Phanto
- Not to be confused with Phantom.
| Phanto | |
|---|---|
 Artwork from Super Mario Advance | |
| First appearance | Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987, overall) Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, Super Mario franchise) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Maker 2 (version 3.0.0) (2020) |
Phantos are large, seemingly-living masks that appear in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2, where they are found guarding keys. According to the game's manual, they often guard various other treasures as well. Their name is a shortened form of the word "phantom", another word for ghost or specter, and is likely used in reference to The Phantom of the Opera.
In Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, the Phanto's expression and color scheme most resembles its original artwork; starting with the original NES version of Super Mario Bros. 2, they are given a distinctive evil grin, and subsequent remakes redesign them to be brownish yellow and tinted a lighter yellow instead of red and white respectively, as well as depict them without a visible nose.
History
Super Mario series
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Advance
Phantos appear as semi-common enemies in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, Super Mario Bros. 2, and subsequent reissues. They are seen guarding keys in caves or in jars. They first appear in World 1-2. Phantos simply remain immobile and harmless until the player takes the key they are guarding, at which point one of the Phantos will animate and ceaselessly chase them; some of the remakes make this Phanto slightly different in appearance from the others. Phantos can follow the player through other screens and rooms, even including Subspace; they cannot be permanently defeated, either—a Phanto can be temporarily defeated only with the combination of a Stop Watch and a Starman, but a new one will replace it as soon as the player enters another room while carrying the key. If the player drops the key while a Phanto is chasing them, it flies away and leaves them alone until they pick up the key again; it will only give up the chase for good once the door is unlocked.
A number of immobile and harmless Phantos can be seen in Wart's room in all versions of the game. In the SNES and GBA versions of Super Mario Bros. 2, larger Phantos can be seen in the backgrounds of the key rooms; the eyes of these larger Phantos will glow red repeatedly once the key is grabbed. In Super Mario Advance, if the player drops or uses the key or loses a life, the Phanto appears to fly toward the camera as it leaves, via usage of an altered sprite that is twice as large as the original. In the GBA remake, invincibility alone is all that is needed to defeat one.
BS Super Mario USA
In BS Super Mario USA, Phantos can be defeated by large objects that are thrown from off-screen like Peach's Love Love Fire even when they are inactive. A giant Phanto spawns according to the time in the game's built-in clock. The first appearance is in the second broadcast episode when the time is at :15. The second appearance is in the fourth broadcast episode at :07. It will chase the player even without keys involved but will not follow the player to other screens. It has difficulty tracking players that hang around the edge of wraparound screens. After one minute, it fades away.
Super Mario Maker 2
Phantos appear in Super Mario Maker 2 in the version 3.0.0 update released on April 22, 2020. They appear as enemies in the Super Mario Bros. style, attacking players when a Cursed Key is picked up. Phantos often tend to move in erratic patterns, following the player. The sprite now glows in pink/light blue colors. Additionally, they are completely immune to the Moon, Super Stars, Spiny Shells and Dry Bones Shells. Only one Phanto can appear at a time, though multiple Cursed Keys can be held at once. Although, if another player has a key, another Phanto will appear. When entering a subarea or going through a Warp Door with a Phanto following the player, the Phanto will take a few seconds to suddenly appear in the new location.
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
- “Ultra bad scene, dudes! We're caught between a mummy and a weird face!”
- —Toad, "The Ten Koopmandments"
Phantos make two appearances on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, with the first one making its debut in "The Ten Koopmandments". After Koop Tut had trapped Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad inside a pyramid, the four heroes encounter the Phanto, which proceeded to chase them until they managed to escape from the pyramid. Another Phanto made a brief cameo appearance in "Escape from Koopatraz" as a member of Judge Koopa's jury.
Mario Kart series
Sprites of Phantos, taken from Super Mario Bros. 2, are sewed on the carpets decorating the racecourse of Shy Guy Bazaar in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour.
Profiles and statistics
Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Advance
- Instruction booklet bio: He is normally at rest and waits by keys. If you take a key, he will pursue you.[1]
- Instruction booklet bio (Game Boy Advance version): Phantos comes[sic] to life when you take the key they're guarding. Beware — Phantos will chase you from screen to screen.[2]
Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten
Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros.
