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{{pmenemybox
{{character infobox
|PM2=yes
|image=[[File:PMTTYD NS Hooktail Artwork.png|170px]]<br>Artwork from ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)
|image=[[File:Hooktail.jpg|200px]]
|species=Dragon
|hp=20 (+10 upon revival)
|first_appearance=''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' ([[List of games by date#2004|2004]])
|atk=5 (3 using Attack FX R)
|latest_appearance=''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' ([[Nintendo Switch]]) ([[List of games by date#2024|2024]])
|def=1 (none using Attack FX R)
|items=None
|moves=Fire Breath (4), Stomp (5), Chomp (5)
|location=[[Hooktail Castle]]
|log=This giant dragon attacks by munching, stomping and breathing stinky, fiery breath. She hates things that make chirping noises, especially creatures that start with "cr-" and end with "-icket".
|tattle=That's Hooktail! It'll stomp and munch on you, and it has a more dragonish attack: stinky, fiery breath! It's tricky, especially when it's losing, and it'll try to fool you into being merciful. Oh, yeah, and one more thing. It hates things that start with "cr" and end with "icket". Supposedly, there's something related to that somewhere in this castle. Did we find it?
|before=[[Blooper|98]]
|#=99
|after=[[Gloomtail|100]]
}}
}}
{{quote|Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?|Hooktail|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door}}
{{quote|Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?|Hooktail|Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door}}
'''Hooktail''' is a dragon featured in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' and its [[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)|remake]]. She resides in [[Hooktail Castle]] and serves as the boss of Chapter 1.


'''Hooktail''' is a [[dragon]] in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' that had terrorized [[Petalburg|Petalburg's]] residents. As well as eating Petalburg's citizens, she had eaten anyone who came to her castle to slay her, including [[Kolorado's Father]], [[List of Implied Characters#Old Man Skoo|Old Man Skoo]], and [[Koopley]]. When [[Mario]], [[Goombella]] and [[Koops]] came to her castle to obtain the first [[Crystal Stars|Crystal Star]], the [[Diamond Star]], they were given a clue on how to defeat Hooktail once they found a letter being clutched by the corpse of Kolorado's father-- Hooktail cannot stand chirping sounds, especially ones that start with ''cr-'' and end with ''-icket'', the reason for this weakness being because she got food poisoning from eating a cricket. Some believe that it is a reference to the [[Toad]] of the Four Heroes, who is described as having a "strange voice". He defeated Hooktail long ago and his voice may have sounded like a cricket. (Somehow, in the comic Super Mario-Kun, Hooktail is extremely scared of ''frogs''.)
==History==
===Background===
Much of Hooktail's background is unknown, though according to stories told by [[Grifty]], she, along with her [[Gloomtail|two]] [[Bonetail|siblings]] were once pets of the [[Shadow Queen]] who traveled around the world terrorizing people before the Shadow Queen was imprisoned behind [[The Thousand-Year Door]]. Grifty's stories also mention that Hooktail Castle was created to contain one of the [[Crystal Stars]], implying Hooktail may have been placed there in order to guard it.


[[File:Hooktail.gif|left|thumb|An in-game sprite of '''Hooktail'''.]]
As explained by the residents of [[Petalburg]], Hooktail has terrorized villages in [[Petal Meadows]] for a long time, devouring many of their residents. Those who tried to stop her were ultimately devoured as well, if they were even able to make it to her past the traps of Hooktail Castle. Ten years before the events of ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'', [[Koopley]] nearly defeated her in battle, but was tricked into smelling her feet and eaten.  
During the fight it seems Hooktail is defeated, but she then offers 1,000 [[Coin]]s and a "Really Ultra Rare Badge" for her trust. She also, disgustingly, asks Mario if he would like to smell her feet, claiming that people pay good money to do this. It is the player's choice if Mario accepts or declines her offers. All three are traps and Hooktail will gobble Mario or stomp Mario for some damage if he accepts them. Before Mario and his team can finish her off, she swallows some of the [[audience]] members to replenish 10 of her HP. Once Mario defeats her once and for all, Koops' dad will burst out of her mouth, claiming he survived in Hooktail's stomach by hiding in his shell.  


