King Boo

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This article is about the main King Boo. For information about the main villain of the Luigi's Mansion series, see King Boo (Luigi's Mansion series). For the Super Mario Sunshine boss, see King Boo (Super Mario Sunshine).
King Boo

Solo artwork of King Boo for Mario Party: Star Rush
General information
Species Boo
Portrayed by Toru Asakawa
Appearances
First appearance Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
Latest appearance Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (version 2.0.0) (2021)
“Eee hee hee...I am King Boo, the scariest of the spirits. Eek! What's this?! Your face...It would even scare a ghost. How horrible! You've got it backwards...I do the scaring around here! All right, now I'll put some real fear in that frightening face of yours! Eee hee hee!”
King Boo, Super Mario 64 DS

King Boo is the leader of the Boos and an ally of Bowser, whom he has aided him in his various schemes. King Boo is similar to Big Boos in that he is larger than regular Boos, although as his royal title would suggest, King Boo is even more powerful than Big Boos. Despite being regular enemies, Boohemoths are even more powerful than King Boo as they cannot be defeated.

King Boo made his first appearance in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, although there are two other King Boos who made separate debut appearances prior to him; the first King Boo was introduced in Luigi's Mansion and is the titular series' main antagonist, while the second King Boo exclusively appears in Super Mario Sunshine as a boss.

History

Mario Kart series

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

King Boo and Petey Piranha in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

King Boo is an unlockable character in the racing game Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. This is his first appearance in a spin-off, and also his first playable appearance, resulting in further appearances in the Mario Kart series. Despite being a ghost, King Boo is classified as a heavyweight driver due to his large size. His partner is Petey Piranha, and both have the ability to use almost any other character's special item (if they are going to get a special item, it is randomly chosen, based on their race position). They cannot receive the Green Fireball or the Birdo's Egg, however. These characters are unlocked by winning the Star Cup in Mirror Mode.

King Boo's personal kart is the Boo Pipes, which is a gray version of Petey's Piranha Pipes kart, but with an image of a Boo instead of a Piranha Plant where the item-using partner stands. However, the more important difference between the two is that, while the Piranha Pipes has high speed and low acceleration, the Boo Pipes is vice versa, with low speed and high acceleration. The only other heavy kart like this is the Offroader in Mario Kart Wii.

King Boo appears to slightly shrink when he becomes the driver. On the second "Thanks for Playing!" screen (after beating the Special Cup with a Gold Trophy while all other cups already have a Gold Trophy), King Boo appears in the background chasing Wario and Waluigi.

Mario Kart DS

The start of King Boo's boss battle in Mario Kart DS

In Mario Kart DS, King Boo, along with six other bosses from Super Mario 64 DS, re-appears as one of the bosses of the Mission Mode. King Boo is the boss of the fourth level, with the playable character being Peach. Peach attempts to collect 50 coins on the Lava Arena within the time limit, but after a few seconds King Boo appears, surrounds her, and then attacks her, stealing ten of her coins and making all uncollected coins disappear, before teleporting to another area of the arena. To take them back, Peach has to drive and bump into King Boo, making him transparent. Then, she can drive through him again, retrieving her coins and making the other coins reappear. However, King Boo soon reappears a few moments later to get the coins again. After collecting all fifty coins, Peach finally defeats King Boo.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2

King Boo makes a cameo appearance in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 on the Yoshi Park 2 course in the Horror House. Here, a large picture of him appears near the end of the course where it inhales many ghosts and the racers. As the player drives into his mouth, they are warped back to the beginning of the course.

Mario Kart Wii

King Boo in Mario Kart Wii

King Boo returns in Mario Kart Wii as a large-sized driver, and is unlocked by completing the Star Cup in 50cc. He is also unlocked by playing 750 races. He features a good handling bonus and a small off-road bonus, which comes in handy for vehicles like the Offroader, Wario Bike, and Phantom. He is used as the Staff Ghost on the SNES Ghost Valley 2 course. In the credits, he appears driving the Jetsetter on the SNES Ghost Valley 2 course.

