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Shadow Mario Paint

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Shadow Mario Paint
Bowser Jr Final Smash SSBU.gif
Shadow Mario Paint in Ultimate.
User Bowser Jr.
Universe Mario
Article on Super Mario Wiki Shadow Mario

Shadow Mario Paint (ニセマリオペイント, Imitation Mario Paint) is Bowser Jr.'s Final Smash.

Overview[edit]

When activated, Bowser Jr. will transform into Shadow Mario, and then paint an orange "X" on the screen. Anyone caught in the "X"'s hitbox will take damage. Bowser Jr. will then be teleported above the top camera boundary and will be able to move around freely while the "X" is onscreen. The "X" deals knockback each time a character walks into it, and the knockback usually sends them towards the middle of the "X", making it difficult to escape. When the attack ends, the "X" explodes, dealing relatively high knockback. All hits taken from the paint have the same knockback regardless of damage until just before the "X" clears away.

Instructional quotes[edit]

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U instruction booklet Bowser Jr.'s stock icon in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Foes in the painted X will take damage and be launched.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Move List BowserJrHeadSSBU.png Bowser Jr. becomes Shadow Mario in order to deal damage by painting a giant X on the screen. He is able to move during his Final Smash, allowing him to pull off follow-up attacks on his opponents.

Trophy[edit]

Shadow Mario Paint's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Shadow Mario Paint
NTSC In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant X on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. transforms back, letting him gleefully knock foes into it.
PAL In Super Mario Sunshine, someone went around causing havoc disguised as Mario. It turned out not to be the brawny Bowser, but his brainier son, Bowser Jr. Now he becomes Shadow Mario again for his Final Smash, painting a giant cross on the screen. It sticks around after Bowser Jr. turns back, so he can gleefully knock people into it.

Spirit[edit]

Shadow Mario also appears as an Ace-class primary spirit. He can be summoned using the cores of Vince, Eddy, and one Neutral type.

Shadow Mario's Spirit Battle uses a Bowser Jr. puppet fighter and is fought on the Delfino Plaza stage's Ω form. During the battle, the floor is sticky, referencing the paint created by Shadow Mario's Magic Paintbrush which submerges its victims and slows them down. Also, Bowser Jr. suddenly receives a Final Smash and his FS Meter charges quickly, referencing how Shadow Mario serves as Bowser Jr.'s Final Smash.

No. Image Name Type Class Slots Base Power Max Power Base Attack Max Attack Base Defense Max Defense Ability Series
70
SSBU spirit Shadow Mario.png
Shadow Mario
Neutral
★★★ 3 2661 8007 1477 4444 1184 3563 No Effect Super Mario Series

Origin[edit]

Official artwork of Shadow Mario wielding the Magic Paintbrush in Super Mario Sunshine.

Shadow Mario (ニセマリオ, Fake Mario) was a form Bowser Jr. took in his debut game, Super Mario Sunshine. He used it to frame Mario for polluting Isle Delfino.

Bowser Jr. disguised himself as Shadow Mario using the Magic Paintbrush, which was invented by Professor E. Gadd (who also invented various other machines, including the Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device, the Poltergust 3000, the Poltergust 5000 and the Poltergust G-00). The Magic Paintbrush was either given to or stolen by Bowser Jr. prior to the events of Super Mario Sunshine. In said game, the paint used by Shadow Mario was dependent on the level in which he appeared. The glowing orange used by Shadow Mario Paint bears a close resemblance to the paint used in Pianta Village. Paint in this level behaved similarly to lava, dealing damage and causing Mario to jump after taking a hit, similarly to how it works in the Final Smash. It, along with the Junior Clown Car, has become a recurring theme for Bowser Jr., especially throughout many spin-off titles. The Koopalings use the Magic Paintbrush to transform into Shadow Mario as they are Bowser Jr.'s alternate costumes, but they have never used it or their Junior Clown Cars outside of Smash (in the case of the Junior Clown Cars, prior to their SSB4 debut, as they used it in a Mario game for the first time in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit in 2020).

Much like Metal Mario, Shadow Mario has become a separate character from both Bowser Jr. and Mario. He appeared as a playable character in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Despite using the paintbrush in spin-offs, Bowser Jr. does not tend to turn into his alter ego.

Shadow Mario Paint's name may refer to Mario Paint, one of the few games to utilize the SNES mouse.

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name
Japan Japanese ニセマリオペイント
UK English Shadow Mario Paint
France French Antimario
Germany German Schatten-Mario-Paint
Spain Spanish (PAL) Mario Paint Oscuro
Mexico Spanish (NTSC) Pintura de Mario oscuro
Italy Italian Mario Paint ombra
China Chinese (Simplified) 冒牌马力欧涂鸦
Taiwan Chinese (Traditional) 冒牌瑪利歐塗鴉
South Korea Korean 가짜마리오 페인트
Netherlands Dutch Schaduw-Mario-verf
Russia Russian Краска Марио-тени

Trivia[edit]

  • When the camera is changed while the move is active, the X will disappear, but will reappear when the game is unpaused.
    • If one looks at Bowser Jr. during this, rather than having the Smash Ball glow, he will have a glowing outline that glows with the colors of the Smash Ball.
  • The knockback of the final hit is oddly affected by the 1v1 multiplier, though the effect is small. This is not reflected in the trajectory guide, however, which calculates the knockback assuming 1v1 multiplier is ignored entirely.
  • Shadow Mario is one of the few Final Smashes to be a spirit.
  • In Super Mario Sunshine, the paintbrush used the traditional Gadd Science logo; in the Super Smash Bros. series, it is instead replaced with an "evil" version of the same logo, with slanted eyes.
  • Shadow Mario's jumping animation is copied directly from Mario's.