Hooktail also has two older brothers named [[Bonetail]] and [[Gloomtail]], all three being the [[Shadow Queen|Shadow Queen's]] pets. It was not revealed that Hooktail was female until the fight with Gloomtail. Koopley, Koops, [[Koopie Koo]], and Goombella all referred to Hooktail as "it", while others erroneously refer to her as a "he". Gloomtail attempted to avenge his sister by killing Mario and his friends, but Mario proved too strong and Gloomtail failed. Hooktail resides in [[Hooktail Castle]], whose builder is unknown. Her castle was built to accommodate her massive size.
At some point, she got food poisoning from eating a cricket (in the original game) or a frog (in the remake), causing her to hate the creatures and feel sick from just hearing them. Adventurers such as [[Kolorado]]'s [[Kolorado's father|father]] were able to discover this weakness and note it for those who follow.  


[[File:SMKun_Hooktail.jpg|left|thumb|Hooktail appearing in the ''[[Super Mario-Kun]]'' series.]]
===''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''===
Later on in the game, when Mario and company revisit Hooktail's lair, they find no trace of Hooktail. Goombella wonders briefly where Hooktail disappeared to, but ends up deciding Hooktail's absence is a good thing.
When [[Mario]] first visits [[the Thousand-Year Door]] and holds the [[Magical Map]] aloft, the map reveals that the first Crystal Star, the [[Diamond Star]], is located in Petal Meadows. Shortly after Mario and [[Goombella]] arrive in Petal Meadows, they see a giant creature fly above them and into a castle in the distance. Upon arriving in Petalburg, they learn that the thing they had seen is called Hooktail and that she has the Crystal Star. [[Koops]], Koopley's son, joins Mario and Goombella on their quest to Hooktail Castle, hoping to avenge his presumedly dead father.  


==Other Appearances==
Once the three make it to Hooktail at the top of the castle, she is surprised to see more come to "steal the treasure [she protects]", initiating a battle. Wearing the [[Attack FX R]] badge in the original game or the [[Attack FX G]] badge in the remake in the battle will progressively weaken her Attack (to a minimum of 1) in addition to lowering her Defense to 0, making the battle much easier. After depleting her HP, she tries to bargain with Mario. She at first offers 1,000 [[coin|coins]] (10,000 coins in the remake), then a "lovely, rare, extra-special badge", and finally a chance to sniff her feet. All three are false offers, and she will attack Mario for 5 damage if the player accepts any of them. After this, she eats six of the eight [[Toad (species)|Toads]] in the right side of the [[audience]], healing her by 10 HP and causing the rest of the audience to run away. Jumping on Hooktail or using [[Goombella]]'s [[Headbonk]] will make her spit out the Toads she has eaten, two per hit. Upon defeat, she faints before coughing up the missing Koopley, who had managed to survive. He then rewards Mario with the Diamond Star, which was trapped inside her gut.
Hooktail also appeared in ''[[Super Mario-Kun]]'' in issue 32 of the series, the ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' issue.
In it, she attacks Mario, Goombella, and Koops. She gets weak by a frog's croak rather than a cricket's chirp.


Hooktail appears as a [[sticker]] in the game ''[[Super Smash Bros Brawl.]]'' The sticker is usable by every character and increases resistance to fire-based attacks.
Hooktail is later referenced near the end of the game when encountering her brother [[Gloomtail]], with one of the party members briefly mistaking him for her and questioning how she survived the encounter. This promptly outrages him and causes him to start a fight with Mario to avenge his sister. However, it is possible that Hooktail did survive, as if the player returns to her lair after her defeat, her body is nowhere to be seen, and Goombella questions where she went in her field tattle.  
<br clear=all>
{{sectionstub|1}}


==Names in Other Languages==
She is additionally mentioned in [[Koopie Koo]]'s email, as well as in the [[66th Trivia Quiz-Off]], where "Hooktail's Belly" is the correct answer for where the Diamond Star was located. In the remake, one of [[the Creepy Steeple Boo]]'s quizzes asks what her relation to Gloomtail is, with the correct answer being "younger sister".
{{Foreignname
 
|Jap=ゴンババ
In the remake's end credits, she breathes fire at a horde of [[Dull Bones]], scaring them off as she walks onstage, visibly shaking the screen as she does so.
 
