Shadoo

“Oh, heroes... Blessed souls... I must destroy you all with the power of shadow!”

—Shadoo, Super Paper Mario

Shadoo is the boss of the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials during the second time the four heroes reach Room 100 in Super Paper Mario. While it was created by the Ancients, it works for its "own cursed powers". When the four heroes make it to Room 100, it copies their abilities and uses shadowy clones to try to defeat them and take their places, in a bid to get revenge on the Ancients. Shadoo's name is a play on the words shadow and duplicate; it may also be a pun on the words ado and doom. Wracktail was implied to be familiar with Shadoo, as after being beaten by the heroes, Wracktail states that he "wasn't the only monster created by the ancients" and directs them to the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials.

With all four forms combined, Shadoo is the strongest enemy in the game (having 400 HP altogether), even stronger than the game's final boss, Super Dimentio, similar to the The Master being stronger than Bowser in Paper Mario, Bonetail being stronger than the Shadow Queen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Culex being stronger than Smithy in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and Bowser X being stronger than Dark Bowser or Dark Star Core in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Despite being the most powerful boss, Bowser can easily defeat each form of Shadoo using his fire breath. Also, much like the fight with Mr. L, when Shadoo is about to heal with a Shroom Shake, the player can steal the shake by using Thoreau.

Identity theory

Shadoo's true identity and backstory are never revealed; however, it bears some resemblance to the Pixl Queen discussed by Carson. The Pixl Queen was created by an Ancient, and after developing a grudge against her people due to how they used the Pixls, she attempted to overthrow the Ancients by taking control of the Pixls[1], similar to how Shadoo hated the Ancients and wished to use the Heroes' Pixl companions to exact its revenge. The Pixl Queen was also said to have "powers of illusion", which she used to hide from sight[2], just as Shadoo hid itself, a Warp Pipe, and the clones. Furthermore, the details of the Pixl Queen's fate is not revealed, with Carson only stating that she was "defeated", with the Dark Prognosticus being "taken from her" after her defeat[3], suggesting she survived the battle (unlike the Pixl that helped defeat her)[4]. Additionally, his speech bubble resembles the computer-type bubble used by characters like Tiptron, Fracktail, and Wracktail, implying he is mechanical. Shadoo's real self is unknown.

History

Mario confronting Dark Luigi.

Dark Bowser using Fire Breath

Dark Peach using her parasol

Dark Mario using his hammer

Shadoo's true form is never revealed, and only appears behind the screen as a blinking eye upon its first meeting with the heroes. It introduces itself (albeit without saying its name) as a servant of the Ancients, sent to the bottom of the Pit to grant power to the Heroes of legend. However, the first time Mario and the others reach the bottom of the Pit, Shadoo makes a Warp Pipe appear and asks them to beat the Pit again in order to prove that they are the Heroes. Upon the second meeting with the heroes, Shadoo reveals that while it was created by the Ancients, it does not work for them, and was actually using the pit to test the Heroes so that it could scan their abilities and make clones of them (however, even if the player does the Pit before Luigi joins the team, Shadoo will still present clones for all four heroes). The Luigi clone, however, has Mr. L's bandanna. Shadoo then says it planned to use the clones to defeat and replace the Heroes in order to use the Pixls to get revenge on the Ancients.

The first clone to appear is a dark version of Luigi. Upon Dark Luigi's defeat, Dark Bowser will appear on the battlefield, then Dark Peach, and finally Dark Mario. Each form has 100 HP and an attack of ten, although damage done from Dark Mario's hammer, all of Dark Bowser's attacks, and Dark Luigi's Super Jump is doubled, causing twenty damage.

Upon Shadoo's defeat, the player is awarded with 9990 score points for each form (for a total of 39960 points), and eight Catch Cards appear: one of each of the heroes and their dark forms. In the NTSC-J and PAL version, Dark Luigi's Catch Card is Mr. L's silhouette, rather than plain Luigi's, to match the clone's appearance. The hero cards will double the attack power of the character on it, and the Mario card will also allow him to remain in the third dimension indefinitely.