King Boo is one of very few characters to have his standing animation on the character select screen altered from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! In this case, his tongue is not sticking out of his mouth the whole time like before; now, before selecting him, his tongue is still in his mouth. Other characters whose poses were altered include: Yoshi, who is now looking at the screen; Birdo, whose bow was made larger; Diddy Kong, who is looking in a different direction; Wario, who now has short sleeves; Waluigi, who now performs a slightly different animation when selected; and Donkey Kong, whose mouth is not as wide open and is looking in another direction.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

King Boo in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, wearing a crown from Battle Mode

King Boo returns as a playable character in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the enhanced port of Mario Kart 8 released for Nintendo Switch. He is among the lightest of the five heavyweight groups, sharing his stats with Rosalina and Link. He has the lowest top speed and weight of all the heavyweights, all while sharing similar acceleration as other heavy groups. However, his handling is amongst the best of the heavyweights (shared with the metal characters). He also has the strongest mini-turbo boost of the heavyweights. Finally, his traction stat is noticeably strong, being far and away the best in his weight class, and the 3rd best base traction stat in the game. He is also the 200cc Staff Ghost for Twisted Mansion.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX

King Boo appears as a featherweight playable character in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, sharing his stats with Baby Mario and Baby Peach. He was only playable during a limited-time event campaign held between October 18, 2017, and January 10, 2018, in the Japanese version, though Bana Passport users could unlock King Boo permanently when they collected three in-game stamps, making him usable even after the event's duration. In an update released on October 10, 2018, he was made available for players who did not participate the aformentioned event.

Mario Kart Tour

King Boo reappears as a playable character in Mario Kart Tour, available as of the 2019 Halloween Tour. He is classified as a Super driver, and his special skill is the Lucky Seven.

The game also features two other playable variants of King Boo. King Boo (Luigi's Mansion), also introduced to the game in the 2019 Halloween Tour, uses his design from Luigi's Mansion 3. This variant is listed as a High-End character and has the Bob-omb Cannon special skill. King Boo (Gold) was introduced for the 2020 Halloween Tour, sporting a golden body and blue-jeweled silver crown. Also listed as a High-End driver, he uses the Coin Box as his special skill and, like other metallic characters, a distorting filter is applied to his voice. Unlike most characters, King Boo's head icon is recycled from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, rather than having a new one that uses his in-game model. Similarly, the head icons for his Luigi's Mansion and gold counterparts also use their in-game artwork.

In pre-release materials, including the beta test, King Boo was classified as a Super Rare (High-End) driver and his special skill was the Double Bob-ombs, sharing his change in classification between the beta test and final game with Rosalina.

Super Mario 64 DS

Mario encountering King Boo in Super Mario 64 DS

King Boo appears in Super Mario 64's Nintendo DS remake, Super Mario 64 DS. As the boss who locked Luigi away, he captures a part of Peach's Castle. King Boo aids Bowser in his conquest of Peach's Castle by capturing Luigi and imprisoning him in Big Boo's Haunt. Specifically, Luigi is imprisoned behind a painting of himself inside the haunted mansion. Mario heads to the Big Boo Battle level to save Luigi. Upon entering the level, he is greeted by King Boo, and from there he must listen for King Boo's cackle and enter the door where it is loudest. Eventually, Mario reaches the end and fights King Boo to free Luigi. To defeat King Boo, Mario has to follow King Boo's movements in the arena's mirror and stomp him when he comes close enough. Ultimately, Mario saves his brother from King Boo, and together (with Yoshi and Wario once the latter is saved) they defeat Bowser and save Princess Peach.

In English and other localizations of the game, King Boo is incorrectly called Big Boo, even though he is clearly different from the Big Boo of Big Boo's Haunt. Internally, they do use the same model, with a modifier denoting the presence of the crown.

Mario Baseball series

Mario Superstar Baseball

King Boo is a playable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and a member of Wario's baseball team, the Wario Greats. He is a default character, meaning he does not need to be unlocked. He is a power hitter, using his white, crowned, Boo-like baseball bat to hit long outfield drives and even homeruns. King Boo has good chemistry with Boo and Petey Piranha, and he has bad chemistry with Luigi and Baby Luigi. However, like Boo, his hits are usually very curved, and this causes them to be fouls most of the time.

