Bristle
- This article is about spiked monsters from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. For the similarly named porcupine enemies from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III, see Bristles.
| The Thousand-Year Door enemy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Shhwonk Fortress, Glitz Pit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Max HP | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attack | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Defense | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Moves | Destruction (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Items | None | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coins | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Log | A petrified, spine-covered monster that attacks by charging at you and is impervious to fire. If you approach, its spikes will pop out and poke you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tattle Log #: 84 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- “Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo! You're gonna be coleslaw, kid! And that ain't good!”
- —Bristle, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bristles are spiked monsters made of rock and are found in the game Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Similar to Clefts, Bristles have spiked tops, high defense, an immunity to fire attacks, and can be flipped over by an earthquake or an explosion. Unlike Clefts, Bristles do not lose their top-spiked defense when flipped and are also immune to close-range attacks like Gulp and Mario's Hammer, as their large spears pop out to protect against approachers. Bristles won't pop out their spears if paralyzed (i.e. asleep, frozen, or immobilized), but they are still immune to direct contact moves such as Ms. Mowz's Kiss Thief like with Pokeys.
Despite their copious defenses, Bristles have very low HP and are easily taken out with items (e.g. POW Block, Earth Quake, Ice Storm), Superguards, or Special Moves (e.g. Earth Tremor). Mario is also capable of simply hammering them should he have the Spike Shield badge equipped, though without attack-increasing badges, Piercing Blow, or the Ultra Hammer, it will do no damage.
Although Bristles have made no appearances outside of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, they are mentioned in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. Before the Mario Bros. learn the Bros. Ball move, Toadsworth the Younger tells his older self that he "looks like he has a Bristle in his britches".
Notable Bristles
- The Poker Faces - Two Bristles that compete in the Major League division at the Glitz Pit.
Related species
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | トゲダルマー[?] Togedarumā |
Modification of 「トゲ」 (toge, spine) and 「ダルマ」 (daruma, a type of doll) | |
| German | Dornhart[?] | Pun on "Dorn" (thorn) and "hart" (hard) | |
| Italian | Palla Spina[?] | Spiny Ball (spiny = spinata/spinosa) |
Trivia
- Bristles are the only enemy in the game to have higher defense than HP, as well as the only enemy whose highest stat is defense.
