Rank

Ranks are a game mechanic introduced in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and later appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. They are bestowed upon a character who reaches an appropriate level through leveling up. Each new rank confers benefits on the recipient, such as extra gear slots or privileges to certain shops.

Starting in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the player can choose a bonus for each character upon gaining a rank, with more bonuses becoming available as the characters reach higher ranks. Upon reaching the highest rank, the player can choose two bonuses. However, with the exception of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, it is not possible to choose every bonus due to the limited rank increases.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Ranks first appeared in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, giving set rewards to Mario, Luigi and Bowser when they reach a new rank, ex. allowing the characters to equip more than one accessory and allowing the bros access to certain shops in Toad Town. Mario and Luigi have six ranks each, with the first five being named after items in the Super Mario franchise (Mushroom, Green Shell Fire Flower, Shine Sprite and Super Star), while Bowser only has four which have the words "boss" in them, referencing Bowser's status as a boss in various Super Mario games.

After the credits of the game, and when the ending screen is shown, Chakron's disembodied voice appears, commenting on the player's progress and the current rank they had before beating the game; either suggesting the player tries harder next time or congratulating them on getting the highest ranks.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Ranks work slightly differently in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team than in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. Instead of set rewards, such as extra gear slots or shopping privileges, the player can choose a Rank-Up Bonus to give to Mario or Luigi upon reaching a new rank. Upon reaching Rainbow Rank, the player can choose two Rank-up Bonuses, and can shop in the gold side of Rose Broquet. This means that each Bro. has a maximum of five bonuses once the player reaches Level 40.


 * Shroom Rank (default)
 * Shell Rank (Level 8)
 * Flower Rank (Level 16)
 * Star Rank (Level 26)
 * Rainbow Rank (Level 40)


 * Rank-Up Bonuses

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Ranks in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam work similar to the one in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, but there are seven ranks for every character. Once again, for Rainbow Rank the player can choose two Rank-up Bonuses, which gives the player the limit of seven slots for bonuses per character after having reached the final rank.


 * Mushroom Rank (default)
 * Shell Rank (Level 6)
 * Boomerang Rank (Level 12)
 * Flower Rank (Level 19)
 * Leaf Rank (Level 27)
 * Star Rank (Level 36)
 * Rainbow Rank (Level 46)


 * Rank-Up Bonuses

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
Ranks return in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey, with one of the ranks from the original game being replaced (Shine Rank, in favor for the Boomerang Rank from Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam), changing the order and level some ranks are reached, and adding one new rank for Bowser: the Master Boss Rank. Rank-Up Bonuses from the first two 3DS Mario & Luigi games also make a reappearance, replacing the set rewards from the original game. All Rank-Up Bonuses are now possible to obtain throughout the course of the game, with the last two being obtained when reaching the highest rank. Like in the original game, the Bros. can shop at Toadles Boutique upon reaching Flower Rank (instead of Shine Rank), and the Star Shop upon reaching Star Rank. However, the Bros. and Bowser do not receive any new equipment upon reaching their highest ranks, and since they start with three gear slots, no new gear slots are unlocked.

Ranks for the Mario Bros.

 * Mushroom Rank (Default)
 * Shell Rank (Level 6)
 * Boomerang Rank (Level 12)
 * Flower Rank (Level 18)
 * Star Rank (Level 24)
 * Rainbow Rank (Level 30)


 * Rank-Up Bonuses

Ranks for Bowser

 * Bronze Boss Rank (Default)
 * Silver Boss Rank (Level 8)
 * Gold Boss Rank (Level 16)
 * Master Boss Rank (Level 24)
 * Final Boss Rank (Level 32)


 * Rank-Up Bonuses