===''Super Mario-kun''===
[[File:SMKun Hooktail.jpg|left|thumb|Hooktail appearing in ''[[Super Mario-kun]]''.]]
Hooktail appears in ''[[Super Mario-kun]]'' in volume 32 of the series, which contains the first part of the ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' arc. In it, she attacks Mario, Goombella, and Koops. As the manga is based on the original Japanese game, she is weakened by a frog's croak rather than a cricket's chirp. Hooktail also appears in volume 34 during a flashback, in which [[Bowser]] and [[Kammy Koopa]] end up in her castle. Angered by her defeat, she demands to know if the two are friends of Mario, and burns Bowser with her fire breath after he mentions being Mario's "acquaintance".
 
===''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''===
Hooktail appears as a [[Sticker (Super Smash Bros. Brawl)|Sticker]] in the game ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. The sticker is usable in [[smashwiki:Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary|The Subspace Emissary]] by every character and increases resistance to fire-based attacks by 36 points.
 
===Unused appearances===
====''Minecraft''====
[[File:Hooktail minecraft.jpg|thumb|150px|Hooktail as the Ender Dragon.]]
In the files for the Super Mario Mash-up in ''[[Minecraft|Minecraft: Wii U Edition]]'', there is an unused image of Hooktail as the [[nwiki:Ender Dragon|Ender Dragon]]. In the final version, the Ender Dragon is [[Gobblegut]] instead.
{{br}}
 
==General information==
===Physical appearance===
Hooktail is mostly red with areas of light greenish yellow. Her facial structure is similar that of a [[Blargg]] from ''[[Super Mario World]]'', though she has more teeth and one on each side sticks out. Her green eyes are also on the sides of her face instead of in the front. Three red spirals with yellow tips extend from her head, resembling ponytails, and her namesake tail is a dark blueish purple and split into three. Humorously, she can still fly despite her tiny wings.
 
===Personality===
Hooktail is an evil and gluttonous dragon, making a hobby out of eating people and feeling no remorse whatsoever for doing so. Even when she thinks someone does not look appetizing, such as Mario, she tries to eat them anyway, and her last words are her regretting all the meals she never got to try. She is also prideful in herself and her abilities, being unable to imagine anyone defeating her and claiming to have "world-renowned" feet.
 
===Gender===
In all localizations of the original game and remake, barring European Spanish, Hooktail is female. However, in the English localization of the GameCube version, she is referred to with masculine or gender-neutral pronouns prior to the confrontation with Gloomtail. This portrayed her true gender as being a plot twist, despite the original Japanese making it clear early on that she is female by having her use the feminine personal pronoun "warawa". The English script of the remake is changed to refer to her with feminine pronouns from the start. In addition, masculine terms used for her are removed or replaced with feminine or gender-neutral alternatives, such as "guy" being replaced with "gal".
 
==Profiles and statistics==
===''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''===
{{:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door bestiary|align=horizontal|transcludesection=Hooktail|image=[[File:PMTTYD Hooktail Head Sprite.png]]}}
 
===''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)===
{{:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) bestiary|align=horizontal|transcludesection=Hooktail|image=[[File:PMTTYDNS Tattle Log - Hooktail.png|180px]]}}
 
===''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''===
{{SSBB sticker
|name=Hooktail
|image=[[File:Hooktail Sticker.png|100px]]
|game-''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]
|effect=[Flame] - Resistance +36
}}
 
==Gallery==
===Screenshots===
====''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''====
<gallery>
Hooktail PMTTYD encounter.png|Mario and Koops encounter Hooktail
Hooktail Threatening PMTTYD.png|Hooktail threatens to devour the heroes.
PMTTYD Hooktail Battle Introduction.png|The start of the battle against Hooktail
PMTTYD Hooktail Battle.png|Mario prepares to swing his hammer at Hooktail
PMTTYD Hooktail Feeling Ill.png|Hooktail hearing the cricket sound
PMTTYD Hooktail Breath.png|Hooktail breathing her "stinky, fiery breath" at Goombella and Mario
PMTTYD Hooktail Pleading 1.png|Hooktail's first bargain
PMTTYD Hooktail Pleading 2.png|Hooktail's second bargain
PMTTYD Hooktail Pleading 3.png|Hooktail's third bargain
PMTTYD Hooktail Crowd.png|Hooktail gobbles the [[Toad (species)|Toads]] in the audience and restores 10 HP.
Hooktail Fainting PMTTYD.png|Hooktail faints.
Hooktail Finished! PMTTYD.png|Hooktail defeated.
Hooktail Last Burp.png|Hooktail spitting [[Koopley]]'s shell out
</gallery>
 
