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The Paper Mario series is a series of RPG games that feature Mario in a two-dimensional paper-look, hence the name. These paper-like characters, however, are placed in a 3D world. There are three games in the series, each with a very distinct storyline and plot.

Games

1. Paper Mario (2001) (Nintendo 64) (2007) (Virtual Console)
2. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) (Nintendo GameCube)
3. Super Paper Mario (2007) (Wii)

Paper Mario

The first game in the series, originally released for the Nintendo 64.

Bowser, with the assistance of Kammy Koopa, steals the mystical Star Rod, an artifact capable of granting any and all wishes. Using it he entraps the seven Star Spirits and takes absolute, impenetrable control over Princess Peach's castle. Mario, teaming up with several friends along the way, goes on a quest to free the Star Spirits from Bowser's cronies, retrieve the Star Rod from Bowser, and save the princess.

Since its release, Paper Mario has sold 1.38 million copies worldwide, not including Virtual Console sales.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

In this title Mario is given unique paper abilities that allow him to overcome obstacles, such as flipping sideways, folding and rolling up.

Mario comes across a Magical Map which leads to the whereabouts of the seven Crystal Stars, enchanted gems that are used to open the Thousand-Year Door, which guards a fantastic treasure. However, another party, the X-Nauts, has kidnapped the princess and wishes to open the door first and use the treasure in order to possess the planet. Mario must find the seven Crystal Stars first before the treasure has a chance to be used for evil purposes.

Ever since Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door's release, it has sold over 2 million copies worldwide, which so far makes it the best-selling game in the Paper Mario series.

Super Paper Mario

This game is considered a departure from the Paper Mario formula as it is a platforming game with RPG elements, rather than vice-versa. In Super Paper Mario, Mario is given the ability to flip back and forth between the second and third dimensions. The player is also given the ability to play as Peach, Bowser, and Luigi as they become available.

Bowser and Peach are forced to marry by the dastardly Count Bleck in order to create a blasphemous object called the Chaos Heart. Count Bleck uses it to open an interdimensional rift that will eventually consume the entire universe. Mario joins up with a Pixl named Tippi in order to gather the Pure Hearts, sacred objects that are able to aid in banishing the Chaos Heart, defeating Count Bleck, and saving existence from obliteration.

SPM has sold over 1.73 million copies worldwide.

Characters

Playable characters

These are the four playable characters from the Paper Mario series.

• Mario is the primary protagonist of the series. The hero of the Mushroom Kingdom, he rescues the Star Rod from Bowser in the original Paper Mario, defeats a 1000-year old demon in The Thousand-Year Door and stops an evil prophecy from destroying all existence in Super Paper Mario. He is joined by various partners throughout the games.

• Princess Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom; she assists Mario. In the first game, she discovers vital information for Mario to use and gives him items via a magical treasure chest. She eventually helps save the world from Bowser by wishing for Mario to have more strength. In the second game, she is kidnapped by the X-Nauts. While in captivity of the X-Nauts, she befriends their main computer, TEC, who is smitten by her, and assists her by allowing her to send e-mails to Mario's mailbox with helpful information about the X-Nauts' plans. Late in the game TEC reveals to Peach that the reason why the X-Nauts had captured her was because they needed a maiden that was pure of heart to be the new vessel of the Shadow Queen and she was briefly possessed. During the final battle with the Shadow Queen, Mario and his companions purged the Shadow Queen and rescued Peach without harming her. In Super Paper Mario, she is captured by Count Bleck and forced to marry Bowser in order to cause the Chaos Heart to appear, which would effectively lead to the end of all worlds. Afterwards, she escapes the Count's clutches and reunites with Mario. Although she is briefly playable in Paper Mario and The Thousand-Year Door, she is fully playable in Super Paper Mario.

• Bowser is usually the main antagonist of the Mario series. After realizing that the Star Spirits refused to grant his wishes in the original Paper Mario, Bowser steals the Star Rod to give himself unnatural abilities and defeat Mario. He fails to do so, and loses the Star Rod. In the second game, he is briefly playable, and shocked by the kidnapping of Princess Peach (as he was trying to steal her himself). He tries to beat Mario to the Crystal Stars, thinking that they were great world-conquering tools, without success. In the third installment, he is mentioned in the Dark Prognosticus as the monster king who, by marrying a pure-hearted princess, will cause the Chaos Heart to appear. He is fully playable in Super Paper Mario.

• Luigi is Mario's brother and a protagonist. He is overlooked in favor for his brother. In the first game, he leaves Peach's party early and therefore avoids becoming captured by Bowser and remains at home throughout the story. He is jealous of Mario, because he goes on adventures while he (Luigi) has to tend to their home. In the second game, he is encountered several times in Rogueport, claiming that he was on his own adventure while Mario was off trying to collect the Crystal Stars. An author interviewed Luigi and wrote a book series based on his adventures. In the third game, he plays a dual role. He is at first brainwashed by Nastasia, Count Bleck's assistant, turning into "Mr. L", who attacks Mario with his "Brobot". After being restored, he comes to his senses and becomes Luigi again, as well as the fourth playable character. Super Paper Mario marks Luigi's first vital role in the Paper Mario series of games.

Other characters

• Kammy Koopa (カメックババ, Kamekkubaba, Kamek Baba), first introduced in Paper Mario, is an old witch Magikoopa who works for Bowser. Kammy is described by Goombario in Paper Mario as "the brains behind Bowser" and is high up in the Koopa hierarchy. Kammy oversees the Magikoopas. Kammy continues as Bowser's lieutenant in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In the second Paper Mario game, Kammy is the one who informs Bowser about Mario's quest to collect the Crystal Stars and that Princess Peach has been kidnapped. She then proceeds to aid Bowser in his journey to retrieve the Crystal Stars and Princess Peach, although their efforts are unsuccessful most of the time. At the end of the game, she aids Bowser in fighting Mario and his allies in the Palace of Shadow and is defeated. She does not appear at all in Super Paper Mario.

References

1. "Paper Mario to be folded into Virtual Console". 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
2. Goombario, Paper Mario, Nintendo 64, Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, 2001.

• Articles lacking sources from October 2007
• Mario role-playing games