Stage (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)
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The stage is the setting in which all battles in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door take place. Mario and his partner stay on the left side of the stage, whereas enemies are positioned on the right side of the stage. South of the stage, there are audience seats that house the audience who watch over the battles.
Exclusive to the battle against Hooktail, the second phase of the fight takes place within the audience seats rather than onstage.
Stage ranks[edit]
Depending on Mario's level, the stage on which the battle takes place will change, increasing audience capacity and introducing new stage hazards.
| Mario's level | Stage rank | Audience capacity | New stage hazards | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-9 | Rising Star | 0-50 | Background elements, bucket, and stage light | 
|
| 10-19 | B-List Star | 0-100 | Fog nozzle, freeze nozzle, basin, and water | 
|
| 20-29 | A-List Star | 0-150 | Explosion nozzle, fork, large bug, and small bugs | 
|
| 30-99 | Superstar | 0-200 | Fire nozzle, Bowser statue, and meteor | 
|
Stage hazards[edit]
Stage hazards can be broken down into three main categories based on effect and internal triggers.
Background elements[edit]
Various elements of the stage's background can fall onstage during combat, such as trees or hills. They will deal 1 damage to whoever stands in the path of the falling scenery. Some background elements such as grass are also too short to hit anyone and thus are purely cosmetic. In battle with a ceiling, the ceiling can also be knocked down, grounding all enemies on the ceiling. The exception is the Chapter 5 encounter with Lord Crump where the ceiling is impossible to knock down.
Stage nozzles[edit]
Nozzles mimicking pyrotechnics and special effects are introduced at the B-List Star Stage. The nozzle type is predetermined at the beginning of the battle and will remain the same for the entire rest of the battle. The three nozzles can be angled either at the player's side, in a neutral position, or at the enemy's side. Throughout the battle, the nozzles can change directions based on the player's attacks. Once the nozzles are determined to fire, each nozzle will shoot its respective effect at the side it is aimed at. If multiple nozzles fire at a single side, the effect will be stacked. For example, two fire jets will deal 2 damage and 6 turns of Burn. Fog clouds the entire stage regardless of the position of the jets, although they will deal damage to parties they are pointing at, in case they are equipped with a P-Up, D-Down badge.
| Nozzle | Effect |
|---|---|
| Fog | Creates a veil of fog for two turns during which attacks have a 50% chance of missing. While fog visibly covers the whole stage, it has a chance to not affect one side, denoted by those participants taking a 0-damage hit. (This can deal damage to Mario or his partner if P-Up, D-Down or P-Up, D-Down P is equipped.) Moves that bypass evasion checks like Special Moves are not affected. |
| Freeze | Inflicts Freeze for 1 turn |
| Explosion | Deals 2 explosion damage |
| Fire | Deals 1 damage and inflicts Burn for 3 turns |
Enemy Bob-omb explosions and all of Admiral Bobbery's moves can clear fog. Additionally, Bobbery's Appeal, Flurrie's Gale Force, and Ice Storm will also always clear fog. In the remake, these moves and attacks will only clear the fog on one side of the stage, depending on where they were executed; in addition, the visuals for which sides are affected is much clearer. Because fog no longer deals 0 damage to those unaffected by it, it can no longer damage Mario's party if P-Up, D-Down is equipped.
In the remake, the nozzles work drastically differently. There is one set of nozzles per side of the stage, which are knocked down when strong moves (such as Quake Hammer) are used. Once knocked down, the enemy's nozzles have a high chance of firing, and Mario's have a low chance to fire. They cannot fire again until the start of Mario's next turn, when Black Shy Guys appear to reset the nozzles. Fog is no longer a nozzle effect, can be on one or both sides at once, and no longer deals damage.
Falling objects[edit]
| Object | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bucket | Deals 1 damage to a character, and has a 50% chance to inflict Dizziness for 3 turns. |
| Stage light | Deals 1 damage to a character, and has a 25% chance to inflict Electrification for 3 turns. |
| Basin | Deals 1 damage to a character, and has a 50% chance to inflict Dizziness for 3 turns. |
| Water | Clears most status effects to a character. |
| Fork | Deals 2 damage to a character |
| Large bug | Deals 1 damage to a character, and has a 50% chance to inflict confusion for 3 turns to a character. |
| Small bugs | Has a 50% chance to inflict confusion for 3 turns. |
| Bowser statue | Deals 5 damage to all characters on one side of the stage (either Mario and his partner, or all enemies), and has a 100% chance to inflict confusion for 3 turns. |
| Meteor | Deals 3 damage to everyone on stage, and has a 50% chance to inflict Dizziness for 3 turns. |
Except for the Bowser statue and the meteor, all falling objects have a 10% of falling at the audience seats instead of onstage, scaring off audience members in a small range around the impact and all Punies in the audience.
Triggers[edit]
Most of Mario and his partners' moves have a chance to influence stage hazards in some way. Enemy attacks will not cause stage hazards except for the dragons' stomp attacks, which can cause falling objects, and moves by the Group of X-Nauts, Rawk Hawk, and Whacka, which always summon the same falling objects, regardless of level. Shy Guys in the audience may also randomly trigger any type of stage hazard.
