Paper Mario: The Temple of the Sun

The fourth Paper Mario game, after Super Paper Mario and before Paper Mario 3DS. Okay, it's actually a fanfic, not a game, but it is a completely original Mario adventure in the Paper Mario style.

It starts out much like Thousand-Year Door does, with Mario learning that Peach wants him to join her on a trip to a far-off land, Chronoside. A Goomba thief steals Mario's hammer, and Mario chases the the thief into the Temple of the Sun. There, they witness King Shroude kill the six Guardians of Day in an attempt to create a world of perpetual night, separating Chronoside into Dayside, where it's always Day, and Nightside, where it's always night. Now Mario must recover the six Sun Souls and find six new Guardians of Day in order to reunite the two worlds.

The story can be found here.

(Note that whenever a reference to a chapter is made in the examples, this refers to the chapters of the game, not the chapters of the fanfic. Like all Paper Mario games, Temple of the Sun will have eight chapters, but at the time of this page's creation the fanfic itself is at 48 chapters and is just finishing up Chapter Seven.)

"Snatchel: Well, sorry Mario, but I can't reach that far. Huh, it's kind of a shame we can't just turn into paper airplanes, ain't it? Mario: What? …Oh, yeah. No, that'd just be silly."
 * Action Girl: Hanner
 * Action Mom:
 * Dark Action Girl: Rizz and her minions, Sall and Bess. Also Maizee
 * Anti-Hero: There really isn't much that's heroic about Goomblaine, who really only got roped into helping Mario out because it was his fault that Mario was in the Temple of the Sun when King Shroude attacked the Guardians of Day.
 * The Atoner: post-Heel Face Turn.
 * Bar Brawl: Naturally started by Goomblaine.
 * Big Bad: King Shroude
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:
 * Breather Level: Chapter 5 takes place at the Poisoned Factory. Chapter 6 takes place at the Seashell Hotel.
 * Call Back: Frequently makes references to the first three games. Sample dialogue:

": What on earth is he doing? Hanner: You clearly don't know the first rule of adventuring. Open every chest you find. Dulia: I thought the first rule of adventuring was to go into every house you find, because for some reason the people living there probably won't care and might actually give you stuff. Am I the only one who's noticed that? Hanner: Yeah, that's probably a rule too."
 * Hot Sauce that creates a huge explosion when mixed with Orange Juice: probably a reference to the Nitro Honey Syrup from TTYD. Appears in the same chapter, too.
 * Casting a Shadow: The Darkstriders
 * Circus of Fear: Starshine Circus
 * Conversational Troping:
 * Conversational Troping:


