Antasma
| Antasma | |
|---|---|
 Artwork fromMario & Luigi: Dream Team | |
| Species | Bat |
| First appearance | Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013) |
| Latest appearance | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (spirit cameo) (2018) |
- “SCREEEK! I vanted to stealPeach's power...But I changed my mind!You are much stronger...and evil! SCREEEONK! Vork vith me! SCREEEP!”
- —Antasma,Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Antasma is an evil bat king and one of the two main antagonists inMario & Luigi: Dream Team, along withBowser. He has many similarities withCount Dracula, such as speaking with a Slavic accent and being able to transform into a small bat.
History[edit]
Background[edit]
As told by a Master Pi'illo in westSomnom Woods, at one point, many years ago, Antasma was a normal bat living onPi'illo Island. However, he once fed on the nightmares of aPi'illo, and continued to feed on nightmares afterward, slowly turning him into his current self.[1]
Setting his eyes on theDark Stone, Antasma stole it for himself. The Pi'illos, along with theZeekeeper, fought Antasma to stop his wishes from coming true and managed to imprison him into theDream World; however, just before his seal was complete, Antasma shattered the Dark Stone, causing thechunks to rain down all over the island. The shards of the Dark Stone turned all the Pi'illo they touched into stone,[2] causing the demise of the Pi'illo civilization and triggering most subsequent events in the game.
Mario & Luigi series[edit]
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team[edit]
Antasma (referred to as ???? during the first battle) first appears on theZeeppelin ride toPi'illo Island during a nightmare dreamt byLuigi. 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 untilPrince Dreambert's pillow is found and Luigi sleeps on it, opening aportal to theDream World. From there, Antasma calls out toPrincess Peach, and proceeds to immobilize and suck her in when she approaches the portal. Mario gives chase intoDreamy Pi'illo Castle, but Antasma distracts him witha dream counterpart of him he creates on the spot, and opens up a hole toDream'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 whoseNightmare 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 ofEldream and hispet, Mario manages to reach Dream's Deep, and it does not 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 theReal 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.
After defeating the Mario Bros., Antasma and Bowser head forDozing Sands to acquire theDream Stone. The Bros. attempt to stop them, but arrive too late, and the villains get the stone and take it toMount Pajamaja. The brothers sign up for a tour to the mountain's summit and in the end find Antasma - now accompanied not only by Bowser, but also byKamek and theElite Trio - at its peak. To channel the Dream Stone's power,Private Goomp turns on a set of speakers that begin to play theDreambeats, which promptly puts everyone on the island to sleep except for Antasma,Starlow,Prince Dreambert (all three seemingly immune to the noise), Bowser (due to covering his ears) and Mario (who has to actively resist the lullaby). Luigi, who did not manage to resist the noise, falls asleep and with Mario's assistance rolls to a nearby Dreampoint, which Mario enters in order to escape the noise.
After the Dreambeats subside, the Bros. exit the Dream World to immediately encounter Antasma and Bowser by the Dreampoint, who gloat over their now usable Dream Stone. Upon the realization Peach was in danger, the Bros. hurry toPi'illo Castle in order to protect Peach, who would surely be Bowser's first target. Back at Mount Pajamaja's summit, Antasma and his new allies begin discussing what to wish on the Dream Stone to conquer the world with. Antasma suggests that they wish for an impenetrable castle; when this is quickly approved of by everyone else, Antasma wishes for this, which leads to the instantaneous creation ofNeo Bowser Castle. Antasma then takes the castle for a 'test-drive', blowing up several islands near Pi'illo Island with a large laser cannon situated on the bottom of the castle, sending the inhabitants of Pi'illo Island into a panic.
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.
AfterBowser 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 flies to the top floor using the Dream Stone. Antasma swears revenge for his partner's betrayal and then challenges 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.
