Downed

Mario and Koops downed by Hooktail in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Downed, down, fainted, or KO'd is a status effect in most role-playing games, including those of the Super Mario franchise. When a character's HP reaches zero, they fall in battle, then lay motionless on the ground. A downed party member cannot attack or use any commands, unless they are revived. After a battle is won, any downed party members are restored to 1 HP, with the exception of the GameCube version of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where their HP remains zero and they must be revived with an item or hearts dropped by defeated enemies in the overworld. Many post-boss battle cutscenes will also restore party members to full HP after the boss is defeated. If all available party members are downed, the player will lose the battle.

History

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, downed party members are effectively out of the battle unless they are revived, either via a Pick Me Up or Princess Peach's Come Back technique. If all party members are downed in battle, a Game Over will be triggered. The remake introduces the Triple Move Healing Rainbow, which revives downed party members in addition to fully healing the party. Additionally, if all three party members go down in battle, any surviving party members on stand-by will automatically swap them out. A Game Over will then only occur if all party members, active or otherwise, are down.

Paper Mario series

In the first two games in the Paper Mario series, if Mario loses all HP with any Life Shrooms in his inventory, he will be revived at 10 HP. Otherwise, he is downed and a Game Over occurs regardless of his partner's current condition.

In Paper Mario, the equivalent to this status for partners is the Injured status, which is inflicted if they take damage. They will not be able to attack after the same amount of turns as the damage they take.

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, if a partner's HP reaches zero with no Life Mushrooms, they fall in battle. They cannot act in battle or be revived for the rest of the battle and must be switched out. In the original game, a downed partner's HP is not recovered to 1 HP after a battle is won (after a different victory fanfare), excluding all bosses except Shadow Queen, when all partners are restored to full HP after falling in battle. In the Nintendo Switch remake, a partner can react to Mario when he is KO'd.

In Super Paper Mario, Mario, Princess Peach, Bowser and Luigi can be downed if they hit zero HP, with Life Shrooms now reviving them at 5 HP instead of 10 when this happens. If a character is downed during the Underchomp fight, due to the unique battle interface, text is used to transcribe their defeat.

As Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash lack any items that revive Mario after he is downed, losing all HP in those games results in a Game Over.

In Paper Mario: The Origami King, Mario can carry a 1-Up Mushroom, which will automatically revive him for all of his HP if he falls in battle.

Mario & Luigi series

Luigi downed by one of the Clumphs in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga with Mario panicking

In the Mario & Luigi series, when either Mario or Luigi's HP reaches zero, he falls unconscious and then is no longer able to battle or gain experience points until he is revived via a 1-Up Mushroom or 1-Up DX. If all available characters are defeated, the player will lose the battle, then receive a Game Over.

While a brother is defeated and the enemy turn ends, the other briefly panics while looking at his KO'd brother, then, on the enemy's turn, he will carry him on his shoulders, slowing him down and making it harder to dodge or counterattack, and he will not be able to perform any Bros. Attacks. When running away from battle, the still-standing brother will carry the defeated on his back as he runs away, but he will never trip and drop more coins.

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, if an adult brother is knocked unconscious, their respective baby counterpart will carry them out of the scene. If the baby is defeated too, the remaining adult will have to carry him in his arms when dodging. Bros. Items that require at least two or four brothers to use are also disabled.

In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and its remake, due to Bowser fighting alone with Mario and Luigi inside his body, he cannot be revived and thus his HP reaching zero results in a Game Over; in the case of Mario and Luigi losing all HP while fighting enemies inhaled by Bowser, a Game Over occurs instead of the battle continuing with the latter.

In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, falling in battle will cause the side of the Badge Meter that corresponds with the fallen Bro. to instantly be depleted, akin to if that Bro. got a Great! or worse in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story if Luigi has his Excellent!! badge equipped.

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Mario and Luigi will not carry Paper Mario, and vice versa, if they are defeated. Trio Attacks are also disabled if one character is defeated, as they required all three characters to use. Additionally, a new item called the Double 1-Up Mushroom is introduced, which revives two fallen characters at once.

In Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Attack Combos are disabled when Mario or Luigi is KO'd. Reclusa petrifies one of the Bros., forcing the still-active one to carry them as dead weight. If one brother is KO'd, Reclusa will skip this and go right into the attack. After the attack finishes, the petrified brother will return to normal. Luigi cannot use Luigi Logic when Mario is KO'd.

Mario + Rabbids series

In the Mario + Rabbids series, when either Hero's HP reaches zero, they fall unconscious and then are no longer able to battle. If all available Heroes are defeated, the player will lose the battle. In Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, the Spark Pulser can use Revive on downed Heroes within range.

Gallery

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  Mario and Geno after being downed by Yaridovich in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	倒れている[?] Taoreteiru	Downed
Chinese (simplified)	无法战斗[?] Wúfǎ zhàndòu	Unable to battle
Chinese (traditional)	無法戰鬥[?] Wúfǎ zhàndòu	Unable to battle
Dutch	verslagen[?]	felled
French	K.-O.[?]	-
German	Kampfunfähig[?]	Unable to battle
Italian	KO[?]	-
	sconfitto[?]	defeated	Super Mario RPG
Korean	배틀 불능[?] Baeteul bulleung	Unable to battle
Spanish	caído[?]	fallen
Spanish (NOE)	Noqueo[?]	KO'd