Shy Guy
- "Red Shy Guy" redirects here. For the character on the Sunset Express in Paper Mario: Color Splash, see Red Shy Guy (character).
- “I ain't scared... I'm terrified!”
- —Shy Guy, Paper Mario: Color Splash
Shy Guys, alternatively formatted as Shyguys,[1] Shy-Guys,[2] or ShyGuys,[3] are recurring enemies in the Super Mario franchise. They are recognizable by their masks, which they wear due to their shyness.[4][1] Shy Guys made their first appearance in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, later released in the Western world as Super Mario Bros. 2.
History
- Main article: History of Shy Guys
Shy Guys debuted in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, and they would only become a part of the Super Mario franchise when the game was localized in the Western world as Super Mario Bros. 2. Shy Guys are very common in spinoff series of the Super Mario franchise, such as the Mario Party series and Paper Mario series. Despite debuting in a game of the Super Mario series, Shy Guys rarely appear in it, and even appear more commonly in platforming games starring Yoshi as a protagonist, such as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Shy Guy is a playable character in some spinoff series, such as the Mario Tennis series and the Mario Baseball series.
General information
Allegiance
In Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2, Shy Guys are minions of the mischievous Wart, but they would subsequently become a part of the Koopa Troop. Shy Guys have also been seen working for other villains, such as Smithy.
Contrarily, some Shy Guys act as allies, such as the White Shy Guys in Yoshi's Story. Also, friendly Shy Guys appear in various spin-offs without any interest of taking over the Mushroom Kingdom.
Physical appearance
All Shy Guys (with the minor exception of some Shy Guys from Mario Strikers Charged) wear robes that can be red, pink, blue, light blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, black, gray, or white. However, in some games such as the Mario Party series, red Shy Guys are the only color variety seen. They are all fairly short and wear masks with holes on them that represent eyes and a mouth. It is unknown what is behind these masks. However, in Shy Guy's trophy celebration movie in Mario Power Tennis, after Shy Guy trips on one of the steps, his mask falls off, and Luigi sees his face without his mask on and is shocked at the sight. The Shy Guy then quickly puts the mask back on and picks the trophy up, showing it to the audience. Sometimes, when Shy Guy's mask falls off, what appears to be a mask strap tends to stay on its head. Also, in Luigi's Mansion, Luigi can use the Poltergust 3000 to pull a mask off a Ghost Guy. Ghost Guys do not have eyes on their masks, but their faces are completely black with two glowing yellow eyes where the mask's eyes would be. It is unknown whether this is what a Shy Guy's face looks like when it is alive, as they, like the game's other generic ghosts, were imitations created by Vincent Van Gore. Additionally, in Paper Mario: Color Splash, a Shy Guy in the Golden Coliseum says that Mario would make a terrible Shy Guy because he has a face, suggesting that Shy Guys do not have a face.
It is also possible that the Shy Guys' so-called "masks" are not masks at all, but rather faces. In Yoshi's Island DS, the sleeping Shy Guy's mask eye holes are closed, supporting this. Also, the Bandit variant of Shy Guy have been shown to have the ability to change the expressions on their masks as if they were their actual faces. The picture that is shown when Bandit wins in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Mini-Battles even suggests that he is able to stick out his tongue. Also, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars's Shy Guys' eye holes comically spin when the Shy Guy is confused, much like people's eyes do in cartoon gags; the Shy Guys of Super Mario RPG are also able to blush on their masks. Spear Guys and Dancing Spear Guys are perfectly capable of moving their mouth holes when chanting and singing, as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island shows, while Boo Guys are shown regularly changing their expressions and blinking. Most recently, in Mario Strikers Charged, Shy Guys have been shown to yet again be perfectly able to change the expressions on their masks.
