King Boo

This article is about the character debuting in Luigi's Mansion. For his Super Mario Sunshine counterpart, see Big Boo (character).

King Boo
Artwork from Mario Party: Star Rush
Species	Boo
First appearance	Luigi's Mansion (2001)
Latest appearance	Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

“I am not afraid of you, fool! I fear only that infernal Poltergust 3000 you carry on your back! Stupid machine! But I am a KING among Boos! I swear it... I shall fear no mere house-cleaning device!!”

—King Boo, Luigi's Mansion

King Boo is the leader of the Boos and ghosts and both the main antagonist and arch-nemesis of Luigi in the Luigi's Mansion series. He is also an ally of Bowser and has aided him in his various schemes. He has succeeded in capturing Mario in the Luigi's Mansion games, as well as capturing Toads, Professor E. Gadd, and Princess Peach. Although not the biggest Boo, King Boo has some powers throughout the series, including materializing objects and spitting fire. King Boo's power is often directly proportional to the number of Boos in his vicinity.

History

Luigi's Mansion series

Luigi's Mansion

King Boo
Full name	Bowser and King Boo, the Dastardly Duo (GameCube) King of Boos (3DS)
Age	Unknown
Biography	Nothing is known about this mysterious entity. (GameCube) The giant Boo adorned with a crown. It's hard at work on other evil plans involving the other Boos. (Nintendo 3DS)
Room	Roof/Secret Altar
HP	500

Luigi's Mansion artwork of King Boo escaping from his Bowser suit

King Boo's boss fight in the 3DS remake

Prior to the events of Luigi's Mansion and its remake, King Boo somehow freed Boolossus, who had been captured by Professor E. Gadd at some point, then King Boo ordered the release of every other ghost that E. Gadd had captured. After releasing all the portrait ghosts, King Boo created a haunted mansion near Professor E. Gadd's Lab. Luigi later receives a scam letter, presumably from King Boo, stating that he had won the mansion, and plans to celebrate over there with Mario. However, King Boo imprisons Mario into a portrait, and places him in the Secret Altar.

During gameplay, King Boo is first seen in the Storage Room, where he and the other fifty Boos spring out from the floor after Luigi opens it. When King Boo notices the Poltergust 3000 on Luigi's back, he orders the Boos stop their surprise attack and retreat. King Boo is located in the Secret Altar in the mansion's basement for the remainder of the game. Aside from the Secret Altar Key, reaching King Boo requires Luigi to have caught at least 40 Boos, or else King Boo blows Luigi to the Foyer. In the Secret Altar, King Boo stares at Mario in the painting while insulting the brothers' intelligence for having fallen for his scheme. King Boo turns around to face Luigi and states his desire to add a Luigi painting to the collection. After this, King Boo flies into the Mario painting, which is changed to depict Bowser instead, and he inhales Luigi into the painting. Luigi is transported into an arena modeled after the roof, and this is where the final boss fight occurs. It is actually just a Bowser suit controlled by King Boo during the battle, both to retreat in and for attacking Luigi. Attacks from the Bowser suit include shooting flames at Luigi (dealing 10 HP of damage), throwing Spiked Balls (also dealing 10 HP of damage), or inhaling Luigi and spitting him out, inflicting 15 HP of damage. King Boo emerges from the Bowser suit after Luigi shoots a Spiked Ball at the Bowser suit right before its inhaling attack, blasting off Bowser's head. King Boo has 500 HP, more than any of the other portrait ghosts, and as Luigi depletes King Boo's health, the Bowser suit's head hovers around the arena, shooting icy blasts, which can freeze Luigi on contact. Seconds later, King Boo returns into the dormant Bowser body and the head reattaches itself. The process repeats throughout the battle, but once King Boo's life falls below 200 HP, the head of the suit reattaches backwards when King Boo returns into the suit, which then runs around aimlessly before properly reorienting his head. When King Boo is vacuumed into the Poltergust 3000, Luigi automatically receives King Boo's Crown. Back at the Portrificationizer Chamber, both King Boo and the fake Bowser can be seen in the Ghost Portrificationizer as it presses them and the other portrait ghosts of area 4 back into paintings, marking an end to Luigi's journey. King Boo and the fake Bowser are both included within the same portrait.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon / Luigi's Mansion 2 HD

Artwork depicting King Boo's redesigned appearance for Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

King Boo reprises his role as both the main antagonist and final boss of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon. He escaped some time after Professor E. Gadd had sold the portrait of King Boo from the previous game at a garage sale (a car boot sale in British English versions). King Boo shatters the Dark Moon into six pieces with a bolt of energy from his crown, turning the ghosts of Evershade Valley into becoming hostile, mischievous beings that serve King Boo. Towards the climax of Luigi's journey, in which he recovers the Dark Moon shards from each of the mansions, King Boo is revealed to have trapped Mario in a painting again. King Boo later captures Luigi after he recovers the last Dark Moon piece and pulls him back into his dimension. King Boo makes Luigi realize that he had escaped from the painting and broke the Dark Moon. King Boo intends to use the ghosts as an army to conquer both Evershade Valley and the Mushroom Kingdom while also planning to put Luigi, E. Gadd, and all their friends into paintings for revenge. King Boo then engages into battle with Luigi, where his attacks include summoning a series of magic lightning bolts with his crown and attempting to slam Luigi with his body. The latter causes spiked balls to fall from above, which will roll around the tilting platform to pose a hazard. King Boo will stop moving when looked at, and when caught underneath a falling ball he will become stunned, leaving him vulnerable to the Poltergust 5000. Once his HP is depleted and he gets sucked into the Poltergust 5000, he immediately breaks out and sends Luigi into a floating hallway. He then swells to a large size and begins rolling after Luigi, attempting to stall Luigi with various obstacles, such as falling shelves and suits of armor with large polearms. If King Boo does hit Luigi, he will pause for a moment to laugh maliciously. Once Luigi makes it out of the hall, he will land on another tilting platform, where King Boo will repeat his previous patterns at a higher intensity. The battle concludes after the third battle and second hallway chase, leading to King Boo being defeated and sucked into the Poltergust 5000.

