Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: Difference between revisions

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{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Commands]]: Every attack has one or more of these. Pulling off certain hidden commands will even refill your star power meter.

* [[Adaptation Decay]]: The [[In-Universe]] ''Super Luigi'' books, which novelize Luigi's (mis)adventures in the Waffle Kingdom. Among other things, they claim he played "a purifying earth spirit" in the Jazzafrazz Town play, when he was actually an inanimate patch of grass on the side of the road (but the town was full of Dayzees who idolized nature, and thus he was hailed by them). In fact, everything portrayed in his books are absolute lies, starting with the very first paragraph in the series. Just listen to his partners. They'll tell the truth.

{{quote|"Who goes around whacking somebody's tootsies like that? Somebody with some serious moxie, that's who! It must be this saucy little mustache guy!"}}

* [[And I Must Scream]]: You know those black chest spirits that [[Cursed with Awesome|curse you?]] {{spoiler|Those are the four heroes that sealed away the Shadow Queen, but she laid a curse on them beforehand to trap them.}}

* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: Both in Gameplay and Story: Gameplay wise, you do stuff in Rogueport after the final battle. Story wise, it ends with Peach coming to Mario's house and saying she's found a new treasure map in the castle and is waiting for Mario on the boat. The look on Mario's face and the music just fit at that moment of the utter surprise/despair of having to go on another adventure so soon.

* [[And Your Reward Is Clothes]]: There are two badges you can collect to change Mario's outfit. One is the L Emblem, found in the Poshley Sanctum, which makes Mario's outfit have Luigi's color scheme. The other can be bought from Charlieton, the W Emblem, which gives Mario Wario's color scheme. {{spoiler|Wear them at the same time, and you get Waluigi's color scheme.}}

* [[Anti-Grinding]]: Eventually, you'll only get 1 star point from battles, so it's best to move on with the plot rather than stick around and fight.

* [[Ant War]]: The Punis aren't exactly insects, but their war with the "rival tribe" of mosquito like Jabbies plays out as this trope.

* [[Autobots Rock Out]]: The fight music for Chapter 3's miniboss, Rawk Hawk, is made of this. Listen to it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1CDK_JnMa4 here]. (The other battles in the Glitz Pit have the standard battle music.)

* [[Badass Mustache]]: Mario, Luigi, and Bobbery.

** General White fits this too. Heck, there are quite a few of these in the game.

* [[Badass Spaniard]]: Cortez; a badass, ''undead'' spaniard.

* [[Balloon Belly]]: While not shown, it's implied through Heff T.'s dialogue. After chapter 6, it turns out that he's eaten himself to the point of being too fat to leave his room on the Excess Express.

* [[Beef Gate]]: Gus, though he can be bribed as opposed to beaten up.

* [[Big Bad]]: Sir Grodus.

* [[Big Bulky Bomb]]: The Bulky Bob-ombs and their Pit of 100 Trials [[Underground Monkey|equivalent]] Bob-ulks.

* [[Big Ol' Eyebrows]]: Mayors Kroop and Dour.

* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: An isolated instance: Sky-Blue Spinies that have curled up into balls are referred to by the game as "Sky-Blue Pipes". ''Paipo'' is the Japanese name for Spiny Eggs, which may be where the confusion came from.

** When you are in the Keelhaul Key chapter, at one point, the pirate "Four-Eyes" {{spoiler|(a.k.a. Lord Crump)}} looks at the TV and tells the audience not to tell Mario who he obviously is.

** When Koops is reunited with his father after the first dungeon, he says "Everyone thought your game was over!" This may have been an example at the time, but [[Retcon|it no longer remains so.]] With the release of [[Super Paper Mario]], the common term for death in-universe has become [[Game Over]].

* [[But Thou Must!]]: After catching the Yoshi egg in Glitzville, Mario is given an option to, instead of free it, say, "Let there be hot dogs!" Picking this option will simply result in Mario's partner scolding him and freeing the egg.

** Immediately afterward, Mario is given [[Blatant Lies|an option]] to bring the egg with him or not. If he says no, his partner immediately changes his mind.

* [[Character Development]]: A few characters go through this: Koops learns to be brave in the face of danger, Vivian [[Grew a Spine|grows a spine]] and abandons her abusive older sister, and Bobbery goes from a [[Grumpy Old Man]] traumatized by the {{spoiler|death of his wife}} to a bonafide [[Cool Old Guy]].

