Antasma

"SCREEEK! I vanted to steal Peach's power...But I changed my mind! You are much stronger...and evil! SCREEEONK! Vork vith me! SCREEEP!"

- Antasma

Antasma is an evil bat king and the primary main antagonist (secondary towards the end of the game) in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, for the Nintendo 3DS.

Background
Many thousands of years ago, Antasma was once a normal Bat on Pi'illo Island. He somehow fed off a Pi'illo's nightmare which drove him to become the Bat King who stole the Dark Stone in order to full fill his chaotic dreams. After the Pi'illos, along with the Zeekeeper managed to imprison him into the Dream World he shattered the Dark Stone at the last moment causing the chunks to rain down all over the island. The shards of the Darkstone turned all the Pi'illo they touched into stone, but with their last breaths, the Pi'illos managed to seal him in the dream world. Mario and Luigi are tasked with rescuing the Pi'illows which Antasma froze, as well as Peach (who he abducts early in the game).

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Antasma first appears, albeit silent, much bigger, and not referred to as such, on the blimp ride to Pi'illo Island during a nightmare dreamt by Luigi. He replaces Bowser from previous games as the tutorial boss, and like Partners in Time and Bowser's Inside Story, Toadsworth is there to assist Mario. His only attack is to transform into a swarm of bats, which fly at Mario, but doesn't cause any damage. As such, like Bowser, he will be defeated in a few turns.

The game cuts to Luigi running in panic, and ends up making himself faint. But Antasma was in fact an actual being, and he reappears not long after, this time possessing Broque Monsieur, who gave up his entrepreneuring from the previous game in favor of being a Pi'illo Island tour guide. He summons monsters for Mario to fight, not unlike Kamek in Partners in Time. Though, his distance from the real world forces him to leave his body, and Broque dismisses the incident as a show.

Antasma is not seen again until after Prince Dreambert's pillow is found and Luigi sleeps on it, opening a portal to the Dream World. He calls out to Princess Peach in an effort for her to approach the portal, and proceeds to suck her in. Mario loyally gives chase, but Antasma distracts him with a dream counterpart of him and makes a beeline for Dream's Deep. However, Mario manages to save Prince Dreambert, who explains how Antasma shattered the Dark Stone, an ancient power of Pi'illo Island, and managed to turn the Pi'illo people to stone.

With the help of Eldream and his pet, Dreambunny, Mario manages to reach Dream's Deep, which is actually filled with his greatest nightmare--Mario leaving him behind. However, Bowser, enraged that someone else besides him had kidnapped Peach, also ends up there. When Mario, Dreamy Luigi, and Prince Dreambert reach Antasma, Bowser swats him in rage. He then leeches Bowser's face, when he is first seen speaking. He says that he kidnapped Peach in hopes of using her power to take over the real world, but it would be more useful to use that of an evil creature, offering for them to team up. Bowser disagrees, taunting his accent. But when he makes a deal with Bowser, that after they take over the world, he can keep Peach all to himself, and using his powers, they can defeat the Mario Bros., he reluctantly agrees. Antasma then possesses Bowser, and the two fight Mario and Dreamy Luigi and barely win. Antasma says it'd be best if they go and take over the real world first, then kidnap Peach.

Eldream and Dreambunny escort the Mario Bros. and the princess out of the Dream World, and think they've won, but then Prince Dreambert and Starlow reveal that Antasma is still on the loose, along with Bowser, and explains the same story he told earlier to Peach. Now Mario and Luigi must find the Dream Stone, the only thing that can counteract the Dark Stone.

Unfortunately, when they find the Dream Stone pedestal, it's empty. Antasma (along with Bowser) reveal they have already taken the Dream Stone. Mario and Luigi give chase to Mount Pajamaja.

To channel the Dream Stone's power, Private Goomp turns on some speakers that play the Dreambeats, whose "dreamy" rhythm knocks out every person on the island, except Antasma, Starlow and Prince Dreambert, (due to being immune) and Bowser(due to covering his ears). Mario, Starlow, and Prince Dreambert, who have managed to resist the lulling noise, quickly reenter the Dream World to try and solve this predicament. After finding them, Antasma transforms into his normal form and makes a wish on the Dream Stone, to have a powerful castle.

It is revealed in Somnom Woods by a P'illo Master that Antasma was originally just a Bat that somehow fed off the nightmare of a P'illo causing him to become the Bat King.

After Giant Bowser is defeated, Bowser betrays Antasma, saying that he is an idiot and that he, Bowser, does not work well with other people, and was playing the fool to take it all. Prince Dreambert and Antasma then duel. It is then revealed that Antasma made a wish to make dream portals by his own will, and defeats Prince Dreambert. Mario goes back into the Dream World, fights Antasma and successfully defeats him. Antasma inflates and explodes, and is never seen again.

