Dark Star (character)

Not to be confused with the Dark Star from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars or the Ztar from the Mario Party series.
The Dark Star is the overarching antagonist of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. It is faced twice in the game, the first time as the fourth-to-last boss (antepenultimate not counting giant bosses, as Bowser faces a Fawfulised version of Peach's Castle afterwards in his super form) and then at the top of Peach's Castle as a shadowy version of Bowser himself.
The Dark Star is an evil star-like being with dark powers, hence its name. It is said that if a person with an evil heart awakens the Dark Star and unleashes its power, that person would gain enormous abilities. Fawful would turn out to be that person.
== Biography ==
Toads dug up the Dark Star long before the events of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. The Star Spirits who feared its power; it sedated the Dark Star and sealed it below Toad Town.
After retrieving Princess Peach from Bowser's body, Fawful stole the Dark Star. Fawful proceeded to head into Peach's Castle and started the process of awakening the Dark Star by transferring Peach's power into it. When Mario and Luigi attempted to get into Peach's Castle, it created a barricade preventing them from getting into the castle. Later, Mario and Luigi used the Miracle Cure to break the barricade and enter the castle.
When Bowser arrived at the room with the Dark Star, Fawful had heim fight a stronger version of Midbus called Blizzard Midbus. After Blizzard Midbus was defeated, it broke free of the machine it was held in. Fawful then put on his helmet and used it to start absorbing the Dark Star's power. Halfway through the process, Bowser punched Fawful while he was transforming into Dark Fawful, sending him flying. Bowser planned to take the Dark Star for himself, but while he was laughing, it flew into his mouth. It then proceeded to enter the Airway in his body and caused Bowser discomfort. Bowser then starts to breathe in cold air emanating from the defeated Blizzard Midbus, allowing Mario and Luigi to access the area. They discover that it is absorbing Bowser's DNA and gaining his traits. When they corner the Dark Star, it fights them.
When the Dark Star is defeated, it flees from Bowser's Body and turns into Dark Bowser. Dark Bowser realizes its power is incomplete and kidnaps Princess Peach, to no effect. Then it started to search for Fawful, who has the other half of its power.
Bowser fought Dark Fawful, whose abilities have been increased after absorbing half of the Dark Star's energy. Afterwards, he turns into a bug-like creature and scuttles off. Then Fawful gets absorbed by Dark Bowser, and Dark Bowser gains both halves of the dark power. He then heads for the top of the castle, and unleashes a dark hurricane.
Bowser fights Dark Bowser at the top of the castle, and knocks Fawful out of his stomach. He then eats Fawful, who uses his Dark Star Core to grow in size. Then Mario and Luigi attack the Dark Star Core at the top of Fawful's head, and destroy it, crippling Dark Bowser. Bowser then punches Dark Bowser off of Peach's Castle therefore is defeated. After the battle, Dark Bowser turns back into the Dark Star, and explodes, causing the storm to end.
Fawful, who is still in Bowser's body, explodes in a last-ditch attempt to defeat the Mario bros. Instead, the Mario Bros., Starlow, and the Toads inside Bowser's body get sent out of the body, and all traces of the Dark Star are gone.
==Battle==
The Dark Star has radically different patterns depending on when it is fought.
=== First Battle (Clash in the Airway) ===
The Dark Star is fought in Bowser's trachea during this fight. It enters an invisible rage state, as it expands its moveset but no enraged animation is given to it.
==== Moveset ====
The Dark Star has three basic moves during this fight, four after it drops to half HP.
* For the first attack, the Dark Star can split into several balls that charge at the Mario Bros., who have to smack them away with hammer strikes as the surrounding battlefield fades into a grey fog. A few seconds before each ball strikes the target, it fades. The balls will become visible again whether their attack succeeds or they get blocked. When it uses this attack normally, the Dark Star splits into five orbs, but dropping its health below half causes it to split into seven instead.