* [[Check Point Starvation]]: The [[Bonus Dungeon|Pit Of]] [[Marathon Level|100 Trials]] is the epitome of this. The dungeon takes hours to complete, and you can't save your progress at all.

** Even [[Jerkass|BELDAM]] thinks he's handsome. What can we say? Chicks dig the [[Badass Mustache|'stache.]]

* [[Clark Kenting]]: Ms. Mowz, who is also the Badge Shop Owner.

* [[Cursed with Awesome]]: The black chests curse you... with the paper abilities you'll need to explore the next area/dungeon. One of the few instances where this is played for laughs. It's also justified by the fact that the {{spoiler|"demons" are former heroes who are exploiting a loophole.}}

* [[Cute Bruiser]]: The nameable, color-customizable<ref>Sort of; the Yoshi Kid's color palette is determined by an in-game time cycle which starts the moment you get the egg and ends the moment the egg hatches. Players who know about this can choose waste time to get the palette they want.</ref> Yoshi Kid found in Glitzville.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: This game compared to its predecessor.

* [[Dark Is Not Evil]]: There's Twilight Town, and even your own party member, Vivian.

* [[Detective Drama]]: Chapter 6 is a spoof of this.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Mario defeats {{spoiler|the demonic Final Boss}} by jumping on it and hitting it with a hammer. ...After {{spoiler|being powered up by the Crystal Stars}}, admittedly.

* [[Distaff Counterpart]]: Goombella serves pretty much the same purpose as Goombario from [[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]; Bobbery is a [[Spear Counterpart]] for Bombette as well.

* [[Damsel in Distress]]: Subverted; at the end of the chapters, you get to play as Peach sneaking around the X-Naut Fortress, looking for information to help Mario.

** Luigi gets his own in the form of Princess Eclair.

* [[Downer Ending]]: This happens if you decide to {{spoiler|become the Shadow Queen's servant. As the narrator so eloquently puts it, "The Shadow Queen engulfed the world with her foul magic. For Mario, Peach and the world it was... [[Nonstandard Game Over|GAME OVER]].}}

* [[The Dragon]]: Lord Crump. Beldam also counts, though she is [[The Dragon]] to {{spoiler|the Shaaddow Queen}}.

* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: {{spoiler|The Shadow Queen. Just leaving her coffin casts the world in total darkness, and she can pull members of the audience into the netherrealm before devouring their souls.}}

* [[Elite Mooks]]: Koopatrols and the Elite X-Nauts.

* {{spoiler|[[The End of the World as We Know It]]: What Mario is trying to prevent.}}

* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]: [[In-Universe]]. Luigi and his "character" were the most popular out of the entire play he was in during his quest.

** Has to be parodied in Chapter 3. While in the vent, the person you're spying on basically goes over his entire diabolical plan to himself. Just to grab your attention, he more or less says "And since I'm talking out loud here, I'll just put this extremely important piece of paper in this desk drawer here and leave. Ah, there we go. Right there in the drawer, [[Tempting Fate|nobody's gonna steal it at all]]."

* [[Expy]]: Cortez has many similarities to Johnathan Jones from ''[[Super Mario RPG]]''. Both are pirates, both have the fifth [[Plot Coupon|star]] (which happens to be blue in both cases), and both of them [[Defeat Means Friendship|become your allies]] and help you defeat a boss who wants to steal it from the heroes.

* [[False Innocence Trick]]: Although it appears that the "evil" beings trapped in the black chests were originally good ({{spoiler|the game all but blatantly tells you that they were the original four heroes of legend}}), the end result is the same nonetheless. They plead for Mario to let them out, so of course, he does. They curse him as thanks. Kind of subverted, because [[Cursed with Awesome|the curses help you]], to the point that you literally cannot continue without "acquiring" them.

* [[Faux Affably Evil]]: {{spoiler|Grubba. Under that cheery good-ol' boy demeanor is a total ''monster'' of a Clubba.}}

* [[Female Monster Surprise]]: {{spoiler|Hooktail, who Gloomtail reveals is his sister when you fight him.}}

* [[Four Is Death]]: The haunted {{spoiler|fourth cabin of the Excess Express.}} Chapter 4 also takes place in a dark and eerie [[Halloweentown]] plagued by a deadly curse.

