Rubber Band
| The Origami King enemy | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rubber Band | ||||||
| ||||||
| Streamers | ||||||
| Description | A rising star in the Legion of Stationery. This rubbery thespian can sing, dance, and seriously stretch a death scene. | |||||
| HP | 100 | |||||
| Type | Normal | |||||
| Role | Boss | |||||
| Item drops | None | |||||
| Moves | Bumper Bands, Pullback (1 HP healed per band), Quick Pullback (1 HP healed per band), Rubber Bind (6 × 3), Snapback (40), Trapped Snapback (24), Solo Snapback (62) | |||||
| Location(s) | Big Sho' Theater | |||||
Rubber Band, The Elastic Entertainer, is a member of the Legion of Stationery who guards the end of the blue streamer and the boss of Big Sho' Theater in Paper Mario: The Origami King. Unlike the other Legion of Stationery members, while Rubber Band itself is a singular large yellow rubber band with King Olly's insignia on it, it initially appears to be a vague humanoid entirely composed out of small rubber bands, mostly yellow, with blue for its large joints, and black for its hands, legs, and the top of its head, with the actual Rubber Band on the inside creating the frame. The Toads in the audience appear to be unnerved by its appearance, as evidenced by their screaming when it first appears, and the unique quotes of the battle, including some quotes indicating them being scared.
Rubber Band, prior to Mario arriving to the show, traps a large group of Toads with rubber bands, effectively forcing them to watch its show, except for one that is forced to narrate. After each act, Rubber Band yells from backstage that the act was supposed to defeat Mario. Once the show reaches the fourth and final floor where the spool for the blue streamer is found, Mario is invited onstage as the star of the show. However, once he gets on stage, Rubber Band objects, claiming it is the star, and appears from a stage lift. It performs a short song and dance routine before confronting Mario and Olivia and battling them.
After being defeated, a spotlight shines on Rubber Band as it dramatically proclaims its final words, asking why it had to be defeated, claiming to want to make the theater grand, and finally, accepting defeat, before falling over and exploding. This destroys the rubber bands trapping the Toads and releases a Magic Circle that Mario can use to destroy the streamer.
Battle
- “Behold the POWER of my rubber bands! Let's see how well you take stage direction, ha ha!”
- —Rubber Band, Paper Mario: The Origami King
Rubber Band's HP is correspondent to the number of rubber bands on its body.
Prior to Mario moving, Rubber Band uses Bumper Bands, flinging rubber bands from its body to replace most, if not all of the up and down panels on the board with rubber bands pointing in the same direction. These rubber bands, when touched, send Mario one space in the direction the band points, Mario afterwards moving in the same direction he was traveling, while the band is crumpled. If Mario walks over a crumpled rubber band, he trips and wastes his turn.
Rubber Band is impervious to normal attacks; while they will damage it, the rubber bands they will remove from its body will simply be pulled back to the boss to heal it when it begins its turn with the move Pullback/Quick Pullback, along with the uncrumpled Bumper Bands. Instead Mario must use the 1,000-Fold Arms to grab as many bands from the top of its head as he can, pull them back as far as he can, and release, causing the lost rubber bands to fall beyond the reach of Pullback/Quick Pullback. The closer Mario is to the boss, the more damage he can do with a single attack - if Mario uses the 1,000-Fold Arms from one of the back two rows, it will deal just 1 damage. The inner two rows can deal 20-40 damage when using and activating the arms.
On Rubber Band's turn, it will attempt to trap Mario in a Rubber Bind, launching three unrecoverable rubber bands at Mario at different speeds and in either a straight or arced trajectory, which, if not blocked, deal 6-7 damage and cause him to be tied up, which renders him unable to block the remaining bands and wastes his next turn, after which Rubber Band will use Trapped Snapback, dealing 18 damage to Mario, who is only able to jump to dodge.
Alternatively, Rubber Band may instead use Snapback, launching a rubber band at Mario at high velocity for 16 damage, without depleting its own health.
When Rubber Band is reduced to minimal health, Rubber Band is stripped of its remaining small bands, leaving just its true form, and becomes unable to recover any more rubber bands. At this point, it can only use Solo Snapback, dealing 49 damage (38 if blocked), and it cannot be damaged normally at all. Mario must finish the battle by using the 1,000-Fold Arms to grab Rubber Band in 60 seconds, while it retaliates by attempting to dodge and attacking Mario every so often for 21-22 damage. Once Mario has grabbed Rubber Band, he must then perform a rush attack by continually slamming it onto the floor, and finally, end the battle by flinging it into the background.
Gallery
Rubber Band's debut before the fight
Rubber Band entering the arena
Rubber Band uses Trapped Snapback on Mario
Rubber Band missing some of its rubber bands
Rubber Band gives a melodramatic speech before its demise
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | わゴム[?] Wagomu |
Rubber Band | |
| Chinese | 橡皮筋[?] Xiàngpíjīn |
Rubber Band | |
| Dutch | Elastiek[?] | Rubber Band | |
| German | Gummiband[?] | Rubber Band | |
| Italian | Elastico[?] | Rubber Band | |
| Spanish (NOA) | Banda Elástica[?] | Rubber Band | |
| Spanish (NOE) | Goma elástica[?] | Rubber Band |
The Elastic Entertainer
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ゴムゴムエンターテイナー[?] Gomugomu Entāteinā |
Rubbery Entertainer | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 橡胶艺人[?] Xiàngjiāo Yìrén |
Rubber Entertainer | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 橡膠藝人[?] Xiàngjiāo Yìrén |
Rubber Entertainer | |
| Dutch | De rubberen regisseur[?] | The Rubber Director | |
| German | Der elastische Entertainer[?] | The Elastic Entertainer | |
| Italian | L'elastico artistico[?] | The Artistic Rubber Band/The Elastic Artist | |
| Spanish | La Intérprete Flexible[?] | The flexible interpreter |
