Count Bleck
- “Bleh heh heh heh heh. Bleck!”
- —Count Bleck, Super Paper Mario
Count Bleck (real name Lord Blumiere) is the main antagonist in the game Super Paper Mario. Count Bleck is responsible for bringing forth the Chaos Heart by forcedly marrying Princess Peach to Bowser, which he uses to open The Void in order to engulf the universe. He leads a troop of minions to help move along his plans, including Nastasia, O'Chunks, Mimi, and Dimentio.
Count Bleck's Plot
It is slowly revealed in vague flashbacks that Count Bleck (when he was only known as Blumiere) originally had a human girlfriend, Lady Timpani, whom he cherished and loved. Before the two lovers' plans for marriage were able to work, Timpani vanished, leaving Blumiere gravely heartbroken. Soon afterward, his father revealed that he had teleported Timpani out of their dimension, explaining that their kind could never mix with humans. Inconsolable, Blumiere turned to the pages of the Dark Prognosticus. He sought to destroy the world as it was meaningless to him without Timpani.
When Count Bleck learned about Tippi and her similar descriptions to Lady Timpani, he suddenly felt regretful for opening The Void, for he realized that he had found her. But still, Count Bleck couldn't close The Void for he was still in control of the Chaos Heart, which he believed would be destroyed only if its owner perished.
When Mario and Tippi confronted Count Bleck, the count attempted to destroy them using his magic. However, the power of the Chaos Heart was negated using the power of the Pure Hearts, allowing him to be defeated and left weak, frail, and hopeless. Wanting to die because of his evil deeds for opening The Void and putting his love in serious danger, he asked Mario and Tippi to finish him off. But Tippi forgave him for she still loved him, and couldn't do it. It was here that Dimentio took control of the Chaos Heart, imprisoned Tippi, Count Bleck, and Nastasia in Dimension D and tried to destroy the universe (in hopes of creating a new universe for him to rule) himself as Super Dimentio. Tippi and Count Bleck reestablished their love, and with the help of O'Chunks and Mimi, the Pure Hearts were restored and Dimentio was defeated. In order to banish the Chaos Heart and close The Void, Count Bleck and Tippi demonstrated the true love they possessed and married.
What exactly happened to Lord Blumiere and Lady Timpani afterwards is a mystery, although it is said that they are both alive and happy somewhere unknown. Indeed, the very final scene of Super Paper Mario (appearing even after the staff credits) depicts two figures standing on a green hill in the midst of a bright meadow; it is heavily implied that these two figures (who appear to be a man and a woman) are Lord Blumiere and Lady Timpani living out their lives in the unknown place. In a manner similar to how Tippi became human when she reverted back to Lady Timpani, the Lord Blumiere form of Count Bleck seen in this picture also appears to be slightly different; Blumiere looked almost identical to Count Bleck except that he was taller and his hat was noticeably larger.
Personality
The loss of Timpani made Bleck vengeful towards the world. Bleck wants to destroy the universe because he thinks that life is meaningless without Timpani. So, technically, it was his love towards Timpani what made Bleck evil. Despite this, Bleck has still one redeeming quality: his love for Timpani.
Even when seeking to plunge all that is to destruction, Bleck is not sadistic by nature. He is shown to be very upbeat and forgiving, never punishing his henchmen for their failures with any physical torture or insults. The form of punishment is writing papers or singing songs in which Bleck does not even issue; Nastasia issues these forms of punishments.
Bleck also seems to be very likable, as all his henchmen have a strong bond with him. The exception of these bonds is Dimentio, who is the only truly evil minion and is far more evil than the Count himself. In the end, it was Timpani who made him realize the error of his ways and they both saved the universe together.
Count Bleck speaks about himself in the third person. He also has a tendency to narrate his own dialogue (for example, "Bleck, says Count Bleck!").
Powers and Abilities
In addition to being able to use the Dark Prognosticus, Count Bleck has many other magical powers granted by the Chaos Heart that aid him in and out of combat. His most obvious and freqently used power is his ability to freely float without any hinderence to gravity. This power is particularly important due to his lack of visible legs. He also often shows his ability to teleport at will by "flipping", along with the Dark Prognosticus which always teleports at his side. Also, he can use the Chaos Heart's power to shield him from any harm.
In combat, Count Bleck uses his cane to conjure globs of dark energy and hurl them at Mario and other foes. He can also summon a huge vortex of dark energy that sucks up his enemies, however, this skill is simply thwarted by running away from it. Bleck can temporarily slow the flow of time as well, throwing his enemies off. Finally, he can coat himself in a small barrier of red energy and simply ram into his opponent, damaging them.
Count Bleck is also shown to be quite clever and intelligent. He also is very charismatic, as his followers are loyal to the end, and his capable of easily persuading others to join his cause (and having both of his female minions develop a crush on him, a very slight one in Mimi's case.). However, it's much more effective for him to rely on Nastatia's mind controlling powers to gather more minions.
Trivia
- Count Bleck's name appears to be a pun on "black" and "blech," the latter being an interjection of disgust. However, the "bleck" part of his name may actually be an alternate spelling of "blech," as may be indicated by the fact that previous game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door used the word "bleck" in place of "blech," as well as the fact that Count Bleck himself seems to use "bleck" in such a manner. (However, it should be noted that the original Paper Mario used the traditional "blech," and even Bleck himself has been known to use this traditional spelling in his Blumiere form.) Even still, though, "black" may have had some sort of influence on his name, as his Japanese name (Count Noir) actually uses it indirectly (as "noir" is French for "black"). It is finally worthy of note that "bleck" can also mean "violate" or "blacken," uses fitting for the count's sinister personality.
- The texture used for the shadowy inside of his cape is the exact same texture used for the background in Outer Space. Also, this could be a reference to the boss Nightmare from the Kirby series.
- According to The InterNed, the music that plays during the dialogue from Lord Blumiere's past are titled "Memory 1," "Memory 2," "Memory 3," and "Memory 4," the music that plays during Count Bleck and his lackeys' appearance between chapters is titled "Count Bleck's Plan," and the music during the opening wedding cinematic is titled "The Wedding Begins." The music for the final fight with Count Bleck is titled "Closing Battle."
- Count Bleck's face is similar to that of the Black Chest Demons from the previous Paper Mario game. He also vaguely resembles Haunter from the Pokemon franchise.