Antasma gives the largest amount ofEXP inMario & Luigi: Dream Team, at 7500 EXP (before multipliers). This exceeds theGold Beanie, the second largest EXP provider, by 3500 EXP, and the previous non-giant boss (Pi'illodium) by 3900 EXP.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[edit]
InMario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Antasma makes a cameo on one ofBowser'sBattle Cards.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Antasma appears as aSpirit inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate as a grab-type spirit. His battle is on thePeach's Castle stage in Battlefield form, as the character Robin from theFire Emblem series. In the battle, touching the floor will make the player fall asleep, referencing the theme of sleep fromMario & Luigi: Dream Team, and the spirit will also attempt to eat any food that spawns on the stage, referencing Antasma's bat-like nature and feeding off of dreams, or him eatingAntasmunchies in battle.
General information[edit]
Physical description[edit]
Antasma seems to bear similarities in appearance to all of the previous antagonists in theMario and Luigi series (Cackletta,Elder Princess Shroob, theDark Star andDark Fawful).
Antasma appears, for the most part, as a bat with a gaping mouth. At the beginning of the game, though, he appears as a purple cloud, and then a bat. Later in the game, he is shown in his true form, which consists of a torn cape, a bow tie with a spinning spiral in the center, bone-like arms and two claws. In battle, Antasma takes his bat form or a more ghostly looking version of his true form. This form is taller and skinnier and reveals his arms.
In Pillow form, Antasma appears as a purple Pillow with his cape spikes and eyes.
Personality and speech[edit]
Antasma's speech is based on old Dracula movies with most words having "v"s in them (indicating a Slavic-Hungarian accent) and screaming tics which come from his bat side. In the Japanese version, his speech is written completely inkatakana. He makes careful decisions, since after his imprisonment, such as choosing whose power he needs to help realize his dreams but can be jumped on easily when in a false sense of security, such as Bowser attacking him in Dream's Deep and betraying him later on. He has a temper and strong hatred for the Pi'illos, especially Prince Dreambert. Others show fear towards him, except for the Zeekeeper, who sees him as just a pest.
He appears to be generous, allowing Bowser to make the first wish on the Dream Stone, and saying he could have the world when Bowser states that he wants to be the one to rule, but whether this was genuine or to try and manipulate Bowser is unclear, as is whether or not Bowser was correct in assuming Antasma was going to betray him.
Antasma seems to like working with others who are similar to him, as he abandoned his original plan of stealing Princess Peach's power in favor of teaming up with Bowser, noting both that the Koopa King seemed stronger, and that he was evil. He also chose to team up with Bowser rather than trying to steal Bowser's power.
Abilities[edit]
Antasma has many abilities inside and outside of battle, being able to transform into five different forms throughout the game.
Anatasma starts the game as a cloud of gas. Even then, he can hold objects, and has access to magical powers. He is even able to open a gateway toDream's Deep.
In his bat form, Antasma is able to screech ultrasonic waves that will stun a foe or power up an ally. He is also able to carry great weights such as Bowser and fly long distances. This ability is very similar toCackletta's bat transform ability.
In his true form, Antasma is able to hover and teleport from locations. He is also able to growvines which he spreads throughNeo Bowser Castle to supply power to it from dreams. In addition, he can turn into a pillow, which Bowser uses to sleep. By the end of the game, a wish to the Dream Stone gave Antasma the ability to open portals to the Dream World at will, allowing him to access his stronger battle form.
Antasma first appears in his battle form at the beginning of the game on the blimp, and engages in a tutorial battle with Mario. Antasma appears in his battle form for the final time after Mario enters his Dream Portal, directly transforming from his true form into his battle form. This form of Antasma is far more powerful than his prior forms.