King Boo's appearance is derived from Luigi's Mansion, albeit larger and with an additional full set of teeth and sped-up voice from other games in the Super Mario franchise. Some of King Boo's new features include a purple tongue and mouth and glowing purple eyes.

Luigi's Mansion Arcade

King Boo is the final boss for Luigi's Mansion Arcade, leading his ghosts in an uprising to get revenge on Luigi and Professor E. Gadd. King Boo assaults Luigi on the terrace of the Treacherous Mansion, after Luigi has sucked in all of his minions with the Poltergust 5000. Protected by a magical barrier, he can only be attacked once he lets his guard down. King Boo throws bombs at the player, moves very quickly and clones himself multiple times over the course of the fight. However, only the original has the power-enhancing gem on his crown. Just like in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, he escapes the Poltergust 5000 two times before being defeated for good.

Luigi's Mansion 3

King Boo chasing Luigi down a hallway in Luigi's Mansion 3

Consistent with previous entries of the series, Luigi's Mansion 3 features King Boo as both the main antagonist and final boss. King Boo utilizes his very design from Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, but with more detail on his crown and a more expressive scowl. King Boo had been released from his painting by The Last Resort hotel owner Hellen Gravely in order to impress him. Seeking revenge on Luigi for his previous defeats, he traps Professor E. Gadd, Mario, Princess Peach, and the three Toads in portraits before going after Luigi, who manages to escape his capture by going down a laundry chute. He later ends up entrusting Hellen Gravely with Mario's portrait, although it's implied that he intended for Luigi to win both due to Gravely's failures by that time and so he could capture both alongside Peach by using the latter as bait, also recapturing the Toads and Professor E. Gadd just after Mario was freed. King Boo does not manage to capture Luigi atop the hotel because the Polterpup shoved Luigi out of the way of King Boo's portrait. Following this is a battle against King Boo, who can take damage from Luigi throwing a bomb from a spiked ball into his mouth, then from having his tongue pulled from Luigi and Gooigi together and being slammed repeatedly. After this, King Boo will generate a clone that attacks alongside him. The clones have only two teeth, like King Boo from Luigi's Mansion. After this is done twice, King Boo will enlarge the painting, and Luigi will then have four minutes to attack King Boo one last time. The battle ends with King Boo being recaptured by Luigi and placed in a containment jar alongside Gravely, much to his frustration. As the purple gem in his crown was taken by Luigi after the final battle, it is missing from his crown. The Game Over sequence shows King Boo gleefully looking at Luigi and the others trapped in their own portraits.

Super Mario-kun

A depiction of King Boo in Super Mario-kun

King Boo appears in a short chapter on Luigi's Mansion of volume 26 of Super Mario-kun. As in the game, Luigi reveals King Boo by knocking off the Bowser illusion's head. Unlike in the games, however, King Boo is immediately sucked in.

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

King Boo and Petey Piranha are partnered racers in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

King Boo is an unlockable character in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, his first playable appearance. King Boo has Petey Piranha for a partners, and the player can unlock both of them by winning Star Cup in Mirror Mode. King Boo is billed a heavyweight, due to his large size. He and Petey Piranha can uniquely use nearly every other character's Special Item, barring the Green Fireball or the Birdo's Egg. King Boo's personal kart is the Boo Pipes, which is a gray version of Petey's Piranha Pipes kart, but with an image of a Boo instead of a Piranha Plant where the item-using partner stands. Additionally, it notably has a low speed stat and high acceleration stat, in contrast with the other heavyweight karts in the game. King Boo appears to slightly shrink when he becomes the driver. On the second "Thanks for Playing!" screen, King Boo appears in the background chasing Wario and Waluigi.

In the debug menuMedia:MarioKartDoubleDashDebugMenuBossTeresa.png found in the demos and debug build of the game, King Boo is referred to as "Boss Teresa", the Japanese name used for the Big Boo boss from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, instead of his usual name "King Teresa".

Mario Kart DS

King Boo appears in Mario Kart DS as the boss of the fourth level in Mission mode, where he is battled by the player character, Peach, on the Lava Arena. As Peach drives around to collect coins, King Boo appears every few seconds, surrounding Peach and attacking her, stealing ten of Peach's coins and making all uncollected coins disappear, before teleporting to another area of the arena. By driving and bumping into King Boo, making him transparent, Peach can drive through King Boo again, retrieving the coins and making the other coins reappear. King Boo is defeated once Peach has collected all fifty coins.

A variation of the King Boo and Bowser portrait from Luigi's Mansion appears in the titular race course, except King Boo is not depicted in it.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

A large picture of King Boo appears near the end of the Yoshi Park 2 course in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, where it inhales many ghosts and the racers. As the player drives into his mouth, they are warped back to the beginning of the course.

