Garson

Garson
Sprite from Super Paper Mario
First appearance	Super Paper Mario (2007)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024) (mentioned)

“I'm tapped... If you want to hear another story sometime, you know where to find me.”

—Garson, Super Paper Mario

Mario converses with the knowledgeable Garson

Garson is a helpful character in the game Super Paper Mario. Garson acts much like Wonky of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and is found underground, just as Wonky. He is found in Flipside Basement 1.

Garson owns a bar (described as a "beveragarium" in-game) called The Underwhere, and he can tell the four heroes tips and stories for ten coins a piece. The Flopside version of Garson is named Carson and owns a different "beveragarium" called The Overthere, who tells backstories about the Tribe of Darkness, Count Bleck's minions etc.

In the Nintendo Switch remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Garson's name is used as a wrong answer in one of The Creepy Steeple Boo's quiz questions "What’s the name of the manager of the Glitzville fresh-juice shop?"

Garson's Stories

Stylish Moves

So yeah, ever heard of stylish moves? They're cool poses for after stomping!
After stomping an enemy, but before landing tilt Wii Remote around and
give it a shake. You'll pull off some cool tricks in midair! Those are
called stylish moves.

What? What's a Wii Remote? ...Don't worry. As long as the player
gets it, we're fine."

Doing stylish moves is not only cool, but it gives you lots of points. And if
you hold down after a jump, you'll bounce high, making it even easier.
Just give it a shot!

The Pure Hearts

So yeah, ever heard of the Pure Hearts? They're great treasures created by
the ancients... Supposedly really powerful. Folks say that heroes will appear
to collect them all and save the world.

The source of power in these Pure Hearts? The power of love itself! The love
of a parent...The love of the smitten... Great power, indeed.

The Ancients researched this power, believing it to be the universe's only
salvation. And these Pure Hearts were thus created... The shining embodiment
of love itself. Their combined brilliance will negate the destruction born of
the Chaos Heart... we hope.

The Dark Prognosticus

So yeah, ever heard of the Dark Prognosticus? Everything that'll happen in
the future is written down in this book. The author and the source of his
knowledge are still a total mystery, though.

Over the years, many have fought over it... Entire countries have fallen. And
the fall of those countries was already predicted in the book... Imagine going
through awful stuff to get the book, only to READ about it all after!

Anyway, someone hid the book long ago, and now no one knows where it is. I
wonder what sort of person has it now...

The Ancients

So yeah, ever heard of an advanced civilization called the Tribe of Ancients?
They were, like, a thousand times smarter than you or me.

There were four austere sages among them. You know one of these as Merlumina.
But when it came to love, these sages were unreserved... Their passion burned
HOT.

I've heard some pretty spicy legends about the love life of Merlumina, in
particular... In fact, her love life threatened to destroy the world on a few
occasions... I don't know if these stories are true or not. And I guess we'll
never know.

Flipside Secrets

So yeah, these were the words written in the book left behind by the
Ancients...

'On the outskirts of town, third floor, look for the hidden platform to go up.'

I don't know what this means, exactly... Maybe it's a way to find secret
treasure? Maybe you ought to go check it out!

Descendants of the Ancients

So yeah, you meet Merlon and Merlee yet? They're descendants of the Ancients
and distantly related to each other, I hear.

The Ancients hid the Pure Hearts in various worlds to stop eventual
destruction. Then the Ancients scattered to various world to pass the rest of
their days.

Most of them were wise and kind like Merlumina. And like Merlumina, many of
them would totally lose their cool when they fell in love. But it was this
very passion that let them build the vessels of love, the Pure Hearts...

Pit of 100 Trials

So yeah, you know about the Pit of 100 Trials? It's supposedly this 100-room
labyrinth underneath this very town.

Many have searched for the entrance, but it still remains hidden. The only
clue we have is this saying from the Ancients: 'Pit seekers! Go to the town
outskirts, the lowest floor, and seek the hidden platforms.'

...It sounds sort of like the clue I gave you earlier, doesn't it? What's all
this stuff about hidden platforms, anyway? If you find out, let me know.

Flipside History

So yeah, Flipside is a town between dimensions created by the Ancients. You
can open up paths to many worlds from here, as the Ancients designed it.

And you've seen the white tower in the middle of Flipside, right? It controls
the flow of dimensional energy, so it can beam people to worlds. I think
that's why the doors to other worlds appear up near the tower.

I hear there's another version of the tower...A dark one. I wonder where the
dark tower is... Yeah, I admit, I don't know. Do you?

More Flipside Secrets

So yeah, the town of Flipside still has so many secrets to hide. I just found
this passage not too long ago...

'Flip is flop. If you cannot break through in flip, you should try it in
flop.'

Now, I don't know what that means... But I'm sure it'll lead you to something
pretty good! So go try it out!

The Hero Legend

The Ancients traveled to many worlds to entrust people with Pure Hearts. It
was to keep them safe from destruction or misuse by those with evil hearts.

The Pure Hearts were drawn by their own power toward those strong with love.
The Ancients used this trait to find suitable guardians in each world.

