Antasma: Difference between revisions

'''Antasma''' is an evil bat king and one of the two main antagonists in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]'', along with [[Bowser]]. His name likely derives from "''fantasma''," the word for "ghost" in various Romance languages, and the prefix "anti-."

Antasma (referred to as ???? during the first battle) first appears on the [[blimp]] ride to [[Pi'illo Island]] during a nightmare dreamt by [[Luigi]]. He initially appears as his pillow form, and after swatting almost everyone off the blimp, transforms into his humanoid form and attacks Mario. His only attack is to split into multiple bats and charge at Mario, who must jump over the ones that align with him. After a brief battle, Antasma is defeated, but pierces through the bottom of the blimp as he floats away, causing it to plummet towards the island, at which point Luigi's dream ends.

Antasma is not seen again until [[Prince Dreambert]]'s pillow is found and Luigi sleeps on it, opening a [[Dream Portal|a portal]] to the [[Dream World]]. From there, Antasma calls out to [[Princess Peach]], and proceeds to immobilize and suck her in when she approaches the portal. Mario gives chase into [[Dreamy Pi'illo Castle]], but Antasma distracts him with [[Dreamy Mario|a dream counterpart of him]] he creates on the spot, and opens up a hole to [[Dream's Deep]] after Mario defeats his counterpart, which he promptly departs to and seals up behind him. Despite this, Mario manages to save Prince Dreambert whose [[Nightmare Chunk]] is found later on in the Dream World, who explains to Mario what had transpired the last time Antasma had tried to conquer the world, and Mario suspects that Antasma was Peach's kidnapper.

With the help of [[Eldream]] and his [[Dreambunny|pet]], Mario manages to reach Dream's Deep, and it doesn't take long for Mario, [[Dreamy Luigi]], and Prince Dreambert to reach Antasma; before he can react, however, Bowser appears and gives him a solid punch that knocks him away briefly. Antasma retaliates by leeching Bowser's face and screeching loudly, flooring everyone except Bowser, Dreambert, and himself, and then speaks for the first time in the game. He reveals that he had kidnapped Peach to exploit her power and escape the Dream World so he could conquer the [[Real World]], but that the appearance of Bowser - who, unlike Peach, is both strong and evil - caused him to change his plans, and he suggests that they work together. Bowser initially disagrees to this and insults Antasma, but Antasma ultimately convinces Bowser to form an alliance on the basis of giving him greater powers. Antasma then powers up Bowser, and together they manage to defeat Mario and Luigi before leaving the Dream World.

Although he is mentioned repeatedly after the creation of Neo Bowser Castle, Antasma only reappears again once the Bros. invade the castle. He first appears shortly after Kamek scrambles the castle's doors, ripping open a portal to the Dream World to allow Kamek to escape from Mario and Luigi. After Kamek is defeated the first time, Antasma convinces Bowser to fall asleep on him to use his powerful dreams to power the castle. When the Bros. finally reach the duo, Bowser's dreams are providing such great power that Bowser himself is invulnerable to real world attacks, and the Bros. are forced to enter Bowser's dream to wake him up and weaken Antasma.

After [[Super Bowser|Bowser]] is defeated in the Dream World, Bowser is awoken and Antasma carries him to the next floor. Upon the Bros. arrival, Antasma prepares to fight them alongside Bowser, but at this point, Bowser throws Antasma to the ground and betrays him, revealing that he had been using Antasma all along. Declaring the castle and the Dream Stone to be solely his, Bowser warps to the top floor using the Dream Stone he claimed, leaving Antasma to swear revenge for his former partner's betrayal and then challenge Dreambert to a duel. After a duel in the real world proves indecisive, Antasma rips open another portal to the Dream World and flees inside while warning Dreambert that he has grown stronger. Dreambert follows and is quickly defeated. In Dreambert's stead, Mario enters Antasma's Dream World and confronts him; with the assistance of Dreamy Luigi and Dreambert, Mario eventually defeats Antasma. When Mario leaves Antasma's Dream World, Antasma follows a few seconds later, inflates like a balloon, then bursts, ending his evil schemes for good.