Gloomtail
Sprite of Gloomtail 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)

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!? You destroyedmy precious younger sister?!? I wondered why she hadn't written recently... Quake in fear, mortals! For I am Gloomtail! I will avenge my sister by taking your lives...and then gnawing on your bones!”

—Gloomtail,Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Gloomtail is the middle sibling in the "tail" family inPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He is the older brother ofHooktail and the younger brother ofBonetail, and according toGrifty, once served as a pet of theShadow Queen. Gloomtail is the only male sibling out of the trio (although Gloomtail is female as well in the Dutch localization of the remake, Bonetail is male in the English script of the original GameCube release, and Hooktail is male in the European Spanish localization of the original and remake) and the only one to not have aSuper Paper Mario equivalent. He lives in thePalace of Shadow and guards theStar Stone, which is needed to unlock the pedestals in thePalace of Shadow Tower (and activate its doors in theremake).

History[edit]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]

When Mario first encounters Gloomtail, his partner confuses him for Hooktail and questions why she is back:

• Goombella: "Hey! Isn't that Hooktail? We totally beather before! What'sshe doing back?"
• Koops: "Ummm… Isn't that Hooktail? I KNOW we beather before!She coughed upmy dad! What'sshe doing back?"
• Flurrie: "My, what a fearsome dragon... But isn't this Hooktail, whom you said you beat before? Yes, big, with nasty eyes and ripe breath... It sounds just like what you described."
• Yoshi Kid: "Whoa! Now, THAT'S a dragon! Hey, but isn't that Hooktail? I thought you beather! Yeah, huge, dragonish, gnarly... Sounds just like what you described, dude!"
• Vivian: "Uh... That's a big dragon. But, Mario, isn't that Hooktail, the one you said you beat? Gigantic, with mossy teeth... Yes, this monster fits the bill, all right!"
• Bobbery: "Now who's thisdragon? I say, isn't that Hooktail, the thing you beat before? Yes, enormous, with rather grimy toes... Yes, that suits thiscreature to a T!"
• Ms. Mowz: "Isn't that Hooktail, dearie? I thought you beat Hooktail... What'sshe doing here?"

Upon hearing this, Gloomtail vows to destroy Mario and company and avenge his sister. After defeating Gloomtail, he coughs up thetreasure chest containing the Star Stone.

Gloomtail in his room.

Gloomtail is stronger than his sister. He attacks by breathingpoison on Mario and his partner (taking at least ten turns to wear off), and stomping or chomping the character in front. His earthquake move can be dangerous, but it does not work onVivian andFlurrie. He can alsocharge up for his signature and strongest attack: his megabreath move, which does up to 16 damage. He shares his attack and defense stats with Bonetail.

Super Mario-kun[edit]

Gloomtail appears in volume 35 ofSuper Mario-kun during itsPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door arc.

Profiles and statistics[edit]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[edit]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Gloomtail
	Max HP	80	Attack	8	Defense	2
	Location(s)	Palace of Shadow	Role	Boss	Level	76
	Sleep?	30%	Dizzy?	30%	Confuse?	30%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	30%	Soft?	70%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	0%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	1%	Moves	Poison Breath (8, Poison,Piercing), Stomp (8), Chomp (8), Earthquake (10,Piercing; useless against Vivian and Flurrie), Charge +8 (warning for Megabreath), Megabreath (16)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	Star Key
Tattle Log #: 100	Log	Hooktail's brother. He's a big, dark, poison-spewing baddie. Watch out for his famous Megabreath attack!
	Tattle	That's Gloomtail. I think he's Hooktail's brother. I see the family resemblance... Max HP is 80, Attack is 8, and Defense is 2. He'll bite or stomp you, and he may also breathe poison on you. Great. When his HP gets low, he may throw in some other attacks, as well. Wouldn't surprise me. Especially watch out for his megabreath move, 'cause the word is, it's GNARLY! He also stores power for some attacks, so use Vivian to hide to avoid those.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)[edit]

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Gloomtail
	Max HP	80	Attack	8	Defense	2
	Location(s)	Palace of Shadow	Role	Boss	Level	76
	Sleep?	30%	Dizzy?	30%	Confuse?	30%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	30%	Soft?	70%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	0%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	1%	Moves	Poison Breath (8, Poison,Piercing), Stomp (8), Chomp (8), Earthquake (10,Piercing; useless against Vivian and Flurrie), Charge +8 (warning for Megabreath), Megabreath (16)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	50	Items	Star Stone
Tattle Log #: 103	Log	Hooktail's brother. He's a big, dark, poison-spewing baddie. Watch out for his famous megabreath attack!
	Tattle	That's Gloomtail. I think he's Hooktail's brother. I see the family resemblance... Max HP is 80, Attack is 8, and Defense is 2. He'll bite or stomp you, and he may also breathe poison on you. Great. When his HP gets low, he may throw in some other attacks as well. Wouldn't surprise me. Especially watch out for his megabreath move, 'cause the word is it's GNARLY! He also stores power for some attacks, so use Vivian to hide to avoid those.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Mario and his partners battling Gloomtail

• 

  Gloomtail defeated

• 

  Gloomtail in the Nintendo Switch remake

• 

  Gloomtail's megabreath attack in the remake

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

The large hole behind Gloomtail's room, leading directly to Grodus' room

• The roomGrodus is fought in is directly below Gloomtail's room, which would mean thatBowser was in Gloomtail's room when he fell through the floor. In fact, if the player uses cheats or glitches to go to the hidden area behind Gloomtail's room after defeating theShadow Queen, a large hole can be seen. The hole can be jumped down to enter the aforementioned Grodus room.^[12]
  • Goombella's tattle when inside Gloomtail's room acts as though Gloomtail is not present, despite the fact that he is always present until the player lowers the floor of the rooms that lead to his room. This implies that Gloomtail's room was intended to be accessible at any time.
• Gloomtail explains that he was in contact with his sister (some translations specifying via letters^[13]), despite being locked behindthe Thousand-Year Door, which itself was sealed for a thousand-year span.

References[edit]

• Dragons
• Poisonous creatures
• Pets
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door bosses
• Super Mario-kun characters

• Articles with stub sections