Some early Super Mario Bros. 2 artwork of Shy Guys, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, depicted Shy Guys as wearing mask-like badges depicting an angry face, similar to that of Phanto. Another Shy Guy-related element seen only in Super Mario Bros. 2 and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! are also notable for using game artwork of the earliest forms of Shy Guys, making them tall, stout, and human-like; however, the appearance of Shy Guys was later redesigned to their in-game sprite appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2.
In the first few episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Shy Guys were depicted as being similar in appearance to their game counterparts, though with one large exception - their masks possessed only two holes. They only had eye holes perpetually in a scowling position. Later episodes of the show have Shy Guys resembling their game versions more with three holes in their mask, all of which were perfectly circular.
Even though Shy Guys appear to be short, squat humanoids, they are shown to have stick-like legs under their robes in the game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.[5] Their legs can also be seen in Mario Kart 8 when winning first place in a race or while performing certain tricks.
In Paper Mario: The Origami King, a Shy Guy in Spring of Jungle Mist implies that Shy Guys have very short necks that make it difficult to look up.
Although Shy Guys generally do not wear much else besides their masks and robes, there are a few instances where they wore additional items. An example of this is in Mario Kart Tour, where a Shy Guy wears a pastry chef hat and a red neckerchief, carrying a whisk.
Color variations
Much like Yoshis and Birdos, Shy Guys come in many different colors. The following is a list of all known Shy Guys and the first appearance of said Shy Guy.
| Image | Color | Shoe color | First appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Red | Blue | Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic |
|
Blue | Magenta | Super Mario All-Stars |
|
Yellow | Green | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island |
|
Green | Brown | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island |
|
Pink | Purple | Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic |
|
Light-blue | Red-brown | Mario Kart DS |
|
Black | White | Yoshi's Story (as black Flying Shy Guys) Mario Superstar Baseball (as normal Shy Guys) |
|
White | Black | Yoshi's Story (as White Shy Guys) |
|
Orange | Blue | Mario Strikers Charged |
|
Purple | Orange | Yoshi's Woolly World (as Woozy Guys) Yoshi's Crafted World (as normal Shy Guys) |
|
Brown | Dark-green | Yoshi's Woolly World |
|
Dark-green | Brown | Yoshi's Woolly World |
Quotes
- Tee hee hee hee! Welcome to Shy Guy's Shop. Too bad I'm not gonna sell anything to you, Mario! - Paper Mario
- Waaah! Help me! - Paper Mario
- Yes, sir!!!!! - Paper Mario
- HURRY! HURRY! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S GOOD AND PURE, HUUUUUURRY! - Mario Super Sluggers
- Shoo-rah! - Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
- Sweet! I came in first! I'm the Superstar! It's winner take all, and I'm the winner, so... I'll be taking those Mini Stars now! (...I can't let you have Bowser's Mini Stars.) Later! - Mario Party 9
- Once smitten, twice shy... - Paper Mario: Color Splash
- Who knows what happens if you take me with you. - Super Mario Party
Profiles and statistics
- Main article: List of Shy Guy profiles and statistics
Mario Power Tennis
- Offensive Power Shot: Lightning Spear
- Defensive Power Shot: Spear Dance Return
- Doubles Partner: Boo
Bio: Shy Guy's proud of his finely-honed style and loves to surprise people who underestimate him because of his height.
Mario Kart 7
- Class: Feather
- Stat Boosts
- Speed: 3
- Acceleration: 4
- Weight: 2.25
- Handling: 3
- Off-Road: 4
- Website bios:
He may be hiding behind a red robe and mask, but Shy Guy really loves to show off his love of racing.
The diminutive Shy Guy won’t be bullying the big boys, but his light frame does make for superb handling.
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Shy Guy.
