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Shadow Mario is the main villain in the game Super Mario Sunshine. His appearance is similar to that of Mario, but he is blue and transparent, similar to water, and has glowing red eyes. Though up close he could be easily distinguished from Mario, at a distance the two could be confused with each other, a fact which plays a role in the storyline of Super Mario Sunshine.
Role in game
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Mario, Princess Peach, and Toadsworth travel to the tropical resort of Isle Delfino, hoping for a vacation. Unfortunatley, shortly after they arrive, they find that the island has been vandalised with graffiti and toxic waste by someone who resembles Mario. Because of this resemblance, Mario is mistaken for this troublemaker, put on trial, and sentenced to clean up the entire island. Shortly after he begins this work, Mario encounters this fiend while cleaning up Delfino Plaza, who immediately grabs the princess and runs off. Mario pursues him and stops him from making off with Peach, but fails to prevent him from getting away. Shadow Mario, as he is referred to in the game, later returns to Delfino Plaza while Mario is absent, and kidnapps Princess Peach, taking her to Pinna Park. Mario follows his imposter there and catches up with him. Shadow Mario then attacks Mario with a giant robot which resembles Bowser (known as as Mecha-Bowser). After Mario succeeds in destroying this machine, Shadow Mario emerges from it with his hostage Peach, and then reveals himself to actually be Bowser Jr., the son of Bowser, in disguise. He then talks about how his father Bowser had told him that his "mother", Peach, had been kidnapped by an "evil" man named Mario, and how he had therefore disguised himself as Mario and desecrated Isle Delfino in an attempt to get him thrown in prison. Bowser Jr. then escapes with Peach in a hot air balloon, taking her to the top of Corona Mountain. He afterwards makes several other appearances in the game in his Shadow Mario guise, once in the seventh episode of each of the main levels and few times in Delfino Plaza. During these appearances, he must be pursued and stopped in order to recover a stolen item such as a Shine Sprite, a Yoshi egg, or a FLUDD nozzle.
Shadow Mario has appeared as an unlockable playable character in the game Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (ironically, Bowser Jr. also appears as a separate unlockable character in that game). It is unknown if this Shadow Mario is a separate character from Bowser Jr., or if he was put in simply for a more varied character roster.
Doopliss's alternate form in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is called "Shadow Mario", though it does not have the same appearance as the Shadow Mario from Super Mario Sunshine.
