female Goomba named Goombella. Goombella is being attacked by Lord Crump and a crew of X-Nauts, and Mario comes to her rescue. After escaping the X-Nauts, Mario explores Rougeport. Toadsworth is there, and tells Mario that Princess Peach is missing. After that, Goombella tells Mario to look for Professor Frankly. Frankly tells Mario about the Thousand-Year Door and how it can be opened with the Crystal Stars. Mario also learns that the Crystal Stars can be found by using the Magical Map. So, Mario takes on two tasks: Finding the Crystal Stars and finding the missing Princes Peach. Mario has HP, FP and BP like in the old game. The Crystal Stars gives Mario Star Powers (SP), replacing the Star Spirit’s powers. Mario also gains four paper abilities in the course of the game: Airplane Mode, Paper Mode, Tube Mode and Boat Mode. They cannot be used in battle, but Mario uses these four abilities to solve several puzzles in the game. The combat system is very similar to Paper Mario, adding the abilities to defend or appeal to the audience. Appealing can make the audience cheer and replenishes the Star Power meter much faster. Mario also uses jumping and hammering to attack, just like in the first Paper Mario. Also like in the original game, Mario uses his allies to solve other puzzles that his paper abilities, jumping and hammer cannot. Mario also gets two upgrades of his hammer and shoes to solve new puzzles and gain more abilities, like in Paper Mario. The allies in this game have their own HP, unlike Paper Mario where they had no HP.

Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, Mario is still the main protagonist and still paper. Toad comes into Mario’s Pad and tells Mario that Princess Peach is missing. Mario and Luigi assume it is Bowser who kidnapped her, so they go to Bowser’s Castle. But, they find out that it was not Bowser who kidnapped her. Count Bleck appears, and they learn that he kidnapped Peach. Count Bleck takes everyone at Bowser’s Castle and teleports them to his lair. Mario is lost in Bowser’s Castle, however, knocked out. Count Bleck kidnapped them to try to make the Chaos Heart, which is told by the Dark Prognosticus to create The Void. The Void would eventually devour all worlds, and so Count Bleck could make the universe in accordance to his own will. The Chaos Heart is made by wedding a fair maiden and an evil king, which fits the description of Peach and Bowser perfectly. Count Bleck’s brainwashing assistant Nastasia forces the two to wed, and the Chaos Heart appears. Count Bleck creates The Void, which will slowly grow and destroy all worlds. Mario is awakened by a mysterious pixl named Tippi. Tippi takes Mario to a wizard named Merlon in a town between dimensions called Flipside. Mario learns about Count Bleck and the Chaos Heart. Mario is told that the only way to counter-act the Chaos Heart is to find all eight Pure Hearts. Merlon gives Mario the first Pure Heart right away, and Mario sets out to find the other seven to rescue Peach and stop The Void. The original combat system is abandoned in this game and is completely replaced by normal platformer-style fighting. The hammer is not obtained right away like in the other games; a Pixl giving Mario the hammer power is found in the fifth level. There is also no FP or BP in Super Paper Mario, except for two Power Plus badges that attach for no cost at all. A unique power given to Mario early on in this game is the power to flip to the third dimension, called Flipping. For a short amount of time, Mario can walk in the third dimension, which is needed to solve certain puzzles and defeat certain enemies. Mario eventually gets three more allies which switch with Mario even during non-combat. Mario also gets many pixls through-out this game that acts as the allies. Although they cannot fight, they each give Mario certain abilities, such as the ability to ground pound or the ability to use a bomb. Mario does not get any abilities from the Pure Hearts, unlike the previous Paper Mario games.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Mario makes his fourth outing in the Paper Mario universe in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Set during the Mushroom Kingdom's Sticker Fest, Mario finds himself once again on a quest to rescue the princess when Bowser shatters the Sticker Comet, abducting the princess and causing all manner of chaos. Mario then sets out to find the Royal Stickers along with his new found friend Kersti, a sassy new ally who provides assistance throughout Mario's adventure.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
Mario starts his fifth adventure in Paper Mario: Color Splash. He is brought to a place called Prism Island by a letter shaped like a Toad. Once he gets there, he finds out the whole island has had its color sucked dry. He also learns that the source of the islands color, the Big Paint Stars, missing. Mario, along with the help of a paint can named Huey must go on an adventure to stop the culprit and retrieve the Big Paint Stars in order to bring back peace to Prism Island.

Relationships

 * Luigi is Mario's brother. Both are very fond of each other and even wear similar outfits; Mario being red, Luigi green.
 * Princess Peach takes on the role of Mario's love interest, whom he has to constantly save from peril, making her a typical "damsel-in-distress". However, in the Paper Mario series, Peach becomes a bit more helpful, sending information to Mario constantly and even eventually joining him in Super Paper Mario.
 * Bowser is usually portrayed as an antagonist and Mario's main enemy, who is constantly capturing Princess Peach and always being defeated in the end. In Super Paper Mario, however, Mario willingly accepts Bowser into his team, so they could both work together in order to defeat Count Bleck.

Voice Actors

 * Charles Martinet (UK/US)
 * Tōru Furuya (Japan)
 * Humberto Velez (Latin America)
 * Reinhard Brock (Germany)

Trivia

 * In three Paper Mario games and Super Mario RPG, Mario can somehow turn into an 8-bit version of himself. In Super Mario RPG, it is accessible in a curtain in Booster's Tower; in Paper Mario it is located in a vase in Boo's Mansion; in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door it is found in a changing room in the X-Naut Fortress; and in Super Paper Mario, several items transform him, including Starmen.