Spear Guy
| Spear Guy | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| First appearance | Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995) | ||
| Latest appearance | Yoshi's Crafted World (2019) | ||
| Species origin | Shy Guy | ||
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Spear Guys, sometimes known as Jungle Guys, are tribal Shy Guys found in the jungles of various games. Spear Guys are identical to typical Shy Guys, though they wear grass skirts, wield a shield and spear and paint their masks. When confronted with danger, they will attack with spears. A similar enemy, known as Chuck Guys, appear in the Beanbean Kingdom in the game Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
History
Yoshi series
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Spear Guys made their debut in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island as enemies of several levels, mainly jungle levels. They could only be defeated by being hit with an egg or eaten with Yoshi's tongue from behind because their shields will block attacks from the front. Spear Guys sometimes have long spears that can make an obstacle for Yoshi to jump over or avoid, as touching any part of the spear can cause Baby Mario to fall off of him and get kidnapped. Other times, Spear Guys stand somewhere off the side of the level where Yoshi travels and quickly poke their spear at him, hurting the dinosaur.
A variant called Dancing Spear Guy also appears alongside the regular Spear Guys, and are known for their dancing in a fixed place. They differ by their yellow robes and lack of a shield, though still hold onto their spear while dancing.
Yoshi's Island DS
Both Spear Guys and Dancing Spear Guys returned in the sequel, Yoshi's Island DS, though their appearance was subtly changed. A slight blue shade was added to Spear Guy masks, and a green shade to Dancing Spear Guy masks. An entire level of the fifth world, titled Spear Guys' Village Found!, features these enemies and their village. A new variant of the Spear Guy called the Pike Guy also appears in the game.
Mario & Luigi series
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Spear Guys (without grass skirts) appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team in the Giant Bowser fight. They come out of a castle, either attacking Giant Luigi or handing out some meat for Giant Bowser.
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
| Paper Jam Enemy | |
|---|---|
| Paper Spear Guy | |
| |
| Location(s) | Gloomy Woods |
| Level | 14 |
| HP | 25 (per copy) |
| Power | 74 |
| Defense | 75 |
| Speed | 59 |
| Experience | 48 |
| Coins | 40 |
| Coin Rate | |
| Item Drop(s) | Super Nut, LV 1 amiibo Card |
| Rare Drop(s) | |
| Related | |
Paper Spear Guys appear in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam as enemies. When they attack, they all swing together and the bro must counterattack it by its top side. It's other attack is where they form in a circle, and all their spears are thrown to one bro, making the player dodge the attack.
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario
| Paper Mario Enemy | |||
| Spear Guy | |||
 A Spear Guy from Paper Mario. | |||
| Max HP | 7 | ||
| Attack | 3 | ||
| Defense | 0 | ||
| Location(s) | Jade Jungle
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| Moves | Spear Spike (3), Spear Toss (3, turns into Shy Guy), Dance (summons another Spear Guy) | ||
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Spear Guys returned in Paper Mario as enemies on Lavalava Island. They can only be found in Jade Jungle, near Yoshi's Village. These Spear Guys lack feathers and shields, and have a different spear, but serve the same purpose as their predecessors and act in much the same way.
When Mario first enters the jungle, he comes upon several Spear Guys attacking Kolorado. Mario must then save the adventurer in a short battle.
Mario cannot Jump on these Spear Guys when they hold their spear vertically, or use his Hammer while their spear faces him. They sometimes switch the position of their spear, indicating which attack they will do next and forcing Mario to change his battle strategy.
They may either poke Mario with their spears, or throw them at him. After throwing them, they become normal Shy Guys and continue the remainder of the battle as a Shy Guy would.
Super Paper Mario
Spear Guys along with Shy Guys, Stilt Guys, and Fly Guys were originally going to appear in Super Paper Mario, but were taken out for unknown reasons.
Paper Mario: Sticker Star
| Paper Mario: Sticker Star Enemy | |
| Spear Guy | |
 A Spear Guy from Paper Mario: Sticker Star. | |
| Max HP | 12 |
| Attack | 9 |
| Defense | 0 |
| Location(s) | Shy Guy Jungle, Jungle Rapids, Chomp Ruins, Rumble Volcano |
| Moves | Stab (9), Spear Throw (6) |
Spear Guys make a major appearance (their first appearance since Paper Mario) in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, alongside Shy Guys, Clip Guys, Mariachi Guys, and Snifits. They look similar to their appearance from the original Paper Mario. Here, they show up in World 5, as common enemies. When the battle starts, a Spear Guy will flip his spear and either hold it vertically or horizontally. If held vertically, Mario cannot perform jumps on the Spear Guy, and if held horizontally, Mario cannot use his Hammer on the enemy. The attacks of Spear Guys are determined by the position in which they hold their spear. If held vertically, the Spear Guy will chuck their spear at Mario. If the spear is held horizontally, the Spear Guy will go in front of Mario and stab him with the weapon. The Spear Guys are still vulnerable to projectiles. Unlike in Paper Mario, if a Spear Guy throws his spear at Mario, it won't become a regular Shy Guy.