====''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)====
<gallery>
TTYDNS Hooktail Flying in Background.png
TTYDNS Hooktail in Darkness.png
PMTTYD NS Hooktail.png
TTYDNS Hooktail Battle about to Start.png
TTYDNS Hooktail Hates Frogs.png
TTYD NS Hooktail Being Weird.jpg
TTYDNS Hooktail Eating Audience.png
TTYDNS Hooktail Empty Audience.png
TTYDNS Hooktail Defeated.png
TTYDNS Hooktail Spitting Koopley Out.png
TTYD NS Credits Hooktail.jpg
</gallery>
 
===Miscellaneous===
<gallery>
PMTTYD Hooktail Artwork.png|Hooktail's original artwork
PMTTYDNS concept art characters 4.png|Concept artwork with various design iterations of Hooktail; the colored one notably lacks the "pop-up book" effect and has a floral pattern on her back.
Hooktail Instagram.jpg|Promotional character introduction
Nintendo Magazine Summer 2024 TTYD Relationship Chart.png|Hooktail on the Nintendo Magazine for summer 2024, showing a relationship chart featuring many characters from ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door''
</gallery>
 
==See also==
*[[Bonetail]]
*[[Gloomtail]]
 
==Names in other languages==
{{foreign names
|Jap=ゴンババ<ref>{{cite|quote=『ゴンババ』よ|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo Co.|language=ja}}</ref>
|JapR=Gonbaba
|JapR=Gonbaba
|JapM=
|JapM=From「ウンババ」(''Unbaba'', "[[Blargg]]"), and possibly「ドラゴン」(''doragon'', "dragon"); the play on「ウンババ」was also used on every dragon boss in ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' and ''Super Paper Mario''.
|Fra=Carbocroc
|ChiS=轰巴巴<ref>{{cite|quote=这是“轰巴巴”哦。|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo (Hong Kong)|language=zh-hans}}</ref>
|FraM= Pun on "carboniser" (burn, char) and "croc" (fang)
|ChiSR=Hōngbābā
|Ger=Lohgard
|ChiSM=Transliteration of Japanese name
|GerM=Portmanteau of "Lohe" (blaze) and a female name ending with "gard" (e.g. "Hildegard" or "Irmgard")
|ChiT=轟巴巴<ref>{{cite|quote=他是「轟巴巴」喔。|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo (Hong Kong)|language=zh-hant}}</ref>
|Spa=Gombaba
|ChiTR=Hōngbābā
|SpaM=Taken from the Japanese ''Gonbaba'', but with the ''M'' before ''B'' because, in Spanish grammar, ''N'' should not come directly before ''B''.
|ChiTM=Transliteration of Japanese name
|Ita=Crimilde
|Dut=Vermila<ref>{{cite|quote=Dat is Vermila!|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Europe|language=nl}}</ref>
|ItaM=italian female name}}
|DutM=Pun on ''vermiljoen'' ("vermilion") and the feminine name "Mila"
|Fre=Carbocroc<ref>{{cite|quote=C'est Carbocroc!|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of America|language=fr-ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite|quote=C'est Carbocroc.|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Europe|language=fr}}</ref>
|FreM= Pun on ''carboniser'' ("burn", "char") and ''croc'' ("fang")
|Ger=Lohgard<ref>{{cite|quote=Das ist Lohgard.|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Europe|language=de}}</ref>
|GerM=Portmanteau of ''Lohe'' ("blaze") and the feminine name suffix "-gard" (e.g. "Hildegard" or "Irmgard")
|Ita=Crimilde<ref>{{cite|quote=È la dragonessa Crimilde!|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Europe|language=it}}</ref>
|ItaM=Portmanteau of "crimson" and the feminine name suffix "-hilde"
|Kor=곤자잔<ref>{{cite|quote=『곤자잔』이야|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Korea|language=ko}}</ref>
|KorR=Gonjajan
|KorM=From Japanese name and "짜자잔" (''Jjajajan'', "Blargg")
|Spa=Gombaba<ref>{{cite|quote=Es Gombaba.|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of America|language=es-419}}</ref><ref>{{cite|quote=Es Gombaba.|title=''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' (Nintendo Switch)|publisher=Nintendo of Europe|language=es-es}}</ref>
|SpaM=Same as Japanese name
}}


