Count Bleck

Count Bleck, real name Lord Blumiere, is an evil count and initially the main antagonist of . While "bleck" is normally used as onomatopoeia for disgust, it could also be interpreted as a corruption of "black". His real name, Blumiere, is likely a combination of "blue", referencing his coloration, and "Lumière", the French term for light.
Count Bleck is responsible for bringing forth the Chaos Heart by forcing a marriage between Peach and Bowser, and uses it to open the Void, which would shortly destroy all worlds. He leads a troop of minions, consisting of himself, Nastasia, O'Chunks, Mimi, Dimentio, and Mr. L, who serve as the main villains of the game. Their motivations are foretold in the Dark Prognosticus, a prophecy that tells of the destruction of all worlds that Count Bleck uses to bring forth.
As revealed throughout the game via intermissions and flashbacks, Count Bleck was once a member of the Tribe of Darkness, who fell in love with a girl named Timpani. Before they could get married, she was banished from their dimension by his father, and fueled by sadness and loss, he uses the Dark Prognisticus to destroy his dimension, and wishes to do the same for every world.
==History==
===Super Paper Mario===
Prior to the events of the game, Count Bleck went by the name of Blumiere, and was a member of the Tribe of Darkness. The tribe had broken off of another tribe called the Ancients after stealing the Dark Prognosticus in an (ultimately misguided) attempt to prevent its powers from being abused. One day, Blumiere was found injured by a human girl named Timpani, who nursed him back to health. Despite Blumiere's father warning him to stay away from humans, he ultimately fell in love with her.
After fining out his father had threatened Timpani, Blumiere realized their relationship couldn't survive for long, and soon he proposed to her. Before they could get married though, Blumiere's father banished Timpani out of their dimension and wiped her memory, forcing her to wander alone until the day she died. She would later meet Merlon, a member of the Ancients that lived in Flipside, who reformed her into a Pixl named Tippi. Unknowing of this, Blumiere wandered through the dimensions in search of her to no avail. It is implied that he met Nastasia during this time; a bat that he rescued from a trap who transformed into a woman and swore her loyalty to him out of love.
Blumiere returned to his dimension, convinced that Timpani was gone for good. Out of sadness and loss, he stole the Dark Prognosticus, and used its prophetic powers to destroy his dimension, and wished to do the same for all other dimensions. After this, Blumiere took the name of Count Bleck, and with his new assistant and took residence in a new castle in a world of darkness. After this, he would acquire three more minions; the shapeshifter Mimi, the warrior O'Chunks, and the mysterious jester Dimentio.
Eventually, Count Bleck puts his plans into action, targeting the Mushroom Kingdom. He abducts Peach, and while Mario and Luigi storm Bowser's Castle under the impression he kindnapped her once again, Bleck shows himself and abducts everyone save for Mario. Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and the Koopa Troop then find themselves at a wedding, hosted by Count Bleck. With the prophecy's knowledge that a marriage of a princess and a monster could bring forth the Chaos Heart, he has Nastasia force Peach to comply, bringing the Chaos Heart forth. Luigi tries to stop it, but he only provokes it, and the Chaos Heart opens up the Void, a giant rip in the sky that has the power to destroy all dimensions. A disturbance during the wedding sends Luigi, Peach, Bowser, and his minions scattered across Castle Bleck; to confront this problem, he sends Nastasia to brainwash Bowser's minions to follow him, sending them to various dimensions to hinder Mario's progress collecting the Pure Hearts, which can foil his plans.
Once Mario continually defeats his minions, gets more Pure Hearts, and reunites with Peach and Bowser, Count Bleck starts to see him as a legitimate threat. He consults the Dark Prognisticus, and reads that a "Man in Green" and who he affiliates with is the determining factor in weather or not the prophecy of destruction will come to pass. He sends Nastasia to find Luigi, the "Man in Green" spoken of, and brainwash him to join his minions, transforming him into Mr. L. After he is defeated as well, Count Bleck decides to confront them in person, visiting them in the Sammer's Kingdom. He starts arguing with Tippi about his motives, and begins to suspect that the Pixl may be Timpani. However, he convinces himself that the idea of her still being alive is impossible, and continues his plans.
After Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser find the last Pure Heart in the Overthere, Count Bleck orders O'Chunks, Mimi, and Dimentio to take their positions around the castle and defeat the heroes when they arrive. Dimentio reveals to the count that Tippi mentioned the name "Blumiere", confirming to him that Tippi is in fact Timpani. Nastasia requests Count Bleck to call off the destruction now that they know Timpani is alive, but he says that it is far too late to stop the Chaos Heart's destruction. He awaits the heroes, and secretly hopes they will be able to stop him.
When Mario and Tippi reach the inner sanctum of Castle Bleck, Tippi and Bleck argue again over the value of all worlds and the count's motivations. The count orders Nastasia away and does battle with Mario, but he is seemingly invincible. Before he can finish Mario off, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser reunite with him to cheer him on after they narrowly survived battles with Bleck's minions. This event grants the Pure Hearts the strength to override the Chaos Heart, stripping Count Bleck of his invincibility. He still battles the heroes, not going down without a fight.
Count Bleck has 150 HP, and particularly uses his scepter to fight. His main attack involves conjuring up globs of dark magic and hurling them at the heroes to damage them. He can also create huge vortexes of energy that suck up the heroes, damaging them. Bleck can temporarily slow down time as well, causing the heroes to move slower and making it harder to dodge his attacks. Similarly, he can speed himself up, making him more difficult to hit. He will float around and teleport around the room, and the heroes must make use of the various platforms to navigate the area and hit Count Bleck with their attacks.
Ultimately, Count Bleck is defeated. He requests the heroes to kill him before the Void can destroy all worlds, much to the disapproval of Tippi. Before Mario and friends can grant his request though, Dimentio attacks him from behind. Nastasia takes the blow, and is mortally wounded as a result. The jester takes the Chaos Heart for himself, and tells his plans of making a new world in his image once the old ones are destroyed. He banishes Tippi, Count Bleck, and Nastasia to Dimension D, and brainwashes Luigi into becoming Mr. L again, and merges him with the Chaos Heart to create Super Dimentio.
In Dimension D, Count Bleck is reunited with O'Chunks and Mimi, who are still loyal to the count. Their shared love once again restores the power of the Pure Hearts, which weaken Super Dimentio and allow Mario, Peach, and Bowser to defeat him. Once he is destroyed, Luigi and the Chaos Heart are set free and Tippi, Count Bleck, and his minions return with the rest of the group. Before Dimentio is destroyed, he leaves behind a final "shadow" of his power, which will ensure the destruction of all worlds. Count Bleck, aware of the situation, brings everyone to the chapel the Chaos Heart was born, where Blumiere and Timpani exchange their vows. Their true love brings forth the Purity Heart, revises the destruction Blumiere has causes, and destroyed the Void.
The fate of Blumiere and Timpani is never directly stated. Blumiere states that he and Timpani using their love to stop the Void would erase them from existence, yet both Merlon and a revived Nastasia believe that the two are happily living together. This idea is supported by an image after the credits, showing silhouettes of a man and woman - implied to be Blumiere and Timpani in her human form - sitting in a paradise meadow together.
==Description==
===Physical Appearance===
Count Bleck wears a white top hat and coat, and is shrouded by a white cape that fades to blue at the bottom. Inside his cape is dark-blue and starry, and has seemingly no traces of body. Count Bleck also wears a red brooch, similar to Peach's blue brooch, and wears a monocle over his left eye. He also wears white gloves (with no traces of visible arms), and is often armed with a scepter, which has a brown rod and a blue, diamond-shaped jewel.
Count Bleck's face is blue, with his eyes and mouth glowing red. Interestingly, after being defeated by Mario and friends, his eyes and mouth become blue, and he remains that way until after the Pure Hearts revive his strength when Super Dimentio is defeated. It can be inferred that this was Count Bleck's previous appearance as Blumiere.
