8) Shy Guys
First Appearance: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, 1996)
There’s something about the Shy Guys that just screams adorable. Short, robed, and sporting their signature white masks, the bantam baddies are equal parts timid and daring. Get them in a pack, and Shy Guys will attack entire towns and wreak havoc. Alone, though, it’s a different story, as they’ll dart away to save their own skin without hesitation. Part of the allure of the Shy Guys stems from their sheer variety and adaptability. There are two examples that stand out more than the others. General Guy, who parades around in a large, pink carriage with a giant lightbulb affixed to its roof, leads the Shy Guys in Paper Mario despite having zero coordination skills. Not many generals run from a battle flailing their arms while their infantry fumbles and bumbles around them! The other most memorable type of Shy hails from Paper Mario: Sticker Star and are known as Sombrero Guys. Many Shy Guy are wont to avoid engaging in a fight with Mario, but Sombrero Guys take the cake for being the most docile. Sombrero Guys sit off to the side strumming a Spanish-sounding riff on acoustic guitars and don’t participate in a battle unless they have to. During a fight, Sombrero Guys will throw their large hat as a weapon and even rapidly play their guitar to heal themselves! Whatever a Shy Guy happens to be wearing, they are a source of extreme amusement and charm, and never to be missed.
I was about to complain that Geno wasn’t number one, and then I saw Fawful and realized that, yes, Geno is not as awesome as Fawful. He had Fury! And as he would like to remind you:
“But…the day comes soon when Fawful rises again, and then no baby’s candy has safety! I am counting chickens before they are even eggs, before the chickens are even chickens!
I miss Jr. Troopa. He had a very brief cameo in TTYD, though. I miss Paper Mario in general. Like… REAL Paper Mario type stuff. I was a big fan of Super Paper Mario, and was glad to see the change in gameplay. I expected Sticker Star to be like the first two games, but it really wasn’t. Not to say that Sticker Star wasn’t a great game in its own right, but I want another Paper Mario with a long story, crazy partners and action commands, and a seamless world.