Antasma-themed forces[edit]
Antasma has a few enemies themed after him, though he has significantly fewer than theShroobs andFawful, and fewer thanReclusa.
| Enemy | Description |
|---|---|
 Flaming Antasmaton | Flying, flame-throwing robots that appear inNeo Bowser Castle. |
 Antasman | Warlocks that have the ability to heal and cast aMini spell onto Mario. They are found inDreamy Neo Bowser Castle. |
 Antasmunchie | Bug-like orbs that power up Antasma during his final battle. |
Battle[edit]
Antasma is fought three times in the game, four if counting the battle withDreamy Mario. In the first tutorial fight on the blimp, Antasma's only attack is to split up into several bats, which will all rush at Mario from the right side of the screen. Mario must jump over any of the bats that are directly aimed at him. The battle ends after two turns, and there are no damage values in this fight.
In Dreamy Mario's boss fight, Antasma appears as a dark miasma cloud carrying Princess Peach in the background. He is not a direct target for this battle, but he does aid Dreamy Mario in a few attacks, such as an attack that makes him spit out fireballs, mushrooms, and coins. When Dreamy Mario has taken enough damage, Antasma can spew clouds of gas that make it harder for Mario to avoid Dreamy Mario's invincibility attack.
Antasma is fought again in Bowser's boss fight in Dream's Deep, this time in his bat form. At the start of the battle, Antasma merges with Bowser in the same way Dreamy Luigi merges with Mario. After performing one of his fire-spewing attacks, Bowser will cough up a cloud of Antasma clones that will surround Bowser. All of the bats will fly to the right side of the screen and then start flying towards the left side, usually attempting to ram Mario; Mario must counter these bats with a hammer. The remaining bats will return to Bowser, and any damage Mario took from the attack will be healed to Bowser.
Final Battle[edit]
The final fight with Antasma is fought in the Dream World, at the top of Neo Bowser Castle, and Antasma will transform to his battle form seen at the start of the game. Antasma's turns usually start with him creating a ring ofAntasmunchies around him. At the beginning of most turns, after creating the Antasmunchies, Antasma will then proceed to eat two to three Antasmunchies before attacking: each Antasmunchie gives him an increase in attack power. Prince Dreambert will be able to heal Mario by 30HP at the start of Mario's attack turn(s).
Antasma has various attacks he can use with and without Antasmunchies:
- His first attack involves him creating clones of himself, with the real Antasma displaying a large electrical orb in his hand. The Antasmas will then quickly be shuffled into a line and pull their hand out one at a time: the real Antasma will fire the orb as soon as he pulls his hand out. The orb can lower Mario's defense, but can be countered with the hammer.
- Antasma can turn into a swarm of bats, which, like in the tutorial battle, also rush Mario from the right and can be avoided by jumping at the right times. This attack is generally faster and the amount of bats has increased, and it can now cause theTrip ailment.
- Antasma can also trapDreamy Luigi in an Antasmunchie and shuffle them around to prevent the defeat of the Antasmunchie holding him captive. This cannot be prevented, and without Dreamy Luigi, Mario cannot benefit from the stat boost or perform Luiginary Attacks. If Antasma eats the Antasmunchie containing Dreamy Luigi, his power increases tremendously, and spits Dreamy Luigi out right after his attack turn.
- Antasma's last attack is to turn the Antasmunchies into a ring of explosives. Antasma will create a ring of Antasmunchies, and then proceed to chase Mario into the foreground. Every so often Antasma will throw the bombs straight in front of him, often re-directing them with his hand. Mario must get in the middle of the ring of Antasmunchies and jump when Antasma makes them explode to avoid damage. If Mario touches an Antasmunchie, or if he is outside the ring when the shockwave is made, Mario will suffer heavy damage and go flying; otherwise Antasma will take damage from the shockwave instead. Notably, the recoil damage Antasma can take from this attack is related to Antasma's attack power, not Mario's: thus, Antasma will take more damage on hard mode than he would in normal mode due to his higher attack power.
