The Master

"Kuwaaaaa! Behold my fury, Mario!!"

- The Master

The Master is a powerful martial artist and the resident teacher of the Toad Town Dojo. He is a Toad who appears in the game Paper Mario. If Mario defeats his students Lee and Chan, the hero will have the opportunity to challenge the Master himself in battle. In fact, Mario can fight the Master three times, and can earn (in order) the Third Degree, Fourth Degree, and Diploma cards. However, each time Mario wins a battle, the next fight with the Master will become exponentially harder. The Master's appearance in the third battle is the same, except he is surrounded by a golden aura. With experience and skill (and maybe a few tricks), Mario can defeat the Master's third and most powerful form and earn the Diploma. It is highly recommended that Mario has equipped Zap Tap Badge or uses Volt Shrooms to electrify himself. This prevents The Master from using his Dashing Uppercut and Dashing Kicking Uppercut attacks that cause massive damage to Mario.

In his final form, the Master is actually stronger than the final boss, Bowser (in his powered-up state); while both have 99 HP, The Master has more powerful attacks than Bowser. Much like Bonetail in the sequel, the Master is the strongest opponent in the game and is completely optional, thus he is the game's superboss.

The Master is also similar in many ways to the character Jinx from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Both Jinx and the Master are expert martial artists who train disciples in schools. Additionally, Mario has to fight both Jinx and the Master three times each, with every battle getting progressively harder in each case.

The Master is noted for having delicate health, causing him to cough and wheeze often.

Trivia

 * Tayce T. is the Master's sister, as is mentioned by a certain Toad in Paper Mario. Additionally, this same Toad reveals that Tayce T. used to live in the Dojo alongside her brother before moving to her own home. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Wonky implies Tayce T. and Zess T. are related, which in turn implies that Zess T. is also related to the Master.
 * The Master's optionality and the fact that he's harder than the final boss is similar to Culex from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Bonetail from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Shadoo from Super Paper Mario, Bowser X from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and Bowser Jr. from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.
 * According to Russ T. after chapter 7, Goompa used to spar with him during their youth.
 * The Master is the only Toad that Mario can battle in the entire Mario series.
 * In Super Paper Mario, Francis has comics featuring The Master.