Mario Kart Wii

King Boo in Mario Kart Wii

King Boo returns in Mario Kart Wii as a large-sized driver. He is unlocked by the player character either completing the Star Cup in 50cc or by playing 750 races. King Boo features a good handling bonus and a small off-road bonus. He is one of a few characters to have his standing animation on the character select screen altered from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! In this case, his tongue is no longer hanging out from his mouth before selecting him. King Boo is used as the Staff Ghost on the SNES Ghost Valley 2 course. In the credits, he appears driving the Jetsetter on the SNES Ghost Valley 2 course.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

King Boo in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, wearing a crown from Battle Mode

King Boo is a playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe but not the original version. He is among the lightest of the five heavyweight groups, sharing his statistics with Rosalina, Link, and Pauline. King Boo has the lowest top speed and weight of all the heavyweights, all while sharing similar acceleration as other heavy groups. King Boo's handling is amongst the best of the heavyweights (shared with the metal characters and Petey Piranha). King Boo also has the strongest mini-turbo boost of the heavyweights. His traction stat is noticeably strong, being the best in his weight class, and the third best base traction stat in the game. King Boo's horn sound is recycled from the sound effect that the Super Mario Sunshine boss of the same name makes when hit by a pepper. He is the 150cc Staff Ghost for GBA Boo Lake and the 200cc Staff Ghost for three courses: Twisted Mansion, GBA Snow Land, and 3DS Rosalina's Ice World. King Boo did not have a rival character for Grand Prix mode at first, but upon release of Wave 5 of the Booster Course Pass DLC, King Boo was given a rival in the form of Petey Piranha, and vice versa. King Boo is the only base game character who received a rival through the Booster Course Pass.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

King Boo appears as a featherweight playable character in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, sharing his stats with Baby Mario and Baby Peach. He was originally only playable during a limited-time event campaign held between October 18, 2017, and January 10, 2018, but not in international releases. King Boo could become available even after the event if Bana Passport users collected three in-game stamps, though an update on October 10, 2018 made King Boo available for users who did not participate in the aforementioned event.

Mario Kart Tour

King Boo (Luigi's Mansion) in Mario Kart Tour

King Boo reappears as a playable character in Mario Kart Tour, available as of the 2019 Halloween Tour. He is classified as a Super driver, and his special skill is the Lucky Seven.

The game also features two other playable variants of King Boo. King Boo (Luigi's Mansion), also introduced to the game in the 2019 Halloween Tour, uses his design from Luigi's Mansion 3, marking the first time King Boo is playable using his appearance from the Luigi's Mansion series. This variant is listed as a High-End character and has the Bob-omb Cannon special skill. King Boo (Gold) was introduced for the 2020 Halloween Tour, sporting a golden body and blue-jeweled silver crown. Also listed as a High-End driver, he uses the Coin Box as his special skill and, like other metallic characters, a distorting filter is applied to his voice. Unlike most characters, King Boo's head icon is recycled from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, rather than having a new one that uses his in-game model. Similarly, the head icons for his Luigi's Mansion and gold counterparts also use their in-game artwork.

In pre-release materials, including the beta test, King Boo was classified as a Super Rare (High-End) driver and his special skill was the Double Bob-ombs, sharing his change in classification between the beta test and final game with Rosalina.

Super Mario series

Super Mario 64 DS

The King Boo battle in Super Mario 64 DS

King Boo, though erroneously named Big Boo in Western releases, is a boss in Super Mario 64 DS. He appears in Big Boo Battle, accessed via the Luigi painting in Big Boo's Haunt, and holds the key to Luigi's door in the Princess's room. Mario finds his way to King Boo by making his way through a series of rooms, making his way through each door where King Boo's cackle is heard the loudest. To defeat King Boo, the player has to follow King Boo's movements in the arena's mirror and stomp him when he comes close enough. After being defeated, King Boo drops the Luigi Key. The player can fight him again as different characters, notably Luigi (who can be fought before unlocking him with his cap) and Wario. When Luigi meets King Boo, he is confused but proceeds to attack him anyway. When Wario fights him, King Boo is alarmed by his appearance and attempts to scare and attack him.

Internally, King Boo and Big Boo use the same model, with a modifier denoting the presence of the crown.

New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

King Boo makes a small cameo in New Super Luigi U and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in the secret exit of Vanishing Ghost House, where his art from Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon can be seen in the form of a sign hanging from the side of the building.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

King Boo in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, King Boo appears in the levels Light-Switch Mansion and The Final Battle! Bowser's Rage Stage, where he chases the player characters similarly to how Boohemoth does in New Super Mario Bros. 2. In Light-Switch Mansion, King Boo appears once the Wonder Flower is collected and the Wonder Effect "A Night at Boo's Opera" is activated. King Boo then chases the player(s) through the level while singing with an operatic baritone voice. If he is looked at, he will cover his face and continue singing, albeit with a voice distortion filter. Once the Wonder Seed is collected, King Boo's crown will fall off as he shrinks into a regular Boo. In The Final Battle! Bowser's Rage Stage, King Boo appears once the player(s) reach the Jack-o-Lantern pumpkins, acting as he does in the other level. Once players enter the zero-gravity section, King Boo again loses his crown and shrinks into a regular Boo, although he floats away off-screen surrounded with music notes.

Mario Baseball series

Mario Superstar Baseball

King Boo is a default playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball. He is a member of Wario's baseball team, the Wario Greats. As a Power type character, he is capable of hitting long outfield drives and even home runs. However, like Boo, his hits are usually very curved, resulting in hitting fouls plenty of the time. Aside from good batting, King Boo has average pitching and fielding, and is a slow runner. King Boo's ability is Super Jump, so he can catch high balls in the outfield. King Boo shares good chemistry with Boo and Petey Piranha but bad chemistry with Luigi and Baby Luigi. Additionally, he wields a Boo-like baseball bat that sports a physical crown on the end of it.

