King Boo

“Seriously, though, who would actually believe that mansions get given away in contests?! Talk about stupid! What do they feed you Mario brothers anyway... gullible soup?”

—King Boo, Luigi's Mansion

King Boo is the leader of the Boos and the main antagonist of the Luigi's Mansion series, and is the arch-enemy of Luigi. He is also an ally of Bowser, who has aided him in his various schemes. He is more than capable of devising and enacting villainous plans by himself, including his capture and imprisonment of Mario. Although not the biggest Boo, King Boo has abilities that far surpass that of the average ghost and he wields a number of impressive magical abilities, including the ability to materialize objects. King Boo's magical power is directly proportional to the number of Boos in his vicinity.

History

Luigi's Mansion series

Luigi's Mansion

The Luigi's Mansion artwork of King Boo escaping from his Bowser suit.

Before the events of Luigi's Mansion, Professor E. Gadd captured Boolossus. Using a device called a Ghost Portrificationizer, E. Gadd trapped Boolossus in a portrait and hung it in his Gallery inside his lab in Boo Woods. This angered King Boo, so he devised a plan to rescue Boolossus.

King Boo and his forces attacked the laboratory. The Boos reversed the settings of the Portificationizer and released Boolossus. King Boo then ordered that all the ghosts that E. Gadd had captured should be released as well. After releasing all the portrait ghosts, King Boo created a huge mansion and placed it next to the professor's lab. King Boo, his Boo minions, and the recently freed portrait ghosts decided to inhabit the mansion. With a huge mansion and an army of ghosts, King Boo decided to exact revenge upon Mario and Luigi by capturing them.

Hoping to capture Luigi, King Boo sends him a letter. The message states that Luigi has won a mansion in a contest and provides the location of the prize. Luigi asks his brother Mario to investigate the mansion and says that he will arrive shortly thereafter. Mario and Toad travel to the mansion, but right after Mario enters, he is instantly overwhelmed by King Boo's forces and captured. King Boo then imprisons him in a portrait, similar to how Boolossus was imprisoned. Mario is placed in the Secret Altar in the basement of the mansion. With Mario captured, King Boo is ready to capture Luigi.

While waiting for Luigi, King Boo and his Boo minions wait behind a secret door in the floor of the Storage Room. When Luigi enters the room and reveals the secret door, the Boos spring out from the floor. However, the Boos (including King Boo) stop their surprise attack when they notice the Poltergust 3000 on Luigi's back. Luigi had been given the Poltergust 3000 by E. Gadd so he could recapture the Portrait Ghosts and save his brother. The Poltergust 3000 is one of the few things King Boo fears, and he and the other Boos scatter and hide in the mansion. King Boo travels to the Secret Altar in the mansion's basement.

The special key that Vincent Van Gore holds unlocks the path to the Secret Altar. However, he is locked in the Artist's Studio on the third floor of the mansion. After capturing him and retrieving the key, Luigi discovers that he still cannot enter the Secret Altar. If Luigi attempts to enter the Secret Altar without catching a certain number of Boos, King Boo blows Luigi to the Foyer, the entrance of the mansion. Since King Boo's power is related to the number of Boos in the mansion, Luigi can weaken him by capturing the Boos hidden in various rooms. After Luigi captures at least forty of the mansion's fifty Boos, King Boo loses his ability to blow Luigi from the Secret Altar. Once King Boo is weakened, Luigi enters King Boo's Secret Altar.

Upon entering the Altar, Luigi notices King Boo staring at Mario in the painting. King Boo turns around to face Luigi and states his desire to add a Luigi painting to the collection. After this, King Boo flies into the Mario painting hanging on the wall. The picture of Mario transforms into Bowser, then the new Bowser painting inhales Luigi into the canvas, transporting Luigi into an arena that resembles the mansion's roof. Luigi then confronts Bowser. In reality, this is an illusion of Bowser that King Boo controls from the inside and uses as a shield.

