Ms. Mowz
| Ms. Mowz | |
|---|---|
 Artwork from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) | |
| Species | Little Mouser |
| First appearance | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) |
| Latest appearance | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024) |
- “Well, it is time for us to part, my little cheese-hunk.”
- —Ms. Mowz, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Ms. Mowz, originally named Ms. Mouse,[1] is a Little Mouser thief that appears in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. She is a badge thief that Mario encounters repeatedly in his quest to find the seven Crystal Stars. Mischievous and sultry, Ms. Mowz constantly flirts with Mario whenever she encounters him, much to the annoyance of Flurrie and Goombella (the latter occasionally calling Ms. Mowz a "floozy", although this trait is removed from the Nintendo Switch remake), as well as making Koops and Yoshi Kid envious on at least one occasion.
Midway through the game, Mario may recruit her as an ally; she serves as the game's sole optional party member and either the sixth or seventh member of the group depending on the player's actions. She is the first optional party member in the Paper Mario series, followed only by the optional Pixls of Super Paper Mario: Barry, Dashell, Piccolo, and Tiptron.
History
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario first encounters Ms. Mowz in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door while exploring the armory of Hooktail Castle in the game's first chapter. She introduces herself as a "globe-trotting thief", and reveals that she came here to collect valuable badges. Also, she heard that Mario is on a quest for the first Crystal Star, but she has not seen it nor is interested in getting it. She gives Mario a farewell kiss, and mentions there is a badge hidden in the castle that can defeat Hooktail before she leaves. Ms. Mowz reappears again in the following two chapters, hunting for elusive badges in the Great Tree of Boggly Woods and in storerooms of the Glitz Pit. Concurrent with and after these events, Mario and the party can actually encounter an unmasked Ms. Mowz in her legitimate Rogueport shop, the Lovely Howz of Badges — used by the thief to sell her lucrative badge finds. The locals of Rogueport, who sometimes see the undisguised Ms. Mowz wearing the standard black bandana of Squeeks, refer to her as the "Badge-Ninja".
After completing the game's fourth chapter, an anonymous request is posted to the Trouble Center in east Rogueport. Should Mario choose to answer this trouble, marked "Elusive badge!", he is instructed to meet with the requester a short walk away from the Lovely Howz of Badges, who turns out to be Ms. Mowz. She asks Mario to locate a badge in Hooktail Castle; she knows it is in Hooktail's room, but says she is unsure of its exact hiding spot. She shares her single clue: "Use The Power of the Wind...". Should the player then re-visit Hooktail's room and use Flurrie's ability, a paper flap will blow away, revealing a chest that contains the Attack FX B badge. When Mario returns with the badge to Ms. Mowz, she reveals that the request was a ruse to test Mario's skills, and if he can find a badge she had hidden so well, then she must journey with him to find more, and promptly joins the party. The Lovely Howz of Badges is ran exclusively by Ms. Mowz's assistant from this point onwards. At the very end of the adventure, Ms. Mowz is shown to have returned to running the shop.
As a partner, Ms. Mowz has the ability to sniff out any type of item (similar to Watt's ability to show hidden ? Blocks in the first Paper Mario), ranging from coins, items, Star Pieces, and invisible ? blocks; however, this ability is more like playing hot-and-cold, as straight answers are not given beyond a backflip when the player is very close. She does, however, indicate whether the item is to the left or right of Mario by the direction she faces when she is finished sniffing. In battle, Ms. Mowz's Love Slap attack cuts through a single grounded enemy's defense, her Kiss Thief can steal enemies' items and badges, her Tease move can make enemies dizzy, and her Smooch move replenishes Mario's HP.
Goombella can use Tattle on Ms. Mowz when she is in her badge shop in Rogueport, when Mario comes across her in the lobby of Glitz Pit, and when Mario takes on her trouble on the roof of Zess T.'s house.
Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, Ms. Mowz appears on a Catch Card won by winning the Duel of 100 in Sammer's Kingdom. An image of her can also be spied very briefly during the intro: she, along with all of the other partners from the previous two Paper Mario titles, is in a photo at the Mario Bros.' House. Lastly, during the third chapter, Francis made a "things to buy" list, and one of them was a Ms. Mowz doll "with real smooching action".
Ms. Mowz has sprite data in the internal files of Super Paper Mario, even though she does not physically appear in the game.
Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
Though she does not appear in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, one of the songs in the game is a new rendition of her theme song under the title "Ms. Mowz Song". This composition also incorporates the music to X-Naut Fortress.
