Bandit

"See ya 'round the block, buddy!"

- Bandit

Bandits are a tall, larceny-loving sub-species of Shy Guy. Bandits originated from the Yoshi series, although they have gone on to appear in the Paper Mario and Mario Party series as well.

Yoshi series
Bandits, along with Shy Guys, were two of the most common enemies in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. They would wander around, until spotting Yoshi and Baby Mario. The bandit would then give chase. If successful, the Bandit would take Baby Mario and run away. They can run very fast, and jump on top of small ledges, making them a versatile foe. It took six eggs, three jumps, or a ground pound to dispatch them. For the first three times that the player hits a Bandit with an egg, it would drop a coin, the next three would give 1-ups. They also hide behind rocks, mushrooms, or cave walls, only coming out to steal Baby Mario if Yoshi gets damaged nearby. In two levels, they summoned Shy Guys to replace Baby Mario while the Bandit took off. However, that would be foiled if the Shy Guy was eaten or egged first. In one instance, they even parachuted from balloons. In some cases, Bandits will show their faces while hiding if Yoshi isn't looking at them.

In Mini Battles, such as Gather Coins and Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest, Yoshi would face off against a Bandit to win items. If the player used a secret mini-game code, the second player could use the second controller to play as the Bandit (thus making Bandit, in an obscure way, a playable character). They were only on land in Yoshi's Island DS, and were the only enemies that took off with babies. Here, they were easier, and though they jumped very very high when they noticed Yoshi, they would not jump when they reached a ledge.

''Paper Mario
Bandits were common enemies in the Dry Dry Desert in Paper Mario. They sometimes fought along with Pokeys. They would run at an amazing speed towards Mario, trying to steal his coins. When Mario failed to do the defensive Action Command, the Bandit would steal an amount of coins from Mario and run away from the battle as soon as possible. Mario was able to recollect his coins by defeating them quickly.

''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bandits commonly appeared in Rogueport in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. On Mario's first walk in the town, in search for Professor Frankly, a Bandit bumped into Mario, stealing half of his coins. Mario was able to track the Bandit down in a house near the market and retrieve his coins. Several other Bandits lived in Rogueport, namely Larson, Swindell and Eddy the Mask.

A team of Bandits known as the Hand-It-Overs, consisting of two Bandits and two Big Bandits, were fighters in the Glitz Pit. One of the Big Bandits, Bandy Andy, was very interested in rumors about the Glitz Pit, for which he was eventually caught by Grubba, leading to the Hand-It-Overs team disappearing from the roster along with the KP Koopas. They were replaced by the Wings of Night and the Destructors for the rest of Chapter 3.

Bandits also appeared in the Pit of 100 Trials in the Rogueport Sewers, along with Big Bandits and the Badge Bandits. They have lost their amazing speed.

''Mario Party 7
A Bandit appears in Pyramid Park of Mario Party 7, but only in Solo Mode. It stole a Star from the Bowser Sphinx and the player's goal is to get the Star back from the Bandit with a Chain Chomp and return it to the Bowser Sphinx.

''Mario Party 8
In Shy Guy's Perplex Express of Mario Party 8, a Bandit is seen in one of the train wagons walking around. When a character lands on a ? Space above the train a Shy Guy will appear, revealing that a Bandit(or Mowz) has robbed Holly Koopa's Candy.

The character must now remember which wagon the Bandit/Mowz was in. If the character remember correctly, the Bandit/Mowz will return the candy and the character will receive a handful of coins.

A Bandit also appears in Koopa's Tycoon Town. If a certain ? Space is landed on, a Bandit will appear in an alley and steal coins from an opponent's investment in the nearest hotel.

Sub-Species

 * Coin Bandit: Bandits that carry red coins around.
 * Big Bandit: Bandits that steal items.
 * Badge Bandit: Bandits that steal badges.

Notable Bandits

 * Bandy Andy – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
 * Eddy the Mask – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
 * Larson – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
 * Swindell – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Trivia

 * At the end of World 3 in Yoshi's Island DS, a group of Bandits take a willing Baby Wario away with them.
 * In the Yoshi's Island games, Bandits are colored blue. In Paper Mario, however, they are red (a color eerily similar to the Coin Bandits). The Bandits in Rogueport are blue, though.
 * It seems to be easy for a Bandit to move the "face" on his mask. As a matter of fact, this so-called mask may very well may be a Bandit's face.