Mario Super Sluggers

King Boo batting at Yoshi Park at night in Mario Super Sluggers

King Boo returns as a default playable character in Mario Super Sluggers. He is once again a default member of Wario's team, the Wario Muscles, making him and Boo the only team players to still be on Wario's team, alongside the captain Wario and sub-captain Waluigi. He has similar stats to the previous game, although his pitching is improved and matches his batting power. As well, his ability is now Teleport, which activates during close plays, allowing him to teleport safely onto the base when successful. In this game, he has good chemistry with Petey Piranha, Boo, Wiggler, and King K. Rool, but he has bad chemistry with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, and Baby Daisy. His baseball bat was redesigned to have a crown emblem above the Boo emblem rather than an actual crown. The colors of the jewels on King Boo's crown are reversed exclusively in this game.

In Challenge Mode, King Boo appears immediately after the player defeats Bowser Jr. at the Wario City stadium, stating that he turned invisible and was watching the whole game. However, he is uninterested in joining the player's team unless the team has Boos with them, more specifically the Mini Boo item.

Super Princess Peach

Princess Peach battling King Boo in Super Princess Peach

King Boo is the boss of Shriek Mansion in Super Princess Peach. While battling Princess Peach, King Boo fires blue homing fireballs and chases her. Peach can damage King Boo with direct light, which is made by having his own flames light the candles spread throughout the room. After a few attacks, King Boo uses his Gloom vibe, from which his crying extinguishes the candle flames. King Boo is eventually defeated after enough attacks, and Peach rescues the Toad he had been guarding.

Mario Party series

Mario Party 8

In Mario Party 8, King Boo is the proprietor of the board King Boo's Haunted Hideaway, where he hides in one out of three altars and gives a Star to the player character who finds him in exchange for ten Coins. If the player buys the Star, King Boo begins to "summon the bizarre" and disappears, then the player is returned to the starting point from a Warp Pipe. This "makeover mojo" causes the whole layout of the course to change. However, if the player lacks enough coins, King Boo causes a pitfall to appear beneath them, returning the player to the starting point and allowing the next player that reaches him to buy the Star. The player can purchase King Boo sounds from the Fun Bazaar, along with a figurine titled "King Boo's Revenge". When the player presses on the figurine during the Figurine Parade, King Boo floats up and gives off a brilliant glow, as if he is a light bulb. Additionally, if the player fails to steal anything from the board event Pickpocket Pinball, the hosting mouse sounds like King Boo.

Mario Party 9

King Boo in his boss minigame in Mario Party 9, King Boo's Puzzle Attack

King Boo is the stage boss Boo's Horror Castle in Mario Party 9, where he is fought in the minigame, King Boo's Puzzle Attack, where he can take damage from competitors lining power-up icons in lines of three or more. When his health reaches half damage, King Boo begins to throws Boos onto the field which can stun the player's cursors, stunning them until they shake the Boo off. In the final fight, King Boo can materialize above the stage when Bowser throws the die with all the stage bosses' faces on it and if it lands with King Boo's face on top. King Boo summons five Boos that move in a counterclockwise direction while moving outwards. When the Boos reach the boundaries of the stage, King Boo summons another five Boos, except this time they move clockwise. After that, King Boo disappears from the arena, though can return if Bowser's die lands on the King Boo side again.

Like most other characters in the game, King Boo has a constellation that can be returned to the sky; it is called the Ghost Major. It is located in the farthest left portion of the sky, near King Bob-omb's constellation and right next to Boo's constellation. Like all constellations, it can be bought for fifty Minigame Points. Also, in the Museum's Sound Test, there are two voice sounds with the name "King Boo's Entrance"; one is of King Boo and the other is actually of Boo.

Mario Party 10

King Boo in his boss minigame in Mario Party 10, King Boo's Tricky Tiles

King Boo in Mario Party 10 is a boss in the minigame King Boo's Tricky Tiles. King Boo can be damaged from player characters memorizing which platforms are false and then running around until they can jump on a light switch (one is worth 3 points, and another worth 1 point). Like other bosses, King Boo gets angered after the players deplete his health halfway. The technique that King Boo uses is that he swaps Boos with platforms and he blocks the camera, so the player cannot see the platforms very well and remember which ones are false. He can also be seen on the Luigi Board, which appears in the game's amiibo Party mode.

Mario Party: Star Rush

King Boo reprises his role in Mario Party: Star Rush of being the boss of his own minigame, King Boo's Light Smite. King Boo can take damage from players shining a light from their Light Boxes at him, after crossing rotating platforms while evading Peepas. Once he loses half his health bar, the rotating platforms start moving faster and more Peepas appear, making it more difficult to reach the other side.

Mario Party Superstars

King Boo appears in Mario Party Superstars on Horror Land, replacing the Big Boo found on the original board. He summons Boo lackeys to steal coins (for free) or Stars (for 150 coins) from all opponents who have any. King Boo can be encountered only at night and only through a path that requires a Skeleton Key, like with Big Boo from the original version.

Mario & Sonic series

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Mario races against King Boo in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.

King Boo appears in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games as the first and sixth (in Individual Festival mode only) rival. King Boo races the player in the Alpine Skiing Downhill event in both Individual and Group Festival modes but he only races the player in Giant Slalom in the Individual Festival mode. King Boo is the only rival that can potentially be faced more than once. King Boo has no skis so he goes down the hill smoothly. If King Boo wins, the guide (either Cream or Toad) deems it unfair on the player's behalf, since King Boo has no skis.

