Bonetail
| Bonetail | |
|---|---|
 Sprite fromPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) | |
| Species | Dragon |
| First appearance | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) |
| Latest appearance | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024) |
- “AROOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
- —Bonetail,Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bonetail is a large, skeletal dragon inPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door residing at the bottom of thePit of 100 Trials. She is the older sister ofGloomtail andHooktail. Unlike her still-living siblings, she is an undead dragon. She was once a pet of theShadow Queen, but it is never stated why or how Bonetail came to reside at the bottom of the Pit. It is also unknown when she became skeletal and what her original appearance looked like. According toGrifty, Bonetail, along with her two siblings, went around the world terrorizing people some time before the Shadow Queen was imprisoned behindThe Thousand-Year Door. Bonetail is depicted as male in the original English localization, but female in every other version, including the English version ofthe Nintendo Switch remake.
History[edit]
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]
AfterMario and his teammates reach the bottom floor of the Pit of 100 Trials, Bonetail roars, and her many breaths during battle cause a variety of status ailments in addition to dealing damage. Her blue breath canfreeze Mario, green breath can causeconfusion, purple can turn Mario or his partnertiny, and white can inflictsleep. All of her breath attacks can be avoided withShell Shield or simply guarding. If Mario defeats Bonetail, she coughs up a chest containing theReturn Postagebadge.
Bonetail is much stronger than her younger siblings, Hooktail and Gloomtail. She is the strongest boss in the game, being stronger than the Shadow Queen, but only offers oneStar Point after defeat; Bonetail can restore 20 HP when having lower HP and has the most HP out of any enemy. Additionally, Bonetail has the same default attack and defense stats as Gloomtail, with other buffs added throughout the fight. However, Bonetail does not have all of Gloomtail's attacks, like his earthquake attack or Megabreath.
In theNintendo Switch remake, a clear bonus of 999 coins is given upon defeating Bonetail. The color of Bonetail's confusion breath has also been changed from green to pink.
Once defeated, Bonetail cannot be fought again and will be absent if Mario returns to the bottom of the Pit. Nothing remains in her room except the open chest and the ambient music that plays in the room after she is defeated. In the Nintendo Switch remake,Whacka will become the new final boss of the Pit if he is driven out ofKeelhaul Key and the player has received the "RDM Extra Issue" email.
At the beginning of the fight, Mario'spartner makes a comment regarding Bonetail:
- Goombella: "Wow! What a freak!"
- Koops: "Yikes! What a grump!"
- Flurrie: "Mercy! Such anger!"
- Yoshi Kid: "Whoa! What a psycho!" (GCN) / "Whoa! What a monster!" (Switch)
- Vivian: "Wow! What a grouch!"
- Bobbery: "Rather a crabby sort, eh?"
- Ms. Mowz: "My! What a crab!"
Super Mario-kun[edit]
Despite being an optional boss in the game being adapted, Bonetail appears in volume 34 ofSuper Mario-kun. In it, she makes everyone in Rogueport stupid with her "idiot breath", and Mario, Goombella, and Koops must defeat her to revert everyone back to normal. Unlike in the game, she is able to speak.
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]
| Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonetail | ||||||||
 | Max HP | 200 | Attack | 8 | Defense | 2 | ||
| Location(s) | Pit of 100 Trials (Level 100) | Role | Boss | Level | 0 | |||
| Sleep? | 0% | Dizzy? | 0% | Confuse? | 0% | |||
| Tiny? | 0% | Stop? | 0% | Soft? | 0% | |||
| Burn? | 100% | Freeze? | 0% | Fright? | 0% | |||
| Gale Force? | 0% | KO? | 0% | Moves | Dangerous Breath (8,Piercing; sleep (white), confusion (green), shrunk (purple), frozen (blue)), Recover (20 HP, max twice), Stomp (8), Chomp (8) | |||
| Exp. points | 99 | Coins | N/A | Items | Return Postage | |||
| Tattle Log #: 101 | Log | The oldest brother of Hooktail. He's just bones now. He's incredibly tough... Maybe even the toughest? | ||||||
