Thoreau
- “SWEET FREEDOM!”
- —Thoreau, Super Paper Mario
Thoreau is a character in the Wii video game Super Paper Mario. He is the second of the many Pixl creatures that Mario will find in the game. This Pixl resembles a hand, with his head as the palm and the five circles being the fingers, which is a nod to his ability, which is grabbing and throwing enemies. This attack first originated in Super Mario Bros. 2 on the NES. The player can use Thoreau to knock an enemy back into another one, which ignores Defense power, making it a useful technique against enemies that take very little damage through normal means. Some enemies such as the Cursya cannot be picked up. Other than grabbing enemies, Thoreau can also activate switches from afar (just like Kooper or Koops), and snatch Shroom Shakes from Mr. L and Shadoo in battle.
His name was revealed in the 214th issue of Nintendo Power magazine, which also joked that Thoreau was once a part of a tacky wall paper design. According to Tippi, Thoreau "sounds posh and upper class, but he's not afraid to get his hands dirty." Thoreau's name is a corruption of the word "throw", and is also shared with Henry David Thoreau, whose famous quote, "Simplify, simplify, simplify!", was referenced when the Pixl mentions that he "dislikes details".
He claims to have been locked away by the Ancients for 1,500 years when Mario saves him from his imprisonment in a treasure chest in the first chapter. Thoreau believes that a "great being" (a reference to the player) listens to him, and believes that it would wish to know that Mario can use him to grab things with the 
. This breaks the fourth wall, like how Bestovius did in Chapter 1-1, and is not done by any other Pixl.
Catch Card
- Card Type: Rare
- Card Description: This handy Pixl can pick things up and throw them. He's very... handy.
