Editing Popple

{{character infobox

|image=[[File:MLSS+BM Art - Popple.png|200px]]<br>Artwork of Popple from ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]''

|first_appearance=''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' ([[List of games by date#2003|2003]])

|latest_appearance=''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]'' ([[List of games by date#2017|2017]])

{{quote|Oh, sure, you guys are real tough, teaming up on me! Don't think you can beat me just 'cause I'm alone. It's my solo debut on the battle lines, see?|Popple|Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga}}

'''Popple''' is a supporting antagonist in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', [[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions|its Nintendo 3DS remake]], and a minor character in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]''. Popple, or the "Shadow Thief", as he calls himself, dreams of becoming a super thief and being rich beyond belief. He has a tendency of saying "see?" at the end of most sentences, a common verbal tic for stereotypical thugs and mobsters.

===''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' / ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions''===

[[File:MLSSPopple&Rookie.png|thumb|left|Popple with [[Rookie]] for the first time.]]

[[Mario]] and [[Luigi]] first run into Popple and his accomplice, [[Rookie]] (who is actually [[Bowser]] suffering from amnesia), in the [[Chateau de Chucklehuck]], where they are after the secret of the brewery's drink, [[Chuckola Cola (Mario & Luigi series)|Chuckola Cola]]. They soon fight against Mario and Luigi, but they are quickly beaten and run ahead. They show up again when Mario and Luigi solve the puzzles of [[Chucklehuck Woods]] and acquiring all [[Chuckola Fruit]] to give to [[Chuckleroot]], but they end up getting captured and later being blasted into the sky by the [[Chuckolator]] inside [[Mother Chuckalola]].

 

[[File:MALSS Popple And Rookie 2.png|200px|thumb|Popple with [[Rookie]] for the second time, alerting him of the Bros.' presence.]]

Popple and Rookie are encountered again in the basement of [[Woohoo Hooniversity]], where they are now trying to steal the [[Beanstar]], and end up fighting Mario and Luigi again. Though they have formed new [[Bros. Attack]]s (that often end up hurting Popple), they still lose. After the battle, the still-speaking head of a [[Peach-bot]] falls through the ceiling. Its voice irritates the Beanstar so much it bursts through the ceiling, taking Mario, Luigi, Rookie, and Popple with it. The Beanstar then divides into four pieces and tosses all its passengers off, Popple included.

 

Popple appears again in Chucklehuck Woods, trying to get a piece of the Beanstar off of a statue. He is then fought again, this time without the help of Rookie. After losing, he swears revenge upon the two and spins himself into the ground to escape. Popple once again appears in [[Teehee Valley]], after having made a base there. After finding an unconscious Luigi in the desert, he takes him as a prisoner to lure Mario to his base. Mario frees Luigi, but Popple soon arrives and introduces his new Rookie, [[Birdo]], who had fallen hopelessly in love with him. Despite the efforts of his new teammate, they still lose in battle, and Popple blames his defeat on a heartbroken Birdo, who responds by knocking him through the wall. Later on, Popple is arrested offscreen and is then sentenced to community service in [[Little Fungitown]], where he is last seen with his supervisor ironically calling him Rookie.

Popple returns in the game's [[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions|remake]], where in the main story, he has the same role as the original game. Popple also appears in the ''Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser'' mode, where more of his backstory is revealed. It is shown that Popple trips on Bowser while stealing food in [[Hoohoo Village]], causing the unconscious Koopa King to wake up and follow him. Soon after, Popple makes the amnesiac Bowser his Rookie. In Chucklehuck Woods, Popple momentarily loses sight of Rookie, and asks a group of [[Bowser's Minions]], led by [[Captain Goomba (Mario & Luigi series)|Captain Goomba]], where his partner went off to. However, the minions intimidate Popple into a fight and he ends up losing. Rookie appears soon after, and despite Captain Goomba's attempts to bring his master back [[Bowser's Castle|home]], Rookie does not recognize his minions and burns Captain Goomba with his [[Fire Breath|fire breath]]. The minions then leave.  

