Professor Frankly
- “Are all of you ready? And you there! In front of the TV! You listen up, too!”
- —Professor Frankly, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Professor Frankly is Goombella's old teacher at U Goom in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He wears thick glasses, as indicated by the swirls in the glass, which is a common motif used in Japanese media (other Mario characters with swirled glasses include Professor Elvin Gadd, Iggy Koopa, Fawful, and Francis). Frankly's name comes from the stereotypical idea that scientists or other intellectuals habitually begin statements with the word, to emphasize the truthfulness of what they are about to say.
After Mario and team visit the Thousand-Year Door, he tells Mario and his teammates where one of the Crystal Stars is. In addition, tattle log entries that the player may have missed can be found in Frankly's bin. The good Professor consults with Mario and Goombella at various points during their quest, and helps them with hints on where to go next. On the back shelf of his house, a miniature version of the head shaped rocks at the entrance to Pirate's Grotto can be seen, as well as spherical objects bearing the Sun, Moon, Star and Puny designs seen in the Great Tree.
Tattle Information
- That's Professor Frankly, head of the archaeology department at U Goom. He's researching the legendary treasure here. I totally respect him. You know the famous Professor Kolorado? He was a student of Frankly's!!
Names in Other Languages
Trivia
- Professor Frankly breaks the fourth wall (acknowledges the fact that he is in a video game) just before Chapter 5 by telling the player, the "person in front of the TV" to listen carefully about what he has to say about The Thousand-Year Door. Mario's current partner then comments about that, but Frankly tells them to disregard it. Lord Crump (under the alias of Four Eyes) also breaks the Fourth Wall during this chapter.
- In Super Paper Mario, one of the items listed on Francis' to-buy list is a radio-controlled Professor Frankly.