==Trivia==
==Trivia==
*In the game ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'', there is a dragon boss called [[Fracktail]] that closely resembles Hooktail.
*In non-English versions of the GameCube original (as well as all versions of the remake), Hooktail's weakness is frogs and not crickets. However, in the American ''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door'' demo included in the Demo Disc Version 18 for the GameCube, Hooktail is weak to frogs.
*Oddly, Hooktail was shown to actually have a hook at the end of her tail in the game, but in her official artwork, she does not.
*Usually when Mario levels up, both Star Power and the number of audience members are maxed out. However, if Mario levels up from the Hooktail battle, the audience remains empty and no Star Power is refilled, the only instance of this happening in the game. The same applies for getting a Bingo! during her second phase; the audience remains empty.
*If the player reduces Hooktail's HP to 0 the first time she will still eat the audience.
 
*If the player reduces the audience because the player got a Bingo! from a Poison Mushroom, Hooktail could regain less than 10 HP.
==References==
*The "music cue" that plays before Hooktail speaks is also used for [[Gloomtail]] and [[Cortez]].
<references/>
*Hooktail resembles [[zeldawiki:Valoo|Valoo]] from ''[[zeldawiki:The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker]]''. Her name may even come from the boss battle with [[zeldawiki:Gohma|Gohma]], in which [[zeldawiki:Link|Link]] must use the [[zeldawiki:Grappling Hook|Grappling Hook]] on Valoo's hooklike tail.
 
*In the second part of the fight, if the player attacks Hooktail's head, some of the Toads she ate fall out.
{{PMTTYD}}
<br clear=all>
{{PM2}}
[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[Category:Dragons]]
[[Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Characters]]
[[Category:Fire creatures]]
[[Category:Paper Mario Series Characters]]
[[Category:Paper Mario Series Bosses]]
[[Category:RPG Characters]]
[[Category:RPG Bosses]]
[[Category:Siblings]]
[[Category:Siblings]]
[[Category:Reptiles and Amphibians]]
[[Category:Pets]]
[[Category:Bosses]]
[[Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door bosses]]
[[Category:Super Smash Bros. Stickers]]
[[Category:Super Mario-kun characters]]
[[Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Bosses]]
[[Category:Super Smash Bros. Brawl stickers]]
[[Category:Villains]]
[[de:Lohgard]]
[[Category:Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]
[[it:Crimilde]]
[[Category:Fire Creatures]]

Latest revision as of 20:24, August 31, 2024

Hooktail
Artwork of Hooktail from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Artwork from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Species Dragon
First appearance Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)
“Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?”
Hooktail, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Hooktail is a dragon featured in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its remake. She resides in Hooktail Castle and serves as the boss of Chapter 1.

History

Background

Much of Hooktail's background is unknown, though according to stories told by Grifty, she, along with her two siblings were once pets of the Shadow Queen who traveled around the world terrorizing people before the Shadow Queen was imprisoned behind The Thousand-Year Door. Grifty's stories also mention that Hooktail Castle was created to contain one of the Crystal Stars, implying Hooktail may have been placed there in order to guard it.

As explained by the residents of Petalburg, Hooktail has terrorized villages in Petal Meadows for a long time, devouring many of their residents. Those who tried to stop her were ultimately devoured as well, if they were even able to make it to her past the traps of Hooktail Castle. Ten years before the events of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Koopley nearly defeated her in battle, but was tricked into smelling her feet and eaten.

At some point, she got food poisoning from eating a cricket (in the original game) or a frog (in the remake), causing her to hate the creatures and feel sick from just hearing them. Adventurers such as Kolorado's father were able to discover this weakness and note it for those who follow.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

When Mario first visits the Thousand-Year Door and holds the Magical Map aloft, the map reveals that the first Crystal Star, the Diamond Star, is located in Petal Meadows. Shortly after Mario and Goombella arrive in Petal Meadows, they see a giant creature fly above them and into a castle in the distance. Upon arriving in Petalburg, they learn that the thing they had seen is called Hooktail and that she has the Crystal Star. Koops, Koopley's son, joins Mario and Goombella on their quest to Hooktail Castle, hoping to avenge his presumedly dead father.