If Mario takes damage from any of Antasma's attacks, he may get a dark cloud around him, sending him to the "nightmare area." In this area, Mario will find himself being chased by a slightly larger Antasma that shoots purple fireballs that must be jumped over. Getting hit by the fireballs will send Mario tumbling uncontrollably forward a decent distance. Portals are found throughout the nightmare; to escape the nightmare, Mario has to find the Rainbow Portal, which contains coins and aSuper Mushroom; if Mario falls in a red portal, it takes him into an area with floating sawblades that must be avoided by tilting the 3DS, after which the chase will resume, with a spider web covering the portal he had fallen into. Jumping over a portal will reveal what kind of portal it is, thus making it easier to avoid the red portals and find the rainbow portal. Escaping the nightmare allows the battle to proceed as normal.
If Antasma takes a sufficient amount of damage, he may hang off the top of the screen, raising a shield around him and hibernating to recover health (200 HP per Antasma's attack turn after the turn the move is activated). While Antasma is hibernating, his Antasmunchies will transform into insect-like monsters that cannot be jumped on due to their spikes. The Antasmunchies will all try to ram Mario each turn from different directions, lowering his power if they succeed; this attack must be countered with a hammer. After all the Antasmunchies are defeated, Antasma wakes up and resumes the battle. Occasionally Antasma will flip the screen upside-down during this move, making countering the Antasmunchies more difficult.
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team[edit]
- Website Bio:This evil bat king was once trapped in the Dream World by the Pi'illo Folk but he used the last of his power to turn the Pi'illo folk into petrified pillows. Now he's back and ready to take revenge on those who sealed him away.
| Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ???? (Antasma) | ||||||||
 | HP | 20 | Role | Boss, training | Level | 1 | Location(s) | Zeeppelin |
| Power | 15 | Position | Normal | No Hitter | — | |||
| Defense | 15 | World | Real | Weakness | None | Item drop | None (0%) None (0%) | |
| Speed | 17 | Experience | 0 (0) | Coins | 0 (0%) | |||
| Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antasma (1) | ||||||||
 | HP | 6 | Role | Support | Level | 9 | Location(s) | Dream's Deep (Area A) |
| Power | 59 | Position | Normal | No Hitter | — | |||
| Defense | 43 | World | Dream | Weakness | None | Item drop | Syrup Jar (3%) None (0%) | |
| Speed | 1 | Experience | 0 (0) | Coins | 0 (0%) | |||
| Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antasma (2) | ||||||||
| HP | 2435 | Role | Boss | Level | 35 | Location(s) | Dreamy Neo Bowser Castle |
| Power | 416 | Position | Normal | No Hitter | — | |||
| Defense | 284 | World | Dream | Weakness | None | Item drop | None (0%) Dark Hammer (100%) | |
| Speed | 168 | Experience | 7500 (9000) | Coins | 900 (100%) | |||
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit[edit]
| Spirit #111 Antasma | ||
| Series/game | Mario & Luigi Series |
| Type | Support | |
| Slots | 1 | |
| Class | Advanced | |
| Strength / effect(s) | Death's Scythe Equipped | |
| How to obtain | Anna's Emporium Spirit Board | |
| Spirit battle | Opponent(s) | Robin (♂) |
| Conditions | Rule: Item:Food Hazard: Slumber Floor
| |
| Stage | Peach's Castle (Battlefield) | |
| Song | The Grand Finale |
Gallery[edit]
Artwork of Bowser with Antasma in his bat form close by
Antasma in his bat form seen on the box art
Japanese character bio
Antasma with Mario, Peach and Toadsworth
Antasma in the first battle
Antasma possessing Bowser
Antasma airliftingBowser out of the Dream World
Antasma in the final battle
Antasma in the Neo Bowser Castle photo puzzle
2014 nengajō forNintendo Dream by developers ofMario & Luigi: Dream Team
.png)
Quotes[edit]
Main article:List of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team quotes#Antasma
- "I can giveyou power beyond your vildest dreams!"
- "SCREEEEMBERT! You! Meddling vith me again..."
- "I vish... TO CONQUER THE VORLD!"
- "SCREENK! Always,thesepests vex us..."
