Doopliss

**Doopliss** appeared in 2004 video game called *Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door*. Doopliss is a Duplighost that lives in the Creepy Steeple of Twilight Town in *Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door*. He appears as an enemy of Mario several times throughout the game, and is the boss of Chapter 4. He causes the members of Twilight Town to become pigs whenever the bell tolls, and attempts to steal Mario's identity. He has the special ability of stealing another character's body when copying them, something that other Duplighosts are unable to do. He later becomes a member of the Shadow Sirens, replacing Vivian.

Doopliss's English name comes from the word "duplicity," being double or twofold, which references his powers. It also may come from the word "dupe," meaning to fool others, which he does while disguised. In other localizations, his name is Rumpel, which comes from the fairy tale character Rumpelstiltskin, as both offer the same challenge: to have another guess his name.

Doopliss is, in his regular appearance, a Duplighost who wears a blue bow tie and a blue cone-shaped hat with red stars on it. His eyes and mouth appear bigger than those of the Duplighosts in *Paper Mario*, his sheet is whiter, and his shoes are orange instead of gray. Doopliss is, as a Duplighost, most likely undead. He is referred to as a demon or a monster by the inhabitants of Twilight Town.

When he takes on Mario's form, he often has stern and evil looks which are rarely or never seen on the actual Mario's face. When Doopliss impersonates Mario, it is also notable that this is the only time where Mario is actually seen talking, as the real Mario is portrayed as a silent protagonist throughout the game. Even Mario's partners take notice, when both Mario and Doopliss visit Mayor Dour's house. They are surprised and wonder whether Mario suddenly learned to talk. It is also worth noting that at all times that when Doopliss is Mario that he looks rather tired and hunched over (like Mario when he is in Danger or Peril), his eyes are more rounded, appear reddish, and do not blink, as opposed to the true Mario's oval-shaped, brownish, and constantly blinking eyes, and that he is slightly shorter than the real Mario. When Doopliss impersonates Mario, Doopliss' voice becomes metallic.

oopliss's motives for his actions remain mainly unknown. According to himself, he turns the Twilight Towners into pigs because they are "depressing and boring and dimwitted all the time", and he thought that instead of wallowing in gloom, "they might as well wallow in mud". While this characteristic of Doopliss might be described as cruel, he is later portrayed as childish, exclaiming "NO! NO! NO! NO!", "WHY? WHY WHY? WHY?", "HOW? HOW? HOW? HOW?" after Mario has guessed his name correctly. He frequently calls Mario and other people he does not consider friends "Slick," though this trait is not present in the Japanese version of the game. As a member of the Shadow Sirens, he suffers the same taunts as Vivian, but does not have enough power to resist them. Due to the fact that Doopliss changes sides after the game, teaming up with Flurrie, he may not be described as entirely "evil", but simply immature and reckless.

While impersonating Mario, Doopliss talks in a self-righteous manner. To Mario's partners, he says "All right, kids, put on your fighting gloves! Uh... Woo hoo! It's-a me!" He calls Vivian Mario's girlfriend, and after Vivian realizes Mario's true identity, Doopliss teases Mario with "See? Your friends ditch you because you don't have the charisma of me, Super Mario!". He also plays at Mario's popularity at the meeting with Mayor Dour, where the real Mario drops in and is not recognized by anyone else.

## Powers and Abilities

Doopliss' major ability is to transform into different people. By doing this, he can actually steal the real person's look and name, leaving them as shadows. When Doopliss assumes Mario's form, Mario is unable to tell Vivian his real name, and is only able to confirm it when she confronts him with being Mario. Doopliss states that he can only truly become Mario by defeating the original one. However, this is not always the case, as Doopliss is later able to transform into Mario's partners without them losing their own form. This ability is commonly attributed to all Duplighosts. He can also attack by floating into the air, then swooping down onto Mario and his party.

Doopliss' magic is broken by telling him his name. A crow in Twilight Town states that there always has to be at least one being knowing Doopliss' name; otherwise, he cannot exist. After Mario's victory over him after Chapter 4, Doopliss stops being secretive with his name, however, and apparently, it no longer hurts him when his name is said (at one point, he is even yelling to Beldam "I said, my name's DOOPLISS!"). Conversely, it seems he is afterwards unable to steal one's identity as fully as he did with Mario.

Doopliss enchanted the Creepy Steeple's bell to turn an inhabitant of Twilight Town into a pig each time it rings. As explained by Vivian, since nobody knows his name, he gains the ability to cast incredible magic (a common theme in real mythology), which is likely amplified by the Crystal Star he possesses. This power is what allowed him to tie his Duplighost abilities to the Steeple's bell. Doopliss' defeat is linked to the curse's dissipation, though it might be mostly because of the power of the Ruby Star. When Mario first appears to claim the star, the villagers turn back to normal (the same thing happens with Grubba). However, it is also possible that Doopliss himself turns the villagers back to normal, as he, in Mario's form, claims that it had been him who freed them from the ghost. Also, the bell might still be enchanted, as it is stated that it no longer rings, though it's most likely that it isn't.

When Doopliss corners Mario at the entrance of Twilight Town, he appears by jumping out of the background, leaving a torn-paper hole in it. This effect also appears when Cortez's ship confronts Lord Crump's ship at the end of Chapter 5 and when Mario uses the Special Move Showstopper.

Later in the game, when Doopliss is part of the Shadow Sirens, he actually has a problem as he is not able to vanish at one spot and appear at another, an ability used by Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian. Doopliss has to smash a window in the Poshley Sanctum for himself only, and he always runs away alone when the Shadow Sirens have long since disappeared into the shadows, calling them to wait for him.