Appearance
Antasma seems to bear similarities in appearance to all of the previous antagonists in the Mario and Luigi series (Cackletta, Elder Princess Shroob, the Dark Star and Dark Fawful).

Antasma appears, for the most part, as a Bat with a giant grin. At the beginning of the game, though, he appears as a purple cloud, and then a Bat. Later in the game, he is shown in his true form, which consist of his cape, bow tie and two claws. In battle, Antasma takes his Bat form or a more ghostly looking version of his true form. This form is more taller and skinnier and reveals his arms.

In Pillow form, Antasma appears as a purple Pillow with his cape spikes and eyes.

Antasma's speech is based off old Dracula movies with most words having "v"s in them and screaming tics which come from his Bat side. He makes careful decisions, since after his imprisonment, such as choosing whose power he needs to help realize his dreams, but can be jumped-on easily when in a false sense of security, such as Bowser attacking him in Dream's Deep and Bowser's betrayal. He has a temper and a strong hate for the P'illo's, especially Prince Dreambert. Others show fear towards him besides the Zeekeeper, who see's him as just a pest.

Antasma X
Antasma X appears to be that same as Antasma. His color palette has been changed, instead of purple on his body and cloak, it is blue and the eyes are a light blue.

Abilities
Antasma has many abilities inside and outside of battle.

Bat Form
In bat form Antasma is able to use Screaming soundwaves to create portals to Dream's Deep, to stun a foe or power up an ally. He is also able to carry great wieght's such as Bowser and fly long distances. This ability very similar to Cakletta's bat transform ability. Also he use it in battles.

In battle Antasma can turn into a group and surround an ally for protection or attack Mario by charging at him.

True Form
In his true form, Antasma is able to hover & teleport from locations. He is also able to grow vines which he spreads through Neo Bowser Castle to supply power to it from Bowser's dreams. He is also, like Prince Dreambert, able to turn into a pillow. Later on Antasma makes a wish to be able to create Dream Portals whenever he wants to prevent future imprisonment.

Battle Form
When fighting Antasma in the Dream World, his powers are greatly amplified, and has a new form. Antasma is able to create Antasmunchies which he eats allowing him to get greater power. He is also able to trap Dreamy Luigi in one of these and mix them around to prevent defeat. If Antasma eats the one containing Dreamy Luigi, his power goes up greatly. He later spits Dreamy Luigi out. The Munchies also come to life, growing legs and spikes. Antasma will raise a shield around him and hibernate to recover health when this happens. The Munchies can also lower Mario's Defence. Destroying all the munchies will pull him out of hibernation. The last use of Antasma Munchies is as explosives. Antasma will chase Mario and throw a ring of them at him, the landing will change if he raises his hand. The safe spot is in the middle as Antasma will set them off causing a large explosion. Antasma also turns into a group of Bats and charges Mario like normal, but some of the Bats have a special power. If Mario makes contact with one of these he will fall asleep and be chased by a slightly larger Antasma that shoots purple fireballs. To escape Mario has to find the rainbow portal, which contains coins and mushrooms, the others contain sawblades and will put Mario back into the chase. The Portals can be worked out by jumping over them, which reveals their color. Antasma also creates clones of himself, with the true one reveals an electrical ball. He will then hide the ball, then the Antasmas go into a line and reveal what they are holding, stopping at the real Antasma. The ball can be reflected with the hammer.

Antasma X
Antasma X's powers are the same as Antasma's true form except all of his attacks have a chance of making Mario fall asleep and go through the chase scene nightmare.

Trivia

 * Antasma's name is likely derived from the word "phantasma", meaning "spectre" or "ghost".
 * Antasma bears much resemblance to Cackletta with his attacks, such as attacking with a swarm of bats or duplicating oneself, much like Cackletta. He also joins his power with Bowser in the Bros.' fight against him much like Cackletta does for a longer period of time; however, it is unknown whether Bowser's mind has been taken over or whether Antasma is simply boosting his power.
 * Additionally, said possession is an evil analogue to how Dreamy Luigi fuses with Mario for all Dream World battles, including the battle between Bowser/Antasma itself. Much as Mario gains a green aura and is assisted by many Dreamy Luigi clones during his attacks, Bowser gains a purple aura and is assisted by many Antasma clones at certain points.
 * Antasma has many similarities with Count Dracula. Antasma speaks with a Slavic accent, similar to Dracula. Also note that Dracula is a vampire and can transform into a bat. Antasma is a ghostly bat king and can also transform into a bat.
 * In some translations, Antasma is called a count instead of a king, just like Dracula. Antasma's Russian name, Mrakula, is even a play on Dracula's name.
 * In the Dutch translation, Antasma speaks with a German accent and he also uses actual German words quite frequently.