Not to be confused withPhantom.

Phanto
Artwork fromSuper Mario Advance
First appearance	Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987, overall) Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988,Super Mario franchise)
Latest appearance	Mario Kart World (2025)
Variants Big Kamēn

Phantos are large, seemingly living masks that first appear inYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic andSuper Mario Bros. 2, where they are found guardingkeys. According to the game's manual, they often guard various other treasures as well.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic /Super Mario Bros. 2 /Super Mario Advance[edit]

Original artwork of Phanto fromYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

Phantos are semi-common enemies inYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic,Super Mario Bros. 2, and subsequentreissues. They are seen guarding keys in caves or injars. They first appear inWorld 1-2. Phantos simply remain immobile and harmless until the player takes the key they are guarding, at which point one of the Phantos will animate and ceaselessly chase them; some of the remakes make this Phanto slightly different in appearance from the others. Phantos can follow the player through other screens and rooms, and even intoSub-Space; they cannot be permanently defeated, either—a Phanto can be temporarily defeated only with the combination of aStop Watch and aStarman, but a new one will replace it as soon as the player enters another room while carrying the key. If the player drops the key while a Phanto is chasing them, it flies away and leaves them alone until they pick up the key again; it will only give up the chase for good once the door is unlocked.

A number of immobile and harmless Phantos can be seen inWart's room.

InYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, the Phanto sprite's expression and color scheme most resemble its original artwork (which its artwork for all iterations ofSuper Mario Bros. 2 would also be based on). Starting withSuper Mario Bros. 2, its sprite is given a distinctive evil grin, though the original manual mistakenly depicts itsYume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic graphic. Subsequent remakes redesign it to be brownish yellow and tinted a lighter yellow instead of red and white respectively, and also depict it without a visible nose. Additionally, in remakes, large structures resembling Phantos can be seen in the backgrounds of the key rooms; the eyes of these larger Phantos will glow red repeatedly once the key is grabbed. In theGame Boy Advance remake, if the player drops or uses the key or loses a life, the Phanto appears to fly toward the camera as it leaves, via usage of an altered sprite that is twice as large as the original. Furthermore, Phantos can be defeated in said version from aninvincible character.

A photo officially posted by Nintendo of America on Facebook references Phanto's behavior of chasing the player character with the key, dramatized to the point of it demanding that they do not touch the key.^[1]

BS Super Mario USA[edit]

InBS Super Mario USA, Phantos can be defeated by large objects that are thrown from off-screen likePeach'sLove-Love Fire even when they are inactive. Abig Phanto spawns according to the time in the game's built-in clock. The first appearance is in the second broadcast episode when the time is at :15. The second appearance is in the fourth broadcast episode at :07. It will chase the player even without keys involved but will not follow the player to other screens. It has difficulty tracking players that hang around the edge of wraparound screens. After one minute, it fades away.

Super Mario Maker 2[edit]

Phantos appear inSuper Mario Maker 2 in the version 3.0.0 update released on April 22, 2020. They appear as enemies in theSuper Mario Bros. style, attacking players when aCursed Key is picked up. Phantos often move in erratic patterns while following the player. The sprite now glows in pink/light blue colors. Additionally, they are completely immune to theMoon,Super Stars,Spiny Shells andDry Bones Shells. Only one Phanto can appear at a time, though multiple Cursed Keys can be held at once. Although, if another player has a key, another Phanto will appear. When entering a subarea or going through aWarp Door with a Phanto following the player, the Phanto will take a few seconds to suddenly appear in the new location.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park[edit]

InSuper Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, Phantos are the focus of the minigameRun, Hide! Phanto Tag, where the player that is "it" wears a Phanto mask and must find other players and pass the mask onto them before time runs out. Phantos take on a similar yellow color scheme toSuper Mario All-Stars andSuper Mario Advance, albeit entirely golden yellow instead of having a gradient separation between both halves of the face.^[2]

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show![edit]

A Phanto fromThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "The Ten Koopmandments".

“Ultra bad scene, dudes! We're caught between amummy and a weird face!”

—Toad, "The Ten Koopmandments"

Phantos are enemies inThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show! One appears in "The Ten Koopmandments", where it chasesMario,Luigi,Princess Toadstool andToad inside a pyramid after the four had been caught byKoop Tut; the chase continues until the characters escape from the pyramid. In "Escape from Koopatraz", a Phanto is a member ofJudge Koopa's jury.

Super Paper Mario[edit]

InChapter 6-3 ofSuper Paper Mario, theSammer Guy of the 63rd gate is named "Phanto Grin".

Mario Kart series[edit]

A Phanto mask among other masks inMario Kart World

Sprites of Phantos, taken fromSuper Mario Bros. 2, are sewn on the carpets decorating the course ofShy Guy Bazaar inMario Kart 7 andMario Kart Tour. InMario Kart World, a Phanto mask can be found among other masks in the underground path of the main course. Also inMario Kart World, a sticker depicting a Phanto and its name is attainable by clearing the "Use the ancient shipwrecks to get a boost!"P Switch mission in the Shy Guy Bazaar area.^[3]

Other appearances[edit]

InKirby Super Star Ultra, thePhanto Mask appears as atreasure inThe Great Cave Offensive in place of theZebra Mask from the originalKirby Super Star. In the original Japanese, both iterations are called しろくろマスク (Shiro Kuro Masuku, "White-Black Mask").

Profiles and statistics[edit]

Super Mario Bros. 2[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English (United States):
    He is normally at rest and waits by keys. If you take a key, he will pursue you.^[4]

Super Mario Advance[edit]

• Instruction booklet description:
  • English (United Kingdom):
    Phantos comes^[sic] to life when you take the key they're guarding. Beware — Phantos will chase you from screen to screen.^[5]

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten[edit]

カメーン (JP) / Phanto (EN)
	Original text (Japanese)		Translation
	種族しゅぞく	ゴースト族ぞく	Tribe	Ghost clan
	性格せいかく	執念しゅうねんぶかい	Disposition	Tenacious
	登場とうじょうゲーム	ＵＳＡユーエスエー	Game appearances	USA
	カギはときどき手放てばなそう 扉とびらのカギを守まもる番人ばんにんだ。カギを持もって行いこうとすると動うごき始はじめ、どこまででも追おいかけてくる。カギから手てを離はなすと遠とおざかるので、近寄ちかよってきたら、いったんカギを下したに置おこう。[6]		Let go of the key from time to time. He is the keeper of the key to the door. If you try to take the key with you, it will start moving and chase you wherever you go. If you remove your hand from the key, it will move away, so if it comes close to you, put the key down.

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Phanto.

• 

  Super Mario Bros. 2 artwork

• 

  Super Mario Advance artwork

• 

  Super Mario Bros. 2 sprite

• 

  Super Mario All-Stars sprite

• 

  Super Mario Advance sprite

Naming[edit]

"Phanto" is a shortening of "phantom", another word for ghost or specter, and is likely used in reference to the eponymous masked character inThe Phantom of the Opera.

Names in other languages[edit]

The contemporaneous name for each language is listed first. Subsequent names are listed in chronological order for each language, from oldest to newest.

Notes[edit]

• An enemy calledTwo Face appears inKirby's Dream Land andKirby Star Allies, behaving in a similar way, although it can be destroyed.

References[edit]

• Masks
• Animate objects
• Ghosts
• Super Mario Advance enemies
• Super Mario Bros. 2 enemies
• Super Mario Maker 2 enemies
• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! enemies

• Articles with deprecated external links
• Articles with stub sections
• Articles with new subject sections
• Articles with unsourced foreign names