Crystal King

"First I shall defeat you, and then I will present to King Bowser an iced Mario gift!"

- Crystal King

The Crystal King is the final boss in possession of a Star Spirit that Mario had to face before his final confrontation with Bowser in the game Paper Mario.

History
The Crystal King guarded the last Star Spirit, Kalmar, in the Crystal Palace. Crystal King's body is invisible and he can also make his cloak and crown invisible too. Crystal King can fly, summon Crystal Bits and shoot ice beams. When he gets desperate, he begins copying himself and recovering HP.

When Mario defeats him, Crystal King says, "Oh no! The last Star Spirit!! King Bowser, forgive meeeeeeeee!!". He then spins out of control and disappears while sparks are flying away from him.

Like the other characters, Crystal King appears in the parade at the end during the credits. Two Duplighosts are impersonating him, and the real Crystal King is carried away by his Crystal Bits.

Crystal King
The Crystal King is incredibly powerful. If not beaten quick enough, the Crystal King will recover 20 HP at least three times. He can attempt a freezing attack which freezes Mario and also deals six damage if not blocked. The Crystal King can split into multiple copies of himself in the air or on the ground. If Mario does not choose the correct copy on the next turn, the king will unleash a powerful mist attack which deals eight damage.

Crystal Bit
Crystal Bits are pieces of the Crystal King. There are three different looking Crystal Bits (one shaped like a cube, one shaped like an octahedron and the last in the shape of a sphere) but their shape does not affect what they do compared to a different shaped crystal bit. They assist him in his battle with Mario during the events of Paper Mario. They can be destroyed quickly with a multi-hitting attack, like the multibounce, Lakilester's Spiny Surge, or Thunder Rage. Crystal King can summon them several times throughout battle, using up a turn.

Although they are easily defeated, it is more advantageous to leave them in the battle because when they are gone the Crystal King will shoot a bolt of ice at Mario, dealing 6 damage and possibly freezing him. If properly defended against, the barrage of Crystal Bits can do significantly less damage.

Super Mario-Kun
The Crystal King also makes an appearance in issue 27 of Super Mario-Kun. Before the fight, the Crystal King announces his presence using Ice Bolt by freezing Kooper. The Crystal King borrows his attacks from the original game such as hurling Crystal Bits and creating duplicates of himself. After an assortment of attacks, including Mario's using smelly clothing, Kooper uses a flaming shell to defeat the Crystal King.

Trivia

 * Although probably a coincidence, there is a treasure in the game Pikmin 2 called the Crystal King.
 * The Crystal Bits both resemble and serve a similar purpose as the Elemental Crystals do to Culex in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
 * Crystal Bits have lower HP than any other enemy in the game, along with Tuff Puffs and Petit Piranhas.
 * For reasons unknown, the sound effect for when the Crystal King clones himself is changed in the Virtual Console version. The original sound effect sounds similar to the effect when Mario grabs a Mini Mushroom. In the Virtual Console version, it is a similar sound effect to when the King generates his Crystal Bits.