Ember

Ember
First appearance	Paper Mario (2000)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)
Variant of	Lava Bubble
Relatives Lava Blubble Phantom Ember

Embers are spectral cyan Lava Bubbles with higher statistics that appear in the first two Paper Mario games. They are based on both hitodama, a blue flame entity in Japanese folklore said to be comprised of the souls of the dead, and St. Elmo's fire, a phenomenon where blue fire appears to erupt from a ship's mast under certain conditions.

History

Paper Mario

In Paper Mario, Embers appear on Star Way and are visually an entirely cyan recolor of normal Lava Bubbles. They can attack Mario by jumping on him, or they can attack Mario's partner to make them unable to move for a few turns unless they block the attack. Attacking them causes them to duplicate into more Embers. Since their bodies are composed of fire, any fire elements attempted against them, including a Fire Flower, cannot damage them. They are weak against ice, water, and explosive elements.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its Nintendo Switch remake, Embers now have a gradient on their flames and bright yellow eyes. They no longer split into two Embers when hit by most attacks, but they (along with Lava Bubbles and their stronger relatives Phantom Embers) can still do so if hit by a fire attack, which now heal Embers instead of merely doing no damage. In battle, they have several new moves. Their most frequently-used attack involves flaring up in front of Mario or his partner, dealing 3 damage. They can also spit a fireball at Mario or his partner, which deals 2 damage and may cause a burn. Their third attack involves creating a large wave of flame that hits both Mario and his partner, dealing 2 damage and possibly causing a burn. Compared to Lava Bubbles, Embers have higher HP but lower attack power.

In this game, Embers are depicted as "flame spirits" and ghosts, the spirits of the pirate ghost Cortez's crew. They first appear on the S.S. Flavion, where they attack and sink the ship in a reference to St. Elmo's fire. During this sequence, a particular Ember is mistaken by Flavio for Cortez himself. Embers later appear on Keelhaul Key as enemies. Mario battles three of them upon first entering Keelhaul Key's shantytown. Later, a group of them is seen attacking Admiral Bobbery, Lord Crump in his "Four-Eyes" disguise, and a Toad sailor on a wooden bridge. Bobbery insists on fighting these Embers himself, and is later seen chased to the top of a palm tree being encircled by the two Embers, which Mario then defeats. They are also fought in this same area if Mario hits the stone heads an incorrect number of times after inserting the Skull Gem into the entrance to Pirate's Grotto. In Pirate's Grotto itself, Embers are encountered as regular enemies by themselves and fighting alongside Lava Bubbles, and this is the only area where they can be found after completing Chapter 5. A particular Ember and its allies are battled in Pirate’s Grotto for a Black Key.

Shortly after the conclusion of Chapter 5, when Mario and Flavio request Cortez's help in battling Lord Crump, who is attacking Keelhaul Key with his ship, Cortez sails his ship, the Black Skull, through a wall in Pirate's Grotto to battle Lord Crump's ship. During this sequence, Cortez commands his crew, an army of Embers, which battle Lord Crump's X-Nauts while Mario battles Lord Crump himself.

Statistics

Paper Mario

Paper Mario enemy
Ember
		Max HP	10	Attack	4	Defense	0
		Role	Common	Type	Hover, Fiery	Level	24
		Strong	Fire, Egg Missile	Weak	Ice (+2), Water (+2), Explosion (+1)	Moves	Fire Hop (4), Fireball Barrage (3, Partner)
		Sleep?	0%, 0	Dizzy?	100%, 1	Shock?	0%, 0
		Shrink?	90%, 0	Stop?	85%, 0	Fright?	50%
		Air Lift?	80%	Hurricane?	75%	Coins	1 + 4-6
		Items	Shooting Star	Run	24	Location(s)	Star Way
Tattle	This is an Ember. Embers are fiery monsters forged from uncanny blue fire. Max HP: 10, Attack Power: 4, Defense Power: 0 They may look frosty, but they're actually on fire, so fire attacks won't work. They divide themselves when they're attacked. Keep attacking 'em, though. You'll get 'em eventually. They'll probably fight back. Their attacks usually deal out 3 damage points. Water attacks will work well. Let's beat 'em before they get a chance to burn us.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

GameCube

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Ember
	Max HP	8	Attack	3	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Keelhaul Key, Pirate's Grotto	Role	Common	Level	20
	Sleep?	50%	Dizzy?	105%	Confuse?	75%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	90%	Soft?	95%
	Burn?	0%	Freeze?	50%	Fright?	50%
	Gale Force?	90%	KO?	95%	Moves	Jump (3), Traveling Flame (2 to Mario and Partner, Burn, Piercing), Fireball (2, Burn, Piercing)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	1 - 4	Items	Power Punch
Tattle Log #: 74	Log	These blue flame spirits are susceptible to ice and explosive attacks. They're said to be vengeful spirits of the recent dead.
	Tattle	That's an Ember. Sort of a pale-blue flame spirit. Kind of spooky. Max HP is 8, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Of course, since this thing is a flame, touching it will hurt. Didn't Mama teach you that? Looks like it's susceptible to ice or explosive attacks, though, so that's something. If you get hit by a flame attack, you'll catch fire, so try to guard well.

Nintendo Switch

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Ember
	Max HP	8	Attack	3	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Keelhaul Key, Pirate's Grotto	Role	Common	Level	20
	Sleep?	50%	Dizzy?	105%	Confuse?	75%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	90%	Soft?	95%
	Burn?	0%	Freeze?	50%	Fright?	50%
	Gale Force?	90%	KO?	95%	Moves	Jump (3), Traveling Flame (2 to Mario and Partner, Burn, Piercing), Fireball (2, Burn, Piercing)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	1 - 4	Items	Power Punch
Tattle Log #: 77	Log	These blue flame spirits are susceptible to ice and explosive attacks. They're said to be vengeful spirits of the recent dead. If you attack with fire, something horrible will happen.
	Tattle	That's an Ember. Sort of a pale-blue flame spirit. Kind of spooky. Max HP is 8, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Of course, since this thing is a flame, touching it will hurt. Didn't Mama teach you that? Here's another thing you should know—something HORRIBLE is likely to happen if you attack it with fire! Looks like it's susceptible to ice or explosive attacks though, so that's something. If you get hit by a flame attack, you'll catch fire, so try to guard well.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	エルモス[?] Erumosu	Elmos; a reference to St. Elmo's fire
Chinese	埃莫斯 Āimòsī	Transliteration of its Japanese name
Dutch	Ember[?]	-
French	Ambre[?]	Amber	Paper Mario
	Elmos[?]	A reference to St. Elmo's fire	The Thousand-Year Door
German	Kalte Glut[?]	Cold Ember
Italian	Fiammo[?]	Masculine form of fiamma ("flame")
Korean	에르모스[?] Eleumoseu	Transliteration of its Japanese name
Spanish	Ascua[?]	Ember