* Another attack that the Dark Star can do involves shadow clones of Mario and Luigi popping out of them onto the right side of the battlefield, where it will zap them with lasers. Mario and Luigi can make their shadows jump by jumping themselves, and must exploit this in avoiding damage during this attack. Below half health, the Dark Star creates two shadow clones from each Bro.'s shadow.
* The Dark Star can also call four balls that surround its body, and send them raining down. The balls indicate their target with their colour: red means Mario and Green means Luigi. There are no changes to this move when the Dark Star's health drops below half.
* When Mario and Luigi make it fall below half HP, the Dark Star can fire a wide beam, which must be avoided by grabbing Starlow's feet.
Throughout the battle the Dark Star will call Dark Satellmites, having them aid in battle. These entities look just like the Dark Star itself, although with legs on their underside. After it attacks, they can fire lasers forwards from their faces. It can also have them restore some of its health, and knocking them out makes it give them a bomb, with the bomb's appearance changing between versions (a normal bomb in the original DS version and a ball of energy in the 3DS version), and Mario and Luigi have to send the knocked out Satellmite's corpse back into the Dark Star's face to break through its shield, which otherwise negates all damage to the Dark Star's body. The shield goes down in two hits, after which the Dark Star's eyes and spikes vanish and it spends the next round in its weakened, eyeless form.
While it is weakened, the Dark Star can only fire a laser from where its face should be. This attack is used in-between the Bros.'s turns. It will regain its more powerful form on its next turn, unless a Bro. didn't take his turn yet after the Dark Star's last attack besides the laser face attack.
==== Stats ====
The Dark Star is a Level 30 monster that has 1,248 hit points, an attack power of 180, and a Speed of 119. It gives 9,999 Experience Points when defeated during this battle, and drops 2,000 coins, and a single Star Candy. In 1 out of 5 cases, it drops a D-Star wear set. It is immune to all status effects and Sudden KO save for Stat-Down effects, but even then has half the normal chances of contracting them. In its shielded state, the Dark Star is indestructible, but breaking its shield reveals its defense to be 119.
=== Second Battle (Battle for the Kingdom) ===
The Dark Star is fought as Dark Bowser this time, being encountered at the top of Peach's Castle.
==== Stats ====
The Dark Star has different stats for its forms. With the Bowser body, it is considered to be a level 35 monster that has 1,000 hit points, an attack power of 344, a defense of 187, and a speed of 37. Its core is of level 32 and has 1,560 hit points, an attack power of 204, a defense of 131, and a speed of 154. Both forms are immune to all status effects and Sudden KO save for Stat-Down effects, but even then have half the normal chances of contracting them, and neither give experience nor drop loot upon their defeat.
Fawful himself has an attack power of 93 and a speed of 154, being immune to all damage except for his eyes and legs, the latter of which must be destroyed to expose the Dark Star's core. His eyes have 250 hit points and 187 defense, neither giving experience nor loot upon their defeat. They are also immune to the Sudden KO effect and all status effects except Stat-Down effects, even then having half the normal chances of contracting them. The legs have 156 hit points and a defense of 104.
==Trivia==
*The Dark Star's beam attack is similar to R.O.B.'s Final Smash.
*The Dark star is the only main antagonist in the Mario & Luigi games that did not possess or otherwise take control of Bowser (a feat which Fawful had briefly pulled off early in the game with the vacuum shroom); instead, the Dark Star "copied" him and became a clone of Bowser.
*The Dark Star's huge laser attack is the only one of the bottom screen filling attacks that Mario and Luigi need to grab on to Starlow to avoid in the game that has two parts. It also is the only one where they cannot hang on to Starlow as long as they want after the attack is done, because the Dark Star will ram them a few instants after his laser is shot. The Dark Star X does the same thing.
== Navigation ==
de:Finsterstern
it:Stella Oscura
es:Estrella Oscura
fi:Dark Star
ja:ダークスター
fr:Astre Noir
Category:Bosses in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Category:Bosses
Category:Stars
Category:Characters in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Category:Villains
Category:Dark enemies
Category:Artifacts
Category:Animate objects
Category:Bosses in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey