Whoa Zone

The Whoa Zone (also known as the Space Graveyard) is the final area in Chapter 4 of Super Paper Mario. It is described as a "super-complicated maze" by Squirps. The zone requires the use of gravity-manipulating doors, pipes and blocks to progress and is the only place where Barribads can be found.

Chapter 4-4: The Mysterious Mr. L
Storyline text Mario and his friends took the Space Byway and merged into the Whoa Zone.

Known to some as the Space Graveyard, it was said to consume all who entered it.

"Just a little bit longer... We'll be arriving soon," said young Squirps.

With his unblinking eyes glimmering, Squirps continued to forge onward.

Would Mario and his friends get their hands on the Pure Heart at long last?

At the start of the level, Squirps loudly announces his arrival and warns the heroes of the complexity of the Whoa Zone before scurrying off by himself, leaving the player to solve the zone's puzzles alone. Nearly every room in the Whoa Zone contains several Tileoids. The first room contains almost nothing of note besides several floating blocks and a Save Block, unusually early in the level. The second room has several Tileoid Rs and a Tileoid Y. A Happy Flower and a Mushroom can be found as well. There are two doors, one in 2-D and one on a platform in 3-D. The 2-D door leads to a room with some Pigarithms. The room has two floors, with a locked door on the second floor. The 3-D door leads to a room with a Pigarithm and more Tileoids, as well as a Slow Flower. The door at the other end of the room leads to a small room with a Barribad guarding a chest, which contains a Dimension Key. The key is used to unlock the door in the other room, which warps the player onto the ceiling and allows them to continue to the next area.

In the next room, only the walls may be traversed. The door leads to the bottom of the left wall. Continuing upward, there will be two more doors, one that must be reached using Princess Peach's parasol. The first door leads to a room with another locked door and a pipe in 3-D, which leads to a room with some coins. The other door leads to the top floor of another room. The bottom floor, accessed via flip, has a door on the ceiling, which must be accessed using a gravity switch. The door leads to the ceiling of the room with the door leading to the first key. At the other side is a door in 3-D, which takes the player to the ceiling of the room with the locked door. On the ceiling is a chest containing the door's key.

Through the locked door is a hall that must be traversed using gravity switches to walk on the floor and ceiling. The player will come to an invisible door, opened with Tippi's ability. The next room has Hooligons on every surface. To the right is a gravity switch that rotates the player's gravity to the left wall. Upward from there is another rotator switch that can be hit once to walk on the ceiling or twice to walk on the right wall. On the ceiling is a door that leads to a room with a flipping gravity switch and a Save Block, as well as a locked door. On the right wall is a door that leads to the left wall of another room. The floor is accessed via another door. There are two Super Shrooms and a Zombie Shroom in ? Blocks. Another door will take the player to the ceiling, where another key is found.



After entering the last locked door, the heroes meet Squirps, who chastises them for being too slow. Before he can take them to the Pure Heart, though, he is stomped by Mr. L, Count Bleck's newest recruit. After taunting the heroes, Mr. L attacks, but is quickly defeated. He recovers and summons his spaceship, Brobot. He then warps everyone to space and the heroes battle Brobot in zero gravity, using Squirps' Squirt Beam to defeat it. After his robot is destroyed, Mr. L leaves, promising to defeat the heroes next time.

Squirps takes the heroes to the final room and shows them a statue of his mother, Squirpina XIV, the queen of the once-great kingdom of Squirpia. Squirps explains that he was placed in a hibernation capsule 1,500 years ago to await the hero and give them the Pure Heart. After bestowing upon them his kingdom's treasure, Squirps goes to sleep by his mother's statue and is apparently presumed dead unless the heroes return to Outer Space.

Storyline text "Phew!'' Now that Squirps is all relaxed, Squirps feels kinda...tired..." said Squirps.''

And with that, Squirps lay down before the statue of his beloved mother.

''"Mother..." he said, his voice soft. "I did my best, right? Are you...proud...of me?"''

Then...slowly...young Squirps closed his eyes...

The mission had weighed heavy on his tiny back, and he was proud to fulfill it.

Menu description

 * "Few have escaped this graveyard of space. The queen of Squirpia hid a Pure Heart here long ago. Her son is Prince Squirps, or Squirp Korogaline Squirpina."

Pre-release design
The Whoa Zone appeared differently in the early version of Super Paper Mario. It was briefly shown in Super Paper Mario's first trailer, where it was shown to have seemingly more circular elements in its background; the circles shown in this background were orange rather than the green color used in the final game. The Whoa Zone's greenish-brown doors were also normal, red doors in the early game, and Mario was shown to wear his Space Helmet inside it during the trailer.

Names in other languages

 * The Mysterious Mr. L

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