Profiles and statistics
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- In-game description: Ms. Mowz, the mouse thief, is actually the manager of the Lovely Howz of Badges shop in Rogueport. Press
to have her sniff for any nearby goodies. Her nose twitches when treasure is nearby. - Player's Guide: To convince Ms. Mowz to join your party, you must complete the Elusive badge side quest that's posted in the Trouble Center after Chapter 4 (see page 124). Once she's in your company, press the X Button to have her sniff out any items or objects hidden nearby.[2]
- Tattles:
- Rogueport, Lovely Howz of Badges: That's the badge manager at the Lovely Howz of Badges. For a manager, she sure is gone from the store a lot... Where do you think she goes? This shop's small, but it's totally adorable. She really knows how to decorate.
- Glitz Pit, lobby: That's Ms. Mowz, the thief. She jets off to exotic locales to hunt for rare badges. The fact that she's here means the Glitz Pit must have something special...
- Rogueport, when taking on her trouble: That's Ms. Mowz, the thief. Hmph. She jets off to exotic places to find rare badges. She's only like, the biggest flirt I've ever met in my entire life! It's weird that she's the anonymous requester of the super-secret badge...
Attacks and stats
Ms. Mowz has the following attacks and stats:
- HP
- Initial: 15 HP
- Super Rank: 20 HP
- Ultra Rank: 25 HP
- Attacks
| Attack | Flower Points Needed | Effect | To Attack | Ms. Mowz's Hit Points | Attack Power | Move Ranks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love Slap | 0 | Slaps a single grounded enemy and ignores defense. | Repeatedly tilt the  left and right.
|
Level 1: 15 Level 2: 20 Level 3: 25 |
Level 1: 1-2 Level 2: 1-3 Level 3: 1-4 |
Initial |
| Kiss Thief | 2 | Steals a single grounded enemy's item or badge. | Press the  when the gauge hits OK before it fills completely.
|
Level 1: 15 Level 2: 20 Level 3: 25 |
N/A | Initial |
| Tease | 3 | Makes all enemies Dizzy. | Hold down the to fill the gauge, but don't let it overflow.
|
Level 2: 20 Level 3: 25 |
N/A | Super Rank |
| Smooch | 10 | Replenishes 10 of Mario's HP. | Alternate by pressing and  to fill the gauge.
|
Level 3: 25 | N/A | Ultra Rank |
Super Paper Mario
| Catch Card | |
|---|---|
 |
|
Gallery
Encountering Ms. Mowz
Mario meets Ms. Mowz.
Ms. Mowz without her mask and her shoes, as seen in the Lovely Howz of Badges
Ms. Mowz using Love Slap in the Nintendo Switch remake
Ms. Mowz using Kiss Thief in the Nintendo Switch remake
Ms. Mowz using Tease in the Nintendo Switch remake
Ms. Mowz using Smooch in the Nintendo Switch remake
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | チュチュリーナ[?] Chuchurīna |
From「チューさん」(Little Mouser),「チューチュー」(chū-chū, onomatopoeia for both the squeak of a mouse and kissing), and the name ending "-rina" or "-lina" | |
| Chinese | 吱吱莉娜[?] Zhīzhīlìnà |
Transliteration of Japanese name, where「吱吱」(zhīzhī, an onomatopoeia for the squeak of a mouse) is from「吱吱鼠」(Little Mouser) | |
| Dutch | Miss Mowz[?] | - | |
| French | Carmina[?] | Feminine form of carmin ("carmine") | |
| Carla (Lovely Howz of Badges pseudonym)[?] | Common female Spanish name | ||
| German | Nagerine[?] | From Nager ("rodent") and the suffix for forming feminine nouns -ine | |
| Italian | Squitty[?] | Diminutive of Squit ("Little Mouser" and also an onomatopoeia for mouse's squeaking) | |
| Korean | 찍찍리나[?] Jjikjjikrina |
Transliteration of Japanese name, where "찍찍" (jjik-jjik, onomatopoeia for the squeak of a mouse) is from "찍찍이" (Little Mouser) | |
| Spanish | Lupina[?] | Feminine form of Arsène Lupin |
Trivia
- She and Bobbery are the only two partners in the game who never fight Mario (although like Bobbery, her initial encounters with Mario include some tension or hostility): Vivian attacks Mario and the early party with her sisters, while Goombella, Koops, Flurrie, and Yoshi Kid appear alongside Doopliss while his Mario disguise has fooled them.
- If the player recruits Ms. Mowz into the party before Bobbery and then uses a healing item on a partner outside of battle, a glitch may occur where Bobbery's name is listed above Ms. Mowz, even if he has not joined the party yet.
References
- ^ Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door summary. Nintendo.com. Archived April 28, 2007, 03:32:14 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
- ^ Thomason, Steve (October 1, 2004). Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Nintendo Player's Guide. Nintendo of America. ISBN 1-930206-51-8. Page 17.
| Little Mousers | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Ian Foomus • Little Mouser (character) • Mousimilian • Moustafa • Ms. Mowz • Nomadimouse (character) • Pierre |
| Species | Little Mouser • Little Skull Mouser |
