Popple

"I'll be taking that, see?"

- Popple

Popple is one of the main characters in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Popple, or the "Shadow Thief" as he calls himself, is a wannabe super thief who dreams of getting rich quick. The Mario Bros. first ran into Popple and his accomplice, Rookie (who was really an amnesiac Bowser) in the Chateau de Chucklehuck where they were after the secret of the brewery's world famous drink, Chuckola Cola. Engaging the bros. in battle, Mario and Luigi managed to beat Popple and the blank-minded Bowser. The two showed up again when Mario and Luigi solved the puzzles of Chucklehuck Woods, but they ended up being blasted into the sky by the Chuckolator.

The bros. encountered Rookie and Popple again in the basement of Woohoo Hooniversity, where they were trying to steal the Beanstar. The two groups ended up fighting again, and even when using their own bros. move, Popple and Rookie still lost. Suddenly, after the battle the head of a Peach robot fell through the ceiling and its voice irritated the Beanstar so much it burst through the ceiling, taking Mario, Luigi, Rookie and Popple with it. The Beanstar then divided into four pieces flinging all its passengers off. Mario landed with Luigi in Oho Oasis, while Bowser was flung to Stardust Fields, then used as revival power for Cackletta's spirit. Popple's landing destination is unknown.

Popple appeared again in Chucklehuck Woods trying to get a piece of the Beanstar off a statue. The Mario Bros. fought him again, but this time without Bowser. Popple again appeared again having made a base in Teehee Valley. After finding an unconscious Luigi in the desert he took him as a prisoner to lure Mario to his base. After Mario freed Luigi, Popple attacked and introduced his new Rookie, Birdo, who had fallen hopelessly in love with him. After losing in battle Popple blamed his defeat on Birdo and called her useless and Birdo, heart-broken, knocked him through the wall. Popple was then sentenced to community service in Little Fungitown where he is last seen, and ironically, his supervisor calls him Rookie.

Battle Strategy
In the first battle against the wannabe thief, Popple is accompanied by his loyal servant, Rookie. Whenever Popple is attacked, Rookie spams each brother with a hammer, which goes faster than normal. Because of that, many players decide to kill Rookie first, which makes Popple run away. However, defeating Popple causes the player to get 50 more experience points and 30 more coins. All Popple does is either do a simple ram into the opponent, or steal their Mushroom and healing someone the next turn. This is can be determined by seeing if he grins or not, if he does it's to Luigi, if not it's to the other. Determining his actual move depends on how the players defend themselves. If they can defend themselves by jumping, he is trying to ram one of the brothers, if they can defend themselves by using hammers, he is trying to steal a mushroom.

The second time the Mario Bros. fight him, he does the same moves until Rookie gets hurt about halfway. Then they start doing "Bros. Attacks" which always has Popple getting hurt. The first one is Rookie tosses Popple in the air, then he jumps and grabs Popple, then Rookie does a head dunk causing shockwaves that the brothers both need to jump over. The second one is Rookie lights Popple on fire, then swings him to a brother who has to counter with the hammer. The third time he is alone, and he only has two more attacks. One is where he grabs a money bag and starts throwing random detritus. Most of the time the junk are coins and a mushroom. Occasionally, however, he will throw out a Poison Mushroom and a monster similar to a Designbomb. The second new move is a little more dangerous. He turns around then he has either the grin on his face or the normal mad face, then he tries to steal the brother's hammer. This can be countered with the hammer, but if not blocked correctly, Popple steals the hammer and uses it against them. Also that brother can't attack with the hammer either except for Fire Bros. and Thunder Bros. when advanced. The hammer later returns to their possesion after a few turns. Later he fights with Birdo by his side with all of the moves that he had by himself.

Trivia

 * In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a reference to Popple is made when Bowser visits Poshley Sanctum to steal the Garnet Star. When Pennington asks him who he is, one of the answers is "The Shadow Thief", which is what Popple calls himself. Also, if the player selects this title, Bowser will say "I'll be taking this, thanks!", a reference to Popple's "I'll be takin' this, see?"
 * Popple's theme plays during the battle against Fawful at Bowser's Castle. Note that in Japanese version the music of Fawful's battle is the same that sounds in the battle against Cackletta.
 * When Popple is encountered alone in Chucklehuck Woods, he has 520 HP. However, when he is next encountered (with Birdo at his side), his total HP is 500.
 * Popple is similar to Croco. As they are both robbers in Mario RPG's, also they are both encountered at least three times by the player, and fought more than once in their respective games.
 * In the last fight with him, when he steals the hammer, it shows he has a Super Hammer. The brothers have Ultra Hammers at this point.
 * Popple is the only boss other than Jojora who is not required to be defeated (with the exception of his third fight), but can be defeated for extra experience, coins and items.