Black Chest Demon

"You dopes fell right into my absolutely brilliant trap! And now you will SUFFER!"

- Black Chest Demon

The Black Chest Demons were four entities Mario encountered during the events of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The demons were originally legendary heroes of Rogueport who were cursed by the Shadow Queen and locked in four Black Chests. They set 'curses' on those who opened their chest; however, the curses were actually beneficial to Mario, giving him new paper abilities (This concept was reused from several The Legend of Zelda games).

History
Grifty tells the story of their adventure and how they came to be trapped in chests:

A strong Toad from Petal Meadows, a wise Goomba from Boggly Woods, a scar covered Koopa who traveled the world and a Boo were the four heroes. They learned of the evil Shadow Queen and teamed up to defeat her.

In the great battle they managed to seal away the demon, but just before the fight was completed she cursed the four heroes. If they ever let go of the Crystal Stars, a Black Chest would appear and lock them away for all eternity.

The heroes knew the seal on the Shadow Queen wouldn't last forever, and they wanted the stars available to one who might need them. They made a Magical Map to the stars, and to stop evil from using it, they put it in a box that could only be opened by the pure of heart. (The merchant in the opening scene had the box and gave it to Princess Peach.)

The Toad was exhausted from his journey and collapsed in Petal Meadows. A healer saved him, but knowing his fate, the Toad gave the Diamond Star to the healer and said to hide it where nobody would find it. His box is in Hooktail Castle.

The Goomba knew the Punies were being terrorized by the nearby monsters, so she hollowed out the Great Tree. She gave the Emerald Star to the Punies where they have been keeping it safe for the past thousand years. Her chest is in Rogueport Sewers.

The Koopa went to hide the Sapphire Star in Keelhaul Key, but Cortez came and easily took it for himself. The Koopa was so tired he didn't stand a chance and now his chest resides in the Pirate's Grotto.

The Boo hid the Ruby Star in Creepy Steeple, and her box is in a shop's storage room in Twilight Town.

One by one, Mario found the chests and opened them with the keys. The Koopa at least did not appear evil, as he was rehearsing the speech. After they "cursed" Mario, they disappeared, never to be seen again, possibly released from the Shadow Queen's curse.

Airplane Mode

 * Chapter Obtained: Prologue
 * Power obtained in: Rogueport Sewers
 * To obtain power: In Rogueport Sewers the player must find a room where the first thing that can be seen is a huge yellow block and a puny running away. To the right of the room is a blue switch; when the player hits it, stairs will be revealed. Ascending the stairs, the player should see a doorway and a paper airplane platform. The player must now drop off the side of the platform to grab the black key, and then jump back up the stairs and enter the doorway to receive the first curse.
 * To use power: The player must stand on a plane panel and press . The player then has to press or land to return to normal.

Paper Mode

 * Chapter Obtained: 1
 * Power obtained in: Hooktail Castle
 * To obtain power: For this power, the player must continue past the room with the black chest. There's a door that leads to a room where the black key is. The floor appears to have spikes in it, but they won't pop up until the player grabs the key. The player then has 45 seconds to navigate their way back out of the spike maze before they get crushed, triggering an instant Game Over. The player then opens the chest and is cursed again.
 * To use power: The player must press and hold.

Tube Mode

 * Chapter Obtained: 4
 * Power obtained in: Twilight Town
 * To obtain power: The black key is in a shack just outside Twilight Town in Twilight Trail. Before the player has the power, a fallen tree blocks the path at the end of Twilight Trail. The player has to use Koops to grab the key on the other side. This key unlocks the storeroom in the shop in Twilight Town where the black chest lies waiting to curse the player.
 * To use power: The player has to press and rotate . They can also press  to return to normal.

Boat Mode

 * Chapter Obtained: 5
 * Power obtained in: Pirate's Grotto
 * To obtain power: In the Pirate's Grotto, the player should see a blown open boat. The player must enter the boat, where they will see the evil black chest, waiting to curse them. They must speak to the chest, and then fight the ember that emerges. Upon defeating the ember, a black key will drop, which the player can use to open the chest and receive the fourth and final curse.
 * To use power: The player must stand on a boat panel and press, then press again when they reach another boat panel.

Trivia

 * Though the Black Chest Demons did not appear in Super Paper Mario, Count Bleck's face and the faces of the three Dorguys look almost identical to that of the Black Chest Demons.
 * When the Demon "curses" Mario, it appears to somewhat threaten him, like giving him bad luck. However, the gained Curse appeared to be rather "Good Luck" rather than bad. In other words, the Demon is doing the opposite of the actions it tries to cause, most likely because they were originally heroes.
 * The "Four Heroes" concept is used again in Super Paper Mario, except this time with the four main characters of the Mario universe, and as the protagonists.
 * Though the Black Chest Demons are separate characters, the second says that the player fell for their trick a second time, probably meaning the second one knew of Mario's encounter with the first Black Chest Demon.
 * The Black Chest Demons are similar to a creature in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past who doubles Link's magic meter, yet claims to halve his magic meter, and contradicts himself constantly after Link wakes him up.
 * Oddly enough, in the section on finding hidden Star Piece panels in game's instruction booklet, the picture depicts Mario Spin Jumping with Koops in front of the Rogueport Sewers Black Chest which appears closed. This is a continuity error, as Mario doesn't acquire Koops as a partner nor the Ground Pound ability until some time after he opens that chest.
 * Oddly, only four of the Crystal Stars have been confirmed to be hidden by the Heroes.
 * The Black Chest Demon bears a vague resemblance to the face of the Boogey Tent and Squatter Demon from EarthBound.