Zeekeeper

"I am the Zeekeeper...The bird of legend...Protector of Pi'illo Island..."

- Zeekeeper

The Zeekeeper is a character who appears in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. He is the guardian figure of the Pi'illo Kingdom, who helped them take down Antasma many thousands of years before the events of the game. The name is a play on Zookeeper and the phonetic spelling of the alphabet Z, which symbolises sleep.

History
Prior to the events of Mario & Luigi Dream Team, the Zeekeeper protected Pi'illo Island from danger. He later helped Dreambert and the other Pi'illos take down Antasma and seal him away in the Dream World.

When Mario and the other main characters arrive on the island though, the Zeekeeper (much like the Pi'illos themselves) is nowhere to be found, with him being considered to be a legend by those still inhabiting the island. For the first half of the adventure, he's only mentioned in books, on signs and as part of the island's history.

When Peach is captured and taken to Neo Bowser Castle however, Mario and co return to Dr. Snoozemore, who tells them that finding and bringing back the Zeekeeper could let them destroy the castle's barrier and confront Bowser and Antasma. They then go to Dreamy Pi'illo Castle to search for clues to his whereabouts, finding a statue that says the Ultibed is needed to summon him.

After the pieces have been assembled, Bedsmith has been freed and the Ultibed has been assembled in Somnom Woods, Mario and Luigi head to the Pi'illo Temple, using the Ultibed to enter Dreamy Somnom Woods. Here, they find the Zeekeeper's egg on top of the tree, bringing back the Zeekeeper.

At this point though, the Zeekeeper mistakes Mario and Co. for intruders, attacking them. This causes another Giant Dreamy Luigi battle to start, with Dreamy Luigi eventually defeating it.

Now friendly after his defeat, the Zeekeeper hears about the situation in the real world. He eventually agrees to attack Neo Bowser Castle once Mario pays his 80 million coin fee.

He then attacks Neo Bowser Castle, using his Wake Beam to shatter the forcefield surrounding it, which causes the whole location to come crashing down to a spot just north of the Somnom Woods entrance.

The Zeekeeper later appears in the ending, saving Mario and the rest of the party from the collapsing castle, as well as creating a giant Dream Coin to replace the now broken Dream Stone. He then shatters it and causes millions of coins to start raining from the sky, with the explanation that it's better the inhabitants pay for their wishes rather than rely on the powers of the Dream Stone.

Once Mario and Luigi save all 52 Pi'illos and speak to Eldream, the Zeekeeper also agrees to help the two in battle, giving Mario the new Bros Attack Zee Egg. This attack has him carry them into the sky, before summoning a Wake Orb and sending it flying towards the enemies. Mario and Luigi then have to hammer it to charge it up before it smashes into all the enemies below.

Appearance
The Zeekeeper is a large bird-like creature with a long beak and skinny legs. His egg-shaped body is adorned with rows of colorful feathers, which change colors as they go down his body - pink at his head, blue near his middle, and green at the base. He also has a small plume of yellow-pink feathers on his head, above his oval white eyes. When dizzied, his eyes show a sequence of expanding red and yellow rings.

The Battle Ring's version of the Zeekeeper, Zeekeeper X, has the same body shape as the Zeekeeper, but with an altered color scheme. His feathers are purple near the head and fade to yellow above his legs, and his eyes are black with white pupils instead of the reverse.

Personality
At first, the Zeekeeper seemed to have the personality of a serious guardian, speaking in a more formal matter. However after he met Dreambert, the Zeekeeper revealed he was really more lazy, greedy, and had a laid-back personality, not treating Antasma as much of a threat, not really wanting to bother to save the island and rather loud in general. He's also a bit more fond of material wealth than Mario and co expect, asking for 80 million of Mario's coins to take down Neo Bowser Castle and eventually turning the remains of the Dream Stone into a giant Dream Coin instead of rebuilding it, and has the tendency to charge people for his aid. Though it seemed in the end he decided not to make Mario and co pay him that many coins, especially since he made the Dream Coin. He however does have a good heart, and was willing to help out in the end, even saving Mario, Peach, and Luigi from falling to their deaths, and also having the sense to know having a Dream Stone is a dangerous idea, and that it would be better to not rely on such things.

Battle
In his battle in Somnom Woods, the Zeekeeper displays a wide array of powers that he uses to attack Giant Dreamy Luigi.

His first attack is to fly at Dreamy Luigi. This attack has him either fly high or low, with Dreamy Luigi having to duck or jump to avoid his charge. The Zeekeeper can also fire eggs at Dreamy Luigi, which then have to be hit with the hammer as they pass over the circles in front (to deflect them back at the boss), as well as shoot orbs that Dreamy Luigi has to blast down by throwing tree stumps at them.

After one of the above attacks, the Zeekeeper will then fly a bit lower, which lets Dreamy Luigi grab him and pull him to the ground, opening him up to normal attacks. He only does this if Dreamy Luigi either counters one of the above moves or manages to survive all three without being defeated.

Later, he'll also open up dimensional rifts. In here, Dreamy Luigi flies around in zero gravity and must dodge the Zeekeeper's energy attacks and charges to let him counter attack. These sections occur after Dreamy Luigi attacks the Zeekeeper for two turns.

There's also a more difficult version of the Zeekeeper fought in the Battle Ring, called Zeekeeper X. This version has a darker purple (rather than pink) colour scheme.

Hard Mode Differences
In Hard Mode, there are some noticeable changes in the boss battle with the Zeekeeper. For one thing, there are no Mushrooms in the section where the Zeekeeper shoots eggs at Dreamy Luigi, meaning that the player cannot recover any health without wasting one of their own turns. In addition to this, the Zeekeeper also has changes in his other attacks, with him changing direction mid flight in his charge attack more often and the energy balls in the tree stump attack moving in faster and more erratic patterns.

These changes carry over to the Battle Ring in this version of the adventure.

Quotes

 * Who disturbs...my rest?
 * I am the legendary Zeekeeper... The guardian of the Pi'illo Kingdom...
 * Those who hinder me will become one with the light!
 * SCRAW!
 * Do events go ill in the real world?
 * Oh, DUDE! What is UP! It's been forever!

Zeekeeper Statue Sign

 * [The Zeekeeper Guardian]
 * Long ago, here on Pi'illo Island, a great kingdom flourished at the peak of prosperity.
 * The Zeekeeper is believed to be the guardian deity of that kingdom.