The Great Tree

The Great Tree is a giant tree in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Its interior serves as the third main location in the game. It is located in Boggly Woods and is the home of the Puni Tribe. When Mario first arrives here, the entrance is sealed by a strange, metal door, which prompts him to take Punio to see Flurrie; the door is a result of the X-Nauts residing in the tree. There is actually a secret entrance in the Great Tree. Mario must use Flurrie to blow away "paper" that covers this entrance, which Punio proceeds to enter, prompting him to open the sealed door that Mario can walk through. However, the secret entrance is anything but secret as it is labeled "Secret Entrance" and is surrounded by flashing lights.



The Emerald Star is located within the tree. As such, Lord Crump and his X-Naut troops invaded the place to find it, even if that meant teaming up with the Jabbies (the rivals of the Punies), and additionally, imprisoning the Punies. Punio enlisted the help of Mario, Goombella, Koops, and Flurrie to liberate the Punies, take down the Jabbies, retrieve the Emerald Star, and drive the X-Nauts out of the Tree. Mario also obtained the Super Boots while he and his friends were here. After Mario and his friends find the Emerald Star, Crump steals it and activates a time bomb. Soon, Mario, Goombella, Koops, Flurrie and the Punies corner Crump and demand that he surrenders the Crystal Star and leave the tree forever. However, instead of surrendering, Crump is forced to deactivate the time bomb and activate his robot, Magnus von Grapple and attack Mario and co. After defeating the robot, Crump and the X-Nauts are driven out of the tree and Mario is given the Emerald Star as a reward.

Enemies

 * Jabbi (Mario does not fight them in battle; the Punis do.)
 * Pale Piranha
 * Pider
 * Magnus von Grapple (Chapter 2 Boss)
 * X-Naut
 * Yux
 * Mini-Yux

Area Tattles
"The base of the Great Tree! It sure is big up close... I mean... Wowser. Seriously. It must have watched over the Boggly Woods for over 1,000 years. That's insane..."

"It's like another world inside this tree, huh?!? And check out these statues! They must've been left by the ancestors of the Punies. I wonder how many years the Punies have lived in this place, anyway... These are the kind of questions archaeologists have to ask, y'know."

"This is an interesting pedestal, Mario. When the Punies stand on the panel, the machine counts them and responds. The ancient Punies must've been really sophisticated... This is totally fascinating!"

"We're inside the Great Tree. Looks like lots of tufts of vegetation around here. Stuff could be hidden in those things, so let's make sure to check each one, OK?"

"There's a red cell and a blue cell here. Crump must've made 'em to hold the Puniees. With gaps like those between the bars, I think we could get through, though..."

"Looks like Crump left behind lots of the equipment he used to search this tree. Ms. Mowz was here before, but I think she took the next train to Floozyville."

"We can just jump this gap easily, but I think the Punies will totally plummet down there. If you gather them into a group and blow on them, they should all fall over the edge... But then they'll come back up in bubbles! And then you can blow them across! As for that door on the left, if you use that panel, it'll unlock it, I'm pretty sure."

"The Punies are totally afraid of these Piders. When a Pider drops, the Punies completely lose it and bolt in every direction. You're gonna have to defeat any Piders near the path you wanna lead the Punies along."

"We're inside the Great Tree. This area has a totally wacked-out topography. Y'know, I think Punio said something about a hidden shop somewhere in this area... If you need any items, we should try to find it, huh?"

"This is a shop run by a Puni named Pungent. I wonder if there are any rare items..."

"Hey, there's water running through the inside of the Great Tree! You don't think... Could this be how the tree carries nutrients from root to limb? Y'know, nature is just about the coolest thing ever."

"This area seems to have been laid out for a special reason, don't you think? There must be something super-important hidden here."

"This must be the most wide-open space inside the Great Tree, huh? The tree looks big from out there, but I lose all sense of dimension in here.... I could totally get lost in here for like, days..."

"I wonder if the inside of the tree was always like this... I mean, do you think it was, or do you think someone MADE it this way? Hmmm... It's a mystery...

"The structure of this tree is pretty complicated. Looks like we're only gonna move on with the help of the Punies, huh? We're going to seriously need to use our thinking caps as we go forward."

"This is a big treasure chest... The Punies must've left it... What could it be, you think? Well... Only one way to find out, am I right?"

"We're inside the Great Tree. Grasses and other plants grow in here. Isn't that cool? You think the Great Tree is like a...host organism? Biology is just SO cool..."

"This area makes me feel like I'm exploring a watery swamp even though we're in a tree... Water! I bet we need Koops! ...Um... Or maybe that doesn't make any sense at all..."

"We've come down pretty far. The air is a bit colder here, don'tcha think? The technology used here is pretty insane, too. I wish I had more time to inspect it."

"This must be the lowest chamber. Saying it's solemn here is an understatement. Under these statues' glares... I feel like the Punies' ancestors are watching us..."

"This door was made by Crump and his cronies. It doesn't match the decor at all. As for the door, if you use the panel there, it should unlock the whole thing."

Trivia

 * 1,000 years ago after the Shadow Queen was imprisoned the Goomba hero gave the Crystal Star to the Punies to keep safe.
 * The Goomba Hero also was the one who hollowed out the Great Tree, to give the Punies a safe place to live, away from the monsters of the Boggly Woods.
 * There is no way to go around the tree or over the high roots.
 * An invisible ! Block contains the FP Plus badge near the waterfall outside. In international versions, the block isn't there, and the badge is just lying outside.
 * The Great Tree is the equivalent to the tree Raphael the Raven was staying on in Paper Mario. Deep in Jade Jungle the tree has an entrance in the same place, but inside is a spiral staircase carved from the wood. At the top is a branch to Raphael's nest. It's also the equivalent of the Dotwood Tree in Super Paper Mario.
 * This dungeon contains a shop. The shop sells mainly offensive items such as the Ice Storm, and there is also a Recovery Block that costs 8 coins. This is rare for a dungeon-type location.
 * The cage in which the punies are kept has bars wide enough for the punies to escape through very easily, yet somehow they act as if they can't.