- "SCREEYEE! I can open dream portals venever I vish now... For that is vut I vished from theDream Stone... In the dream vorld, I vill be at full strength...I haff changed, Dreambert. You haff been varned..."
Naming[edit]
Antasma's name likely derives from "fantasma", the word for "ghost" in various Romance languages, and the prefix "anti-".
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | アックーム[3] Akkūmu | Nickname-like form of the word「悪夢」(akumu, "nightmare"); also possibly a play off「悪魔」(akuma, "devil/demon") | |
| アクムコウモリ[4] Akumu Kōmori | Nightmare Bat | Bat form | |
| Dutch | Antasma[5] | - | |
| French(Canadian) | Phobieux[6] | Fear-ous | |
| French(European) | Antasma[7] | - | |
| German | Antasma[8] | - | |
| Italian | Inkubak[9] | Fromincubo ("nightmare") | |
| Korean | 아크몽[10] Akeumong | Corruption of " | |
| Portuguese | Conde Antasma[11] | Count Antasma | |
| Russian | Мракула[12] Mrakula | Portmanteau ofмрак (mrak, "gloom") and "Dracula" | |
| Spanish(Latin American) | Antasma[14] | - | |
| Spanish(European) | Conde Pesadillo[13] | Fromconde ("count") and diminutive/masculinized form ofpesadilla ("nightmare") |
Notes[edit]
- Antasma bears much resemblance toCackletta with his attacks, such as attacking with a swarm of bats, or duplicating oneself. He also joins his power with Bowser in the Bros.' fight against him much like Cackletta does for a longer period of time; however, Bowser's mind is not taken over and instead, Antasma is just simply boosting his power, in the same manner thatDreamy Luigi boostsMario's power (with similar animations). Additionally, they both have spiked capes.
- Antasma's text box sound effects are erroneously replaced with the one used by characters such asBritta in two occasions. The first is after Mario escapes Dreamy Mount Pajamaja, and the second is when he creates a Dream Portal for Kamek.
- In theNintendo Switch version ofThe Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the same sound effects used by Antasma from the battle in Dream's Deep are used by theShadow ofGanon when he sendsFirebats to attackLink.
References[edit]
- ^[1]
- ^[2]
- ^実況局だいだら (July 22 2022)突然やってきたクッパ様がガチで強すぎる…『マリオ＆ルイージRPG4 ドリームアドベンチャー』を実況プレイpart11マリルイRPG4 (4:51) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^From the character trading card included withTakara Tomy ArtsMario & Luigi: Dream Team soft candy.
- ^Official Dutch game site, first paragraph. Retrieved August 22 2025.
- ^Official My Nintendo site Retrieved August 22 2025.
- ^Kirbendo (January 20 2017)MARIO & LUIGI DREAM TEAM BROS. #9 - MARIO CONTRE BOWSER ! (4:58) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^Domtendo (July 18 2013)MARIO & LUIGI DREAM TEAM BROS.#13: Versammlung des Bösen in den Traumtiefen (19:58) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^Juggling Gamer (January 24 2023)Mario & Luigi: dream team (ITA)-09: lui è qui perché ci deve essere (9:50) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^피르 (June 18 2022)3DS 마리오&루이지 rpg4 - 드림 어드벤처 Ep3 (51:09) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^Official Portuguese game site, first paragraph. Retrieved August 22 2025.
- ^Сладкий канал Мозга (April 7 2018)Mario & Luigi Dream Team Bros {3DS} прохождение часть 10 — Нежданный СОЮЗ (1:40) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^ChequioProGamer (July 29 2013)Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros - Parte 11 - ¡¡ Bowser !! - Chequio (9:40) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
- ^Red Shock inc. (February 14 2020)#10 Bowser ENTRA EN ESCENA!| Mario & Luigi Dream Team | ESPAÑOL - Red Shock (5:39) on Youtube. Retrieved June 9 2025.
