Thoreau

"What's this, you say? You need not worry. The great being that watches us will know what it is."

- Thoreau

Thoreau is a character in the Wii video game Super Paper Mario. He is the second of the many Pixl creatures that Mario will find in the game. This Pixl allows all of the characters (which include Mario, Princess Peach, Bowser, and Luigi) to pick up the enemy and then throw them. This attack first originated from Super Mario Bros. 2, or Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic on the NES. Other than that, he can also activate switches from afar (just like Kooper or Koops). His name was revealed in the 214th issue of Nintendo Power magazine. According to Tippi, Thoreau "sounds posh and upper class, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty." He claims to have been locked away by the Ancients for 1,500 years when Mario saves him from his imprisonment in a treasure chest in the first chapter. Thoreau believes that a "great being" (a reference to the player) listens to him, and believes that it would wish to know that Mario can use him to grab things with the. This breaks the fourth wall, like how Bestovius did in Chapter 1-1. The player can use Thoreau to grab an enemy and knock it back into another one. This move ignores Defense power, making it very useful to use against enemies with really high Defense, such as Dark Chomps. However some enmeies such as the Cursya cannot be picked up.

Catch Card

 * Card Type: Rare
 * Card Description: This handy Pixl can pick things up and throw them. He's very... handy.

Trivia

 * Thoreau is the only Pixl that has broken the fourth wall.
 * Thoreau is a corruption of the word "throw", referring to his abilities.
 * It is also possible that his name is based off of real-life philosopher Henry David Thoreau. As a joke, Thoreau mentions that he "dislikes details", a reference to Henry David Thoreau's famous quote: "Simplify, simplify!".
 * Interestingly, Thoreau resembles a hand, his head being the palm and the five circles being the fingers, this being a nod to his special ability.
 * His power is somewhat similar to Kooper and Koops.
 * In an article on Super Paper Mario, Nintendo Power joked that Thoreau was once a part of a tacky wall paper design.
 * During the fights with Mr. L and Shadoo, the enemy sometimes holds up a Shroom Shake for a couple of seconds before healing itself by ten HP. It is possible to use Thoreau to steal the Shroom Shakes out of the enemies' hands.

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