King Boo as he appears in the DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

In the Adventure Tours mode in the Nintendo DS version, King Boo is the mid-boss of Polastraits. King Boo, when approached on the map, chooses Luigi to race him in Giant Slalom, since Luigi is easily afraid. King Boo is transparent and the player can ski through him, unlike in the Wii version.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

King Boo in The Ghostly Tower

In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, King Boo is a rival character in London Party mode. Here, King Boo challenges the player to the Dream Sprint event, offering stickers as a reward for beating him.

King Boo appears only in the Story Mode in the Nintendo 3DS version. He helps guard the Phantasmal Fog at the Tower of London, and teams up with a Boo to challenge Sonic and Tails in Badminton (Doubles). King Boo and the Boo flee after being defeated but later appear at the opening ceremony for the games. A King Boo badge is one of the badges available from the badge machine.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

King Boo appears in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games as a rival in the Legends Showdown mode. He appears in Area 4 and challenges the player in Short Track Speed Skating 1000m.

Mario Golf: World Tour

King Boo in Mario Golf: World Tour

King Boo appears in Mario Golf: World Tour, where he floats in the background alongside other Boos on Hole 4 of Bowser's Castle. His name can also appear on the tournament scoreboard.

Super Smash Bros. series

There are a few items of King Boo in the Super Smash Bros. series. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, there is a trophy of King Boo. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, King appears in his Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon design as an Advanced-class Neutral-type primary spirit, which is enhanced from the Boo spirit after it has reached level 99. When equipped, the spirit grants the fighter slower fall speed after jumping and has 3 support slots. King Boo is listed as the 49th spirit, though he was listed as the 121st spirit alongside the rest of the spirits from the Luigi's Mansion series in version 1.0.0.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

King Boo appears as a boss and enemy in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, mostly appearing at the Ghost House courses. His main attribute is Dark, while his sub-attribute is Light. As an ally, King Boo's skill can heal 1000 HP, and change all Heart Orbs into Dark Orbs. His Awoken Skill raises the amount of time that the player has to move Orbs around.

As an enemy, King Boo is capable of decreasing the player's maximum time to move Orbs around. Also, King Boo is treated as a generic enemy, so he can still appear as an enemy, regardless of whether or not the player has King Boo in their party. Big Boo can be transformed into a King Boo with six Boo Mushrooms as a Transformation Item, making it possible to create multiple King Boos on the player's team.

When King Boo attacks, a bunch of Boos attack with him.

King Boo's best stats are his ATK and RCV, while his HP is at an average level.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

“Look at this little scrap. Friend of yours, is he? Well, if you like your friend, you better stop attacking me! Now, don't go thinking it's OK to attack my little minion either. Who knows what could happen if he dropped your little friend there... You got that?”

—King Boo, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

King Boo, attempting to fool Mario and Luigi by disguising himself as Paper Mario, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

King Boo appears as a boss in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. King Boo has a papercraft version of himself piloted by Morton and Lemmy, which is fought in Bowser's Castle. The Mario Bros. use Papercraft Yoshi to fight it.

The real King Boo is encountered and fought in Gloomy Woods after the trio separate, leading to him kidnapping Mario and Paper Mario; leaving Luigi alone to find them, similarly to the Luigi's Mansion series. After finding Mario, he and Luigi begin to look for Paper Mario. They eventually find King Boo instead, disguised as Paper Mario. When they group together, King Boo reverts back to normal and laughs at the Bros. for a second, before re-transforming; Mario and Luigi then turn around, and are unaware of King Boo's presence. When they turn around again, King Boo reveals himself again, but is caught by the duo. In an attempt to fool them, he immediately reverts back to Paper Mario, and tries to convince the Bros. that he is the real Paper Mario, but fails. King Boo then loses control of his transformation powers, as he quickly transforms into Paper Peach and then Paper Bowser, before finally gaining control and giving up; reverting back to his true form, causing the battle to commence.

King Boo attacks by spitting blue fireballs at either Mario or Luigi before inhaling them; making them need to avoid the fireballs twice, and splitting into five copies before floating slowly towards the trio, turning invisible as he gets near; which the trio must counter using their hammers around 2 seconds after a copy turns invisible. During the battle, King Boo calls a Paper Boo holding the real Paper Mario onto the battlefield; threatening to harm Paper Mario if the bros attack either himself or the Paper Boo. In order to save Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi must defeat the minion holding onto Paper Mario, causing it to drop him. If King Boo is attacked while the Paper Boo is on the battlefield, he deals damage to Paper Mario. After a few turns, another Paper Boo can grab Paper Mario again, taking him out of the battle (which gets rid of Paper Mario's copies) temporarily. Finally, King Boo also has a chase attack where he grows bigger before attempting to shoot a giant blue fireball at the trio; which Mario and Luigi have to counter by throwing Paper Mario's boomerang form into King Boo's mouth while it is open. Once defeated, Paper Mario is reunited with the duo and the group continues to Mount Brrr.

King Boo's crown leaves him unaffected by the brothers' Jump attack, though he can be hit by Hammer attacks, unlike Paper Boos, and certain Bros. Attacks, such as the Rocket Blast and Mega Thwonk's jumping attacks (only in the arcade). Attacking King Boo from above results in the Bro. taking 1 damage in the manner of jumping on a spiked enemy. The Dropchopper, however, can circumvent this as it can be aimed towards King Boo's forehead instead of his crown and can then damage him.

The splitting attack used by King Boo is a reference to (if not a direct copy of) the Dark Star's splitting attack in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, except King Boo takes damage if countered unlike the Dark Star's version due to it being invincible. As well, if the Mario Bros. continue to attack King Boo without freeing Paper Mario, his slapping Paper Mario may be an allusion to Lady Bow and her slap attacks. Also, King Boo's voice clips from Mario Kart Wii are reused.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

King Boo makes a cameo appearance in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle in Spooky Trails, where an image of him can be found on the ground in the area where the gramophone is found.