Popple is later encountered again, now looking for a replacement for the missing Rookie (following the events with Mario and Luigi in Woohoo Hooniversity). Candidates for Rookie's replacement include Birdo, a [[Fighter Fly]], a [[Beanie]], a [[Paratroopea]], and a [[Tanoomba]]. He sees Bowser's minions again and fights them, but is again defeated. Birdo, the only potential Rookie left, then takes him away. Popple seems to be known among criminals, when several enemies line up to see who can be his new partner after his previous [[Rookie]] goes missing.

Popple reappears in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]''. In this game, Popple is first met outside of [[Pi'illoper]]'s house. After a failed robbery of his house, Popple runs into the Bros., whom he does not remember, and drops his loot. However, he begins vaguely recalling his unfortunate encounters with them in the [[Beanbean Kingdom]] (while unaware that it was specifically ''them'' he had in mind). He is later seen on two tours, at [[Driftwood Shore]] and [[Mount Pajamaja]], the former of which he abandons due to a lack of potential treasure, and the latter of which he is kicked out of by the Massif Bros., who explain there is no room for him. Popple later attempts to burgle Pi'lloper's collection room again, this time from the back entrance, accessible through the northern ruins. On the way, he misinterprets a [[Wiggler#Mario & Luigi: Dream Team|Wiggler]] (who aspires to build a garden in the Pi'illo ruins) for a security guard, and meets Mario and Luigi, whom he still does not quite remember. If the Bros. come here before finding all the parts of the [[Ultibed]], Popple will tell them to "find more loot" first.

Later, he starts calling them his "rookies", just like he did with Bowser and Birdo in ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga''. He then forces Mario and Luigi into a battle against Wiggler by enraging him with insults. Once the Bros. beat Wiggler, Popple suddenly turns against them, aiming to claim Pi'illoper's treasure for himself, but is quickly beaten by the Mario Bros. Afterwards, he realizes Wiggler was not a security guard and continues to insult Wiggler and his aspirations, angered that he fought over a "stupid flower garden". A furious Wiggler goes after him for insulting the flowers, and Popple declares he has had enough of [[Pi'illo Island|this "stupid island"]]. He is not seen again for the rest of the game.

==Battle patterns==

===''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' / ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions''===

====Chateau de Chucklehuck====

In the first battle against Popple, he is accompanied by [[Rookie]]. Whenever Popple is attacked, Rookie throws fast-moving hammers that each brother must deflect with their own hammers. If the player defeats Rookie first, it will cause Popple to run away from the battle. However, defeating Popple nets fifty more experience points and thirty more coins than if he had escaped.

 

To attack, Popple targets a single brother and either rams them or steals a [[Mushroom]] from them; if the latter hits, he heals either himself or Rookie with it on the next turn. Who he targets can be determined by watching his face; a grinning Popple will target Luigi, while a 'neutral' expression signals Mario. Determining his actual move depends on which type of counterattack is available: jumping means that Popple will tackle them, while hammers mean that Popple will steal from them.

The second time he is fought with Rookie, his moves remain the same until Rookie or himself loses about half of his HP, prompting them to start doing "[[Bros. Attack]]s" of their own, which always have Popple getting hurt, although he takes no damage. The first one has Rookie tossing Popple in the air, then jumping and grabbing him; he then piledrives Popple into the ground to create shock waves that need to be jumped over. The second one has Rookie light Popple on fire and swing him towards a brother, which has to be countered with the hammer.