Once the three make it to Hooktail at the top of the castle, she is surprised to see more come to "steal the treasure [she protects]", initiating a battle. Wearing the Attack FX R badge in the original game or the Attack FX G badge in the remake in the battle will progressively weaken her Attack (to a minimum of 1) in addition to lowering her Defense to 0, making the battle much easier. After depleting her HP, she tries to bargain with Mario. She at first offers 1,000 coins (10,000 coins in the remake), then a "lovely, rare, extra-special badge", and finally a chance to sniff her feet. All three are false offers, and she will attack Mario for 5 damage if the player accepts any of them. After this, she eats six of the eight Toads in the right side of the audience, healing her by 10 HP and causing the rest of the audience to run away. Jumping on Hooktail or using Goombella's Headbonk will make her spit out the Toads she has eaten, two per hit. Upon defeat, she faints before coughing up the missing Koopley, who had managed to survive. He then rewards Mario with the Diamond Star, which was trapped inside her gut.

Hooktail is later referenced near the end of the game when encountering her brother Gloomtail, with one of the party members briefly mistaking him for her and questioning how she survived the encounter. This promptly outrages him and causes him to start a fight with Mario to avenge his sister. However, it is possible that Hooktail did survive, as if the player returns to her lair after her defeat, her body is nowhere to be seen, and Goombella questions where she went in her field tattle.

She is additionally mentioned in Koopie Koo's email, as well as in the 66th Trivia Quiz-Off, where "Hooktail's Belly" is the correct answer for where the Diamond Star was located. In the remake, one of the Creepy Steeple Boo's quizzes asks what her relation to Gloomtail is, with the correct answer being "younger sister".

In the remake's end credits, she breathes fire at a horde of Dull Bones, scaring them off as she walks onstage, visibly shaking the screen as she does so.

Super Mario-kun

Mario, Goombella, and Koops battling on Hooktail from Super Mario-kun
Hooktail appearing in Super Mario-kun.

Hooktail appears in Super Mario-kun in volume 32 of the series, which contains the first part of the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door arc. In it, she attacks Mario, Goombella, and Koops. As the manga is based on the original Japanese game, she is weakened by a frog's croak rather than a cricket's chirp. Hooktail also appears in volume 34 during a flashback, in which Bowser and Kammy Koopa end up in her castle. Angered by her defeat, she demands to know if the two are friends of Mario, and burns Bowser with her fire breath after he mentions being Mario's "acquaintance".

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Hooktail appears as a Sticker in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The sticker is usable in The Subspace Emissary by every character and increases resistance to fire-based attacks by 36 points.

Unused appearances

Minecraft

Image of Minecraft: Wii U Edition showing Hooktail as the Enderdragon.
Hooktail as the Ender Dragon.

In the files for the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft: Wii U Edition, there is an unused image of Hooktail as the Ender Dragon. In the final version, the Ender Dragon is Gobblegut instead.

General information

Physical appearance

Hooktail is mostly red with areas of light greenish yellow. Her facial structure is similar that of a Blargg from Super Mario World, though she has more teeth and one on each side sticks out. Her green eyes are also on the sides of her face instead of in the front. Three red spirals with yellow tips extend from her head, resembling ponytails, and her namesake tail is a dark blueish purple and split into three. Humorously, she can still fly despite her tiny wings.

Personality

Hooktail is an evil and gluttonous dragon, making a hobby out of eating people and feeling no remorse whatsoever for doing so. Even when she thinks someone does not look appetizing, such as Mario, she tries to eat them anyway, and her last words are her regretting all the meals she never got to try. She is also prideful in herself and her abilities, being unable to imagine anyone defeating her and claiming to have "world-renowned" feet.

Gender

In all localizations of the original game and remake, barring European Spanish, Hooktail is female. However, in the English localization of the GameCube version, she is referred to with masculine or gender-neutral pronouns prior to the confrontation with Gloomtail. This portrayed her true gender as being a plot twist, despite the original Japanese making it clear early on that she is female by having her use the feminine personal pronoun "warawa". The English script of the remake is changed to refer to her with feminine pronouns from the start. In addition, masculine terms used for her are removed or replaced with feminine or gender-neutral alternatives, such as "guy" being replaced with "gal".

