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 attack Boss Sumo Bro, 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. It 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. This also turns any Magic Circles on the arena to 1,000-Fold Arms circles. 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. Mario can use the 1,000-Fold Arms to attack Scissors; however, the attack will hit both halves, automatically breaking the cover. During this phase, Scissors will drill into Mario using Dull Edge or knock Mario with its handles using Safe Tee, both dealing 24 damage. If Mario is in one of the outer two rings, Scissors may use Sharp Drop to grab and slam Mario with its handles, dealing 42 damage.

Provided its cover is not attacked, after losing a third of its health, Scissors gets tired of fighting Mario and uncovers its blades, automatically initiating its second phase. The boss then uses Cutting Board to destroy several of the panels on the ring, including the Magic Circles and ON Button, making it harder for Mario to get in the center of the arena. Once the chest in the arena is opened, any spaces cut up will be restored the next turn, including the Magic Circles and ON Button. Scissors will then use Cutting Board after every attack to "temporarily" destroy the +1 and ×2 bonuses, among others.

On every turn during its second phase, prior to the ring organization phase, Scissors charges up while emanating electricity. It will then use Final Cut when it attacks; 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, provided the Ice Vellumental Magic Circle is still available, Mario 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, as Mario will quickly withdraw his hands before he can get cut by the Scissors. Water Vellumental Magic Circles also exist on the ring, but they only do 20 points of damage. When Scissors' health bar is nearly at zero, it will skip its somersault animation and immediately try to cut Mario.

Profiles and statistics

 * Collectible Treasure #11: "The archenemy of paper everywhere and King Olly's top lieutenant in the Legion of Stationery."

Trivia

 * It is possible to fight Scissors without receiving any damage, if the cover is destroyed before it uses Dull Edge. This is because every Final Cut that is jumped over does zero damage to Mario.