| Tattle | That's Bonetail. He's the oldest brother of Hooktail. ...So old he's just bones, in fact. Wow. Now THAT'S old. His body's Max HP is 200, his Attack is 8, and his Defense is 2. He has various breaths that might confuse us or put us to sleep. When his HP gets low, he'll recover...or reanimate, as the case may be. He's probably stronger than the last boss, seriously! Let's do this right! | |||||||
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)[edit]
| Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonetail | ||||||||
| Max HP | 200 | Attack | 8 | Defense | 2 | ||
| Location(s) | Pit of 100 Trials (Level 100) | Role | Super-Boss | Level | 0 | |||
| Sleep? | 0% | Dizzy? | 0% | Confuse? | 0% | |||
| Tiny? | 0% | Stop? | 0% | Soft? | 0% | |||
| Burn? | 100% | Freeze? | 0% | Fright? | 0% | |||
| Gale Force? | 0% | KO? | 0% | Moves | Dangerous Breath (8,Piercing; sleep (white), confusion (pink), shrink (purple), frozen (blue)), Recover (20 HP, max twice), Stomp (8), Chomp (8) | |||
| Exp. points | 0 | Coins | 999 | Items | Return Postage | |||
| Tattle Log #: 104 | Log | The oldest sister of Hooktail. She's just bones now. She's incredibly tough... Maybe even the toughest? | ||||||
| Tattle | That's Bonetail. She's the older sister of Hooktail... So old she's just bones, in fact. Wow. Now THAT'S old. Her body's Max HP is 200, her Attack is 8, and her Defense is 2. She has various breaths that might confuse us or put us to sleep. When her HP gets low, she'll recover... or reanimate, as the case may be. She's probably stronger than your basic final-boss type, seriously! Let's do this right! | |||||||
Gallery[edit]
Original Tattle Log image
Mario encounters Bonetail
The battle with Bonetail
Bonetail defeated
Bonetail in the remake
Bonetail defeated in the remake
Bonetail'sunused early head design
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ゾンババ[1] Zonbaba | Portmanteau of「ゾンビ」(zonbi, "zombie") and「ゴンババ」(Gonbaba, "Hooktail") or「ブンババ」(Bunbaba, "Gloomtail") | |
| Chinese(Simplified) | 尸骨巴巴[2] Shīgǔ Bābā | From “尸骨” (shīgǔ, "skeleton") and “轰巴巴” (Hōngbābā, "Hooktail") or “蹦巴巴” (Bèngbābā, "Gloomtail") | |
| Chinese(Traditional) | 屍骨巴巴[3] Shīgǔ Bābā | From「屍骨」(shīgǔ, "skeleton") and「轟巴巴」(Hōngbābā, "Hooktail") or「蹦巴巴」(Bèngbābā, "Gloomtail") | |
| Dutch | Ivora[4] | FromIvoor ("ivory") | |
| French | Occicroc[5][6] | Portmanteau ofoccire ("slay") andcroc ("fang") | |
| German | Lohviata[7] | Portmanteau ofLohe ("blaze") and possibly the English word "bloviate"; also likely a pun on "Loviatar" | |
| Italian | Ossandra[8] | Pormanteau ofosso ("bone") and the female name "Cassandra" | |
| Korean | 좀자잔[9] Jomjajan | Portmanteau of "좀비" (Jombi, "zombie") and "곤자잔" (Gonjajan, "Hooktail") or "깜자잔" (Kkamjajan, "Gloomtail") | |
| Spanish | Zombaba[10][11] | From the Japanese name "Zonbaba", but with an "m" before the "b" because, in Spanish orthography, "n" should not come before "b" |
Notes[edit]
- As a defeatable, standalone boss by default with no minions to summon, and along withWhacka in theremake, Bonetail is the only boss Mario cannot defeat with a single jump (performed by a failed action Jump command) or hammer blow strengthened byPower Rush badges.
- Among these two, Bonetail is the only boss Mario cannot defeat alone in one turn without FP-based attacks, such as thePower Bounce badge by performing three jumps in one move.
References[edit]
- ^「『ゾンババ』よ」–Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo Co. (Japanese).
- ^"这是“尸骨巴巴”哦。" –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo (Hong Kong) (Simplified Chinese).
- ^「他是「屍骨巴巴」喔。」–Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo (Hong Kong) (Traditional Chinese).
- ^"Dat is Ivora, de oudere zus van Vermila." –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Europe (Dutch).
- ^« C'est Occicroc. » –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of America (Canadian French).
- ^« C'est Occicroc ! » –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Europe (French).
- ^„Das ist Lohviata.“ –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Europe (German).
- ^«Questa è Ossandra, la sorella maggiore di Crimilde.» –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Europe (Italian).
- ^"『좀자잔』이야" –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Korea (Korean).
- ^"Aquí dice que es Zombaba, la hermana mayor de Gombaba." –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of America (Latin American Spanish).
- ^«Aquí pone que es Zombaba, la hermana mayor de Gombaba.» –Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch).Nintendo of Europe (European Spanish).