The third time, when Popple is alone, he has two new attacks. For the first one, he grabs a money bag from offscreen, and starts throwing random items out of it. Most of the items are coins and mushrooms, but he will occasionally throw out a [[Poison Mushroom]] or a [[Bob-omb]]. These items will either come straight at the brothers or bounce towards them, in which case they will only get hit by them if they jump. For the second move, Popple will turn his back to the Bros., with the same tell as his first two attacks (either a smile or his 'neutral' expression), before attempting to steal one of their hammers. This can be countered with the hammer, but if it is not blocked, Popple will steal the hammer and use it against them. It also prevents that brother from using his hammer except for [[Fire Bros. (move)|Fire Bros.]] and [[Thunder Bros.]] (when advanced). The hammer later returns to their possession after a few turns. In the remake, by attacking Popple, Mario and Luigi can make him drop their respective hammer, and will try to retrieve it from him. By mashing either {{button|3ds|A}} (for Mario) or {{button|3ds|B}} (for Luigi), the respective bro will gain back their hammer. Barring this particular fight (as he is alone this time), Popple is not required to be defeated to win any of the battles he is in.

In the fourth and final battle, he fights with [[Birdo]] by his side with all of the moves that he previously used. Strangely enough, during this battle, when Popple steals Mario or Luigi's [[Ultra Hammer]], it shows he has a [[Super Hammer]] instead. The remake ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]'' properly shows him with an Ultra Hammer.

In the remake's ''Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser'' mode, Popple is a ranged enemy. He carries a large sack in battle, which he pulls an infinite supply of Ultra Hammers from to throw. His Special Skill is Rain of Pain.

In ''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'', Popple teams up with the Bros. to battle Wiggler, but his acts put the Bros. in constant danger; some of them include angering Wiggler, latching onto a Bro. and making it harder for them to counter, or selfishly knocking them aside to try and escape. Usually, most of these can be prevented if a bro. attacks Popple when he stands in front of Wiggler to attack, but in some cases Popple shrugs off the blows. After Wiggler is beaten, Popple will then turn on the Bros. and fight them himself.

He can attack by running up to either Mario or Luigi and attempt to steal one of their hammers, which can be prevented if the target Bro. promptly smacks Popple with their hammer. If Popple is successful, he will start hitting them with it afterwards, an attack he used in ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga''. Starting with the Bro. he got the hammer from, Popple will continuously smash Mario and Luigi until the Bro. with a hammer strikes back first when approached. Occasionally, he might also try stealing a mushroom instead and heal himself on the spot. This is shown when he does not swing his arm beforehand, unlike when he is about to steal a hammer.

Popple may also go off-screen and return with his burlap sack, from which he throws out three or five objects before him in a row. The objects can be soccer balls, Mushrooms, Coins, or [[Brick Block]]s. Popple will stand before each item (starting from the southernmost one), rear back his foot, and kick whatever it is at the Bros. If he faces up, he is aiming for Mario, and facing straight ahead means that he is aiming for Luigi.

Getting hit by the soccer balls will result in the targeted Bro taking damage, and must be smashed back with the hammer to counter-attack. Getting hit by the coins will not produce any negative effects, and smashing them back will result in Popple getting them back, also not having any negative effects. Getting hit by a Mushroom will heal the hit Bro. by 30 HP, and smashing it back will heal Popple by 30 HP instead. Should Popple kick a Brick Block, he will shatter it open and hurt his toe, revealing one of the other three items mentioned inside. Popple will quickly recover and kick the item at his target, essentially hiding how the player should counter the attack until it happens.

==General information==

===Physical appearance===

Popple, like most Beanish, has green skin and a bean shaped head. The upper portion of his face is concealed by a purple mask and a grey beret with a green tuft sticking out of the top, while the lower portion shows him to have an unusually large mouth, usually in a large, toothy grin. He wears a long sleeved shirt with purple and grey stripes, white gloves, and a pair of dark grey pants that are oversized at the waist, and his shoes seem to blend in with his pants sleeves. He seems to be just a bit shorter than Mario, and almost always stands with his knees bent and slightly leaning backwards while hunching forwards.

 

===Personality===

Popple has a violent temper, often shouting and becoming angry when encountering someone in the way of his plans. He is also shown to hold grudges over previous fights, becoming enraged when seeing Mario and Luigi show up when he finds the [[Beanstar]], frequently getting into arguments with other characters, and picking a fight with Bowser's minions despite them apologizing for attacking him earlier.

