Tail

A Tail is an item in the Paper Mario series. They appear as stickers in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Battle Cards in Paper Mario: Color Splash, and regular battle items in Paper Mario: The Origami King. A shiny variant exists in Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: The Origami King. They can be purchased at shops and found in other rare conditions. The item is based on the tail whip attack of Tanooki Mario.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Tails first appear as stickers in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Regular tails can be purchased for 20 coins at Outlook Point, while Shiny Tails cost 40 coins. Notably, Shiny Tails can only be purchased after clearing Whitecap Beach and obtaining the third Royal Sticker. Lots of regular Tails can also be found in Bowser Jr.'s Flotilla, and Shiny Tails can occasionally be earned by defeating Rocky Wrenches. Here, rather than being used to attack enemies in battle, they are used for counterattacking and must be equipped during Mario's turn. He is then able to swing the tail while an enemy is attacking to damage and possibly defeat that enemy, similar to the Hammer counterattack from the Mario & Luigi series.

Mario is required to bring either a Tail, Shiny Tail, or some type of baseball bat to the final battle with Bowser, as he is required to deflect the Chain Chomp during the fight's fourth phase.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
Tails reappear as a type of Battle Card in Paper Mario: Color Splash. Mario is now required to paint them in before they are played. Also, they now turn Mario into Raccoon Mario. They are again used for counterattacking, but Mario can now use them until he takes damage. Tails appear all throughout Fort Cobalt, as they are dropped by enemies and sold for 80 coins. The Toad running this stand mentions a secret weapon, hinting to the upcoming boss. Tails are key to this boss - Mario must equip them and fire back the projectiles launched by the Super Ludsub to damage and destroy the ship.

Paper Mario: The Origami King
Tails make their next appearance in Paper Mario: The Origami King. They are no longer used for counterattacking, and act as regular battle items. Mario is able to use one to swing at a 2×2 enemy formation to inflict damage. They can be purchased for 240 coins at Shogun Studios. Later on, they can be purchased at Toad Town for 360 coins.