Riddle Tower

The Riddle Tower is a circular tower in the Palace of Shadow in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The tower is in the center of a large open plaza surrounded by streams. Inside is a spiral staircase with several doors on each floor. Mario had to solve the riddles in each room to earn a Palace Key. The pedestals to the keys would appear later once Mario got the Star Key from Gloomtail's room.

At the top of the Tower is a large planetarium. A lock is there for the Star Key, which will in turn make the locks for the Palace Keys appear. When all seven Palace Keys are inserted, the large model in the center begins to move, lowering the hallway before Gloomtail's room and revealing the next stage of the Palace of Shadow. The background music playing in that area is a remixed version of Bowser's Castle and the underground theme from Super Mario Bros.

Mario must fight Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss outside in the plaza before being able to access this new area.

North-west room, 1st floor
"Four stones, twin stones... Master of Shadow and Dark... Two are one, one is two..." There were four blocks here; two stone blocks, and two unbreakable metal blocks. The metal ones were broken by breaking the stone blocks in the room directly above this one.

North-east room, 1st floor
"All you see isn't all there be... Stones Have Power of Stars... Touch it to pass through it..." It's an empty room. Mario can pass through the wall, revealing a room with a switch. Hitting the ! Block there makes a chest appear in the first room.

South-west room, 1st floor
"Beyond, beyond, beyond... Complete All Seven... Before, before..." This room has two ! Blocks. "Beyond" refers to the ! block on the left side of the room, "before" refers to the right ! block. The blocks have to be hit in this order: Left, left, left, right, right.

South-east room, 1st floor
"The unseen may yet be felt... So That We, the Great Ones... Be it here? Be it there?" There is an invisible object in the middle of the room, which Mario can't walk through. Flurrie can blow it away to reveal another ! Block.

North-west room, 2nd floor
"Four stones, twin stones... Can Live Again by the Stone... Two are one, one is two..." There were four blocks here; two stone, two unbreakable metal. The metal ones can be broken by breaking the stone blocks in the room directly underneath this one.

North-east room, 2nd floor
"Straight on, straight onward... We Know the Stars Spurn Us... Destroy all in your path..." Another empty room. The part of the wall directly in front of the door can be blown up using Admiral Bobbery's Bomb attack, revealing another room.

South-west room, 2nd floor
"Let fall the weakest... And That the Skies Lie... Then build to the strongest..." One of each member of the Bones Family is in the room. The player must beat them in this order: Dull Bones, Red Bones, Dry Bones, Dark Bones.

South-east room, 2nd floor
"The shy one hides his shape... But the Stars Bring Balance. The shy one hides his face..." The room appears empty, but using Vivian to hide in the shadows makes a ! Block appear.

The Hidden Message
Each room contains a plaque with a three line riddle on it. The first and third lines are the riddles themselves while the second line of each riddle is part of a hidden message. No-one knows for certain the correct order of these lines, but they seem to make the most sense in the following order. It is most likely that the "stones with the power of stars" are the Crystal Stars and that the "we" is the Shadow Queen's race.


 * Master of Shadow and Dark...
 * Stones Have Power of Stars...
 * Complete All Seven...
 * So That We, the Great Ones...
 * Can Live Again by the Stone...
 * We Know the Stars Spurn Us...
 * And That the Skies Lie...
 * But the Stars Bring Balance.

Name in other languages
Rätselturm