Mario Tennis Aces

King Boo appears in Mario Tennis Aces as part of the Boo Hunt Co-op Challenge available from version 2.0.0. King Boo appears and hovers around the court while Frenzy Time is active, and players can continuously hit tennis balls at him to earn more coins. He disappears once either his health bar or the Frenzy bar is depleted. In this appearance, he does not use any of his normal voice clips, instead using those of a regular Boo.

Dr. Mario World

Dr. King Boo in Dr. Mario World

King Boo appears in Dr. Mario World as assistants, added on November 14, 2019. He is a battle box-exclusive assistant, only obtainable from battle boxes for tier 7 or above in versus mode. In versus mode, he has a chance of sending 2 extra rows of viruses to the opponent if the attack lands. In stage mode, he grants a chance of 5 extra capsules being added when 5 capsules are remaining, which will have a chance to activate again if the condition is met again but didn't activate earlier. However, it won't activate for the rest of the stage if this effect has successfully activated.

He also appears as a doctor named Dr. King Boo, available September 28th, 2020. Like Dr. Dry Bowser, he cannot be obtained in staffing and must be obtained through either in-app purchases or unlocking him through rewards such as in World 20's Special Stage or through certain referrals. His skill is to eliminate an amount of viruses even those that would normally take multiple hits to clear such as floatie viruses. In stage mode, the amount is 5 viruses (4 prior to version 2.2.0), while in versus mode, the amount differs based on level, where it is 4 at level 1 with three extra viruses per level, up to 16 at the maximum level of level 5. In stage mode, if there are no more viruses while this skill is activated, it will eliminate one random object that can be eliminated instead, excluding capsules.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

King Boo has a minor appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie at Bowser and Peach's wedding with his Super Mario design. He is seen sitting a few rows behind King Bob-omb. He does not have any role in the climax nor does he speak. He disappears once Peach, Mario, and Donkey Kong crash the wedding. Compared to his usual design, his face is smaller and is more expressive, taking up less space on his overall body and somewhat resembling that of the Super Mario Sunshine King Boo. He is also the only Boo that appears in the movie.

General information

Physical appearance

King Boo's Super Mario design (left) and his Luigi's Mansion design (right)

King Boo's first design debuted in Luigi's Mansion, and has since been reused in the subsequent Luigi's Mansion games. This original design gave King Boo dark red eyes, a blue tongue, two vampire-like fangs, a greenish complexion, and a ruby in a gold, round-edged crown. He is also roughly the same size as other Boos. Starting with Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, this design was slightly modified, giving him a full row of four teeth and a larger size typical of King Boo's modern design. Other differences include a larger shadow surrounding his eyes, a dark indigo mouth and tongue, and his crown containing a purple jewel and pointed edges. His artwork depicts him with purple eyes instead of red, its color in-game, and without his crown's pointed edges. He has also lost his original green tint, now being more of a lavender color. In Luigi's Mansion 3, King Boo shows more expression, scowling at Luigi when first being found by him and appearing visibly disappointed when captured in the game's credits. He also has purple eyes in-game. His speech icon also uses a green shading reminiscent of his initial appearance, while his portraits show him with a purple crown. In Mario Kart Tour, King Boo's Luigi's Mansion variant uses this design, although his tongue is more purple than indigo.

In most Super Mario games since Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, King Boo resembles a normal Boo with a golden, five-pointed crown, though he is much larger. With this design, the crown has a blue jewel on the front and four red jewels around the sides in every game except Mario Super Sluggers, where the colors are reversed. Like other Boos, King Boo is generally shown with an open, wide grin; however, when looked at, he closes his mouth and bashfully hides his face with his hands. In certain games like Mario Party 9, King Boo's emotions are denoted by an aura surrounding him: when happy, he glows with a blue aura, and when angry, he glows with a red aura. Sometimes he also has steam coming out of him to display his anger. In Dr. Mario World, he has a doctor's mirror on his crown and he carries a medicine box by strap. His gold variant in Mario Kart Tour is based on this design, and has an entirely golden body similar to a Gold Boo, though his teeth and tongue are golden as well. His crown is silver and all five jewels are blue.

Personality

King Boo shows a particular disdain for Luigi in the Luigi's Mansion series.

King Boo is a villain who enjoys scaring and tricking his enemies by creating illusions and then overpowering and trapping them. King Boo likes to taunt Luigi, such as in Luigi's Mansion 3, where he says "It's-a me, King Boo!", mocking Luigi's and Mario's Italian accent. In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, King Boo pretends to confuse between Luigi and Baby Luigi. In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, he insists on racing against Luigi, knowing how afraid he is of ghosts. King Boo also holds grudges, referring to his prior defeat in Luigi's Mansion sarcastically as "Good times" and he has stated that he is "sick to double death" of Luigi. In frustration, he recites the noise of the Poltergust 3000, which he refers as a "disgusting machine", capturing him.

King Boo admires paintings and other decorations, such as making lengthy comments on how good Mario is as a painting; E. Gadd also comments that King Boo has decorated Treacherous Mansion to be scarier. He also desires to trap Luigi and E. Gadd through similar means.

King Boo boasts frequently about himself, always proclaiming his success in escaping and claiming to fear nothing except the Poltergust 3000, although in Super Mario 64 DS he admits that Wario's face scares him. Despite his power, he still covers his face in fear when looked at, much like a normal Boo. King Boo has a distinct cackle, which is quite lower in pitch than other Boos. King Boo's arrogance is displayed in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, where he claims to be unbeatable at Alpine Skiing.

