The Shy Bandit

The Shy Bandit is a mini-boss that appears in Paper Mario: Color Splash. He is a Black Shy Guy who apparently was banished from his homeland. He wears a red, masquerade-like mask over the usual Shy Guy mask.

When he appears, he will throw a marker on the level he intends to suck all the color from, and begin running toward that spot. Usually, he is a sizable distance from that area. Mario must then race him to the marker. If Mario picks up the marker before the Shy Bandit gets there, he disappears, and Mario gets 300 coins. If the Shy Bandit reaches his destination first, he will begin sucking the color from the level, his progress shown by a tiered splotch that empties as he drains. If Mario fails to reach the Shy Bandit before he has sucked all the paint from a level, the "colorless spots cleared" marker on the level will revert to the default 0% (with a few exceptions). The Shy Bandit can attack even areas colored back to 100%.

If Mario manages to reach the Shy Bandit before he finishes draining the level's color, or intercepts him before he reaches the marker, he will initiate a battle; at this point, the Shy Bandit will attack first by blinding Mario with paint, or summon enemies, such as Hammer Bros and Buzzy Beetles, to attack. He has his own theme that plays during battle, which is a jazz-styled piece and an homage to spy and criminal themes in old movies, and contains Shy Guy "vocals". If Mario defeats the Shy Bandit, he receives 300 coins and has a chance to get his card, and all the color he had drained from the level (if Mario wasn't able to get to him before he reached the marker) will be returned, meaning that the previous colorization progress of that level will remain intact.

When summoned in battle, The Shy Bandit attacks by draining an enemy's color. This is similar to Slurp Guys, the big difference being that an enemy defeated by this attack has a chance of becoming a card. The Shy Bandit is ineffective against mini-bosses, bosses, and certain enemies such as Lava Bubbles, which the Shy Bandit will only burn himself attempting to drain.

It is possible that the Shy Bandit is a member of the Koopa Troop, as he can summon minions of Bowser to assist him in battle. This has not yet been confirmed nor denied, however.

Trivia

 * Despite being a mini-boss, enemies summoned with enemy cards do not run away in front of the Shy Bandit. They attack him as normal instead.
 * The player can use a previously obtained Shy Bandit card while fighting the Shy Bandit.
 * There is an oversight where the game can create an unwinnable Shy Bandit challenge and force the player to redo all the colorless spots in the stage.
 * The marker the Shy Bandit uses to indicate his target is a type of, a token left behind by particularly devious (and self-absorbed) criminals at the scene of their crimes.