Flint Cragley

"CRAGLEY HO!"

- Flint Cragley

Flint Cragley is a Cragnon in the game Super Paper Mario. A celebrity amongst his race, Flint has the highest-rated news program in all of Crag, and is the only Cragnon encountered who wears clothes other than animal skins, does not speak in third-person, and does not insert "crag" and "brah" in place of other words. His name derives from (a hard, resilient variety of quartz that was often the material of choice in making stone tools like arrow- and spearheads) and crag (alternatively Cragnon). He bears some resemblance to (who he is even named after in some translations) and other celebrity documentarians like. He is also somewhat comparable to Kolorado, from the first Paper Mario, as both are explorers, both are encountered in a cavern, and they both star in Chapter 5 of their respective games. His TV show is called Flint Cragley, Cragtrotter, which is also the name of his theme, according to The InterNed.

History
Mario and his friends first encounter Flint Cragley deep in the depths of Floro Caverns, where he explains that he staged a fake kidnapping in order to enter the Floro Caverns and film inside. Missing his crew members, Hornfels and Monzo, Mario and the others seek them out and return them both to Flint. After having his crew returned to him, Flint mistakenly accuses Hornfels of having a key he gave him, only to realize while arguing that it had been in his pocket the entire time, causing him to marvel at the "miracle" of the key "returning" to his pocket. The group are about to proceed, but Flint gives the key to Mario's team and insists they move on first instead, following from a safe distance. Of course, the party has no choice in this.

Flint and his crew follow Mario deeper towards the Floro Sapiens' capital, sharing stories along the way to his crewmates' chagrin, before rushing off ahead with them in tow to find more footage and eventually reconvening with the heroes to witness the aftermath of their battle with King Croacus IV. After Croacus begins wilting and his motive for brainwashing the Cragnons is revealed, Flint enters the room to pronounce another headline, before promising to show the other Cragnons the videotape to put a stop to the water pollution, thereby ending the war between Cragnons and Floro Sapiens. Following this, the water in Downtown of Crag appears to be clean, and Flint can be found in the middle of town advertising his latest special.

Flint makes an unspeaking appearance when the Land of the Cragnons is briefly shown being swallowed by The Void during the final battle, panicking alongside the other Cragnons and presumably being erased along with his dimension. After the Void is closed and his and all other dimensions are saved from its destruction, Flint Cragley can be found again after beating the game, making a new rock single entitled, "Cragley Croons in Crag: Songs in the Key of Flint". It has at least 127 verses.

Personality
As a documentarian, Flint Cragley often speaks in dramatic and exciting headlines and seems to possess great talent for coming up with them on the spot, going so far as to frame rediscovering a key he misplaced as a "miracle", and pre-emptively speaking of unbelievable horrors in the Floro Caverns before finding anything of the sort. This habit lends itself well to his career of wild storytelling, which he is passionate about to the point his crew complain about hearing the tale of his fight with 'Rainbowzilla' on 256 separate occasions (of which they had no choice on all but one). Due to his successful show, he is wildly popular among the local Cragnons, many of whom enjoy and almost blindly believe in his words and somewhat dramatized adventures, regarding him as a hero, and he even has fans outside of his home dimension. Conversely, Flint appears shrewd and somewhat weary about his audience, being introduced rehearsing headlines to try and grab the fickle crowd from 'the sticks'.

Despite his reputation, Flint is both sneaky and a bit of a coward, similar to fellow celebrity Flavio from the previous Paper Mario game. Though courageous much of the time and heading into the Floro Caverns willingly, he is not above trying to avoid danger at others' detriment, shown toward the end of Chapter 5-3 where after giving a bold speech on the possible threats ahead, he acted as if the protagonists had volunteered to lead onward and handed the key to them, all the while denying his own fears. Flint is also quite arrogant and rude, referring to himself with such terms as "Pure adventure personified" while deriding the party as "dolts" on first meeting and insulting his own crew frequently, even blaming them for his own clumsiness on one occasion. As a result, both Hornfels and Monzo are shown to be exasperated and sarcastic regarding their boss.

Given many of these qualities, the Cragtrotter's claim to have previously warned his fellow Cragnons against throwing trash in the river but proving "too ahead of their time" appears slightly questionable, but Flint nevertheless showed understanding toward the Floro Sapiens' motives after learning of their people's crisis and promised to spread the information through his show and end the Cragnons' pollution, showing that in spite of his flaws, Flint does have an earnest side and a will to use his celebrity influence for good - traits perhaps better fitting his heroic image.

Catch Card

 * Card Type: Uncommon
 * Card Description: It's the star of "Flint Cragley, Cragtrotter"! His show is a smash hit on crag-vision.

Names in other languages
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Karl Klippstein