Gloomtail

Gloomtail
Sprite of Gloomtail
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 Bonetail is male in the English script of the original GameCube release while 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 Key, which is needed to unlock the pedestals in the Palace of Shadow Tower. When Mario and his partner (except Goombella and Koops) first encounter Gloomtail, the partner confuses him for Hooktail and questions why she is back. 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 Key.

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.

Quotes

Main article: List of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door quotes by character (A–K) § Gloomtail

Profiles and statistics

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.

Gallery

• 

  Mario and his partners battling Gloomtail

• 

  Gloomtail in the Nintendo Switch remake

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
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
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.