Scissors (boss)

Scissors, The Dual-Bladed Duelist, is a member of the Legion of Stationery who guards the end of the green streamer and is the boss of Bowser's Castle in Paper Mario: The Origami King, being the last member guarding the end of a streamer to be fought. Scissors is a pair of green right-handed scissors with King Olly's insignia on it, and is stated to be King Olly's top lieutenant amongst the Legion of Stationery.

Scissors first appears slicing Bowser Jr. to pieces outside the entrance of Bowser's Castle when he first tries to gain entry into the castle. Later, it is shown assaulting the Koopa Troop, slicing them into tiny pieces and sticking their faces to a Paper Macho Buzzy Beetle, including that of Kamek's, to create a Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle. Scissors narrowly misses cutting Mario when they first meet, claiming it would be uninteresting if Mario was immediately cut to pieces. It then sends out the Paper Mistake Buzzy Beetle as a warm up for Mario before engaging him directly.

Unlike the other Legion of Stationery members except for Stapler, Scissors does not say anything when defeated; instead, it simply falls flat and explodes when Olivia pokes it over. Kamek, Bowser Jr., and the Koopa Troop are all restored to normal after Scissors is defeated.

Scissors strongly resembles the Scissors Thing from Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Battle
Scissors starts off the battle sheathing its blades with a plastic cover, claiming that it would be too easy to cut Mario up instantly. Mario must try not to attack the cover, as after four hits, no matter the damage, it will break, and Scissors will start its second phase early. This also turns any Magic Circles on the arena to 1,000-Fold Arms circles. Therefore, the player should aim to attack the lime handles depending on which way they are up, with jump attacks affecting the top half and hammer attacks affecting the bottom half. Mario can use the 1,000-Fold Arms to attack Scissors; however, the attack will hit both halves, automatically destroying the cover. During this phase, Scissors will drill into Mario using Dull Edge or knock Mario with its handles using Safe Tee, both dealing 22-30 damage, depending on Mario's position. If Mario is in one of the outer two rings, Scissors may use Sharp Drop to grab and slam Mario with its handles, dealing around 45 damage.

Provided its cover is not attacked, after losing about a third of its health, Scissors gets tired of fighting Mario and uncovers its blades, automatically initiating its second phase. The boss then uses Cutting Board to destroy several of the panels on the ring, including the Magic Circles and ON Button, making it harder for Mario to get in the center of the arena. Once the chest in the arena is opened, any spaces cut up will be restored the next turn, including the Magic Circles and ON Button. Scissors will then use Cutting Board after every attack to "temporarily" destroy the +1 and ×2 bonuses, among others. Additionally, the more damage Scissors takes, the more panels it will slice up, and the more restricted Mario's movements will be.

On every turn during its second phase, prior to the ring organization phase, Scissors charges up while emanating electricity. It will then use Final Cut when it attacks. Mario can only dodge Final Cut by jumping over it; getting hit by this attack deals 999 damage, instantly defeating Mario (depicting Mario being cut in two). Eventually, Scissors will start to try and throw off the player's timing by bouncing when Mario jumps, faking a charge, slowing down or speeding up its attack, or even by skipping its backflip animation and immediately trying to cut Mario. When Mario dodges Final Cut for the first time, Scissors will childishly accuse him of cheating. If Mario tries to jump on Scissors with its blades up when they are unsheathed, he will also receive 999 points of damage and be cut in two, even when wearing Iron Boots. Hammers and Flowers are the only safe attacks to deal with Scissors when it charges up.

To stop Scissors from charging another attack, provided the Ice Vellumental Magic Circle is still available, Mario needs to use the Ice Vellumental's ability to freeze Scissors in place and leave it vulnerable to a 1,000-Fold Arms attack where Mario must first flip the ice chunk to break it and stun Scissors, then Mario can use a rush attack on it. If Mario attacks Scissors with anything other than the 1,000-Fold Arms while it is frozen, the ice chunk encasing Scissors breaks after being frozen for two turns. Additionally, while charging Final Cut, Scissors cannot be attacked with the 1,000-Fold Arms, as Mario will quickly withdraw his hands before he can get cut by the Scissors. Water Vellumental Magic Circles also exist on the ring, but they only do 20 points of damage.

Trivia

 * It is possible to fight Scissors without receiving any damage, if the cover is destroyed before it uses Dull Edge. This is because every Final Cut that is jumped over does not deal damage to Mario.
 * If Mario makes two jump attacks on Scissors on the same turn while its sheath is pointed upwards, Mario will break the sheath with his first jump and then jump on Scissors' blades; however, because it isn't actively opening and closing them, he will not be instantly killed, but rather take normal damage from jumping on a spiked enemy.