Frankie

This article is about the Pianta mobster from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. For the similarly named Boo from Paper Mario, see Franky.

Frankie
Sprite from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Species	Pianta
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I...”

—Frankie, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Frankie is a Pianta and Don Pianta's underboss in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. His skin is blue and he wears rectangular sunglasses, a white suit with a red tie, and a grass skirt. Like the other members of the Pianta syndicate, he speaks with a Brooklyn accent.

In the game, Frankie has fallen in love with Francesca, Don Pianta's daughter. The two decide to elope and Mario is asked by Don Pianta to find and bring them back to him or tell of their location. In exchange, he will give a Blimp Ticket to Glitzville. Mario finds them at the harbor in Rogueport waiting to leave on a boat. After Mario tells the two that Don Pianta is looking for them, Frankie asks Francesca that they both talk with the Don. Regardless of how Mario answers Francesca and Don Pianta, Francesca and Frankie return to the Don to take full blame of the situation. The Don eventually relents and allows them to get married.

Later, Frankie and Francesca travel to Keelhaul Key where they become shipwrecked in the Pirate's Grotto, along with many Toads. Mario rescues the shipwrecked survivors, and Frankie and Francesca decide to stay on the island. However, Don Pianta misses his daughter so much that he has become sick with grief and Mario is tasked to return her in exchange for a ticket to the Excess Express. Mario then returns to Keelhaul Key and finds Frankie and Francesca in the jungle. However, Frankie is busy searching for Francesca's wedding ring which she lost on the island. Upon hearing about the Don's sickness, Frankie suggests that they check on him first, but Francesca refuses and questions his love towards her. After Mario finds the ring and returns it, they return to Rogueport. Don Pianta, upon seeing his daughter, instantly recovers. Although, he realizes he has become too old to be the boss anymore and passes the leadership of the syndicate to Frankie, who is shocked and tries to let the Don continue to hold his position.

Frankie and Francesca have a very turbulent relationship. Although Frankie was the underboss of the Pianta syndicate, he obediently obeys any command his wife gives him, including saying "I love you." 100 times (as a result, the player must press or 100 times to scroll through the text). Humorously, the game starts to list how many times he said "I love you." after ten times. Even though Frankie officially becomes the boss of the Pianta syndicate, Francesca is actually the de facto leader. Before becoming the new boss, Frankie calls Francesca by many pet names with most being food-based, including "dollface", "my little bacon burger", and "sweet bean". After becoming the boss, Francesca demands Frankie to stop calling her by pet names and use her actual name or "Miss Boss".

After Chapter 6, Frankie posts a trouble at the Trouble Center. He explains that after returning from Keelhaul Key, he lost his own Wedding Ring somewhere in Rogueport. In versions outside of Japan, the ring is found in front of Garf's house in the easternmost area of Rogueport. In the Japanese version (and the Switch remake), it is found on top of the wall guarded by Gus.

Tattle information

• That's Francesca's boyfriend, Frankie. He's the future of the Pianta syndicate. Hard to believe, isn't it? Still, he's the number-two guy after Don Pianta. You'd think he'd be this tough guy, but Francesca has him eating out of her hand.
• That's Frankie, a member of the Pianta syndicate. He's a MONSTER when he's angry. Everybody in Rogueport talks about his and Francesca's public displays of affection.
• (Pirate's Grotto) That's Frankie, Francesca's boyfriend. He shipwrecked here even before we did. Looks like Francesca's got him totally wrapped around her little finger, as always.
• (Keelhaul Key) That's Francesca's guy, Frankie. He's decided to stay here and live with Francesca. But I know he's really worried about Don Pianta...

Gallery

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Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ピートン[?] Pīton	Possibly from piton ("peak" in French), referring to his shape
Chinese (simplified)	彼顿[?] Bǐdùn	From the Japanese name
Chinese (traditional)	彼頓[?] Bǐdùn	From the Japanese name
Dutch	Frankie[?]	-
French	Python[?]	From the Japanese name
German	Romanzo[?]	Pun on "romance", with masculine suffix -o
Italian	Giuliano[?]	Male version of "Giulia" (Julie); a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet along with Francesca's Italian name, "Romoletta".
Korean	피톤[?] Piton	From the Japanese name
Spanish	Fabrizio[?]	Common Italian name; a reference to "Fabrizio Calvi" (a writer of famous books about the Mafia)

Trivia

• According to Vinny, Frankie once easily fought off a mob of 100, earning him the nickname Furious Frankie.
• The name Frankie can be considered the male counterpart of Francesca, underlining their link.
• Frankie's Italian name, Giuliano, paired with Francesca's Italian name, Romoletta, is a reference to Romeo and Juliet.
• In the Japanese version, if Frankie's trouble is cancelled before Mario collects the wedding ring, the ring will not despawn. If another trouble is taken and then the ring is collected, the ring will set a flag that is used by other troubles. This allows some troubles to be progressed simply by collecting the ring.