===Personality===
Count Bleck is a unique figure among the villains of the Mario franchise, as he is motivated by sadness, regret, and above all love rather than a lust for power. Despite this, he has still demonstrated a lust for destruction of all others, except those closest to him such as his minions. Initially, he is presented as a typical soulless villain, but as the game progresses, he is shown to be an emotionally tortured person, and isn't as evil as first seen.
Before donning the name Count Bleck, he was extremely kind and cherished all life. When he fell in love with Timpani, he was also shown to be extremely devoted to her, going as far as to propose to her. When she was banished though, Bleck sought to destroy all dimensions, thinking that life was meaningless without his true love.
Once he became Count Bleck, he immediately demonstrated his newfound hatred for existence by using the Dark Prognosticus for wiping out his own dimension, as well as setting out to do so for ever other dimension. Despite this, he was still shown capable of doing kind acts, such as freeing Nastasia from a trap and showing respect and loyalty towards his minions, and holding them close to him. He never punished his minions when they failed to beat the heroes, with Nastasia instead forcing them to write papers or sing songs as punishment.
As the story goes on, Count Bleck becomes more humane and remorseful for his actions. By the end of the game, he secretly hopes that Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser can defeat him and put a stop to the oncoming destruction. His love for Timpani initially made him evil, but it also redeemed him in the end, and together the two saved all dimensions from the Void.
==Appearances==
===Super Paper===
Count Bleck alongisde with Tippi appear in Super Paper Bros., They meet up with Mario & co. at Jibber Jabber City.
He later appears in "Super Paper Battalion" first at Honk Honk Port looking for Tippi. He is later revealed to be B, the primary antagonist of "Battalion." It later turns out that B is not actually him, but the remnants of the Dark Prognosticus energy that had formerly resided in his body. Merlon and Bleck use the Light Prognosticus to damage B, weakening him enough for Mario & co. to defeat him. B's defeat triggers a massive explosion in which Bleck and Merlon are lost.
===Silver Spurs Trilogy===
====Super Mario Silver Spurs 2: Adventures Beyond====
Count Bleck makes his Silver Spurs debut in this film. He uses the Dark Star to create clones of Mario and his friends and sends them to commit various crimes, which Mario and co. get accused of.
====Super Mario Silver Spurs: Dimensional Duos====
Count Bleck is one of the three main antagonists of this game, the other two being Mandy and Mephiles the Dark. He takes advantage of Gobblegut in the same way that Mandy and Mephiles take advantage of the Ender Dragon and the Dark Gaia, respectively.
====Super Paper Mario 2: Craft Champion====
Count Bleck does not make an appearance in this game, but his hologram is seen talking to his son, Sven, but the Puppetmaster cuts him off of communication.
===Super Smash Bros. Charged===
Count Bleck appears in Super Smash Bros. Charged as a playable newcomer. He represents the Super Mario RPG series, which collectively has characters and elements from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Paper Mario series, and the Mario & Luigi series.
Count Bleck's moveset is mostly based on his boss battle from Super Paper Mario retaining his abilities such as conjuring darkness projectiles from his scepter. He is a deceptively quick middleweight, with his attacks being powerful and long-ranged. Uniquely, his grab creates a small void which travels forward in a straight line. This can serve as the longest grab range in the game, and if it grabs an opponent in midair, his down throw is able to meteor smash them. His Final Smash, Purity Heart, summons the eight Pure Hearts which circle around him, creating a white beam of energy around him that deals heavy damage to opponents caught in it.
==Gallery==
CountBleck2.png|Count Bleck in Super Paper Mario.
CountBleck SSBUltimate.png|Count Bleck by FuntimeShadowFreddy.
Super Smash Bros. eXtra Default Characters
Mario | Kirby | Link | Meta Knight | Fox | Ness | Captain Falcon | Count Bleck
Paper Bleck Party
Playable Characters
Count Bleck | Tippi | Kirby | Yoshi | Pikachu | Link | Mario | Nastasia | Luigi
Partners
Goombario | Gloft | Cholp | Amtoni | Cydit | Heal T. | Dizzia
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