During Shy Guy Jungle, three Spear Guys take a part of the bridge leading to the Comet Piece and run away. Mario must defeat these Spear Guys in order to progress. During Jungle Rapids, Spear Guys chuck spears at Mario while he rides the raft. They also swing on vines and throw barrels at Mario. At the end of the level, several Spear Guys are seen performing tribal dances around pieces of the Sticker Comet. Two Spear Guys are the final enemies seen harassing the Traveling Toad as well.
Mario Power Tennis
Spear Guy makes short appearances in Mario Power Tennis. Here, for his offensive and defensive power shots, Shy Guy will momentarily transform into Spear Guy and use his spear to hit the ball.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3
Though an official Spear Guy does not appear, Fly Guy's Special Shot in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is wielding a spear that turns the basketball yellow with electricity. This move is made by tapping an S shape on the touch screen and is called the Thunder Shot.
Mario Party series
Mario Party
Spear Guys make a short appearance in the mini-game Paddle Battle from the original Mario Party, which attack the characters with their spears if the character(s) on one side get too close to a Spear Guy. The Spear Guys make the single character lose three coins to the other team of three, and make the team lose one coin each to the single character.
Mario Party Advance
The Jungle Area in Mario Party Advance has several places where players interact with various Spear Guy characters. The Spear Thicket contains a Spear Guy warrior that will challenge either Mario or Luigi to the Tank-Down mini-game. Winning gives the player the mini-game. The ending says that he still continues to look for one bearing a mustache.
On the Dance Stage, a female Spear Guy named Hulu will challenge players to synchronized dancing.
Mario Party 7
The Spear Guy Orb is an item appearing in Mario Party 7 that makes a Spear Guy appear that forces anyone landing on a particular space to grant the item-user a certain amount of coins. Spear Guy does this by poking the player several times with his spear. In addition, several Spear Guys appear in the game King of the River.
Mario Party 8
A Spear Guy functions as the shop owner in DK's Treetop Temple from Mario Party 8. He will sell the player Candy.
Related Species
- Chuck Guy - A Beanbean Kingdom variant from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
- Dancing Spear Guy - A dancing Spear Guy also from the Yoshi's Island games.
- Mini Spear Guy - A toy Spear Guy from Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again.
- Sleeping Spear Guy - A sleeping Spear Guy from Mario vs. Donkey Kong.
Names in Other Languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ヤリホー yarihō |
Portmanteau of "spear" (「槍」 yari) and "Shy Guy" (「ヘイホー」 heihō) |
| Chinese | 長矛舞仔/长矛舞仔 cháng máo wǔ zǐ |
Spear dancer guy |
| French | Mass'lanss | Comes from "Maskass", the French name of the Shy Guys, and a modified orthograph of the word "lance" (spear) |
| German | Speer-Guy Lanzen Guy (Yoshi's Island) |
Spear Guy "Lanze" (lance, spear) + Shy Guy |
| Italian | Tipo Selva | Forest Guy |
| Spanish (Americas) | Guy guerrero | Warrior Guy |
| Spanish (Europe) | Lanz Guy | Pun on "lanza" (spear) |
Trivia
- The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Jungle Fever" featured spear-carrying, grass-skirt-clad Shy Guys identical to Spear Guys. These unnamed Spear Guys, who took residence in the Amazon Jungle, predated the actual ones by many years.
- Despite the level Jungle Hut from Yoshi's Story and the board Shy Guy's Jungle Jam from Mario Party 4 both featuring Shy Guys, Spear Guys were conspicuously absent in favor of regular Shy Guys.
- Shy Guys
- Enemies
- Sub-Species
- Koopa Troop
- Mario Party 7
- Mario Party 8
- Mario Party Advance
- Mario Party Characters
- Mario Power Tennis
- Paper Mario
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star Enemies
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
- Yoshi Enemies
- Yoshi Sub-Species
- Yoshi's Island DS