Mario Super Sluggers

King Boo batting at Yoshi Park at night

King Boo reappears in Mario Super Sluggers and is one of the few characters on Wario's team in both games, along with Boo and Waluigi. He is once again a power hitter, and he also excels in pitching, with both stats being his highest, though his running and fielding are still rather poor. In Challenge Mode, he appears immediately after the player defeats Bowser Jr. at the Wario City stadium, stating that he turned invisible and was watching the whole game. However, he is uninterested in joining the player's team unless the team has some Boos with them. This is accomplished by both recruiting Boo and finding the Mini Boo item. King Boo has good chemistry with Petey Piranha, Boo, Wiggler, and King K. Rool, but he has bad chemistry with Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, and Baby Daisy.

His baseball bat no longer has a physical crown on it. In this game, it is represented as a crown picture above the "Boo mouth" picture. As well, in this game only, the colors of the jewels on his crown are reversed.

Super Princess Peach

Princess Peach battling King Boo in Super Princess Peach

King Boo aids Bowser in Super Princess Peach by appearing as the boss of Shriek Mansion. After adventuring through Vibe Island, Peach discovers where King Boo is and engages him in combat. During the battle, King Boo fires blue homing fireballs at Peach and chases her regardless of whether she looks at him or not. Peach can damage King Boo with direct light, which is made by having his own flames light the candles spread throughout the room. After a few attacks, King Boo uses his Gloom vibe, which causes him to cry, which extinguishes the candle flames. After enough attacks, King Boo is eventually defeated. With King Boo eliminated, Peach rescues the Toad and continues against Bowser's forces.

Mario Party series

Mario Party 8

King Boo in Mario Party 8

King Boo makes his first appearance in a Mario Party game in Mario Party 8. He gives out Stars on his own board King Boo's Haunted Hideaway. He hides in one out of three altars and gives the player a Star for ten coins if they can find him where he is hiding. If the player is able to buy the Star, he starts to "summon the bizarre" and disappears, causing the player to jump into a Warp Pipe that returns them to the starting point. This "makeover mojo" causes the whole layout of the course to change. However, if they do not have enough coins, King Boo causes a pitfall to appear under the player, causing them to return to the starting point and allowing the next player that reaches him to buy the Star. Additionally, if the player fails to steal anything from the board event Pickpocket Pinball, the hosting mouse sounds like King Boo. The player can purchase King Boo sounds from the Fun Bazaar, along with a figurine titled "King Boo's Revenge". When the player presses A Button on the figurine during the Figurine Parade, King Boo floats up and gives off a brilliant glow, as if he is a light bulb.

Mario Party 9

King Boo in Mario Party 9

King Boo appears as the stage boss of the board Boo's Horror Castle in Mario Party 9. He is fought in the minigame, King Boo's Puzzle Attack, where the competitors line up power-ups in lines of three or more to deal damage to him. Once his health reaches halfway, he throws Boos onto the field which can stun the player's cursors, making them unable to move until they shake the Boo off. What is unique about his boss battle is that if a player gets the Final Attack, they get ten points instead of the usual three, likely because the players can easily accumulate points up to fifty. In the final fight against Bowser, King Boo can also appear to hinder the players' progress. If Bowser throws the die with all the stage bosses' faces on it and King Boo's face appears on top, King Boo materializes above the stage. Then, he summons five Boos that move in a counterclockwise direction while moving outwards. When the Boos reach the boundaries of the stage, King Boo summons another five Boos, except this time they move clockwise. After that, King Boo disappears from the battle unless his face appears on the top of the die again.

Like most other characters in the game, King Boo has a constellation that can be returned to the sky; it is called the Ghost Major. It is located in the farthest left portion of the sky, near King Bob-omb's constellation and right next to Boo's constellation. Like all constellations, it can be bought for fifty Minigame Points. Also, in the Museum's Sound Test, there are two voice sounds with the name "King Boo's Entrance"; one is of King Boo and the other is actually of Boo.

Mario Party 10

King Boo as he appears in Mario Party 10

King Boo reappears in the next title, Mario Party 10. He returns as a boss in the minigame King Boo's Tricky Tiles. In order to defeat him, the player must remember which platforms are false, and then run around until they can jump on a light switch (one is worth 3 points, and another worth 1 point). Like other bosses, King Boo gets angered after the players deplete his health halfway. The technique that King Boo uses is that he swaps Boos with platforms and he blocks the camera, so the player can't see the platforms very well and remember which ones are false. He can also be seen on the Luigi Board, which appears in the game's amiibo Party mode.

