Stage (Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door)



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 who house the audience who watch over the battles.

Exclusive to the battle against Hooktail, a part of the fight takes place in the audience seats rather than onstage.

Stage ranks
Depending on Mario's level, the stage on which the battle takes place will change, increasing audience capacity and introducing new stage hazards.

Stage hazards
Stage hazards can be broken down into three main categories based on effect and internal triggers.

Background elements
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 prompt. 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
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 will of course cloud 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. Assuming they do not miss, 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.

Falling objects
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.

Triggers
Most of Mario and Partners' moves have a chance to influence stage hazards in some way. Enemy attacks will not cause stage hazards with the exception of the dragons' stomp attacks which can cause falling objects. Furthermore Shy Guys in the audience may also randomly trigger any type of stage hazards.