 * Cowboy Episode: Chapter 3.
 * Cute Bruiser: Stubba is just a kid (six years old), but he serves the role of The Big Guy in the party.
 * Darker and Edgier: A logical progression given that each game in the series is a bit heavier than the previous one, but Chapter 4 is where things start getting really dark. Then Chapter 5 is even darker.
 * Deceptive Disciple: The leader of the Mouser Gang turns out to be Bronson, the deputy of Golden Spur Ranch. The operation at Mustard Mines was just a ploy to get Sheriff Snatchel to leave town and leave Bronson in control.
 * Divided We Fall: Happens in Chapter 6 when the Darkstriders convince Ferdinand that he's unwanted.
 * Happens again in Chapter 7 when
 * The Dragon: Jaff.
 * Expy: Although with the exception of Goomblaine (Goomba) each of Mario's partners is of a race that had not been one of his partners in a previous game, most of them serve the same purpose.
 * Hanner, the Hammer Bro, serves the "hit distant switches" function of Kooper/Koops
 * Stubba, the Clubba, breaks through cracked walls just like Bombette and Bobbery
 * Snatchel, the Bandit, serves the "grab distant items" function of Kooper and Koops, as well as Ms. Mowz's treasure-sensing ability.
 * Dulia, the Duplighost, conceals the party just as Bow and Vivian did (with the addition of an ability to disguise them as something else)
 * , is the only one without a clear counterpart from the first two games; her ability is disabling traps and other hazards.
 * Ferdinand, the Bumpty, can carry Mario across gaps like Parakarry and Yoshi.
 * Outside of the partners, Diavelli seems awfully reminiscent of Grubba.
 * The fact that he runs a carnival also makes him seem a bit like Mr. Dark.
 * The sixth chapter takes place at the Seashell Hotel, reminiscent of Super Mario Sunshine's Sirena Beach.
 * Face Heel Turn: briefly has one of these in Chapter 7.
 * Fantastic Racism: Mario himself goes through this twice, first when he meets Stubba (a Clubba), due to the Complete Monster status of both Tubba Blubba and Grubba, and then again when he meets Dulia (a Duplighost), due to . Hanner even calls Mario out on it being "another Stubba thing" when she sees his reaction to learning that his fifth partner is to be a Duplighost. He's also a lot quicker to get over it with Dulia, precisely because remembering the loneliness he felt during that incident allows him to see that Dulia's feeling the same way.
 * Of course, all of this isn't actually racism, it's more like deep-seated fear.
 * Got Me Doing It: After The Reveal with Bronson, Hanner calls him a "low-down, dirty bilge rat", then says that she's been here too long when everyone turns and stares.
 * Greed: Clefford.
 * Heel Face Turn: turns out to be one of the Guardians.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: After the Abominable Snowwoman boss of Chapter 2 fails to defeat the heroes, the Darkstriders try to do the job themselves...and are promptly beaten up by said boss, angry at them for lying to her about Mario being responsible for the rockslides.
 * , the Chapter 5 boss, fights the party on a bridge above a pit of acid, and spends much of the battle trying to break the arena and send them into the acid. This isn't Boss Arena Idiocy because they defeat him before the bridge breaks, but after the battle ends with the boss still alive and refuses to kill him, the bridge breaks and he plummets to his doom.
 * How Dare You Die on Me!: Snatchel takes a flame attack from for, and is slower to recover after the battle than the rest of Mario's partners. Cue the Slap Slap Kiss.
 * If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: Once is rendered helpless, Mario gives  the chance to finish him. She refuses. Then the floor collapses beneath him and he falls into the acid pit below.
 * Ill Boy: Daymien
 * Interspecies Romance: Benny (Boo) and Dulia (Duplighost), Snatchel (Bandit) and.
 * Ironic Fear: Benny is a Boo who is easily frightened.
 * I Shall Taunt You: How Mario eventually manages to beat.
 * Let's You And Her Fight: The Chapter 2 boss is spurred into fighting Mario and friends by the Darkstriders convincing her that Mario was responsible for the rock slides. When she finds out that this isn't true, she attacks the three of them.
 * Load-Bearing Boss: 's death leads to the Poisoned Factory collapsing.
 * Look Behind You!: "Hey, look over there! Is that Zip Toad?"
 * Loophole Abuse: Diavelli's life contracts don't work on ghosts, for obvious reasons, allowing Dulia to fight him.
 * Mama Bear: Maizee, to the Putrid Piranhas.
 * Meaningful Name: The hub of the game is Soluna Town.
 * Diavelli, the boss of Chapter 4. Do not sign any contract he offers you.
 * Most Common Card Game: The game actually being played is called Faro, but Stubba naturally asks if Mario is playing Crazy Eights.
 * My Species Doth Protest Too Much: In addition to the usual "partners are heroic versions of enemies", Snatchel, a Bandit, is sheriff of Golden Spur Ranch.
