Count Bleck

**Count Bleck** appeared in 2007 video game called *Super Paper Mario*. He's actually **Lord Blumiere** (also known as Count Bleck) who is an evil count and is initially the primary antagonist of *Super Paper Mario*. While "Bleck" is normally used as onomatopoeia for disgust, it could be interpreted as a corruption of the word "Black" (as in darkness); his Japanese name is also a play on the French word for "black", *noir*. His real name is likely a combination of *blue*, referring to his coloration, and *lumière*, the French term for light and a reference to his status as a member of the Tribe of Darkness.

Count Bleck was responsible for bringing forth the Chaos Heart by forcefully marrying Princess Peach to Bowser, so he can use the Heart to open The Void, which would shortly destroy all dimensions. He leads a troop of minions with him, including Nastasia, O'Chunks, Mimi, Mr. L, and Dimentio, the last of whom ultimately betrays Bleck towards the end of the game. In the end, however, he changes his ways after being reunited with his love and redeems himself by destroying the Chaos Heart, thereby helping Mario and friends save all worlds.

Bleck wears a white top hat and coat, and is usually shrouded in a white cape fading to blue at the bottom. The inside of the cape is dark blue and starry, like the background texture used in the Outer Space portions of *Super Paper Mario*. When Count Bleck transports everybody away at Bowser's Castle, the same blue pattern used on The Thousand-Year Door pedestal when Mario holds a Crystal Star can be slightly seen inside his cape. He also wears a large red brooch, somewhat reminiscent of Princess Peach's blue jewel, white gloves (amusingly with no visible trace of arms), and is often shown holding a jewel-topped scepter.

His eyes and mouth are both a glowing red color, and he wears a monocle on his left side. Strangely, both of these features become light blue when he is defeated by the Heroes of Light, and remain that way until the Pure Hearts are restored. It is possible that this was his previous appearance, before he transformed from Blumiere into Count Bleck.

## Powers and Abilities

In addition to being able to use the Dark Prognosticus, Count Bleck has many other magical powers granted by the Chaos Heart that aid him in and out of combat. His most obvious and frequently used power is his ability to freely float without any hindrance to gravity. This power is particularly important due to his lack of visible legs. He also often shows his ability to teleport at will by "flipping", along with the Dark Prognosticus which always teleports at his side. Also, he can use the Chaos Heart's power to shield him from any harm. He also has his own unique sound whenever he flips.

In combat, Count Bleck uses his scepter to conjure globs of dark magic and hurl them at Mario and other foes. These globs are unique amongst projectile attacks in that nothing can block them; not even Peach's parasol or Barry. The only way to avoid them is to use Slim, who cause the player to become invisible and intangible. He can also summon a huge vortex of dark energy that sucks up his enemies, however, this skill is simply dodged by running away from it. Count Bleck can temporarily slow the flow of time as well, throwing his enemies off. As such it is like the Slow status effect. Finally, he can speed himself in a way similar to using a speed flower of red energy and simply ram into his opponent, damaging them, although this can leave him vulnerable to Barry's spiky barrier, which, if activated quickly, will damage him and protect the player. His shadow blast attack will do 3 damage, his Void move will do 8 damage and the player will take 2 damage when walking into the Count. Although he seems uncapable to flip in 3D, his globs are in 3D, and they can damage Mario also if he is in the 3rd dimension.

Beyond his magical talents, Count Bleck demonstrates a high intelligence, a compelling physical and conversational presence and a quality of character that can earn undying loyalty from his followers and friends. On the whole, Bleck is charismatic and can easily sway individuals into his service, as seen with Bowser at the beginning of the game, while his servant Nastasia's hard mind control powers cover all other cases.