Ember

Embers are spectral cyan Lava Bubbles with higher statistics that appear in the first two Paper Mario games. They are based on both , a blue flame entity in Japanese folklore said to be the comprised of the souls of the dead, and, a phenomenon where blue fire appears to erupt from a ship's mast under certain conditions.

Paper Mario
In Paper Mario, Embers appear on Star Way and are visually an entirely cyan recolor of normal Lava Bubbles. They can attack Mario by jumping on him or they can attack Mario's partner to cost them a few turns unless they block the attack. Attacking them cause them to split into more Embers, and they are immune to fire attacks.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Embers now have a gradient on their flames and bright yellow eyes. They no longer split into two Embers when hit by most attacks, but they (along with Lava Bubbles and their stronger relatives Phantom Embers) can still do so if hit by a fire attack, which now heal Embers instead of merely doing no damage. In battle, they have a number of new moves. Their most frequently-used attack involves flaring up in front of Mario or his partner, dealing 3 damage. They can also spit a fireball at Mario or his partner, which deals 2 damage and may cause a burn. Their third attack involves creating a large wave of flame that hits both Mario and his partner, dealing 2 damage and possibly causing a burn. Compared to Lava Bubbles, Embers have higher HP but lower attack power.

In this game, Embers are depicted as "flame spirits" and ghosts, the spirits of the pirate ghost Cortez's crew. They first appear on the S.S. Flavion, where they attack and sink the ship in a reference to St. Elmo's fire. During this sequence, a particular Ember is mistaken by Flavio for Cortez himself. Embers later appear on Keelhaul Key as enemies. Mario battles three of them upon first entering Keelhaul Key's shantytown. Later, a group of them is seen attacking Admiral Bobbery, Lord Crump in his "Four-Eyes" disguise, and a Toad sailor on a wooden bridge. Bobbery insists on fighting these Embers himself, and is later seen chased to the top of a palm tree being encircled by the two Embers, which Mario then defeats. They are also fought in this same area if Mario hits the stone heads an incorrect number of times after inserting the Skull Gem into the entrance to Pirate's Grotto. In Pirate's Grotto itself, Embers are encountered as regular enemies by themselves and fighting alongside Lava Bubbles, and this is the only area where they can be found after completing Chapter 5. A particular Ember and its allies are battled in Pirate’s Grotto for a Black Key.

Shortly after the conclusion of Chapter 5, when Mario and Flavio request Cortez's help in battling Lord Crump, who is attacking Keelhaul Key with his ship, Cortez sails his ship, the Black Skull, through a wall in Pirate's Grotto to battle Lord Crump's ship. During this sequence, Cortez commands his crew, an army of Embers, which battle Lord Crump's X-Nauts while Mario battles Lord Crump himself.