The Elder Princess Shroob is the overarching antagonist of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. She is Princess Shroob's older twin sister and the true ruler of all Shroobs. She is the final boss in the game and the seventh boss overall and she is fought in two different forms. The Elder Princess Shroob is Neutral Evil, having some chaotic and lawful traits.
The Elder Princess Shroob has cared a lot for her sister and even swore her life to avenge Princess Shroob's death. Oddly, she shows no concern at all for her own people. Whenever a Shroob performs a task for her, she knocks it away, even for when it performs a simple task. She also shoots down her own spaceships so that they will crash on the Mario Bros, thus, defeating the pilots.
She wears a crown that has magic power. It has the ability to make her change forms and protect her. When her crown shines, she is invulnerable to any attacks. However her crown can be attacked and can stop shining after taking enough damage.
Biography[]
When Princess Peach came to the past Princess Peach's Castle, she met the Shroobs. The Elder Princess Shroob attempted to attack Peach; however, Peach used the power of the Time Machine's power source, the Cobalt Star, to trap the Elder Princess Shroob inside. She then shattered it. Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi collect 5 of the pieces of the Cobalt Star, not knowing that Elder Princess Shroob is actually trapped inside.
Elder Princess Shroob does not appear until the very end. After Princess Shroob is defeated, it is revealed that Princess Peach kept the center shard of the Cobalt Star. Peach states, however, that she cannot allow the Cobalt Star to regain its original form. Before she can explain, Baby Bowser comes in and steals the last shard, combining it with the five that the heroes had already collected, causing Elder Princess Shroob to come back to life. The baby and adult brothers then fight Elder Princess Shroob on a platform high in the sky.
After taking massive damage she activates her crown and morphs into a hideous beast, destroying any final morsels of hope for any unprepared player. In this form she is about four times her original size and has four arm tentacles and a group of leg tentacles. Once her leg tentacles are deactivated, the Elder Princess Shroob's crown can also be targeted. Once defeated, she turns back into her true self and then turns into purple Mushroom. Baby Luigi decides to keep her fungal remains.
The Mario Bros. and Peach then come back to the present Peach's Castle, where they find Bowser's unconscious body. The purple Mushroom from Baby Luigi's pocket suddenly floats up and goes right into Bowser's mouth. Bowser then gets possessed by the Elder Princess Shroob, turning him into Shrowser. She appears as a ghost, in her beast form, floating above Bowser. The Mario Bros. then defeat them, making the Elder Princess Shroob's ghost disappear and causes Bowser lose his power.
In Original timeline's sequel, Bowser's Inside Story, she is seen frozen in battle and briefly during cutscenes, confirming she survived in this timeline.
Battle[]
Phase 1[]
During her first phase, the Elder Princess Shroob can attack with a football tackle, which can be blocked via hammer. She also has saucers that aid her, and she can use some in her attacks (leading to their automatic defeat afterward). Peach can also summon a star that the Mario brothers can whack with their hammers to knock out the saucers.
- With one saucer, she can use a Shroob Chomp that can pounce on the heroes. This must be jumped.
- With two saucers, she can fire small energy balls from her hands. Eventually the saucers explode, their explosion tossing the Elder Princess Shroob back onto the main platform, where she creates a shockwave the Bros. have to jump over.
- With three saucers, she can carry a meteor which she can slam on the target's head. The target has to block with his hammer.
Phase 2[]
During her second phase, Princess Shroob becomes a monster. She has the following attacks.
- She can fire an energy ball that bounces off saucers. The saucers fall, and their target, who can knock the UFO's back with his hammer, can be telegraphed via the energy ball's effect. Burning saucers target Mario. Shocked saucers will crush Luigi.
- She can also fire a massive purple energy ball into the sky and fire a series of smaller red and green energy balls at it before launching it at a Bro.
- She can summon a worm-hole in the middle of the arena before fire an energy ball that bounces off saucers. The saucers fall right into the worm-hole, and after the next turn the worm-hole will open up and the saucer will fly out and land on that Bro with that effect in the order they are hit by the Elder Princess Shroob's energy ball, like previously the Bro. can knock the UFO's back with his hammer, can be telegraphed via the energy ball's effect. Burning saucers target Mario. Shocked saucers will crush Luigi.
- She can use her arm tentacles to spear the Mario brothers. This can be jumped over and can only be used if at least one arm tentacle is present.
