Smithy

"Then we could get rid of all wishes and create a world filled with...WEAPONS!!"

- Smithy

Smithy is the diabolical leader of the Smithy Gang, an organization that attempted to take over the world during the events of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. To do this, Smithy tried to eliminate the power of wishes from the world and, additionally, fill the world with his weapons. He is a gray mechanical monstrosity that wears a gold crown and has a long, white beard. As such, he resembles a diabolical Santa Claus. He hails from another dimension, a dimension that is accessible by the gateway Exor. In his dimension, he resides in his Factory, where, day and night, Smithy creates mechanical monsters to be unleashed against the peaceful people of other worlds.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
At the start of his invasion of the Mushroom World, Smithy gets the gigantic sword Exor to occupy Bowser's Keep. Once there, Smithy establishes his base of operations in Bowser's Keep on Mushroom World (while Smithy's Factory remains the main headquarters of the Smithy Gang). During the battle that ensues, Bowser's forces are either eliminated or defected to the Smithy Gang. With the Koopa Troop out of the picture, Smithy sets his sights on the rest of the world. Additionally, during the initial invasion, Exor inadvertently shatters the Star Road, the source of wishes in the world. Although he does not know this at the time, without the power of wishes in play, Smithy would have an easier time conquering the planet.

Once Bowser's Keep is occupied, Smithy sends out his various lieutenants to terrorize the people of the planet, and to recover the Star Pieces that have the potential to restore wishes to the world. Smithy did not want anyone returning the Star Pieces to Star Road, as the road's recovery would allow the power of wishes to counter the power of the Smithy Gang's weapons.

During the invasion of the world, Smithy's lieutenants do as follows:
 * The knife monster Mack conquers the Mushroom Kingdom and acquires the first Star Piece.
 * The bow creature Bowyer attacks the people of Rose Town with poisoned arrows and finds the second Star Piece.
 * The spear monster Yaridovich occupies Seaside Town and takes the fifth Star Piece, which was previously owned by Jonathan Jones.
 * Lastly, the Axem Rangers claim the sixth Star Piece from Barrel Volcano, which was previously guarded by Czar Dragon.

However, all of Smithy's operations ae foiled by Mario and his allies Mallow, Geno, Princess Peach, and King Bowser. Occupied towns are liberated and the Star Pieces fell into the hands of Mario's party.

Eventually, Mario's band of heroes liberates Bowser's Keep and enters Smithy's dimension via Exor. Once there, they plan to eliminate the threat of Smithy and his weapons once for all. The heroes battle past mechanical minions and the factory's management staff, eventually reaching the supreme leader of the Smithy Gang in his forge. Smithy is busy creating new weapons when Mario and company first meet him. As it turns out, Smithy has the last Star Piece embedded in his body, presumably to prevent anyone from restoring the power of wishes to the world. Smithy calmly asks Mario to turn over his Star Pieces, and when Mario refuses, an epic battle commences.

During the fight, Smithy has a variety of physical and magical attacks at his disposal. To begin with, the mechanical leader wields a giant metal sledgehammer in battle, which he uses with his right hand. The fingers of his left hand have been fitted with small projectile launchers which he uses to fire bullets at Mario and his allies. Smithy also commands great magical power. He can summon a giant wooden sledgehammer to drop from the ceiling and crush all of Mario's allies. Additionally, Smithy can summon powerful meteors to attack Mario's party.

In battle, Smithy is also aided by the creature Smelter. Smelter produces hot liquid metal from his mouth, which Smithy then shapes into the mechanical minions known as Shypers. Shypers are one of the strongest non-boss members of the Smithy Gang. Once created, Shypers automatically enter the battle and begin attacking Mario's party. As such, it iis wise for Mario and his allies to defeat Smelter first, cutting off Smithy's unlimited supply of soldiers. After that, the heroes can focus their attacks on the diabolical Smithy.

Eventually, Mario and company defeat Smithy in combat. The mechanical leader becomes infuriated and begins slamming the floor with his sledgehammer. A few of his minions arrive, begging him to calm down and to stop smashing the floor (as the foundation was just built the day before). However, an enraged Smithy ignores their warnings and continues pounding the floor. As a result, the floor collapses; and Mario, his allies, and the diabolical Smithy fall into the basement of the factory. Once there, Smithy reveals his true form: he is not a bearded mechanical monster, but a metal shape-shifter. Indeed, several robotic heads that look identical to Smithy's true form can be seen littered on the floor of the basement, as well as in the background of the dungeon.

Although his body remains the same, Smithy can now use his sledgehammer to morph his head into different forms. Smithy has five heads that he could change into:
 * The normal Head, which he uses to switch to the other heads.
 * The Tank Head, which has extremely powerful physical attacks.
 * The Magic Head, which wields the most destructive magical attacks in the game (though it has much lower defense than his other forms).
 * The Mask Head, used for increased protection and defense.
 * And the Treasure Head, which attacks Mario's party with a random status ailment.

In this shape-shifting form, Smithy is nearly unstoppable. However, after a long and grueling battle, the courageous heroes overcome the many forms of Smithy, overloading Smithy's body with heat. In the end, Smithy self-destructs, and the last Star Piece is recovered by Mario and his friends. With all seven Star Pieces in hand, Geno is able to repair the Star Road and restore the power of wishes to the world. The Smithy Gang invasion ends, and peace returns to Mushroom World.

At the end of the adventure, a huge parade is held in celebration of the end of the invasion. Smithy, in his original bearded form, appears during the parade, riding atop the Blade. Many Shysters and several of his lieutenants also appear alongside Smithy. As he flies by on the Blade, he pounds his minions Mack, Bowyer, and Yaridovich with his sledgehammer. Smithy has not been seen since.

However some consider the parades shown at the end of RPG games to be considered out of continuity, and more a way of showing the characters who appeared, therefore Smithy was destroyed at the moment of his defeat. Another example would be the parade at the end of Paper Mario, where Tubba Blubba and his heart are shown to still be separated from each other, while during the storyline they reunited. Also, Huff N. Puff is shown in the parade, while he exploded into Tuff puffs after being defeated by Mario.

Personality
Although originally depicted as a calm and collected leader, Smithy is revealed to be highly ill-tempered, as shown by his fit of rage upon being defeated the first time by Mario and his allies, which culminated in Smithy destroying his recently built headquarters. Additionally, in the aforementioned fit of rage, Smithy apparently destroyed three of his henchmen who were simply trying to calm him down.

Ultimately, Smithy was determined to achieve world conquest through the Smithy Gang, confident that his weapons could serve as the basis of his power over the entire planet. As such, Smithy attempted to prevent the restoration of wishes to the world, as Star Road and the dreams of individuals represented a direct threat to Smithy's reign.

Quotes

 * See here for a full list of quotes.

Trivia

 * Smithy was a character nominated for "Best Villain" in the 1996 Nintendo Power Awards. He received third place. Smithy lost to Bowser (from Super Mario 64) who received second place, and Boba Fett (from Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire) who received first place.
 * Smithy's Japanese name, "Kajiō," was misspelled as "Kajidoh" in the official soundtrack for Super Mario RPG.
 * Smithy may also be a pun on the word "blacksmith" as a blacksmith is someone who creates metal weapons and armor.