? Island



"A question mark. I see. Then I shall name this enigmatic isle...? Island. Hm. This one definitely works better on paper."

- Captain T. Ode

? Island is one of 11 accessible islands in the Great Sea in Paper Mario: The Origami King. It is charted in territory B-5 on the Sea Chart with a ? icon. As the name would suggest, the island features plenty of ? Blocks. Stone Spikes are introduced here, as well as a Paper Macho Stone Spike. Additionally, a Sensor Lab is located here.

Layout
At the start of the level, there are two Not-Bottomless Holes Mario has to fill in, with a palm tree he can hit to get confetti. Next, there is a slope with two origami Stone Spikes waiting at the top. They throw boulders one at a time and must be fought when Mario gets to the top. Along the way, there is a ? Block, the first of many on this island. After defeating the Stone Spikes, Mario can patch the Not-Bottomless Holes in the area and head north down the gentle slope into a secret cave. Here, there is a treasure chest containing a Collectible Treasure of a ? Block (No. 76).

The ceiling here is made up of ? Blocks, with one lower block in the middle Mario can hit to reveal a POW Block on the surface. After exiting the cave, Mario can head toward here and hit the POW Block to quicken the Sidesteppers in the area and pop out the contents of every ? Block, such as coins, a Mushroom, and bags of confetti. Despite this, there are still a couple more ? Blocks on the island.

Rounding up to the top of the island, large, spiky rocks are thrown down at Mario, and are revealed to come from a Paper Macho Stone Spike. Mario must activate a ? Block and a Hidden Block to create steps allowing him to reach and destroy the Paper Macho Soldier. At the top of the island, there is a Not-Bottomless Hole that Mario must fill to access a stone Toad statue. There is a sign in front of the statue that reads: "Save me, a path to paradise." This is actually a hidden Toad that Mario can hammer to reveal. As thanks for rescuing him, the Toad marks a spot on the Sea Chart where a treasure is to be found. With the "sign" gone, there is now a slab beneath the statue that reads "Seek ye a path to paradise".

From the top of the island, Mario can drop onto the lower ledge to find a treasure chest containing a Collectible Treasure of Sea Captain Toad (No. 77) and a Not-Bottomless Hole he can fill to reveal a door to one of Sensor Lab's satellite offices, where he can rescue another Toad by pulling him out of a fax machine he is stuck in.