Gloomtail

Gloomtail
Sprite of Gloomtail from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Species	Dragon
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!? You destroyed my precious younger sister?!? I wondered why she hadn't written recently... Quake in fear, mortals! For I am Gloomtail! I will avenge my sister by taking your lives...and then gnawing on your bones!”

—Gloomtail, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Gloomtail is the middle sibling in the "tail" family in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. He is the older brother of Hooktail and the younger brother of Bonetail, and according to Grifty, once served as a pet of the Shadow Queen. Gloomtail is the only male sibling out of the trio (although Gloomtail is female as well in the Dutch localization of the remake, Bonetail is male in the English script of the original GameCube release, and Hooktail is male in Spanish localizations of the original and remake) and the only one to not have a Super Paper Mario equivalent. He lives in the Palace of Shadow and guards the Star Stone, which is needed to unlock the pedestals in the Palace of Shadow Tower (and activate its doors in the remake).

When Mario first encounters Gloomtail, his partner confuses him for Hooktail and questions why she is back:

• Goombella: "Hey! Isn't that Hooktail? We totally beat it before! What's it doing back?"
  • "Hey! Isn't that Hooktail? We totally beat her before! What's she doing back?" (Switch)
• Koops: "Ummm… Isn't that Hooktail? I KNOW we beat it before! It coughed up my dad! What's it doing back?"
  • "Ummm… Isn't that Hooktail? I KNOW we beat her before! She coughed up my dad! What's she doing back?" (Switch)
• Flurrie: "My, what a fearsome dragon... But isn't this Hooktail, whom you said you beat before? Yes, big, with nasty eyes and ripe breath... It sounds just like what you described."
• Yoshi Kid: "Whoa! Now, THAT'S a dragon! Hey, but isn't that Hooktail? I thought you beat it! Yeah, huge, dragonish, gnarly... Sounds just like what you described, dude!"
  • "Whoa! Now, THAT'S a dragon! Hey, but isn't that Hooktail? I thought you beat her! Yeah, huge, dragonish, gnarly... Sounds just like what you described, dude!" (Switch)
• Vivian: "Uh... That's a big dragon. But, Mario, isn't that Hooktail, the one you said you beat? Gigantic, with mossy teeth... Yes, this monster fits the bill, all right!"
• Admiral Bobbery: "Now who's this dragon fellow? I say, isn't that Hooktail, the thing you beat before? Yes, enormous, with rather grimy toes... Yes, that suits this fellow to a T!"
  • "Now who's this dragon? I say, isn't that Hooktail, the thing you beat before? Yes, enormous, with rather grimy toes... Yes, that suits this creature to a T!" (Switch)
• Ms. Mowz: "Isn't that Hooktail, dearie? I thought you beat Hooktail... What's it doing here???"
  • "Isn't that Hooktail, dearie? I thought you beat Hooktail... What's she doing here?" (Switch)

Upon hearing this, Gloomtail vows to destroy Mario and company and avenge his sister. After defeating Gloomtail, he coughs up the treasure chest containing the Star Stone.

Gloomtail in his room.

Gloomtail is stronger than his sister. He attacks by breathing poison on Mario and his partner (taking at least ten turns to wear off), and stomping or chomping the character in front. His earthquake move can be dangerous, but it does not work on Vivian and Flurrie. He can also charge up for his signature and strongest attack: his Megabreath move, which does up to 16 damage. He shares his attack and defense stats with Bonetail.

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Gloomtail
	Max HP	80	Attack	8	Defense	2
	Location(s)	Palace of Shadow	Role	Boss	Level	76
	Sleep?	30%	Dizzy?	30%	Confuse?	30%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	30%	Soft?	70%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	0%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	1%	Moves	Poison Breath (8, Poison, Piercing), Stomp (8), Chomp (8), Earthquake (10, Piercing; useless against Vivian and Flurrie), Charge +8 (warning for Megabreath), Megabreath (16)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	Star Key
Tattle Log #: 100	Log	Hooktail's brother. He's a big, dark, poison-spewing baddie. Watch out for his famous Megabreath attack!
	Tattle	That's Gloomtail. I think he's Hooktail's brother. I see the family resemblance... Max HP is 80, Attack is 8, and Defense is 2. He'll bite or stomp you, and he may also breathe poison on you. Great. When his HP gets low, he may throw in some other attacks, as well. Wouldn't surprise me. Especially watch out for his megabreath move, 'cause the word is, it's GNARLY! He also stores power for some attacks, so use Vivian to hide to avoid those.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Gloomtail
	Max HP	80	Attack	8	Defense	2
	Location(s)	Palace of Shadow	Role	Boss	Level	76
	Sleep?	30%	Dizzy?	30%	Confuse?	30%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	30%	Soft?	70%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	0%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	1%	Moves	Poison Breath (8, Poison, Piercing), Stomp (8), Chomp (8), Earthquake (10, Piercing; useless against Vivian and Flurrie), Charge +8 (warning for Megabreath), Megabreath (16)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	50	Items	Star Stone
Tattle Log #: 103	Log	Hooktail's brother. He's a big, dark, poison-spewing baddie. Watch out for his famous megabreath attack!
	Tattle	That's Gloomtail. I think he's Hooktail's brother. I see the family resemblance... Max HP is 80, Attack is 8, and Defense is 2. He'll bite or stomp you, and he may also breathe poison on you. Great. When his HP gets low, he may throw in some other attacks as well. Wouldn't surprise me. Especially watch out for his megabreath move, 'cause the word is it's GNARLY! He also stores power for some attacks, so use Vivian to hide to avoid those.

Gallery

• 

  Mario and his partners battling Gloomtail

• 

  Gloomtail in the Nintendo Switch remake

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ブンババ[?] Bunbaba	From「ゴンババ」(Gonbaba, "Hooktail") and possibly「ブラック」(burakku, "black")
Chinese	蹦巴巴[?] Bèngbābā	Transliteration of Japanese name
Dutch	Taupé[?]	From taupe (a grayish brown color)
French	Toxicroc[?]	Portmanteau of toxique ("toxic") and croc ("fang")
German	Lohbert[?]	Portmanteau of Lohe ("blaze") and the masculine name "Bert"
Italian	Fosco[?]	Gloomy; shared with Woodrow
Korean	깜자잔[?] Kkamjajan	From "곤자잔"(Gonjajan, "Hooktail") and "까만색" (kkamansaek, "black")
Spanish	Bumbaba[?]	Taken from the Japanese Bunbaba, but with the "m" before "b", because in Spanish, "n" should not come directly before "b"

Trivia

The large hole behind Gloomtail's room, leading directly to Grodus' room

• The room Sir Grodus is fought in is directly below Gloomtail's room, which would mean that Bowser was in Gloomtail's room when he fell through the floor. In fact, if the player uses cheats or glitches to go to the hidden area behind Gloomtail's room after defeating the Shadow Queen, a large hole can be seen. The hole can be jumped down to enter the aforementioned Grodus room.
  • Goombella's tattle when inside Gloomtail's room acts as though Gloomtail is not present, despite the fact that he is always present until the player lowers the floor of the rooms that lead to his room. This implies that Gloomtail's room was intended to be accessible at any time.
• Gloomtail explains that he was in contact with his sister (some translations specifying via letters), despite being locked behind the Thousand-Year Door, which itself was sealed for a thousand-year span.