Mario Party: Star Rush

King Boo returns as a boss in Mario Party: Star Rush in his minigame, King Boo's Light Smite. In order to defeat him, players have to use Light Boxes which they need to carry over rotating platforms while evading Peepas. Once he loses half his health bar, the rotating platforms start moving faster and more Peepas appear, making it more difficult to reach the other side.

Mario Party Superstars

King Boo speaking to Luigi in Mario Party Superstars

King Boo appears in Mario Party Superstars on Horror Land, replacing the Big Boo found on the original board.[1] He summons Boo lackeys to steal coins (for free) or Stars (for 150 coins) from all opponents who have any. As with the Big Boo in the original, he can only be encountered at night, and only through a path that requires a Skeleton Key.

Mario & Sonic series

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Mario races against King Boo in the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
King Boo as he appears in the DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, King Boo appears as the first and sixth (in Individual Festival mode only) rival. King Boo races the player in the Alpine Skiing Downhill event in both Individual and Group Festival modes but he only races the player in Giant Slalom in the Individual Festival mode. King Boo has no skis so he goes down the hill smoothly. If the player loses to him, the guide (either Cream or Toad) says that it is unfair because King Boo has no skis.

In the Adventure Tours mode in the DS version, King Boo is the mid-boss of Polastraits. When the challenger approaches him, King Boo tells Mario/Sonic that he must race someone afraid of him. He notices that Luigi is scared of him, and decides for Luigi to compete against him in Alpine Skiing GS. In this version, King Boo is transparent and the player can ski through him. He also appears slightly larger than in his other appearances.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

King Boo in The Ghostly Tower in the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, King Boo is one of the rival characters that can be found in the London Party mode, and when he is encountered, he challenges the player to the Dream Sprint event, with stickers being offered as a reward for beating him.

In the Nintendo 3DS version, King Boo appears in the Story Mode, where he helps guard the Phantasmal Fog at the Tower of London, and teams up with a Boo to challenge Sonic and Tails in Badminton (Doubles). When defeated, he and the Boo flee, and King Boo later appears at the opening ceremony for the games. A badge of King Boo can also be obtained from the badge machine.

King Boo is one of the three characters who appear as rivals in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games but do not appear as playable characters in any version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The other two are Boo and Magikoopa.

Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

King Boo appears in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games as a rival in the Legends Showdown mode. He is found in Area 4, and is raced against in Short Track Speed Skating 1000m.

Mario Golf: World Tour

King Boo in Mario Golf: World Tour

King Boo makes a cameo appearance in Mario Golf: World Tour on Hole 4 of Bowser's Castle. He is floating in the background alongside other Boos, and he is also much larger than in other games. His name can also appear on the tournament scoreboard.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

King Boo appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

King Boo appears as a boss and enemy in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, mostly appearing at the Ghost House courses. His main attribute is Dark, while his sub-attribute is Light. As an ally, King Boo's skill can heal 1000 HP, and change all Heart Orbs into Dark Orbs. His Awoken Skill raises the amount of time that the player has to move Orbs around.

As an enemy, King Boo is capable of decreasing the player's maximum time to move Orbs around. Also, King Boo is treated as a generic enemy, so he can still appear as an enemy, regardless of whether or not the player has King Boo in their party. Big Boo can be transformed into a King Boo with six Boo Mushrooms as a Transformation Item, making it possible to create multiple King Boos on the player's team.

When King Boo attacks, a bunch of Boos attack with him.

King Boo's best stats are his ATK and RCV, while his HP is at an average level.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

King Boo, attempting to fool Mario and Luigi by disguising himself as Paper Mario, in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

King Boo appears as a boss in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, making his official Mario & Luigi series debut. King Boo has a Papercraft version of himself controlled by Morton and Lemmy, which is fought in Bowser's Castle. The Mario Bros. use Papercraft Yoshi to fight it.

