The Shy Bandit
| Color Splash enemy | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Shy Bandit | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Prism Island Map | ||||||||||||||||
| Type | Normal | ||||||||||||||||
| Role | Boss | ||||||||||||||||
| HP | 26 | ||||||||||||||||
| Strong | None | ||||||||||||||||
| Weak | None | ||||||||||||||||
| Moves | Attack (5), Straw Attack (heals itself while reducing the paint of Mario), Last Straw Attack (heals itself while reducing the paint of Mario), Blind Attack (causes Blind status), Blowback Attack (12) | ||||||||||||||||
| Enemy class | ENEMY_ZAKO_LV1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Card probability | 33 | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The Shy Bandit is a mini-boss that appears in Paper Mario: Color Splash. He is a Black Shy Guy who apparently was banished from his homeland. He wears a red, masquerade-like mask over the usual Shy Guy mask. When he appears, he will throw a marker on the area he intends to suck all the color from, and begin running toward that spot. Usually, he is a sizable distance from that area. Mario must then race toward the marker. If Mario picks up the marker before the Shy Bandit gets there, he disappears and Mario gets 300 coins. If Mario doesn't get there in time, or intercepts the Shy Bandit before either reach the marker, he will bump into the Shy Bandit instead, initiating a battle; at this point, the Shy Bandit will attack first by blinding Mario with paint or summoning enemies, such as Hammer Bros and Buzzy Beetles to attack. If Mario defeats the Shy Bandit, he receives 300 coins and a chance to get his card. If Mario fails to get to the Shy Bandit before he sucks up the paint from a level, the 'colorless spots cleared' marker on the level reverts to the default 0% (with a few exceptions). The Shy Bandit can attack even areas colored back to 100%.
It is possible that the Shy Bandit is a member of the Koopa Troop, as he can summon minions of Bowser to assist him in battle. This has not yet been confirmed nor denied, however.
Gallery
The Shy Bandit card.
Concept art showing various early designs.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ドロボーヘイホー[?] Dorobō Heihō |
Thief Shy Guy | |
| French (NOA) | Maskache masqué[?] | Maskache, Shy Guy's French NOA name, and Masked | |
| German | Ganoven Guy[?] | Crook Guy | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Guy Enmascarado[?] | Masked Guy | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Bandidoguy[?] | Bandit Guy |
Trivia
- Despite being a mini-boss, enemies summoned with enemy cards do not run away in front of the Shy Bandit. They attack him as normal instead.
- The player can use a previously obtained Shy Bandit card while fighting the Shy Bandit.
- There is an oversight where the game can create an unwinnable Shy Bandit challenge and force the player to redo all the colorless spots in the stage.[1]
- The marker the Shy Bandit uses to indicate his target is a type of calling card, a token left behind by particularly devious (and self-absorbed) criminals at the scene of their crimes.
