Shadow Queen
- “You wretched fools... shall learn the error of your ways!”
- —Shadow Queen, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Shadow Queen is an ancient demon and the final boss of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The dragons Hooktail, Gloomtail, and Bonetail, were also pets of the Shadow Queen.
LLegend has it that the Shadow Queen simply appeared one day and waged war against the city where Rogueport now stands. The demon destroyed the city, murdering and slaughtering all who stood in her path. The war itself would be described as a great cataclysm where the earth shook and skied roared. After an onslaught of attacks, the city eventually sank beneath the depths of the earth. One quarter of the old city was constructed to be the Palace of Shadows where the entrance would be the 1000 year door itself.
With the city in her complete control and a base of operations, the demonic Queen next set her sights on the rest of the world, hoping to plunge it into an endless time of pain and suffering under her control. To this end, she created numerous demonic beasts and spirits to make the core of her army. Among them, were the three Shadow Sirens who would be the most trusted followers of the queen. With her new army, the Shadow Queen set them on the surrounding areas of the world. The demons wiped out all resistance as they took the lands by force, killing millions on people in the process. Towns were destroyed and their treasures were stolen to be stored within the palace, soon to become rich with valuables. The Shadow Queen was far from finished though and created three dragons, Hooktail, Gloomtail, and BoneTail. These dragons became the loyal pets of the queen and quickly spread fear and suffering throughout the world, feasting one numerous people, their corpses soon reanimated to become minions of the queen.
The queen and her army quickly became feared above all else and the mere mention of them, sent people into a fearful state. As more areas fell to the Shadow Queen, she next created the Crystal Stars. These jewels were created to hold the essences of the heavens and would be used to transform the world into a demonic state. These stars were placed in separate areas around the world to exert the queen's influence. Castles and fortresses were constructed to keep them secured. One would be known as Hooktail's castle which would also soon become a dungeon to torture those who opposed the queen. Realizing that her opposition were still recruiting others, the queen created a dungeon called the Pit of a 100 trials. The place was a torture chamber where people were devoured by demonic beasts and Bonetail.
Just when all hope seemed lost, four brave warriors stepped forward to end the reign of the demon once and for all. The four were a Toad from Petalburg, and goomba from Puni forest, a scarred Koopa, and a Boo who was once part of the demonic army but left at the urging of the koopa. All four came together and made a plan to destroy the queen. They would use her very power against her, the Crystal Stars. Through numerous trials, the four obtained the stars and ventured into the Palace of Shadow. There they faced the demon in an epic battle. After an intense fight, the heroes destroyed the queen's physical being. Even then though, the queen's demonic spirit lived on and attempted to kill the warriors. The heroes made one last effort and sealed the queen in her own palace.
Before the seal was complete though, the queen sent a portion of her magic into the heroes. The effects would not be heard while they held the stars, but afterwards the heroes would become trapped within black chests. The queen vowed to return one day and will conquer the world when that day dawns. The heroes then realized that the demon's threats may not just be a bluff. They sealed the Palace entrance with the stars and the seal would remain for 1,000 years, the entrance to the palace would then go on to be known as The Thousand-Year Door. Realizing that others may need the stars in case the queen returns, they made a map of the stars in case other heroes would need them. To insure that the map only fell into pure hands, they placed in a chest that could only be opened by one pure of heart.
The heroes all went their separate ways, spreading the crystal stars in secluded areas. The goomba went back to the Puni forest where monsters were still attacking the Punis. To help them, the goomba hollowed out a tree to serve as protection for the Punis. In return, they promised to guard the crystal star. The goomba soon became trapped in the chest. The Boo warrior went towards Twilight Town and hid the star in the creepy staple and then was trapped in a black chest herself. The Koopa warrior went to a tropical island to hide the star, but was stolen by the pirate Cortez. The Koopa was trapped in the chest and Cortez soon lost the Crystal Star among his treasures. The last hero was the Toad who became exhausted from her journey and her only option was to leave the star in the care of a stranger. The Toad met her inevitable fate of being trapped in the chest while the stranger would eventually be devoured by Hooktail along with the crystal star.