The real King Boo is encountered and fought in Gloomy Woods after the trio separate, leading to him kidnapping Mario and Paper Mario; leaving Luigi alone to find them, like in the Luigi's Mansion series. After finding Mario, he and Luigi begin to look for Paper Mario. They eventually find King Boo instead, disguised as Paper Mario. When they group together, King Boo reverts back to normal and laughs at the Bros. for a second, before re-transforming; Mario and Luigi then turn around, and are unaware of King Boo's presence. When they turn around again, King Boo reveals himself again, but is caught by the duo. In an attempt to fool them, he immediately reverts back to Paper Mario, and tries to convince the Bros. that he is the real Paper Mario, but fails. King Boo then loses control of his transformation powers, as he quickly transforms into Paper Peach and then Paper Bowser, before finally gaining control and giving up; reverting back to his true form, causing the battle to commence.

King Boo attacks by spitting blue fireballs at either Mario or Luigi before inhaling them; making them need to avoid the fireballs twice, and splitting into five copies before floating slowly towards the trio, turning invisible as he gets near; which the trio must counter using their hammers around 2 seconds after a copy turns invisible. During the battle, King Boo calls a Paper Boo holding the real Paper Mario onto the battlefield; threatening to harm Paper Mario if the bros attack either himself or the Paper Boo. In order to save Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi must defeat the minion holding onto Paper Mario, causing it to drop him. If King Boo is attacked while the Paper Boo is on the battlefield, he deals damage to Paper Mario. After a few turns, another Paper Boo can grab Paper Mario again, taking him out of the battle (which gets rid of Paper Mario's copies) temporarily. Finally, King Boo also has a chase attack where he grows bigger before attempting to shoot a giant blue fireball at the trio; which Mario and Luigi have to counter by throwing Paper Mario's boomerang form into King Boo's mouth while it is open. Once defeated, Paper Mario is reunited with the duo and the group continues to Mount Brrr.

Due to his crown, King Boo is immune to the brothers' Jump attack (but he can be hit by Hammer attacks, unlike Paper Boos) and certain Bros. Attacks, such as the Rocket Blast and Mega Thwonk's jumping attacks (only in the arcade). Attacking King Boo using attacks from above results in the Bro. taking 1 damage as if they were jumping on a spiked enemy. The Dropchopper, however, can circumvent this as it can be aimed towards King Boo's forehead instead of his crown and can then damage him.

The splitting attack used by King Boo is a reference to (if not a direct copy of) the Dark Star's splitting attack in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, except King Boo takes damage if countered unlike the Dark Star's version due to it being invincible. As well, if the Mario Bros. continue to attack King Boo without freeing Paper Mario, his slapping Paper Mario may be an allusion to Lady Bow and her slap attacks[2]. Also, King Boo's voice clips from Mario Kart Wii are reused.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

King Boo makes a cameo appearance in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle in Spooky Trails, where an image of him can be found on the ground in the area where the gramophone is found.

Mario Tennis Aces

King Boo appears in Mario Tennis Aces as part of the Boo Hunt Co-op Challenge available from version 2.0.0. When Frenzy Time is active, King Boo appears and hovers around the court. Players can continuously hit tennis balls at him to earn more coins. He disappears once either his health bar or the Frenzy bar is depleted. In this appearance, he does not use any of his normal voice clips, instead using those of a regular Boo.

Dr. Mario World

Dr. King Boo in Dr. Mario World

King Boo appears in Dr. Mario World as assistants, added on November 14th, 2019.[3] He is a battle box-exclusive assistant, only obtainable from battle boxes for tier 7 or above in versus mode. In versus mode, he has a chance of sending 2 extra rows of viruses to the opponent if the attack lands. In stage mode, he grants a chance of 5 extra capsules being added when 5 capsules are remaining, which will have a chance to activate again if the condition is met again but didn't activate earlier. However, it won't activate for the rest of the stage if this effect has successfully activated.

He also appears as a doctor named Dr. King Boo, available September 28th, 2020. Like Dr. Dry Bowser, he cannot be obtained in staffing and must be obtained through either in-app purchases or unlocking him through rewards such as in World 20's Special Stage or through certain referrals. His skill is to eliminate an amount of viruses even those that would normally take multiple hits to clear such as floatie viruses. In stage mode, the amount is 5 viruses (4 prior to version 2.2.0), while in versus mode, the amount differs based on level, where it is 4 at level 1 with three extra viruses per level, up to 16 at the maximum level of level 5. In stage mode, if there are no more viruses while this skill is activated, it will eliminate one random object that can be eliminated instead, excluding capsules.