Names in other languages
- Main article: List of Shy Guy names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ヘイホー[10] Heihō |
Anagram of「歩兵」(hohei, "foot soldier"), with「ホ」elongated; officially romanized as "Hey-Ho",[6][7][8] "Heyho",[9] and "Heiho". | |
| ヘイホー Heihō Aka |
Shyguy-Red | Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, red type | |
| ヘイホーレッド[12] Heihō Reddo |
Super Mario USA, red type | ||
| ヘイホーピンク[11][12] Heihō Pinku |
Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic / Super Mario USA, pink type | ||
| シャイガイ[13] Shaigai |
Transliteration of the Super Mario Bros. 2 name | ||
| カタカタヘイホー[14][15] Katakata Heihō |
From「カタカタ」(katakata, Japanese onomatopoeia for mechanisms rattling) and「ヘイホー」(Heihō, Shy Guy) | Mario vs. Donkey Kong | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 嘿呵[?] Hēihe |
Transliteration of the Japanese name | |
| 嘿虎[16] Hēihǔ |
Prior to Mario Kart Tour | ||
| Chinese (traditional) | 嘿呵[?] Hēihe |
Transliteration of the Japanese name | |
| Dutch | Shy Guy[?] | - | |
| French (NOA) | Maskache[?] | Pun on masque ("mask") and cache ("hide") | |
| Shy Guy[?] | - | Early translations | |
| French (NOE) | Maskass[?] | From masque ("mask") with the pejorative suffix -asse | |
| German | Shy Guy[?] | - | |
| Italian | Tipo Timido[?] | Shy Guy | |
| Korean | 헤이호[?] Heiho |
Derived from the Japanese name | |
| Portuguese (NOA) | Shy Guy[?] | - | |
| Portuguese (NOE) | Masquito[?] | From máscara ("mask") and the diminutive suffix -ito | |
| Romanian | Timidul[17] | The Shy One | LEGO Super Mario |
| Russian | Скромняга[?] Skromnyaga |
From скромный (skromnyy, "shy") and «-яга» (-yaga, Russian suffix used for creating nouns denoting a possessor of a certain quality) | |
| Spanish | Shy Guy[?] | - | Also spelled "shy guy" in the Latin American Spanish localization from 2012 to 2019, when species names were always written in lowercase. |
References
- ^ a b "A member of the “8 bits” ( a club from evil dreams ). He wears a mask because he's shy." - Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction booklet, page 23 (Shyguy - Red description).
- ^ M. Arakwa. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Player's Guide. Page 128.
- ^ Wessel, Craig. Super Mario Advance. Page 93.
- ^ 「魔夢族の一員。恥ずかしがりやなのでお面で顔をかくしている。」 ("A member of the Mamu Family. They wear a mask on their face because they're shy.") - Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic instruction booklet, page 30 (ヘイホー赤).
- ^ Screenshot
- ^ マリオテニスGC キャラクター紹介. Nintendo. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ マリオパーティ9：マリオと仲間たち. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ Mario Trump NAP-05 5 of Diamonds, though the picture actually depicts a Fly Guy.
- ^ マリオカートDS キャラクター＆カート. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ マリオvs.ドンキーコング２ ミニミニ大行進！：ポリーン救出作戦！. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ a b 1987. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic instruction booklet. Nintendo (Japanese). Page 30.
- ^ a b c d Super Mario USA instruction booklet (PDF). Nintendo (Japanese). Page 26. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Super Mario Collection instruction booklet.
- ^ 2004. マリオ
vs. ドンキーコング (Mario buiesu Donkī Kongu) instruction booklet (PDF). Nintendo (Japanese). Page 15. - ^ マリオvs.ドンキーコング２ ミニミニ大行進！：行く手を邪魔するおもちゃたち. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ 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 (Simplified Chinese). Archived February 26, 2017, 16:11:09 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ „Figurina inamic Timidul și Super-ciuperca sporesc opțiunile de joacă.” ("The Shy One enemy figure and the Super-mushroom boost the gameplay options.") – Set de extindere Atacul lui Boomer Bill § Specificații. LEGO.com (Romanian). Retrieved October 1, 2024. (Archived December 2, 2022, 00:33:44 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
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