Dancing Spear Guy
| Dancing Spear Guy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Artwork from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island | |||
| First appearance | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995) | ||
| Latest appearance | Mario Party: The Top 100 (2017) | ||
| Variant of | Spear Guy | ||
| |||
Dancing Spear Guys[1] are a more energetic variety of Spear Guys that first appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. They are generally orange or yellow in color and are commonly depicted as having green paint on their mask, although sometimes they appear as red. Dancing Spear Guys lack the shield and the feather held by Spear Guys.
There are also similar dancing Spear Guy pairs, the bamboo dancers, which made their appearance in Yoshi's Story.
History[edit]
Yoshi's Island series[edit]
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3[edit]
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its Game Boy Advance version, Dancing Spear Guys hold their spears permanently upward and attack by dancing around a designated spot. They move to the right while rotating around the spear, then jump back to the left, damaging Yoshi at direct contact. They are edible, however, so Yoshi can simply swallow them. Unlike a normal Spear Guy, eating one and spitting it out will not change it into a normal Shy-Guy and will also not cause it to roll down a path. However, they can still be tossed at other enemies this way to defeat them. Dancing Spear Guys can be defeated by turning them into a Yoshi Egg or by throwing a Yoshi Egg at them. A chant can be heard while within a Dancing Shy Guy's range.
Dancing Spear Guys first appear in the level Jungle Rhythm... Their spears are taller than those of regular Spear Guys, which makes it more difficult for Yoshi to surpass them. This is also sometimes used to their advantage when they occupy spaces under platforms, from where they can poke their spears at Yoshi without being vulnerable to his attacks.
Yoshi's Island DS[edit]
Dancing Spear Guys reappear in Yoshi's Island DS. Unlike most other Shy Guys in the game, their sprites are based off enlarged versions of their Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 sprites rather than Shy Guys' Yoshi Touch & Go sprites, and as such they keep the green tint on their masks as opposed to blue like most others. They also move differently in that they hop when moving, and after every hop, they make a circle and jump in height, then they hop again to move.
Yoshi's New Island[edit]
In Yoshi's New Island, Dancing Spear Guys appear in the level Don't Fear the Spear. Unlike other games, they appear in a variety of colors. Some of them are pink with red face paint, while others are yellow with green face paint, somewhat resembling their original artwork and the Mario Party games. Unlike previously, if Yoshi eats one and spits it out, it loses its spear and turns into a normal Shy Guy.
Mario Party series[edit]
Dancing Spear Guys appear in a few minigames of the Mario Party series. Their first appearance in the series is Mario Party 3, where torch-carrying Dancing Spear Guys appear in the minigame The Beat Goes On; here, they are led by a Spear Guy that plays a tune on drums, and players must follow the beat while adding their own continuation of it, or the Dancing Spear Guys will throw their torches at them. In Mario Party 4, three Dancing Spear Guys, colored orange and lacking spears, appear in the 1-vs-3 minigame, Hide and Go BOOM!, wherein each of them lights the torch for the player to trigger one of the four cannons. In Mario Party: The Top 100, Spear Guys appear in both minigames, retaining the same role as before.
As a species, Dancing Spear Guys do not appear in Mario Party Advance, but there is a bamboo dancer named Hulu who is designed closely after a Dancing Spear Guy.
Profiles[edit]
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3[edit]
- Shogakukan guide: フラダンス系の腰づかいが人気。踊っているときも、ヤリだけははなさない。[2] (The hula-dance skirt is popular. Even when dancing, it never lets go of its spear.)
- Player's Guide: Get into the funky rhythm or else these jitterbuggers will lance you with their spears. Ouch![1]
- Shogakukan guide (Game Boy Advance version): おどっているときもヤリだけは手放さない。たては持っていないので、前後どちらからでも飲みこめる。[3] (It doesn't let go of its spear even when it's dancing. Since it doesn't have a shield, it can be swallowed from either the front or the back.)
Yoshi's New Island[edit]
- Shogakukan guide: 長いヤリを装備したヘイホー。ヤリを上に向けたまま、一定の場所から移動せずに踊り続ける。同じ高さまで移動して食べるか、タマゴをぶつけて倒そう。[4](A Shy Guy equipped with a long spear. With its spear pointed upward, it dances continuously from a fixed location without moving. Move to the same height to eat it or hit it with an egg to defeat it.)
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Dancing Spear Guy.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Model from Mario Party 4
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ヤリヤリダンサー[2][3][4] Yariyari Dansā |
Spear Spear Dancer | |
| French | Danseur de Popotin[5] | Butt Dancer | |
| German | Kanibalo Guy[?] | Kanibalo is derived from Kannibale ("cannibal") | |
| Italian | Tipo Selva danzante[?] | Dancing Spear Guy | |
| Korean | 창창호댄서[?] Changchang-ho Daenseo |
Spear Guy Dancer |
References[edit]
- ^ a b Miller, Kent and Terry Munson (1995). Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Player's Guide. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 126.
- ^ a b September 20, 1995. 「スーパーマリオヨッシーアイランド任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Super Mario: Yossy Island Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook). Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 4-09-102523-4. Page 5.
- ^ a b November 20, 2002. 「スーパーマリオアドバンス3任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Super Mario Advance 3 Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook). Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 4-09-106701-4. Page 23.
- ^ a b August 9, 2014. 「ヨッシー New アイランド 任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Yoshi's New Island Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook). Shogakukan (Japanese). ISBN 978-4-09-106542-1. Page 26.
- ^ Jungle Rhythm... French's name