* [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You]]: Because the game's battles take place on a stage, various monsters will attack the audience, eating them, stealing their souls, using them as machine gun ammo... It interestingly also works in reverse, audience members will throw rocks and items at those in battle, they'll run on stage and give one side some power or mess something up... Not to mention their cheers refill the Star Power meter (you can get more by using stylish moves), or that you can cause some of them to explode and take out those sitting next to them.

* [[Gang Plank Galleon]]: Keelhaul Key and Pirates' Grotto.

** Rogueport too, as it contains many pirates as well. It even has a gallows.

** One of the troubles deals with bringing a mysterious package to someone ''in the back alley'' of Rogueport.

** Probably coincidence but if you fall underneath Rogueport and get up to the door near block elevator (near the fountain) on the left, you enter a room that's mostly empty with some guy who pretends to know everything. In this room are a lot of green-themed items, and everyone thinks the guy is deep and insightful. The kicker? The toadstool's name is Herb T. Tell me you're not picturing cannabis influence.

** At one point before Chapter 3, Professor Frankly says, "Assuming will just make..." before cutting himself off and instead just ends it saying "...well you know the saying." He's likely referring to the old phrase, "Assuming will make an ass of you and me".

** And then there's [[Invisible Streaker|half of]] [[Kiss Me, I'm Virtual|the things]] [[Shower Scene|Peach does]] during the intermissions.

** A scene cut from the game showed that they were something sent by the Shadow Sirens. You were supposed to fight the Shadow Sirens in the basement of the train station, but this was all cut, so in the final version they seem to be territorial monsters that hold ''serious'' grudges.

* [[Gladiator Subquest]]: Chapter 3, which is the game's tournament arc.

* [[Goldfish Poop Gang]]: Lord Crump, the Shadow Sirens (and Doopliss once he joins them).

* [[Grand Theft Me]]: Mario and {{spoiler|Doopliss}}.

* [[Heads I Win, Tails You Lose]]: Subtle, but you can only continue by {{spoiler|having your body-switched fake Mario defeat the real Mario}}. Makes sense at the time, when the player doesn't realize {{spoiler|they've been switched}}.

* [[Heavy Sleeper]]: General White.

* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Vivian. {{spoiler|TEC and Cortez, as well.}}

* [[Hello, Insert Name Here]]: The player can name the Yoshi partner, which is justified by the Yoshi Kid being a newborn.

* [[Large Ham]]: Rawk Hawk, champion of the [[Inevitable Tournament]], and Bowser as usual.

* [[Letting the Air Out of the Band]]: Happens to the sad music in Chapter 5 once the gang realizes {{spoiler|that [[Not Quite Dead|Bobbery's just sleeping]].}}

* [[Living Toys]]: The residents of Twilight Town appear to be living plush dolls. Mayor Dour appears to have a small tear on his head where his stuffing is exposed.

* [[Lost Wedding Ring]]: Frankie and Francesca, ''twice''.

* [[Macross Missile Massacre]]: Variation; instead of actual missiles, Magnus Von Grapple 2.0 [[Grievous Harm with a Body|sucks up your audience members and uses them as projectiles.]]

* [[Mass Monster Slaughter Sidequest]]: One of the troubles you can take on at the Trouble Center is "Roust These Cads!", in which you are expected to fight all the enemies in the Boggly Woods for a reward of 20 coins (plus drops and Star Points).

* [[The Mafia]]: Yes, really: the Pianta Syndicate.

** [[The Family for the Whole Family|They never really]] [[The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything|do anything]], though, aside from the minor scene in the beginning and selling (scalping?) tickets.

* [[The Man Behind the Man|The Woman Behind the Man]]: {{spoiler|Beldam}} is this, as Grodus appeared to be the [[Big Bad]] right up until he {{spoiler|succeeded at summoning the Shadow Queen, only to get zapped into nothing but a head}}, and it was revealed that he'd been manipulated all along.

* [[Marathon Level]]: The Pit of 100 Trials.

* [[Mook Bouncer]]: The Boos in Creepy Steeple. If you let too many of them latch on to you, they'll throw you outside.

* [[Mr. Exposition]]: Professor Frankly, who fills you in on the places that the Crystal Stars point you towards. And like Goombario in the first game, Goombella's Tattle ability has her fill you in on places you visit, people you talk to, and enemies you fight.

