Talk:Lantern Ghost

Japanese name

This guide shows a different Japanese name than the one on the article. Problem is, since my computer refuses to display Japanese characters, I can't figure out what it says. All I can figure out is that it ends with "heihō". Anyone willing to help with this? Niiue (talk) 11:06, 3 January 2016 (EST)

Italian name

I don't have a link to prove it, but the Italian name is stated in both Yoshi's New Island and Yoshi's Woolly World. --What's my name? (talk) 16:52, 2 October 2017 (EDT)

Shy Guys?

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Since the Japanese guide that had the name 「地下ヘイホー」 (Chika Heihō, "Underground Shy Guy") turned out to be an unofficial third-party product, is it still appropriate to consider them Shy Guys? They seem to be related in some ways (practically underworld graphical swaps, the Spooky sheets that Shy Guys/Bandits wear resemble them, and a notable one is found in Shy Guy's Toy Box), but with present information, it would appear that no guide actually licensed by Nintendo directly calls them Shy Guys. LinkTheLefty (talk) 12:01, 17 July 2018 (EDT)

As I believe Walkazo said at least once, "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck." These things act like Shy Guys in every way, come in four colors like them, and look like them, not to mention, as you also said, one appeared in Shy Guy's Toy Box (of which the only enemies to not be Shy Guys are the ones Kamella can optionally plant), so there's a pretty good chance that these are, indeed, Shy Guys. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 17:36, 17 July 2018 (EDT)

I know this is old, but the leaks indicate that this name could be legit after all... LinkTheLefty (talk) 19:03, March 11, 2025 (EDT)

Having checked that section myself, I think it could be interpreted moreso as "they were initially designed after Shy Guys earlier in development," since Toady has a similar development backstory regarding Snifits, as well as Yoshi and his scrapped association with the Koopa clan. I also don't quite agree with the other points provided above, but I really don't wish to start another version of this argument... Wandering Poplin (talk) 03:09, January 25, 2026 (UTC)

I'm not in favor of how Lantern Ghost is being treated either. I think that in this case, none of the arguments for keeping them as variants seem sufficient. Especially since, rather than using official sources, it's based on deductions and possibilities, which, while not wrong, doesn't seem enough in this case to take such a direct option as variants. If they appear alongside Shy Guys and act similarly to them, yet don't physically resemble each other and there's no official information to corroborate anything, then using relatives instead of variants seems like the best option. But again, with the same issue, there are no guidelines to define what a variant is, so you see everyone taking their own idea of what a variant is. Sorbetti (talk) 03:32, January 25, 2026 (UTC)

Exactly. At this point, I think it's time we considered establishing a proper guideline for what counts as a "variant," "derived subject," "sub-species," "comparable," "related," etc.

Clearly, this is an issue that is going to just keep coming back up again and again unless we decide on a "proper" definition for the application of the terms. Wandering Poplin (talk) 07:00, January 25, 2026 (UTC)

I really doubt Big Lantern Ghost is the sole non-Shy Guy enemy in Shy Guy's Toy Box, especially given most of the Shy Guy versions found there are unique to that game and the primary "SMW2 reference" chapter is the next one, on Lavalava Island. But anyways, in SMW2, Lantern Ghosts are essentially an underground graphical swap of Shy Guy with an added lantern (they come in four colors, wander back-and-forth a short distance, spawn endlessly from pipes, and roll when you spit them out; the only other enemy to have those last two traits is Boo Guy, which is obviously a Shy Guy). To say nothing of Spooky, which is explicitly a Shy Guy version with a sheet nearly identical to Lantern Ghost's own. Doc von Schmeltwick (talk) 15:46, January 25, 2026 (UTC)

Still don't quite agree. The similarities between Lantern Ghosts and Shy Guys still don't seem strong enough to justify their classification as a direct variant.

• Lots of enemies in SMW2YI come in multiple color variants or use basic "wander back-and-forth a short distance" Shy Guy-like behavior,
• SMW2YI characters show up in nearly every chapter of the Paper Mario 64, not just Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, and the Shy Guy's Tox Box connection doesn't quite feel like suitable confirmation either.
• And unlike previous examples of this issue, none of their names in any language seem to draw any connection between these things and Shy Guys, making their classification as Shy Guy variants feel... somewhat uncomfortably speculative.

But like I said before, I really, really don't want to be involved in another version of this debate, so I'd rather drop the matter until I can get a more reasonable explanation for what term applies to what subject, and why some similar enemies aren't considered "variants", while others are. Wandering Poplin (talk) 16:58, January 26, 2026 (UTC)

I don't think we should be making definitive, conclusive statements without solid evidence. We can point out they are inspired by Shy Guys in multiple ways (like the aforementioned behaviors in Yoshi's Island) but avoid the "they are Shy Guys in robes". Xiahou Ba^{(the Nasty Warrior)} 17:51, January 26, 2026 (UTC)