Powers and abilities

In Luigi's Mansion, King Boo's power increases when he is in the presence of other Boos. For example, King Boo can blow Luigi to the Foyer when enough Boos are in the mansion. King Boo can also materialize things, including pulling a mansion out of the ghost dimension, creating replicas of some of Mario's enemies, other Boos, dimensions to battle in, bubbles, and blue fire (which he spits out of his mouth). King Boo can regenerate from his crown in Super Princess Peach

In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, King Boo can open paranormal portals to the ghost dimension, create traps such as sand patches, electrify terrain to shock Luigi, grow to large sizes, and teach Boos how to create Spirit Balls. His new crown can also shoot an ectoplasmic laser that can shatter the Dark Moon or trap Toads within paintings. King Boo can create illusions, hence his title "The Master of Illusions." In this game, similar to Luigi's Mansion, his power is stronger when there are other Boos in the vicinity.

King Boo can create clones and shoot fireballs from his crown in the final battle of Luigi's Mansion 3

In Luigi's Mansion 3, King Boo summons magical paintings to trap people and, to a certain extent, objects inside. He can enlarge portraits in order to capture people, as an extension of his paranormal portals. He does not need the presence of other Boos to grow stronger in this game.

King Boo has a high power stat in many of his spin-off appearances. This is most noticeable in the Mario Baseball series, where he is able to hit home runs easily. His great strength is also shown in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, as he summons and makes spike balls fall down simply by slamming the platform.

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, King Boo shapeshifts to trick Mario and Luigi by posing as Paper Mario, and he later briefly transforms into Paper Peach and Paper Bowser. He can also spit blue fireballs.

Relationships

Enemies

King Boo and Luigi are arch-nemeses in the Luigi's Mansion series. King Boo's motivation for trying to imprison Mario and Luigi is for revenge that both brothers have posed trouble against him in the past. King Boo additionally dislikes Professor E. Gadd for his ghost-capturing hobby, involving capturing his Boos. King Boo additionally states that the only thing that scares him is E. Gadd's invention, the Poltergust 3000. In Mario Superstar Baseball, King Boo has negative chemistry with Luigi and Baby Luigi; in Mario Super Sluggers, he has bad chemistry with Mario, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, and Yoshi. King Boo also traps Toads in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and captures Princess Peach in Luigi's Mansion 3.

Generally speaking, King Boo cares nothing for ghosts that are not Boos, considering them expendable to advance his grand schemes such as in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon where he caused friendly ghosts to turn hostile so he can try to take over Mushroom Kingdom. Even Hellen Gravely, who has great admiration for King Boo, is seen by him as nothing more than a tool for his plans, and he deems her useless as she fails to capture Luigi.

Friends

King Boo assists Bowser by summoning Boos in Mario Party 9.

King Boo has been shown to work with Bowser on numerous occasions, including Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Party 9, and Super Princess Peach. He also used a Bowser decoy and the two share a portrait after King Boo's defeat in Luigi's Mansion. Despite this, the two share neutral chemistry in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers, with King Boo appearing on Wario's team rather than Bowser's. King Boo has also been paired up with Petey Piranha in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, with the two sharing chemistry in the Mario Baseball games. King Boo also has good chemistry with Wiggler and King K. Rool in Mario Super Sluggers. Luigi's Mansion 3 shows Hellen Gravely admiring King Boo, with her releasing him to impress and aid him in his plot for revenge against Luigi. King Boo pays little consideration toward Hellen Gravely and is more interested in capturing Luigi and E. Gadd, making Hellen Gravely's admiration one-sided.

King Boo relies on his Boo minions, or "friends," to cooperate with try to capture Luigi and his friends. In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, he threatens to hurt Paper Mario if the Mario Brothers hurt his Paper Boo minion. He has good chemistry with the playable Boo in the Mario Baseball series. In Mario Super Sluggers, King Boo says that he finds little Boos cute. However, in the later Luigi's Mansion titles, he can be just as cruel to them as he is to his other ghost minions, showing no concern for them being sucked up by Luigi and even actively putting them in harm's way, as well as indirectly calling them useless in Luigi's Mansion 3.

Quotes

Main article: List of King Boo quotes

• "Aahh, I could just stare at my Mario painting for hours! It's true what they say about fine art...it takes utterly refined sensibilities to truly appreciate it! The way you plead for help, Mario... I find it so...satisfying. Perhaps that is merely because I remember how much trouble you've caused me in the past. ... Seriously, though, who would actually believe that mansions get given away in contests?! Talk about stupid! What do they feed you Mario brothers anyway...gullible soup? Your brother came all this way just to get turned into a painting... It's just terrific. However... This Mario painting looks lonely... I must have a Luigi painting as well! Then my gallery will truly be complete! Bleah HA HA! I am not afraid of you, fool! I fear only that infernal Poltergust 3000 you carry on your back! Stupid machine! But I am a KING among Boos! I swear it... I shall fear no mere house-cleaning device!! I must say...I despise the way you SHWEEERRPP-SHLOOOOP-WHOOORPP-SHLEEEOOORG-vacuumed up all my friends! Don't imagine that I'll flee... I'll fight you like a true Boo! Now join your brother... ...inside the painting!" - Luigi's Mansion
• "Bah! You don't have enough coins! King Boo says boo to you! And good-bye!!!" - Mario Party 8
• "Say WHAT? You want ME to help YOOOOOU?" - Mario Super Sluggers
• "Heh heh heh! I saw that Alpine Downhill event of yours yesterday! Looks like you need to take a lesson in speed from ME! And that lesson starts today! I challenge you to an Alpine Downhill match! Hee hee hee!" - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii)
• "...Hmm? One-two-three-four-five-six-sev-- WAIT! There should be seven! Who's missing!? [...] Luigi! What are you doing over there?! UGH! That's it! I'm sick to double death of you! You want to fight me? FINE! Let's go, Luigi! This is the end for you, once and for all! HERE I COME!" - Luigi's Mansion 3

