Hooktail

“Snack time, little appetizers! But which one of you morsels should I taste first?”

—Hooktail, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Hooktail is a dragon in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door that had terrorized Petalburg's residents. As well as eating Petalburg's citizens, she had eaten anyone who came to her castle to slay her, including Kolorado's father, Old Man Skoo, and Koopley. When Mario, Goombella and Koops came to her castle to obtain the first Crystal Star, the Diamond Star, they were given a clue on how to defeat Hooktail once they found a letter being clutched by the corpse of Kolorado's father – Hooktail cannot stand chirping sounds, especially ones that start with cr- and end with -icket, the reason for this weakness being because she got food poisoning from eating a cricket. Some believe that it is a reference to the Toad of the Four Heroes, who is described as having a "strange voice". He defeated Hooktail long ago and his voice may have sounded like a cricket. (In the Japanese version of the game and the comic Super Mario-Kun, Hooktail is extremely scared of frogs.)

File:Hooktail.gif

An in-game sprite of Hooktail.

During the fight it seems Hooktail is defeated, but she then offers 1,000 Coins and a "Really Ultra Rare Badge" for her trust. She also, disgustingly, asks Mario if he would like to smell her feet, claiming that people pay good money to do this. It is the player's choice if Mario accepts or declines her offers. All three are traps and Hooktail will gobble Mario or stomp Mario for some damage if he accepts them. Before Mario and his team can finish her off, she swallows some of the audience members to replenish 10 of her HP. If the player reduces Hooktail's HP to 0 the first time, she will still eat the audience. If the audience is reduced below 10 since the player got a Bingo! from a Poison Mushroom, Hooktail can regain less than 10 HP. Once Mario defeats her once and for all, Koops's dad will burst out of her mouth, claiming he survived in Hooktail's stomach by hiding in his shell. In the second part of the fight, if the player attacks Hooktail's head, the Toads she ate will be saved and will run away.

Hooktail also has two older brothers named Bonetail and Gloomtail, all three being the Shadow Queen's pets. It was not revealed that Hooktail was female until the fight with Gloomtail. Koopley, Koops, Koopie Koo, and Goombella all referred to Hooktail as "it", while others erroneously refer to her as a "he". Gloomtail attempted to avenge his sister by killing Mario and his friends, but Mario proved too strong and Gloomtail failed. Hooktail resides in Hooktail Castle, whose builder is unknown. Her castle was built to accommodate her massive size. Later on in the game, when Mario and company revisit Hooktail's lair, they find no trace of Hooktail. Goombella wonders briefly where Hooktail disappeared to, but ends up deciding Hooktail's absence is a good thing.

Oddly, Hooktail was shown to actually have a hook at the end of her tail in the game but in official artwork she does not. Hooktail resembles Valoo from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Her name may even come from the boss battle with Gohma, in which Link must use the Grappling Hook on Valoo's hooklike tail.

Other appearances

Hooktail appearing in the Super Mario-Kun series.

Hooktail also appeared in Super Mario-Kun in issue 32 of the series, the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door issue. In it, she attacks Mario, Goombella, and Koops. As this manga is based on the original Japanese game, she gets weak by a frog's croak rather than a cricket's chirp.

Hooktail appears as a Sticker in the game Super Smash Bros Brawl. The sticker is usable by every character and increases resistance to fire-based attacks.

Trivia

• There will always be eight Toads seated in the lower right seats in the audience.
• In some translations, like the Spanish one, Hooktail is actually male.