River Twygz

File:River Twygz.jpg

Mario traveling on the waters of River Twygz.

The River Twygz is a subsection of the Underwhere in Super Paper Mario. It is evidently filled with the tears of evildoers that somehow give it a purple color. Charold will ferry the player across the river for 4 coins, but it is not required. The river is inhabited by Underhands, almost invincible, skeletal hands that will damage Mario. Near the bottom of the river, the river turns deep purple, and the music becomes eerie and distorted, filled with strange shrieks and moans. Before the events of Chapter 7, Luigi fell in the River Twygz. While he managed to get out of it (and then mysteriously making his way behind a locked door), he was severely shaken from his experiences in it. Mario descends into the river in search of him. The music that plays at the bed of the river is almost exactly the same backwards as it is forwards.

The name of the river is a pun on the River Styx (commonly pronounced "sticks", whereas this river is pronounced "twigs"), a similar river in the Greek Underworld. In Greek mythology, souls of the dead are ferried across the river by Charon (himself represented by Charold), and if one were to fall in, they would be granted immporality, but be pulled under by the hands of souls trying to escape the river. The Underhands are likewise based on the souls in the River Styx, which may also be referenced the unintelligible voices that can be heard in the music that plays at the river's bed.