* [[My Name Is Not Durwood]]: Mario is referred to by various NPCs as Murphy, Marty-o, Gonzales, and {{color|green|Luigi}}, among other names.

** Doopliss is referred to as "Freak-in-sheet" by Beldam.

* [[No Hero Discount]]: No matter what town you save, they'll still charge you money for everything. Even the recovery blocks require coins, the amount of which is marked on top.

* [[Nonstandard Game Over]]: Two; the first is if you [[Tempting Fate|read the diary]] a Toad ghost explicitly told you not to read during the Excess Express level, and the second is triggered if you make an agree to the [[Deal with the Devil]] before the final boss fight.

* [[Not Rare Over There]]: After returning to a mafia Don who was part of a previous quest, you find him deathly ill and his bodyguards promise you the tickets for a trip on the Excess Express you need if you find his daughter and son-in-law (who he exiled at the end of said previous quest). On recovering, he's furious when they return to his side... until you state what you were promised; he bursts into laughter and asks how many you want.

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: {{spoiler|Grubba}}. Who would've thought that the {{spoiler|goofy old country bumpkin}} was a manipulative, tech-savvy sociopath behind closed doors?

* [[Smurfette Principle]]: [[Averted Trope|Averted]], as more than half of Mario's partners are female... and every one of them has at one point kissed Mario.

** Also, possibly parodied with the Punis.

* [[Stealth Pun]]: On the {{spoiler|moon base}}, it's revealed that X-Naut is pronounced Cross Naut, meaning that TEC-XX becomes {{spoiler|[[Heel Face Turn|TEC-double cross]]}}.

** One of Luigi's companions is a red Bob-omb named Jerry. {{spoiler|Cherry bomb.}}

* [[Storybook Opening]]: Given the game's paper aesthetic, this is kind of a given.

* [[Stronger Sibling]]: {{spoiler|Gloomtail and Bonetail}}.

* [[Surprise Creepy]]: In particular, the final boss is a pretty jarring development in a Mario-branded game.

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Several of Mario's party members in this game are functionally identical to the ones in the first game. This is most obvious with party members that are the same species, such as Goombario and Goombella, or Kooper and Koops.

* [[Time Keeps on Ticking]]: In the escape from the Great Tree.

* [[Totally Radical]]: The Yoshi Kid talks this way, most likely as a parody.

* [[Traintop Battle]]: Against the Smorg.

* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: {{spoiler|TEC caused the X-Nauts' base to self-destruct, but after the game is completed, not only is TEC still alive and well, but ''even the damn base'' is intact. Not even TEC has a clue how it is possible.}}

* [[Unfortunate Implications]]: Invoked [[In-Universe]]: When Mario and and his group first meet Rawk Hawk face to face shortly after being transferred to the Major League Locker Room, Yoshi (or whoever the partner character the player currently has out) examines the Gold Star on the belt, and deduces the star was a fake. Unfortunately, the player words it in such a way that causes Rawk Hawk to think that they're calling his ''belt'' fake, and thus also implying that Rawk Hawk was an extremely bad fighter, causing Rawk Hawk to be extremely infuriated at them, and it is also implied that the reason he's resorting to dirty tricks to prevent them from facing him was out of revenge for that remark.

* [[Weaksauce Weakness]]: Hooktail's weakness turns out to be ''crickets''.

** To be a bit less esoteric, the Attack FX badges give Mario's attacks a silly sound effect. Attack FX B gives Mario's attacks a "chirping" sound (which is more akin to the croak of a frog than the chirp of a cricket), which ''somehow'' increases the damage dealt to Hooktail but is otherwise purely cosmetic.

* [[We Can Rule Together]]: When the final boss asks you this, remember to say no, [[Nonstandard Game Over|or else...]]

* [[Welcome to Corneria]]: Averted with the residents of Rogueport, who change their dialogue after every chapter.

* [[What the Hell, Hero?]]: There are several instances when Mario can choose between two things to say, and sometimes the second choice is less than morally sound to say the least. If he chooses that option, his partner will chew him out and, in a case of seeking the next course of action, [[But Thou Must!|insist on taking the first option]]. (For one example of these options, see the sub-note under [[Egg McGuffin]].)

* [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]]: Goombella sends a letter to Mario at the end, detailing what happened to his partners and several other important characters.