- She can also use her legs to try to trip the brothers. This can be jumped over, and is useless if the legs are disabled.
- She can also barf clouds of poison. It can be used at any time, like the energy ball saucer attack, and is dodged by jumping.
- Her crown deflects most damage the Mario brothers deal to her head and the Elder Princess Shroob will only take one point of damage. (her weak point) It becomes vulnerable once her legs are defeated, and once it is defeated, she is rendered vulnerable to damage.
Stats[]
Phase 1[]
- HP - 3500 (1800)
- POW - 130 (210)
- DEF - 130 (150)
- Speed - 62 (100)
- EXP - 0
- Coins - 0
Phase 2[]
Elder Princess Shroob[]
- HP - 3000 (2000)
- POW - 140 (230)
- DEF - 140
- Speed - 64 (70)
- EXP - 0
Coins - 0
Legs[]
- HP - 400 (500)
- POW - 140 (190)
- DEF - 140
- Speed - 64 (50)
- EXP - 0
- Coins - 0
Arm Tentacles[]
The following applies to each tentacle:
- HP - 200 (350)
- POW - 140 (200)
- DEF - 140 (126)
- Speed - 64 (70)
- EXP - 0
- Coins - 0
Crown[]
- HP - 200
- POW - 140 (0)
- DEF - 140
- Speed - 64 (50)
- EXP - 0
- Coins - 0
Trivia[]
- In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, she can be seen frozen in the background while fighting the Shroobs in Bowser's Castle. Shes also visible outside battle alongside Junior Shrooboid and Commander Shroob.
- The Elder Princess Shroob is the only Shroob that can speak perfect English (while still speaking in her Shroobish language) (without the English dialogue being put between parentheses and under the alien/Shroob-like dialogue).
- The Elder Princess Shroob shares many parallel similarities to the Shadow Queen of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, both in terms of:
- Their overall roles in the story:
- They both are the Overarching Antagonist of the game, and do not pose an actual threat until near the end of the game.
- They both appear in the second installments of their respective games (Shadow Queen: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Elder Princess Shroob: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time).
- They both serve as the final bosses of their respective games.
- They both have the color purple and wear a crown on their head.
- Their overall battle strategy:
- They both have appendages that can be destroyed (Shadow Queen: Shadow Hands, Body and Mini-Shadow Hands, Elder Princess Shroob: Crown, Arm Tentacles, Body and Leg Tentacles).
- They both have an attack that involves using their appendages (Shadow Queen: Shadow Hands, Elder Princess Shroob: Arm Tentacles)
- They both have a Breath-Like Attack (Shadow Queen: Dangerous Breath, Elder Princess Shroob: Gas Ball).
- They both have an attack that is summon from the sky (Shadow Queen: Lightning Strike, Elder Princess Shroob: Large Energy Ball Or Flying Saucers)
- They both have a Ground-Base Attack (Shadow Queen: Hand Stamped, Elder Princess Shroob: Leg Tentacles).
- Their overall roles in the story:
- The Elder Princess Shroob is the only Shroob that can speak perfect English (while still speaking in her Shroobish language) (without the English dialogue being put between parentheses and under the alien/Shroob-like dialogue).
- Although it is given an attack power rating, the Crown doesn't attack and its only purpose is to protect the Elder Princess Shroob from taking heavy damage, this is corrected in the Japanese and European versions as it has an attack power of 0.
- In battle, the Elder Princess Shroob is simply referred to as Princess Shroob.
- Oddly, the Princess Shroob's attacks with her saucers are easier to dodge and less risky with fewer saucers.
- When pretending to be the spirit of the Cobalt Star, the Elder Princess Shroob takes a form very similar to Misstar.
- It is possible to counterattack her attack until her Stamina reaches zero, then die from the rest of the saucers whose power she circuits out. Since enemies win on ties, this means the player loses in battle, while the Elder Princess Shroob survives and wins, causing a Game Over.
- Elder Princess Shroob's role is very similar to that of Terrormisu, the main antagonist of Wario: Master of Disguise. Both were trapped in a magical artifact (Wishstone and Cobalt Star). Both deceive and manipulate the protagonists (Mario, Luigi, their childhood pasts and Wario). Both are a dangerous threat. The difference is that Terrormisu helps the player in a boss battle while Elder Princess Shroob does not.
