Shellshock

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

“Hey. You. Gonzales. Since you didn't want that cake, I ate it. Best cake I ever had, man. Sprinkles, frosting, the works. You're an idiot.”

—Shellshock, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Shellshock is a minor character in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He is a Shady Koopa who became a contracted fighter in the Glitz Pit, the martial arts arena of the floating town of Glitzville. Shellshock and his fighting team, The Shellshockers, are ranked #7 in the fighting roster and thus are a part of the major-league. Both his and his team's name are a reference to an archaic term for post-traumatic stress disorder, coined in 1915 to describe the heightened and prolonged psychosomatic distress experienced by soldiers fighting in World War I. Shellshock often ends his sentences with the word "baby." After Mario defeats Shellshock in battle, he begins talking about how he loses motivation when he sees how Mario is progressing.

Mario encounters Shellshock in the midst of Chapter 3, while he is searching for the Gold Star. After Mario defeats The Iron Adonis Twins, Mario switches to the major-league and he and Shellshock become roommates. If Mario manages to rise his rank up to #8, the player has the opportunity to battle Shellshock's fighting team, and if he wins, his ranking goes up further.

At some other points in Chapter 3, Mario receives two cakes that were apparently sent by a fan, one of which is a Poisoned Cake. Mario can eat the first one, which replenishes his stats. If he decides to eat the second one however, Mario's partner is disabled by Poison. The player can also choose to ignore the cakes, which results in Shellshock eating them while Mario is away fighting. He mocks Mario how he enjoyed his meal after ignoring the first cake. When Mario returns from his match after having declined the second cake, he finds Shellshock in a disabled state, lying on the ground and squirming, probably from a stomachache, and also vows never to have another cake after the experience. He recovers from this after Mario ends another match.

A Shady Koopa, presumably Shellshock, appears in the cutscene during the final fight against the Shadow Queen, alongside other athletes. There he can be seen cheering Mario on through the Gold Star. It is, however, very likely that this character was originally supposed to be King K and his sprite was simply misplaced with that of a Shady Koopa; said character uses terms in his speech that were used exclusively by King K throughout the game (like "G-man"). This was corrected in the Nintendo Switch remake.

Profiles and statistics

GameCube

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Shady Koopa
	Max HP	8	Attack	3	Defense	1
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit, Pit of 100 Trials (Levels 32-34, 37-39)	Role	Common	Level	17
	Sleep?	85%	Dizzy?	80%	Confuse?	80%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	90%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	80%	Fright?	85%
	Gale Force?	80%	KO?	95%	Moves	Shell Toss (3), Power Shell (When flipped) (6 to both characters), Get Up (Stops Being Flipped)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	1 - 3	Items	Earth Quake, Courage Shell, Super Shroom, Volt Shroom
Tattle Log #: 14	Log	When a Shady Koopa flips back up from its back, its Attack increases. Shady Koopas have a place of honor in the Koopa family tree because of this distinction.
	Tattle	That's a Shady Koopa. It's yet another member of the Koopa family tree. Max HP is 8, Attack is 3, and Defense is 1. The difference between them and other Koopas? They can attack from their backs! And, when they flip back up, their Attack gets boosted and they go totally ape! ...Wow! That's pretty tricky! No wonder they're called Shady Koopas, huh?

Nintendo Switch

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Shady Koopa
	Max HP	8	Attack	3	Defense	1
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit, Pit of 100 Trials (Levels 32-34, 37-39)	Role	Common	Level	17
	Sleep?	85%	Dizzy?	80%	Confuse?	80%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	90%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	80%	Fright?	85%
	Gale Force?	80%	KO?	95%	Moves	Shell Toss (3), Power Shell (When flipped) (6 to both characters), Get Up (Stops Being Flipped)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	1 - 3	Items	Earth Quake, Courage Shell, Super Mushroom, Volt Mushroom
Tattle Log #: 15	Log	When Shady Koopas are flipped on their backs, their Attack will be increased. They enjoy a place of honor in the Koopa family tree because of this distinction.
	Tattle	That's a Shady Koopa. It's yet another member of the Koopa family tree. Max HP is 8, Attack is 3, and Defense is 1. The difference between them and other Koopas? They can attack from their backs! That's not all! While on their backs, their Attack gets boosted, and they use a terrifying technique! Wow! That's pretty tricky! No wonder they're called Shady Koopas, huh?

Field Tattle

• "That's Shellshock. He seems to be totally on top of his game. For some reason, though, I think he's just a big softie. Maybe I'm thinking too much..."

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	リバース Ribāsu	Reverse
Chinese	里巴斯[?] Lǐbāsī	Transliteration of the Japanese name
Dutch	Klopper[?]	From kloppen ("to beat")
French	Paul[?]	-
German	Morris[?]	-
Italian	Koopasso[?]	Portmanteau of "Koopa" and asso ("ace")
Korean	리버스[?] Libeoseu	Reverse
Spanish (NOA)	El Ejecutador[?]	The Executor
Spanish (NOE)	El Matador[?]	The Killer

Trivia

• Shellshock's name comes from shell shock, an outdated term for posttraumatic stress disorder. Strangely, while the name of the Mario Party series minigame Tread Carefully was changed from Shell Shocked to remove this connection, Shellshock and his team have their original names retained in the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.