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Hooktail
PMTTYD Hooktail Head Sprite.png Max HP 20 (+10 upon revival) Attack 5 Defense 1
Location(s) Hooktail Castle Role Boss Level 65
Sleep? 20% Dizzy? 50% Confuse? 50%
Tiny? 0% Stop? 0% Soft? 0%
Burn? 100% Freeze? 0% Fright? 0%
Gale Force? 0% KO? 0% Moves Fire Breath (4, Piercing), Stomp (5), Chomp (5)
Exp. points 0 Coins N/A Items None
Tattle Log #:
99
Log This giant dragon attacks by munching, stomping and breathing stinky, fiery breath. She hates things that make chirping noises, especially creatures that start with "cr-" and end with "-icket".
Tattle That's Hooktail! Max HP is 20, Attack is 5, and Defense is 1. It'll stomp and munch on you, and it has a more dragonish attack: stinky, fiery breath! It's tricky, especially when it's losing, and it'll try to fool you into being merciful. Oh, yeah, and one more thing. It hates things that start with "cr" and end with "icket". Supposedly, there's something related to that somewhere in this castle. Did we find it?

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Hooktail
A Tattle Log image from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) Max HP 20 (+10 upon revival) Attack 5 Defense 1
Location(s) Hooktail Castle Role Boss Level 65
Sleep? 20% Dizzy? 50% Confuse? 50%
Tiny? 0% Stop? 0% Soft? 0%
Burn? 100% Freeze? 0% Fright? 0%
Gale Force? 0% KO? 0% Moves Fire Breath (4, Piercing), Stomp (5), Chomp (5)
Exp. points 0 Coins 100 Items None
Tattle Log #:
102
Log This giant dragon attacks by munching, stomping and breathing stinky, fiery breath. She hates things that make ribbit noises, especially creatures that start with "f" and end with "rog."
Tattle That's Hooktail! Max HP is 20, Attack is 5, and Defense is 1. She'll stomp and munch on you, and she has a more dragonish attack—stinky, fiery breath! She's tricky, especially when she's losing, and she'll try to fool you into being merciful. Oh, yeah, and one more thing. She hates things that start with "f" and end with "rog". Supposedly, there's something related to that somewhere in this castle. Did we find it?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Sticker
Hooktail
A Sticker of Hooktail
Artwork from:
Effects in The Subspace Emissary: [Flame] - Resistance +36
Usable by: Anyone

Gallery

Screenshots

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Miscellaneous

See also

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese ゴンババ[1]
Gonbaba
From「ウンババ」(Unbaba, "Blargg"), and possibly「ドラゴン」(doragon, "dragon"); the play on「ウンババ」was also used on every dragon boss in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Super Paper Mario.
Chinese (simplified) 轰巴巴[2]
Hōngbābā
Transliteration of Japanese name
Chinese (traditional) 轟巴巴[3]
Hōngbābā
Transliteration of Japanese name
Dutch Vermila[4] Pun on vermiljoen ("vermilion") and the feminine name "Mila"
French Carbocroc[5][6] Pun on carboniser ("burn", "char") and croc ("fang")
German Lohgard[7] Portmanteau of Lohe ("blaze") and the feminine name suffix "-gard" (e.g. "Hildegard" or "Irmgard")
Italian Crimilde[8] Portmanteau of "crimson" and the feminine name suffix "-hilde"
Korean 곤자잔[9]
Gonjajan
From Japanese name and "짜자잔" (Jjajajan, "Blargg")
Spanish Gombaba[10][11] Same as Japanese name

Trivia

  • In non-English versions of the GameCube original (as well as all versions of the remake), Hooktail's weakness is frogs and not crickets. However, in the American Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door demo included in the Demo Disc Version 18 for the GameCube, Hooktail is weak to frogs.
  • Usually when Mario levels up, both Star Power and the number of audience members are maxed out. However, if Mario levels up from the Hooktail battle, the audience remains empty and no Star Power is refilled, the only instance of this happening in the game. The same applies for getting a Bingo! during her second phase; the audience remains empty.

References

  1. ^ 『ゴンババ』よ」– Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo Co. (Japanese).
  2. ^ "这是“轰巴巴”哦。" – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo (Hong Kong) (Simplified Chinese).
  3. ^ 他是「轟巴巴」喔。」– Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo (Hong Kong) (Traditional Chinese).
  4. ^ "Dat is Vermila!" – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Europe (Dutch).
  5. ^ "C'est Carbocroc!" – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of America (Canadian French).
  6. ^ "C'est Carbocroc." – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Europe (French).
  7. ^ "Das ist Lohgard." – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Europe (German).
  8. ^ "È la dragonessa Crimilde!" – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Europe (Italian).
  9. ^ "『곤자잔』이야" – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Korea (Korean).
  10. ^ "Es Gombaba." – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of America (Latin American Spanish).
  11. ^ "Es Gombaba." – Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch). Nintendo of Europe (European Spanish).