Smoldergeist

"I hope you mourn your decision for eternity..."

- Smoldergeist

Smoldergeists are enemies in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. They are will-o'-the-wisp-like creatures who make up the second boss in the game. They are only found in the depths of Pi'illo Castle, where one particular Smoldergeist communicates with Mario and Luigi via torch, putting them through trials testing their jumping and logic ability.

History
Shortly after Mario and Luigi arrive in the depths of Pi'illo Castle, they are confronted by a dark spirit through a nearby torch. He introduces himself as simply Smoldergeist, the guardian of this hidden place. He refuses to let them pass through and unleashes a Gromba upon them, the supposed price to pay for any intruders.

Shortly after the Grombas are defeated and the next area is entered, Smoldergeist appears within another torch, informing them of his difficult upcoming challenges and advising him to listen to the rules of jumping. After all is explained and the first "challenge" is cleared, they are immediately faced with another - crossing two gaps to the other side of the room, a test he is confident they will fail. He is noticeably surprised they surpass it and provides them one more challenge to unlock the door ahead. Upon this, he claims this test, along with the others, is incompetent and will be succeeded by the next.

Smoldergeist does not appear again until he initiates his next challenge, summoning six similar blocks and asking them to find and strike the odd one out. As it turns out, the symbol on one of the blocks is turning a different way and must be hit to unlock the door and proceed to the next area. Shortly after this, he provides them with a final challenge, in which there are three blocks provided of a similar variety. One block, indicated by a brief flash, is mixed with the others - Mario and Luigi must locate this block after they have stopped shuffling and strike it to open the door to the final area, which he claims contains the final, most frightening test yet.

Sure enough, in the next room, Princess Peach and Toadsworth are seen surrounded by four Smoldergeists who vanish when approached. After Mario and Luigi have taken the treasure from its holding spot, the statue becomes sentient, punishing them by revealing four Smoldergeists, initiating the second boss battle, in which badges are explained. Once they are defeated, the statue becomes shocked at his defeat but opens the way to the exit.

Battle
At the beginning of the battle, Starlow extinguishes all of the Smoldergeists, allowing the Mario and Luigi to attack them. If they try to jump on them as they are ignited, they take damage but put out the Smoldergeist's flame in the process, making it possible for Mario and Luigi to attack afterwards. Smoldergeists also exhaust their flame if all of their attacks in a single turn miss.

Smoldergeists reignite after a few turns. An ignited Smoldergeist can hurl fireballs at Mario and Luigi, its eyes turning red or green depending on its target. They may also send out a ring of flames outward toward the brothers, which can be dodged by simultaneously jumping over the expanding wave if the Smoldergeist is floating near ground level, or idling underneath the expanding ring of flames if it is fairly high in the air.

An extinguished Smoldergeist can only roll back and forth through a brother, which can be dodged by simply jumping over or on to it. Upon their defeat, they disappear and do not reappear for the rest of the game. Interestingly, due to the badge tutorial taking place during this fight, it is possible to re-fight the Smoldergeists by selecting the badge tutorial from the in-game menu. The fight is exactly the same as the first encounter, and the only way to fight the Smoldergeists again once they are defeated, as they do not appear as an X boss in the Battle Ring.

Trivia

 * Their English name is a combination of the words "smolder" (burning with smoke) and "poltergeist" (a ghost).
 * In Smoldergeist's "Spot the Difference" challenge, the correct block is actually a different shade of purple.

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