 

 

 

==Quotes==

===''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' / ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions''===

 

===''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team''===

 

==Gallery==

MLSS Art - Popple.png|''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]''

Popple Idle.gif|''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]''

PoppleDreamTeamSprite.gif|''[[Mario & Luigi: Dream Team]]''

Popple MLSSBM.gif|''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions]]''

 

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (1)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple Idle.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (2)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple Idle.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (3)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple Idle.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (4)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple Idle.gif]]}}

 

*'''''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' Official Nintendo Player's Guide:''' ''Popple is a master thief in constant search of a dependable sidekick. He and his various trainees will be a frequent thorn in our heroes' sides.''<ref>{{cite|author=Thomason, Steve|title=''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' Player's Guide|page=5|date=2003|publisher=Nintendo of America|language=en-us|isbn=1-930206-43-7}}</ref>

 

{{:Mario & Luigi: Dream Team bestiary|transcludesection=Popple|image=[[File:PoppleDreamTeamSprite.gif]]|align=horizontal}}

 

===''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions''===

*'''Japanese website bio:''' なにかと旅先でマリオとそうぐうする怪盗（？）。最近とある新人をやとったらしい。<ref name=BMBio>''マリオ＆ルイージRPG1 DX'' website. {{file link|M&LSS+BM - Japanese Character Bio Popple.png|Character bio for Popple}}.</ref>(''A thief (?) who is always on the lookout for Mario on his travels.  He seems to have recently acquired a certain newcomer.'')

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (1)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple MLSSBM.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (2)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple MLSSBM.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (3)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple MLSSBM.gif]]}}

{{:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions bestiary|transcludesection=Popple (4)|align=horizontal|image=[[File:Popple MLSSBM.gif]]}}

{{foreign names

|JapM=Possibly from Chinese term「扒窃」(''páqiè'', "to steal") and Italian word ''ghigno'' ("grin")

|Chi=帕纽

|ChiR=Pàniǔ

|ChiM=Japanese name

|ItaM=Reference to how "Popple" is a "champ" while [[Rookie]] is a "rookie"

|KorM=From his Japanese name

*In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', a reference to Popple is made when Bowser visits [[Poshley Sanctum]] to steal the [[Garnet Star]]. When [[Pennington]] asks him who he is, one of the answers is "The Shadow Thief", which is what Popple calls himself. Also, if the player selects this title, Bowser will say "I'll be taking this, thanks!", a reference to Popple's "I'll be takin' that, see?", which in turn is a reference to {{wp|Edward G. Robinson}}'s character in films such as ''{{wp|Little Caesar (film)|Little Caesar}}''.

*Popple's theme plays during the battle against [[Fawful]] at [[Bowser's Castle]]. Note that in the later-released Japanese version of the game and ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions'', Cackletta's fight music from the battle in [[Woohoo Hooniversity]] is used for this Fawful encounter instead.

*In ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'', when Popple is encountered alone in Chucklehuck Woods, he has 520 HP (slightly more than that of [[Bowletta]], though in other versions he has 620 HP, which is less than Bowletta's HP in those versions). However, when he is next encountered with Birdo at his side, his total HP is 500 (in other versions of ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'', he has 660 HP, and in its remake, ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions'', he has a total of 600 HP).

*Despite him appearing in only three games, Popple is fought a total of seven unique times (four times in ''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga'' and in its 3DS remake, once in ''Mario & Luigi: Dream Team'' and two times in ''Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser'') making him the most fought character in the whole ''Mario & Luigi'' series (with the exception of the different forms of Bowser).

*Popple is similar in personality to [[Croco]], another thief who steals items and is a boss.

 

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{{M&LDT}}

[[Category:Beanish]]

[[Category:Playable characters]]

[[Category:Thieves]]

[[Category:Mario & Luigi: Dream Team bosses]]

[[Category:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga bosses]]

[[Category:Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions characters]]

[[it:Champo]]