Culex

"I am matter... I am antimatter... I can see your past... I can see your future... I consume time... And I will consume you!"

- Culex

Culex is a character that appeared in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. He is from the alternate dimension of Vanda. He is designed to resemble generic Final Fantasy bosses, since both Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy are made by Square Enix, but he did not appear in any of the Final Fantasy games.

Culex hides behind a sealed door in Monstro Town. To get into it, Mario has to use the Shiny Stone he can get by trading Fireworks with a mole in Moleville. If Mario's team defeats Culex, they will receive a Quartz Charm.

In battle, Culex is aided by the Earth Crystal, the Fire Crystal, the Water Crystal, and the Wind Crystal. Each of these powerful artifacts has powerful magic skills of the named element (see descriptions at the bottom of the page).

Trivia

 * The crystals that Culex uses in battle are actually important items in the Final Fantasy series. All four are from the original Final Fantasy.
 * The three music tracks played when around Culex are remixes of three music tracks from the Final Fantasy series. His Battle Music is a remix of the Battle Music from Final Fantasy IV, the music that plays when Mario beats Culex is a remix of the Victory Music in the Final Fantasy series, and the Conversation with Culex is a remix of Final Fantasy's main theme.
 * Culex himself rather resembles the final form of Kefka, the main villain of Final Fantasy VI.
 * Culex plays the very same role that The Master, Bonetail, and Shadoo played in the Paper Mario series, as they are all optional bosses that are (supposedly) stronger than their games' respective final bosses.