Scissors (boss)

Scissors, The Dual-Bladed Duelist, is a member of the Legion of Stationery who guards the end of the green streamer and is the boss of Bowser's Castle in Paper Mario: The Origami King, being the last member fought guarding the end of a streamer. Scissors is a pair of lime right-handed scissors with King Olly's insignia on it, and is stated to be King Olly's top lieutenant amongst the Legion of Stationery.

It first appears slicing Bowser Jr. to pieces outside the entrance of Bowser's Castle when he first tries to enter, and is shown assaulting the Koopa Troop; slicing them into tiny pieces and sticking them to a Paper Macho Buzzy Beetle, including Kamek's face; creating the Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle. Scissors narrowly misses cutting Mario when they first meet, claiming it would be uninteresting if Mario was immediately cut to pieces. He then sends out the Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle as a warm up for Mario before engaging him directly.

Unlike the other Legion of Stationery members except for Stapler, Scissors does not say anything when defeated; simply falling flat and exploding when Olivia pokes it over. The Koopa Troop and Kamek return to normal after Scissors is defeated. Scissors strongly resembles the Scissors Thing from Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Battle
Scissors starts off the battle sheathing its blades with a plastic cover; claiming that it would be too easy to cut Mario up instantly. Mario must try not to attack the cover, otherwise it will be destroyed, and Scissors will start its second phase early. Therefore, the player should aim to attack the lime handles depending on which way they are up, with Jump attacks affecting the top half and Hammer attacks affecting the bottom half. Magic Circles are available in the phase, allowing Mario to use the 1,000 Fold Arms; the attack will hit the both halves, automatically breaking the cover. During this phase, Scissors will drill into Mario using Dull Edge, or use Safe Tee, dealing 24 damage.

Provided its cover is not attacked, after losing a third of its health, Scissors gets tired of fighting Mario and uncovers its blades, initiating its second phase. Prior to Mario moving the rings, the boss uses Cutting Board to destroy several of the symbols on the ring, making it harder for Mario to get in the center of the arena. Scissors then charges up Final Cut while electrically glowing with power. Mario can only dodge Final Cut by jumping over it - getting hit by this attack deals 999 damage, instantly defeating Mario. Scissors can throw off the player's timing by moving up when Mario jumps, faking a charge, or slowing down its attack. When Mario dodges Final Cut for the first time, Scissors will childishly accuse him of cheating. If Mario tries to jump on Scissors with its blades up when they are unsheathed, he will also receive 999 points of damage, even when wearing Iron Boots. Hammers are the only safe permanent attack to deal with Scissors when it charges up.

To stop Scissors from charging another attack, the player needs to use the Ice Vellumental's ability; freezing the Scissors in place and leaving it vulnerable to a 1,000-Fold Arms attack. When charging Final Cut, Scissors cannot be attacked with the 1,000-Fold Arms. Water Vellumental Magic Circles also exist on the ring, but they only do 20 points of damage.