 * Mythology Gag: Yes, the crew gets to transform into their eight-bit selves again. Given how few of Mario's partners even existed in the 8-bit era, this would likely require some brand new sprites.
 * Never Say "Die": Just like in Super Paper Mario, references are made to "ending someone's game" rather than killing them, though occasionally death will be mentioned.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Only once the six new Guardians of Day were united with their Sun Souls was the Poor Mario...
 * Non Sequitur Thud: A Mouser does this in Chapter 3. Clefford also has some non sequitur sleeptalking in Chapter 2.
 * Powerup Full-Color Change:
 * Psycho Serum: Maizee's mutant Putrid Piranhas are dosed up with successively more of this. By the end, they're so insane that they no longer even recognize Maizee and attack her.
 * And then takes it, despite knowing the risks.
 * Recurring Boss: Jaff, Pell, and Nobb are fought multiple times, as are Maizee and her Putrid Piranhas.
 * Reset Button: The sixth special move, Square One, actually turns back time.
 * Ripple Proof Memory: Aside from Mario and Goomblaine, who were inside the Temple of the Sun when Chronoside was split, the only ones who realize that time has essentially stopped are those who are destined to become the new Guardians.
 * Saying Too Much: Mario lets slip that the reason they want to get to Mustard Mines is so they can get time moving correctly again. Turns out to have been the perfect thing to say when the sheriff holding them in prison at the time has noticed that something's wrong with time and lets them out, on the condition that they let him join them on their trip. (Of course, they have to oblige, not only because he's holding them in prison but also because the fact that he knows that time is all messed up means he's one of the new Guardians.)
 * Later, confront each other, and not knowing that Mario and friends are already in the same room as they are, the latter reveals his Man Behind the Man status right before trying to kill the former.
 * Shipper on Deck: When kisses Snatchel, Hanner's reaction is "Finally!"
 * Shout-Out: When Mario finds the Zap Tap badge, Hanner says, "Awesome! A Franklin Badge!"
 * "ATTENTION, PESKY PLUMBER! The Darkstriders and I have taken over the Palmy Balmy Beach! The vacationers are now all permanent guests at one of my seven Seashell Hotels!" Moments later he corrects himself, as they only have one hotel.
 * The scene where  is meant to mirror Zuko's infamous subverted Heel Face Turn.
 * Shrinking Violet: Dulia
 * Southern Gentleman: Snatchel
 * Stealth Mentor: Naturally, despite having heard a confession from the Man Behind the Man, Mario's still a little reluctant to trust  since the last villain to claim that he'd been on Mario's side all along turned out to be the Big Bad.
 * The Starscream:, sort of. Not actually trying to usurp King Shroude, but rather trying to undermine Jaff and take his place as The Dragon.
 * Surfer Dude: BUMPTY BOARDERS FOREVER!
 * Terrible Trio: Jaff, Pell, and Nobb. Later Rizz, Sall, and Bess.
 * Theme Naming: All of these named Darkstriders have four-letter names with a doubled letter at the end.
 * Odd Name Out: The king of the Darkstriders is named Shroude, however.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: After finding the third Sun Soul, Hanner says she hopes the next Guardian is a girl, because there weren't enough girls on the team. Mario points out that she isn't terribly feminine herself. Sure enough, the next Guardian is the very feminine Dulia.
 * Totally Radical: Ferdinand and the other Bumpty Boarders
 * Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Like the other future Guardians, Ferdinand noticed that the sun didn't move in the sky...he just figured that everything happens for a reason and went with it.
 * Wall Jump: Unlike in previous games, the Ultra Boots now give Mario this ability.
 * Wham Chapter: While Temple of the Sun is Darker and Edgier than most Paper Mario games starting fairly early on, Chapter 5 is where things start getting really heavy.
 * What Could Have Been: The boss of Chapter 6 was originally going to be a "big pig thing", but was changed for being too similar to Midbus from Bowser's Inside Story, which hadn't been released when the story began.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: The partners mistake the Ultra Stone for this.
 * Wham Chapter: While Temple of the Sun is Darker and Edgier than most Paper Mario games starting fairly early on, Chapter 5 is where things start getting really heavy.
 * What Could Have Been: The boss of Chapter 6 was originally going to be a "big pig thing", but was changed for being too similar to Midbus from Bowser's Inside Story, which hadn't been released when the story began.
 * Worthless Yellow Rocks: The partners mistake the Ultra Stone for this.