General information

Physical appearance

King Boo's usual design, as seen from his Mario Super Sluggers artwork

Since his debut in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, King Boo resembles a normal white Boo with a golden, five-pointed crown, though he is noticeably larger, sometimes at or exceeding the size of a Big Boo. With this design, the crown has a blue jewel on the front and four red jewels around the sides in every game except Mario Super Sluggers, where the colors are reversed. Like other Boos, King Boo is generally shown with an open, wide grin; however, when looked at, he closes his mouth and bashfully hides his face with his hands. In certain games like Mario Party 9, King Boo's emotions are denoted by an aura surrounding him: when happy, he glows with a blue aura, and when angry, he glows with a red aura. Sometimes he also has steam coming out of him to display his anger. In Dr. Mario World, he has a doctor's mirror on his crown and he carries a medicine box by strap. His gold variant in Mario Kart Tour is based on this design, and has an entirely golden body similar to a Gold Boo, though his teeth and tongue are golden as well. His crown is silver and all five jewels are blue.

Personality

The main King Boo dislikes Mario and Luigi, although he does not harbor deep hatred toward them like his Luigi's Mansion counterpart. However, in the Nintendo DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, King Boo insists on challenging Luigi to an Alpine Skiing GS event specifically because Luigi is afraid of ghosts.

Despite his huge size and immense power, King Boo still covers his face in fear when looked at, much like a normal Boo, showing that he still has a shy nature like his minions; however, also like a normal Boo, he attacks when his foe's back is turned. King Boo has a distinct cackle, which is significantly lower in pitch than other Boos. He also has an echo in his roar. Despite this, King Boo is usually fearless. In Super Mario 64 DS, if Wario goes to battle King Boo, he tells Wario that his face scares him.

King Boo usually considers his Boo minions as friends and cares for them. An example of this is in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam when he threatens to hurt Paper Mario if the Mario Brothers dared to hurt his Paper Boo minion in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. He also has good chemistry with the playable Boo in the Mario Baseball series. In Mario Super Sluggers, King Boo says that he finds little Boos cute.

In the Mario & Sonic series, King Boo has a superiority complex and is quite prideful. In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, King Boo claims that he is unbeatable at the Alpine Skiing event. In the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, King Boo claims to have beaten Mario before.

Powers and abilities

King Boo shares the abilities of other Boos, including being able to teleport, hover in midair, and turn invisible. Because of his size, King Boo can endure more attacks, like with Big Boos. In Super Princess Peach, King Boo is shown to be able to regenerate from his crown.

King Boo appears with a rather high power stat in many of his appearances. This is most noticeable in the Mario Baseball series, where he is able to score Home Runs with relative ease. Because he can move around in midair, King Boo does Alpine Skiing without the use of any skis.

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, King Boo has the ability to shapeshift, shown when he tries to trick Mario and Luigi by posing as Paper Mario. Later, King Boo briefly transforms into Paper Peach and Paper Bowser. He also has the ability to spit blue fireballs.

Leadership

Although he commands a large band of Boos, not all Boos call King Boo their leader, with some Boos working directly for Bowser, and many others living peacefully with the other denizens of the Mushroom Kingdom, either independently or as part of a small band of Boos led by Lady Bow. Notably, those Boos that do claim allegiance to King Boo provide him with further power. King Boo has also been affiliated with other ghost enemies, like Peepas in Mario Party: Star Rush.

Relationships

Enemies

King Boo is shown to be direct enemies with both Mario and Luigi and anyone associated with them, such as Princess Peach. Aside from competing against Luigi once in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games's Nintendo DS version, King Boo is not shown to be Luigi's arch-nemesis unlike the King Boo of the Luigi's Mansion series.

In Mario Superstar Baseball, King Boo has negative chemistry with Luigi and Baby Luigi; in Mario Super Sluggers, he is shown to also have bad chemistry with Mario, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Baby Mario, Baby Peach, Baby Daisy, and Yoshi.