And a few romances also began as a result of these little journeys... Many of
the Ancients who found guardians fell in love with those they met. And so they
lived their days happily in the world they'd visited out of duty. This is how
the legend of the hero was passed down to future generations...

More Stylish Moves

So yeah, you master all of the super-graceful stylish moves? After stomping a
foe, move Wii Remote in different ways while in midair to get stylish!
Doing a bunch of them in a row gets you really high scores, so it's worth it.

Today I'll tell you about some special moves that are really hard to do. After
stomping the enemy, alternately tilt Wii Remote left and right while
in midair. You should perform more amazing stylish moves than you've ever
seen!

But make sure you don't get too excited and throw the Wii Remote! Use
the strap!

Pixls

So yeah, you know about Pixls, right? Heh... Yeah, I see that you do. Those
wily Ancients were smart, but not too strong. They needed muscle. So they
made the Pixls for anything physical they couldn't do on their own.

With the help of the Pixls, the Ancients built amazing worlds. But now that
technology is mostly lost, as the Pixls are scattered and forgotten.

There are even some original Pixls, stronger than the rest, who still wait to
be found. I see you've found a Pixl already, but there are others you haven't
found yet.

Merlon's Love Life

So yeah, those Ancients were passionate and romantic... Did I already tell you
that? Even Merlon, their descendant, is wild for love, you know... Why, he had
quite a thing for Saffron the cook. He went to her cooking shop every day and
wooed her constantly.

He finally broke down and confessed his love for her... And here's what she
said: 'If you can finish an entire serving of my Saffron Special Galactic
Meal, I'll date you.' ...And this is one of the biggest, most filling dishes
anyone's ever seen, mind you. But he dug right in.

According to spectators, he finished all but a sprig of parsley left on the
plate. Just then, some poor girl appeared in town who was severely injured.
Merlon had to help her, so Saffron let him suspend the challenge.

I don't know what happened to that girl next... But then Merlon became
engrossed in his studies, and he hasn't wooed since. Maybe he'll get back to
it when the world is peaceful and safe again.

The End of the World

So yeah, ever heard of the Sammer Kingdom? The king there controls an army of
100 loyal soldiers. Each one has a different personality and unique skills.

King Sammer was entrusted with a Pure Heart by Merlumina's younger sister...
She was madly in love with King Sammer I, so they married and had 100 kids.

The 100 princes and their royal parents ushered in an era of prosperity.
Therefore, the number 100 became important to the current king. Imagine all the
budding romances with 100 strapping princes around... The kingdom of that era
would have had no problem fighting our current woes...

More Pixls

So yeah, you know all about Pixls by now, am I right? Yeah, sure you do...
They were a new form of life created as tools to help the Ancients' lives. But
seriously, they're way more useful than any normal tools.

Being able to think on their own made them more useful...and problematic.
There was always the fear that if they grew too wise, they'd ignore their
masters. Some say the original Pixl personalities were created to prevent
this.

There were some very bright Pixls... But then something dramatic happened, and
the Pixl personalities changed. I wonder what happened? If you find out, let
me know...

Restoring the Pure Hearts

So yeah, the Pure Hearts are powerful treasures created by the Ancients. The
secret of that power is the ability to detect and amplify love energy.

Some among the Ancients believed strongly that the power of love was infinite.
They believed this power to be so great that no forces could ever defeat it...
They believed it would last and survive unchanged for the 1,500 prophesied
years... This is what they believed about the power of love. The power of the
Pure Hearts.

As long as there's love in the world, the Pure Hearts can overcome any setback.
You could say the Ancients believed in love abiding. Kind of romantic,
really...

Returning to Peace

The Void disappeared and ruined worlds have returned. It's like a miracle!
You should go check out the various worlds to see how wonderful they all are!
You might even see people you thought you'd never meet again.

The martial-arts competition in the Sammer Kingdom is even up and running
again! If you beat all 100 warriors, I bet you get a fantastic prize! Do you
think anyone could do it? I'd love to meet the winner...

More Pit of 100 Trials

So yeah, there's a Pit of 100 Trials below town somewhere... It was used by
the Ancients to research the power of the Pure Hearts...

Their experiments involved all sorts of really nasty beasties down there. So
they stocked it with nasties from all the different worlds.

I'd recommend only going if you're really serious about it... But there's a
secret treasure of the Ancients hidden down there somewhere... If you feel up
to the task, you should go look for it!

Tattle

• "That's Garson, the info guy... A bit of a rascal in his youth, he troubled everyone... To make up for it, he opened an information-exchange shop for everyone..."

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ツーソン[?] Tsūson	Both this and Carson's Japanese name「カーソン」(Kāson) are probably from「ツーカーの仲」(tsūkā no naka, a Japanese term for "get along with someone") and name ending "-son"
Chinese (simplified)	图森[?] Túsēn	Transliteration of the Japanese name
Chinese (traditional)	圖森[?] Túsēn	Transliteration of the Japanese name
French	Bécé[?]	Both this and Carson's French name "Bégé" are derived from BCBG ("preppy")
German	Kelna[?]	Given name
Italian	Garson[?]	-
Spanish	Lolo[?]	Given name