Bio: カギを守る番人。カギを持っている間、マリオを追いかけてくる。[3] (The guardian of the key. He will chase Mario while he has the key.)
Gallery
Artwork
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic Hisshō Kōryakuhō
Nintendo Power illustration
''Super Mario USA
Sprites
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
Super Mario Bros. 2
Giant Phanto (BS Super Mario USA)
Super Mario Advance
Large sprite (Super Mario Advance)
Super Mario Maker 2
Screenshots
Defeating a Phanto in Super Mario Bros. 2
Giant Phanto in BS Super Mario USA
Miscellaneous
The background of World 1-3's key room in Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario Maze Picture Book 6: Take down Wart!
A #NintendoHalloween photo, originally posted to Nintendo's Facebook in October 2014, showing a large Phanto (more specifically an enlargement of its Super Mario Bros. 2 sprite) breaking through a brick wall. The caption below says, "Don't. Touch. The. Key."
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | カメーン[4] Kamēn |
From「仮面」(kamen, mask) lengthened | |
| ファント[5] Fanto |
Transliteration of the Super Mario Bros. 2 name | ||
| Chinese | 面具[12] (Super Mario Advance in-game name) Miànjù |
Mask | |
| 面具怪[13] (Super Mario Advance demo play video) Miànjù Guài |
Mask Monster | ||
| 卡面[14] (Super Mario Maker 2) Kǎmiàn |
Transliteration from the Japanese name, while「面」is also derived from「面具」(miànjù, "mask") | ||
| Dutch | Phanto[11] | - | |
| French | Phanto[?] | - | |
| German | Phanto[?] | - | |
| Italian | Phanto[6] | - | |
| Fantasma/Faccia Fantasma (The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!)[?] | Ghost/Ghost Face | ||
| Spiritello[7][8] | Small Spirit | ||
| Spettro (Kirby Super Star Ultra)[?] | Specter | ||
| Spettrino[9][10] | Li'l specter | ||
| Korean | 카면[15] Ka'myeon |
From 假面 (ga'myeon, "mask" in Sino-Korean) | |
| Russian | Привидение (Super Mario Maker 2 ver. 3.0.0 update trailer)[?] Privideniye |
Ghost | |
| Spanish | Fantasma (Super Mario Bros. 2) Fantasmáscara (Super Mario Maker 2)[?] |
Phantom Portmanteau of fantasma ("phantom") and máscara ("mask") |
Trivia
- In Chapter 6-3 of Super Paper Mario, the Sammer Guy of the 63rd gate is named "Phanto Grin".
- In Kirby Super Star Ultra, the Phanto Mask appears as a treasure in The Great Cave Offensive in place of the Zebra Mask from the original Kirby Super Star. In the original Japanese, both iterations are called しろくろマスク (Shiro Kuro Masuku, White-Black Mask).
- An enemy called Two Face appears in Kirby's Dream Land and Kirby Star Allies, behaving in a similar way, although it can be destroyed.
- In the original Super Mario Bros. 2 manual, Phanto is mistakenly depicted using its Doki Doki Panic graphic.
References
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 2 English instruction booklet. Page 24.
- ^ Super Mario Advance European instruction booklet (English). Page 12.
- ^ Shogakukan. 2015. Super Mario Bros. Hyakka: Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook, Super Mario USA section. Page 67.
- ^ Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic instruction booklet. Page 32.
- ^ Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten. Page 225.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 2 Italian manual. Page 24.
- ^ Super Mario Advance European manual. Page 112.
- ^ Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Page 67.
- ^ Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition Italian manual. Page 38.
- ^ Super Mario Maker 2, version 3.0.0 Italian trailer
- ^ Club Nintendo (Netherlands) Classic, page 33.
- ^ From the ending scenes of Super Mario Advance as localized by iQue. Reference: 无敌阿尔宙斯 (August 28, 2013). 神游 超级马力欧2敌人官译. Baidu Tieba. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ iQue's promotional demo play videos of Super Mario Advance and Wario Land 4. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
- ^ Nintendo (April 20, 2020). 《Super Mario Maker 2 (超級瑪利歐創作家 2) 》更新資料Ver.3.0.0介紹影片 YouTube. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
- ^ 한국닌텐도 공식 채널 (April 22, 2020). 슈퍼 마리오 메이커 2 업데이트 Ver.3.0. YouTube. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