King Boo's animosity toward Peach is first shown in Super Princess Peach. In Mario Kart DS, released around the same time, Peach is the only character who can fight King Boo in Mission Mode, although like the other bosses, King Boo does not have any dialogue.

Friends

King Boo assists Bowser by summoning Boos in Mario Party 9

King Boo has worked for Bowser on numerous occasions, including in Super Mario 64 DS, Mario Party 9 and Super Princess Peach. Despite this, King Boo and Bowser have neutral chemistry in the Mario Baseball titles, and King Boo is a member of Wario's team rather than Bowser's. King Boo has also been paired up with Petey Piranha in his debut appearance, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, and has good chemistry with him in the Mario Baseball series.

Quotes

Super Mario 64 DS

  • (signpost) "Big Boo's Haunt. Eee hee hee...There are no exits. You may as well wander in here forever...Listen carefully. Can you hear me? If you find me, you're history. Eee hee hee..."
  • (to Mario before getting Luigi's key) "Eee hee hee! I am Big Boo, the spookiest of all the spirits! I locked up the whimpy green moustache man. And I'll do the same to you! Eee hee hee! Since I'm a ghost, I can turn invisible in the mirror's reflection. You'll have to attack me from behind to defeat me. But you'll die of fright before that ever happens! And then you'll be one of us!"
  • (to Mario after getting Luigi's key) "Eee hee hee... I am Big Boo, the spookiest of all the spirits. I love scaring wimpy humans. Eee hee hee... You'll never sneak behind me!"
  • (defeated by Mario) "Eee hee hee! You can never really kill a ghost! We always come back! See you again. Eee hee hee!"
  • (to Luigi) "Eee hee hee! I am Big Boo, the ghastliest of all ghosts! What the...? I thought I locked you up...Well, never mind. Now I'll really creep you out! You can't escape...Eee hee hee!"
  • (defeated by Luigi) "Eee hee hee! We ghosts always rise from the dead. I just love the look of terror on your face! In fact, I live for it! Eee hee hee! See you soon!"
  • (to Wario) "Eee hee hee! I am Big Boo, the scariest of the spirits. Eek! What's this?! Your face... It would even scare a ghost. How horrible! You've got it backwards... I do the scaring around here! All right, now I'll put some real fear in that frightening face of yours! Eee hee hee!"
  • (defeated by Wario) "Augh! The scariest one wins, and your face is flesh-creepingly frightening. Good thing I don't have any flesh! Eee hee hee! This is not the end. See you again."

Mario Party 8

  • "Right here, fools! Right under your noses! Now bring me my 10 coins!!"
  • "Hehehe...you found me!!"
  • "Now, how about my 10 coins? Fork 'em over. I've got that Star right here..."
  • "Will you trade 10 coins for my Star?"
    • Selecting "Yes" - "Hehehe, here's your Star!"
    • Selecting "No" - "Oh!? So be it!"
  • "Bah! You don't have enough coins! King Boo says boo to you! And good-bye!!!"
  • "Think you're so smart? You've taken a Star. But now I awaken... the bizarre!"
  • "Too bad it won't be so easy to find me for your second Star, hehehe..."
  • "Horrifying! You got 2 Stars! I'll never live this down! I'll just slip away quietly..."

Mario Super Sluggers

  • "Booo hoo ha! HEY! You defeated Bowser Jr.!"
  • "I wondered who would win, so I made myself invisible and watched the whole thing."
  • "You booooth look like benchwarmers to me!"
  • "Say WHAT? You want ME to help YOOOOOU?"
  • "No! Not even if you had some Boos on your roster! Well... If you had some Boos with you, I might..."
  • "Hey! Hey, yoooou! Did you find some Boos?"
  • "Boo hoo ha! Here are your hints: "error item" and "in a box"! Make sure you get them all!"
  • "Hey! You there! What you got there? Huh? ...HEY! That's a Boo, isn't it? Yeah! It is!"
  • "Aw... Little Boos are so cute! But I don't want to see him riding pine! Put him in a game, yeah?"