Voice samples

Super Mario 64 DS - King Boo's laughter

File infoMedia:King Boo's laugh 2004.oga ​

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Profiles and statistics

Main article: List of King Boo profiles and statistics

List of appearances

#	Title	Role	Release date	Format
1	Luigi's Mansion	Main antagonist, final boss	2001	Nintendo GameCube
2	Mario Kart: Double Dash!!	Unlockable playable character	2003	Nintendo GameCube
3	Super Mario 64 DS	Boss	2004	Nintendo DS
4	Mario Superstar Baseball	Playable character	2005	Nintendo GameCube
5	Super Princess Peach	Boss	2005	Nintendo DS
6	Mario Kart DS	Boss in Mission Mode	2005	Nintendo DS
7	Mario Party 8	Non-playable character	2007	Wii
8	Mario Kart Arcade GP 2	Cameo	2007	Arcade
9	Mario Kart Wii	Unlockable playable character	2008	Wii
10	Mario Super Sluggers	Playable character	2008	Wii
11	Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games	Rival	2009	Wii, Nintendo DS
12	Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games	Rival	2011, 2012	Wii, Nintendo 3DS
13	Mario Party 9	Boss	2012	Wii
14	Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon	Main antagonist, final boss	2013	Nintendo 3DS
15	New Super Luigi U	Cameo	2013	Wii U
16	Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games	Rival	2013	Wii U
17	Mario Golf: World Tour	Non-playable character/cameo	2014	Nintendo 3DS
18	Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS	Trophy	2014	Nintendo 3DS
19	Mario Party 10	Boss	2015	Wii U
20	Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition	Boss	2015	Nintendo 3DS
21	Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam	Boss	2015	Nintendo 3DS
22	Luigi's Mansion Arcade	Main antagonist, final boss	2015	Arcade
23	Mario Party: Star Rush	Boss	2016	Nintendo 3DS
24	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Playable character	2017	Nintendo Switch
25	Mario Kart Arcade GP DX	Playable character (during a limited-time event) Unlockable playable character (for permanent use, through a limited-time event)	2017	Arcade
26	Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle	Cameo	2017	Nintendo Switch
27	Mario Tennis Aces (version 2.0.0)	Boss	2018	Nintendo Switch
28	Luigi's Mansion	Main antagonist, final boss	2018	Nintendo 3DS
29	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Spirit	2018	Nintendo Switch
30	New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe	Cameo	2019	Nintendo Switch
31	Dr. Mario World	Assistant (update)	2019	iOS / Android
32	Mario Kart Tour	Unlockable playable character (update)	2019	iOS / Android
33	Tetris 99	Cameo in TETRIS x Luigi's Mansion 3 Event	2019	Nintendo Switch
34	Luigi's Mansion 3	Main antagonist, final boss	2019	Nintendo Switch
35	Mario Party Superstars	Non-playable character	2021	Nintendo Switch
36	Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (version 2.0.0)	Non-playable character	2021	Nintendo Switch
37	Super Mario Bros. Wonder	Enemy	2023	Nintendo Switch

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:King Boo.

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  Luigi's Mansion

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  Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

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  Super Princess Peach

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  Mario Party 9

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  Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

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  Mario Kart Tour

Names in other languages

Main article: List of King Boo names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	キングテレサ Kingu Teresa	King Boo
Chinese (simplified)	害羞幽灵王 Hàixiūyōulíng Wáng 嘘嘘鬼王 (prior to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) Xūxūguǐ Wáng	King Boo King Boo
Chinese (traditional)	害羞幽靈王 Hàixiūyōulíng Wáng 幽靈皇 (Super Mario Bros. Wonder) Yōulíng Huáng	King Boo Ghost King
Dutch	King Boo Koning Schrik (New Super Luigi U)	- King Fright
Estonian	Kuningas Boo	King Boo
French	Roi Boo	King Boo
German	König Buu Huu König Boo (Mario Kart DS)	King Boo King Boo
Hungarian	King Boo	-
Italian	Re Boo	King Boo
Korean	킹부끄 King Bukkeu	King Boo; bukkeu comes from 부끄부끄 (bukkeubukkeu), Boo's Korean name
Latvian	Karalis Bū	King Boo
Lithuanian	Boo	-
Portuguese	Rei Bu	King Boo
Romanian	King Boo Regele Boo	- King Boo
Russian	Бу-король Bu-korol Король привидений (Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon official website) Korol' privideniy	King Boo The king of ghosts
Serbo-Croatian	Kralj Boo	King Boo
Spanish (NOA)	Rey Boo Rey Bú (2011–2017) King Boo (Mario Kart Wii)	King Boo King Boo -
Spanish (NOE)	Rey Boo	King Boo

Trivia

• When King Boo says, "I will not give up my favorite decoration. I like Mario just where he is," he references a quote from Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when Jabba the Hutt says, "I will not give up my favorite decoration. I like Captain Solo where he is."
• King Boo's laugh originating from Luigi's Mansion is actually a pitched-up version of a stock laughing sound effect. A pitched-down version of the same effect was previously used for Bleak.