While the war finally seemed to be over, there were other plans in effect to insure that the demon would return to the world. The Shadow Sirens began to spread rumors of a great treasure hidden in the earth beneath the location of the old city. People then constructed a town over the city, which soon became filled with thugs and robbers, hoping to claim the treasure for themselves. None of them knew that the treasure was actually a demon and that the rumor of the treasure was nothing more than a ruse in part of an insidious plot.
Years passed and the warriors, the Shadow Queen and their great battle faded into being nothing more than a legend. 1000 years passed and the seal on the palace door began to fade and the Shadow Queens servants, the Shadow Sirens knew the time to release their queen would soon come. The Shadow Sirens joined the cult of the X-Nauts and Beldam, the head Shadow Sirens, managed to convince the X-Nauts master Sir Grodus to seek out the Crystal Stars and use them to release the Shadow Queen. Grodus who hoped to rule the world thought by releasing the Shadow Queen he would be able to control her and use her to fulfill his dream.
Attempting to collect the stars the X-Nauts were foiled at every turn by the hero Mario and his friends. Eventually Mario after defeating Grodus's second in command Lord Crump and shutting down the X-Naut base, managed to claim the last Crystal Star and went after Grodus who along with a kidnapped Princess Peach had entered the Palace of Shadow. Eventually after making his way through the palace traps Mario encountered and battled Grodus. When Grodus was defeated he chose not to accept it and used the Princess as a hostage, it was only with the intervention of Bowser was Peach saved from harm. Unfortunately Bowser engaged Mario and his friends in battle along with his assistant Kammy Koopa, this distracted Mario and co. long enough for Grodus to escape with Peach to the Queen's chamber. After Mario defeated Bowser and Kammy he went after Grodus and cornered him in the chamber, there it was revealed why Grodus needed the Princess. It seemed the Shadow Queen needed a body to be revived fully and Grodus planned to use Peach as the Queen's host body.
Summoning the Queen, Grodus presented her with Peach whom she then possessed, her summoning engulfing the world in darkness. Grodus, thinking the Queen was under his control because he revived her, ordered her to destroy Mario. The Queen,insulted by Grodus thinking her to be a slave, blew apart his robotic body. The Shadow Sirens then appeared, and Beldam explained to the Shadow Queen they created the myth a ancient treasure and tricked Grodus into reviving her, and the Shadow Queen thanked them for work. The Shadow Queen then sees Mario, and offers him a choice of being her servant, which he of course refuses (the player can choose yes, but it will result in an instant Game over). She then attacked Mario, and while he beat her initially, she assumed her true form proved to be too strong for Mario to hurt and was about to destroy him when the Crystal Stars reappeared and went back to the area where Mario had gained them each. The friends who Mario had made along the way encouraged him with their pleasant thoughts. This distracted the Shadow Queen long enough for Peach to gain momentary control so she could give Mario all her power. Reenergized Mario could now harm the Shadow Queen and after a lengthy battle, managed to reseal the demon to whence she came.
During the middle of the fight, the Shadow Queen will become invincible. None of Mario's party attacks will do any damage. All Mario can do is survive for three turns (the Shadow Queen must be attacked once per turn) until the crystal stars come out. Then Peach will give up the last bit of her power to help him, which restores his HP, FP, and SP.
Other Appearances
The Shadow Queen made an appearance in issue 34 of Super Mario-Kun. Template:Sectionstub
Trivia
- This is the second Mario RPG in where one of the main characters of the Mario series is possessed or brainwashed and used as a puppet to take role of the final boss and the first time that the character in question was one of Mario's allies. Similar situiations occured in Super Paper Mario where Luigi was brainwashed by Dimentio creating Super Dimentio. Another was Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga where Bowser was possessed by Cackletta, creating Bowletta.
Foreign Names
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