Black Shy Guy

"Slicing through the mist. Paint will be spilled here today. The shy ninja strikes."

- Black Shy Guy

Black Shy Guys are Shy Guys which wear black or dark gray robes and white shoes. Usually, they are depicted as more elite than normal Shy Guys, having more powerful abilities and aggressive behaviors.

Yoshi's Story
Black Shy Guys in general first appear in Yoshi's Story, but only as a type of Flying Shy Guy. However, the only artwork for them in the game shows a black-colored normal Shy Guy, which along with the nonspecific wording of the Hint Block that talks about them suggests normal black Shy Guys may have been planned but unimplemented in the final game.

Paper Mario
Black Shy Guys appear in Paper Mario as Anti Guys, whose masks are a dark shade of gray. This variety would have reappeared in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door if Shy Guys had not been cut from the game's roster.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
In Paper Mario: Color Splash, they appear as a mini-boss in Violet Passage and as a regular enemy in Fort Cobalt, and will dodge any of Mario's attacks if they are not stunned. However, they are vulnerable to Thing cards. A Black Shy Guy also appears in the Emerald Circus, where it carries away the Unicycle Shy Guys' unicycle after their defeat. Their "paper" design now matches their regular counterparts, compared to Paper Mario. One serves as the third-round opponent in Roshambo Temple #8, although after Roy Koopa is defeated, it will be replaced by the Rock Paper Wizard until beaten.

The most notable Black Shy Guy in this game is the Shy Bandit.

Paper Mario: The Origami King
Black Shy Guys reappear in Paper Mario: The Origami King as enemies in the Temple of Shrooms. A Black Shy Guy sometimes comes out from behind certain pillars in the walls and attacks Mario with a paper fan, dealing a single point of damage to him. Mario can First Strike the enemy to defeat it, but regardless, it cannot be refought from there. Several Black Shy Guys are later faced in combat. After being defeated, they compliment the last weapon Mario used during the battle.

As of version 1.0.1, Black Shy Guys can also be fought in Scorching Sandpaper West.

Unused sprites for a paper Black Shy Guy can be found in the game's data.

Mario Baseball series
A Black Shy Guy also appears in Mario Superstar Baseball as a playable character and reappears in Mario Super Sluggers as a coloration of Shy Guy. In Mario Super Sluggers, however, it is renamed Gray Shy Guy. The former game marks the playable debut of a Black Shy Guy.

Mario Kart DS
A Black Shy Guy appears as a playable character in Mario Kart DS, although it only appears in the DS Download Play mode.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
In Mario Kart 8, Black Shy Guys appear mining in both Shy Guy Falls and. A Black Shy Guy can also be unlocked as a playable character if the The Legend of Zelda × Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 downloadable content packs are purchased.

In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Black Shy Guy is included as an alternate color for Shy Guy within the base game.

Mario Kart Tour
Black Shy Guy appears as a Super driver in Mario Kart Tour, introduced in the 2019 Winter Tour. His special skill is the Bob-omb Cannon. He is featured as the chosen driver in several bonus challenges, namely SNES Vanilla Lake 1R's Time Trial, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain's Goomba Takedown, N64 Frappe Snowland's Take them out quick!, and GBA Cheep-Cheep Island's Ring Race challenges.

Mario Tennis Aces
While Black Shy Guys appear as NPCs in Mario Tennis Aces, a "Mega" version appears as a boss at the end of Rounds 4 and 8 of Shy Guy's Train Tussle. When low on health, the large Black Shy Guy will throw Bob-ombs at the players (which are replaced by Mega Bob-ombs during the Round 8 battle), which players must hit back at it to finish the round. In addition, normal-sized Black Shy Guys float around with balloons carrying crates with coins and power-ups that players can use against the Shy Guys.

Mario Golf: Super Rush
Black Shy Guys appear as NPCs once again during Mario Golf: Super Rush, being found in Balmy Dunes.

Mario Kart Tour

 * Mario Kart Tour Twitter: "The masked man of mystery, Black Shy Guy, has made his way to blue! With his powerful Bob-omb Cannon special item, he's here to have a blast!"

Trivia

 * The Black Shy Guy's introductory quote in Paper Mario: Color Splash (shown at the top of the page) is a, a type of poem in which the first and last lines consist of five syllables, while the middle line consists of seven.
 * In the data for Paper Mario: Color Splash, Black Shy Guys are sometimes identified as heiho_matrix, likely as a reference to the film series , either through their clothes and mask holes resembling the dark suit and sunglasses common in the series, their ability to dodge attacks being reminiscent of the series' iconic "bullet time" moment, or a combination thereof.