Fort Francis

Fort Francis is the setting of Chapter 3-4 in Super Paper Mario. It is found in The Bitlands and is the home of Francis, a nerdy chameleon obsessed with video games. The castle is also staffed with various Meowmaids, robots that serve Francis and guard the castle from outsiders. Mario, Princess Peach, and Bowser visit the castle after Francis kidnaps Tippi while they are looking for a Pure Heart. Fort Francis was once a castle owned by the Tribe of Ancients where they sealed the Pure Heart, as Merlon explains after the chapter is completed.

Chapter 3-4: The Battle of Fort Francis
Storyline text Mario, Peach, and Bowser had scaled the tree and defeated Dimentio.

The exhausted heroes were relieved to finally see the ivory towers of Fort Francis.

''Was Tippi safe? Was the next Pure Heart really waiting for them ahead?''

The only answers were the strange voices carried on the wind from inside the fort...

The level begins outside the fort, which is locked. The key is found by hitting a switch in an underground room accessed via pipe in 3-D. The entrance of the fort contains a Save Block and a Meowmaid, as well as the door to main room. Behind the door is a pipe leading to the dungeon.

In the main room, Mario and co. find several Meowmaids (who mistake the player for Francis) and a large double-door with two locks. They can look through the keyholes to see Francis taking pictures of Tippi, who is caged. The room after the main one is apparently a library, though the books have been removed so as not to clog passages. The shelves can be climbed in 3-D to reach a door, which is guarded by a SurpriseMeow. The next room has some PatrolMeows and two doors hanging on the ceiling, which can be knocked down by ground pounding underneath them with Thudley.

The right door contains several spikes that cannot be crossed initially. The door on the other side leads to a SecuriMeow, guarding Francis' room. The left door leads to room with more climbable shelves, followed by an outdoor area with several AirMeows, which are used to hit a floating blue switch, which in turn creates a bridge to reach a door. Through the door is a SecuriMeow, guarding the door to Francis' lair. It asks several questions about things that interest Francis, such as comic books and video games, the answers to all of which is "true". It then asks for a code. If an incorrect code is given, the player is dropped first into a room containing a Chain Chomp and a button requiring the weight of the player and a block. The button reveals a pipe leading to the dungeon.

The dungeon contains many PatrolMeows. There is a sign giving the codes to the two SecuriMeows (2323 for the right room, 2828 for the left). The Pixl Carrie is imprisoned here, but freed by the player. Her ability allows the player to cross spikes and access the right room.

In Francis' room and lair are the keys that unlock the room where Tippi is being kept, but the door prevents anyone who is not an attractive female from entering. If Mario or Bowser attempt to open the door, it attacks them with laser beams. If Princess Peach attempts to enter the room, the door quizzes her on various nerdy topics to discern if she is romantically compatible with Francis (every question involves a simple true-false answer, with the answer always being true). Once Peach enters the room, she angrily confronts Francis. Francis immediately freaks out about the "hot babe" in his room and boots up Swoon.exe, an interface that lets him interact with Peach while emulating a dating sim. Francis then attempts to woo her as if she was a character in a dating sim, and Peach's responses (as chosen by the player) vary from inviting to irritated.

Regardless of the outcome, Peach eventually becomes annoyed with the responses given to her, as well as the entire "date", and blows up the entire interface with Boomer. Francis is distraught by the loss of Swoon.exe, but quickly realizes that Peach came to rescue Tippi (whom he calls Francine). He vows to protect Tippi from who he perceives to be an intruder, and a boss fight ensues. Francis attacks by using his camera flash to stun the player, summoning Meowbombs to blow up the player, and grabbing the player with his tongue. He also turns invisible, which makes him invulnerable to attacks. Once he is defeated, he gives up and runs away, and Tippi is rescued. Tippi is so overcome with joy at seeing her friends come to rescue her that a Pure Heart suddenly appears. The group takes the Pure Heart for themselves, ending the chapter.

After they return to Flipside, Merlon explains to the heroes that the castle once belonged to the Tribe of Ancients, where the Pure Heart was placed under a seal that could only be broken by "a powerful pulse of love and trust".

Once the player defeats the final boss of Super Paper Mario, they are able to return to Fort Francis. At the same room where they fought Francis, he offers to sell them Tiptron, a robotic replacement Pixl for Tippi. Francis sells Tiptron for 999 coins, the largest amount of coins that can possibly be held at once.

Fort Francis is depicted with its Pure Heart in a mural on the walls of the Flipside Pit of 100 Trials, in rooms 76-99.

Storyline text The fourth Pure Heart appeared in a dazzling flash of mysterious light.

''What made it appear? The group was puzzled by this and many other riddles.''

“...So you’re not hurt?” asked Tippi, full of concern.

''Somehow, Tippi seemed different than before. She had started to change.''

Mario simply shook his head and started the long journey back to Flipside...

Menu description

 * "Francis designed this fortress as the ultimate geek lair. Good thing you met Carrie the Pixl here to help us out. Has Francis learned to make offline friends yet?"

Names in other languages

 * The Battle of Fort Francis

Trivia

 * The fort is filled with references to the other Paper Mario games and the Super Mario franchise in general; for example, posters of Bow, Bootler, and Petuni are visible in Francis' room. There are also numerous Nintendo consoles put on display, including a Nintendo GameCube, a Family Computer, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and a Virtual Boy.
 * The password 2828 can be read as「にやにや」(niyaniya, grinning / smirking) or「にゃにゃ」(nyanya, meow) in Japanese. Similarly, 2323 can be read as「兄さん兄さん」(nii-san nii-san, elder brother / young man), an affectionate way to call one's "master" in otaku culture.