King Boo uses this Bowser illusion to attack Luigi, shooting flames at him, and even attempting to inhale him into its mouth. The illusion also has the ability to create three large spiked bombs and toss them at Luigi. Luigi can use his Poltergust 3000 to grab one of the spiked explosives and release it into the illusion Bowser's mouth. This attack blasts the head off of the illusion Bowser, causing King Boo to exit the illusion shield and expose himself to the Poltergust 3000. Luigi begins to deplete the ghost's five hundred hit points. Meanwhile, the illusion's head hovers around the arena, shooting icy blasts at Luigi. Eventually, King Boo flies back into the dormant Bowser body and the head reattaches itself, resuming the fight. Luigi repeats this process, slowly weakening King Boo, but after King Boo's life falls below two hundred HP, the head of the illusion reattaches backwards whenever he returns to the Bowser body, causing the illusion Bowser to run around aimlessly. Eventually, the illusion turns its head forwards and resumes the fight. Eventually, Luigi manages to completely drain King Boo's HP and capture him inside the Poltergust 3000.

After the battle, Luigi receives King Boo's crown, worth 5000G, and adds it to his treasure collection. Upon returning to the mansion, Luigi quickly travels to Professor E. Gadd's lab. In the lab, Luigi connects the Poltergust to the professor's Portrificationizer, dumping its contents into the machine. Oddly, not only does the spirit of King Boo appears in the Portrificationizer, but also the Bowser illusion. With King Boo captured, Professor E. Gadd hangs his new portrait in an empty room in his gallery.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

King Boo's appearance in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.

King Boo reappears in the 3DS game, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon once again as the main antagonist and final boss. Appearance-wise, he is much similar to his appearance from Luigi's Mansion, but retains the full set of teeth and sped-up voice he had in his appearances in the other Mario titles and he is also much larger.

It is revealed later in the game that Professor E. Gadd had sold the portrait of King Boo from Luigi's Mansion at a garage sale (a car boot sale in PAL versions), which is how the king escaped. King Boo shatters the Dark Moon into six pieces with a bolt of energy from his crown, which contained a power-enhancing gem. This turns the once-friendly ghosts of Evershade Valley hostile and mischievous as well as sprawling the Dark Moon's pieces to each Mansion of the valley, which Luigi has to recover.

Towards the end of the game, it is revealed that he has captured Mario like he did in the last game. After Luigi gets the last Dark Moon piece and returns to the Bunker, he captures Luigi and pulls him back into the Paranormal Dimension. He reveals to Luigi he escaped from the painting and broke the Dark Moon, causing the ghosts to become under his control. He intends to use the ghosts as an army to conquer the world. He also plans to put Luigi and E. Gadd into paintings as well for revenge. He then engages into battle with Luigi but he fails and is sucked into the Poltergust once again.

Super Mario-Kun

King Boo appears in a short chapter on Luigi's Mansion of volume 26 of Super Mario-Kun. As in the game, Luigi reveals King Boo by knocking off the Bowser illusion's head. Unlike in the games, however, King Boo is immediately sucked in.

Personality

King Boo is shown to have a deep hatred for the Mario Bros., especially Luigi after he defeats him in Luigi's Mansion. He says that he fears nothing except the Poltergust 3000. Professor E Gadd also comments on how King Boo redecorated the Treacherous Mansion to make it scarier. He also goes into fits of rage when his plans don't go the way he wants. Although King Boo is much larger than regular Boos, he is not the largest of the Boos. However, even gigantic Boos like Boolossus follow his leadership despite their superior size. Lastly, King Boo has a distinct cackle, which is significantly lower in pitch than other Boos.

Quotes

• "White gloves! A cute little moustache! Soft shoes! How did you get out of my...? ... Huh? Wait just a second... Your clothes are... green... Hey, you must be Luigi! Whoa, you had me a bit confused for a moment there!" - Luigi's Mansion
• "I swear it... I shall fear no mere house-cleaning device!!" - Luigi's Mansion
• "Now who do we have here? Why, if it isn't my old pal Luigi! Or is it Baby Luigi? I can't tell the difference. Hey, remember that time when you trapped me in a painting for all eternity? Good times. But guess what? I GOT OUT! And now I'm painting the town RED!" - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
• "Yes, it was I who broke the Dark Moon! This power-enhancing jeweled crown of mine made it easy. And now that all the ghosts of Evershade Valley are under my control, it's time to take my rightful place as the supreme ruler of your world! You, that annoying scientist, and all your friends will look great hanging on the wall of my throne room!" - Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

• Website Bios:
  • The orchestrator of the Dark Moon debacle is as regal as he is round...Can you bring peace back to Evershade Valley?
  • This spooky sovereign shattered the Dark Moon, causing the ghosts to turn mischievous. Piece the Dark Moon back together and restore peace to Evershade Valley!