| Knife Guy | |
|---|---|
| |
| First appearance | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023) |
Template:Quote2 Knife Guy is a boss in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its remake, and the older brother of Grate Guy. Knife Guy's name is a portmanteau on the term "nice guy", and "knife"; the latter due to his tendency to juggle with knives. He and his younger brother resemble clowns, and seemingly work as entertainers and bodyguards for Booster. They ambush Mario and company on the balcony of Booster Tower to protect Booster, who has fled to Marrymore with Peach.
Battle
In battle, Knife Guy is overall less dangerous than Grate Guy. Each turn, he will target one party member and use one of two attacks: a direct stab after juggling his knives, or a thrown knife that does 1.5 times the damage of the former. There is a 2/3 chance of the stab attack, and a 1/3 chance of the throwing attack.
After several turns, the two will team up, and Knife Guy will stand on Grate Guy's head. They are still considered separate targets during this time. During this phase, each turn Knife Guy will either use Blizzard to damage the whole party, or Crystal to damage one character. There is a 2/3 chance of Crystal, and a 1/3 chance of Blizzard.
If either Knife or Grate Guy is defeated, or the two are attacked a total of five times, they will separate and return to their first phase. As Knife Guy has 200 less HP than Grate Guy, it is more efficient to defeat him first to limit the number and duration of team-up phases. Additionally, Knife Guy is weak to Fire: if Mario has learned Super Fireball, he can easily inflict considerable damage.
Knife Guy's Ball Game
After their defeat, Knife Guy and Grate Guy decide to split up, with Knife Guy staying at Booster Tower. Inside, he can be found practicing juggling, using colored balls instead of knives. If Mario returns to Booster Tower, Knife Guy will offer to play a game with him. He will juggle one yellow ball among many red ones; when he stops, Mario must guess which hand the yellow ball is in. If Mario chooses correctly, he will be "rewarded" with a Moldy Mush, a Wilt Shroom, or a Rotten Mush, and sometimes a Mid Mushroom, Max Mushroom, or even a Croaka Cola.
If Mario keeps playing, the game will get progressively more difficult. If Mario wins on the highest difficulty level, Knife Guy will give him the Bright Card needed to get into Grate Guy's Casino.
In the remake, the player can fast-travel to the room in which Knife Guy is at. The player also earns a gold medal on the "Ball Games Ahead" record on their Play Report if they win fifty times.
Profiles and statistics
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
| Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knife Guy | |||||||||
|
HP | 700 | FP | 35 | Speed | 25 | |||
| Location(s) | Booster Tower | Attack | 70 | Magic attack | 20 | ||||
| Role | Boss | Defense | 55 | Magic defense | 10 | ||||
| Bonus Flower | Attack Up! (20%) | Yoshi Cookie | None | Morph rate | 0% | ||||
| Evade | 0% | Magic evade | 0% | Spells | Blizzard, Crystal | ||||
| Weak | Fire | Strong | Thunder, Sleep, Critical | Sp. attacks | Knife Toss | ||||
| Coins | 15 | Exp. points | 40 | Items | None | ||||
| Psychopath | "Happiness is hip!" | ||||||||
Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
| Super Mario RPG enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knife Guy | |||||||||
|
HP | 700 | Weak Elements | 
|
Drops | Flower Jar | |||
| Exp. | 50 | Weak Statuses |   
|
Rare Drops | N/A | ||||
| Found in | Booster Tower | ||||||||
| Monster List profile | His best skill is knife-throwing, but he can climb on his brother's shoulders while his brother stands on a ball, so he's also no slouch at balancing. | ||||||||
| Thought Peek | "Can there be no happiness without sacrifice?" | ||||||||
| Animations | |||||||||
Gallery
Field sprite
Grate Guy stacked with Knife Guy, Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | クラウン・兄 (battle message) / クラウンあに (in battle)[?] Kuraun Ani |
Clown Older Brother | |
| クラウンブロス（兄） (out of battle)[?] Kuraun Burosu (Ani) |
Clown Bros. (Older) | ||
| Chinese (simplified) | 克劳兄[?] Kè Láo Xiōng |
Clown Older Brother | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 克勞兄[?] Kè Láo Xiōng |
Clown Older Brother | |
| German | Harlekling[?] | Portmanteau of "Harlekin" (harlequin) and "Klinge" (blade) | |
| Italian | Clown Lametto[?] | Li'l blade Clown; "Lametto" comes from "lama" (blade) with the diminutive masculine suffix "-etto" | |
| Korean | 클라운형 Keullaun Hyeong 클라운브러스 (형) Keullaun Beureoseu (Hyeong)[?] |
Clown Older Brother Clown Bros. (Older) |
|
| Spanish | Cuchincio[?] | From "cuchillo" (knife) |