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

  • "You?! I might have known. Just what I need, some fool who ain't afraid of a ghost! My little Boos came crying to me about you... Outrageous!" - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (DS)
  • "I'd rather go up against someone who's scared of ghosts though! Hee hee hee!"
  • "I don't believe it! You won! I've finally met my match!"
  • "Heh heh heh! I saw that Alpine Downhill event of yours yesterday! Looks like you need to take a lesson in speed from ME! And that lesson starts today! I challenge you to an Alpine Downhill match! Hee hee hee!" - Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii)
  • "I felt sorry for you and let you win the Alpine Downhill event, but it's not going to happen this time! When it comes to the Alpine Giant Slalom, I’m number one! Heh heh heh!"

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

  • "Look at this little scrap. Friend of yours, is he? Well, if you like your friend, you better stop attacking me! Now, don't go thinking it's OK to attack my little minion either. Who knows what could happen if he dropped your little friend there... You got that?"
  • "You...you really didn’t understand? Even when I shouted? Well, now this is happening!"

Profiles and statistics

Main article: List of King Boo profiles and statistics

Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

Website bio: If you're not afraid of ghosts, you will be once King Boo is through with you. To unlock him, finish the Mirror Mode Star Cup with a 1st place win.

Game appearances

Title Role Year of release Release medium
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Unlockable playable character 2003 Nintendo GameCube
Super Mario 64 DS Boss 2004 Nintendo DS
Mario Superstar Baseball Playable character 2005 Nintendo GameCube
Super Princess Peach Boss 2005 Nintendo DS
Mario Kart DS Boss 2005 Nintendo DS
Mario Party 8 Non-playable character 2007 Wii
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 Cameo 2007 Arcade
Mario Kart Wii Unlockable playable character 2008 Wii
Mario Super Sluggers Playable character 2008 Wii
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Rival 2009 Nintendo DS
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games Rival 2009 Wii
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Rival 2011 Wii
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Rival 2012 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party 9 Boss 2012 Wii
Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Rival 2013 Wii U
Mario Golf: World Tour Non-playable character/cameo 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS Trophy 2014 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party 10 Boss 2015 Wii U
Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition Boss 2015 Nintendo 3DS
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Boss 2015 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Party: Star Rush Boss 2016 Nintendo 3DS
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Playable character 2017 Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart Arcade GP DX Playable character (during a limited-time event)
Unlockable playable character (for permanent use, through a limited-time event)
2017 Arcade
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Cameo 2017 Nintendo Switch
Mario Tennis Aces (version 2.0.0) Boss 2018 Nintendo Switch
Dr. Mario World Assistant (update) 2019 iOS / Android
Mario Kart Tour Unlockable playable character (update) 2019 iOS / Android
Mario Party Superstars Non-playable character 2021 Nintendo Switch
Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit (version 2.0.0) Non-playable character 2021 Nintendo Switch

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see King Boo/gallery.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese キングテレサ
Kingu Teresa
King Boo
Chinese (Simplified) 嘘嘘鬼王
Xūxūguǐ Wáng
害羞幽灵王 (since Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
Hàixiūyōulíng Wáng
King Boo
Chinese (Traditional) 害羞幽靈王
Hàixiūyōulíng Wáng
King Boo
Dutch King Boo -
French Roi Boo King Boo
German König Buu Huu
König Boo (Mario Kart DS)
King Boo
Italian Re Boo King Boo
Korean 킹부끄
King Bukkeu
King Boo; bukkeu comes from 부끄부끄 (bukkeubukkeu), Boo's Korean name
Portuguese Rei Bu King Boo
Russian Бу-король
Bu-korol'
Korol' privideniy
King Boo
Spanish (Americas) Rey Boo (recent games)
Rey Bú
King Boo (Mario Kart Wii)
King Boo
Spanish (Europe) Rey Boo King Boo

King Boo (Gold)

Language Name Meaning
French Roi Boo (or) King Boo (gold)
German König Buu Huu (Gold) King Boo (gold)
Italian Re Boo (oro) King Boo (gold)
Portuguese Rei Bu (ouro) King Boo (gold)
Spanish (Americas) Rey Boo (dorado) King Boo (golden)
Spanish (Europe) Rey Boo (Dorado) King Boo (Golden)

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Nintendo. (September 23, 2021). Nintendo Direct - 9.23.2021. YouTube. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  2. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74SYLTwZ2Aw
  3. ^ DrMarioWorld_EN. (November 14, 2019). Twitter. Retrieved September 28, 2020.