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"Red Shy Guy" redirects here. For information about the character on the Sunset Express in Paper Mario: Color Splash, see Red Shy Guy (character).
"I ain't scared... I'm terrified!"
—Shy Guy

Shy Guys, alternatively formatted as Shyguys,[1] Shy-Guys,[2] or ShyGuys,[3] are common enemies in the Mario and Yoshi franchises. They are recognizable by their masks, which they wear due to their shyness.[4][1] Shy Guys made their first appearance in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, a non-Super Mario game; they were later carried over to the Super Mario universe when Super Mario Bros. 2 was created.

Shy Guys are Yoshi's most common enemies in his own franchise. They are also common in other Super Mario spinoff games, yet are comparatively rare in the mainline platformers (except for Super Mario Bros. 2, where they function as Wart's main troops).

Profile[]

Allegiance[]

Shy Guys first appear in Super Mario Bros. 2, where they are minions of the mischievous Wart. However, in subsequent titles, they are members of the Koopa Troop.

Shy Guys have also been seen working for other villains, such as Smithy. There are Shy Guys that act as allies, such as the White Shy Guys in Yoshi's Story, who are allies of Yoshis. Also, friendly Shy Guys appear in various spin-offs without any interest of taking over the Mushroom Kingdom. It can be assumed that Shy Guys do not all share the same allegiance.

Physical appearance[]

DokiShyGuyShyguy 2D
Shy Guy's appearance in 1987 (left, from Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic), his modern design in 2019 (right, from Play Nintendo)

All Shy Guys (with the minor exception of some Shy Guys from Mario Strikers Charged) wear robes that can be red, pink, blue, light blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, black, gray, or white. However, in some games such as the Mario Party series, red Shy Guys are the only color variety seen. They are all fairly short and wear masks with holes on them that represent eyes and a mouth. It is unknown what is behind these masks. However, in Shy Guy's trophy celebration movie in Mario Power Tennis, after Shy Guy trips on one of the steps, his mask falls off, and Luigi sees his face without his mask on and is shocked at the sight. The Shy Guy then quickly puts the mask back on and picks the trophy up, showing it to the audience. Sometimes, when Shy Guy's mask falls off, what appears to be a mask strap tends to stay on its head. Also, in Luigi's Mansion, Luigi can use the Poltergust 3000 to pull a mask off a Ghost Guy. Ghost Guys do not have eyes on their masks, but their faces are completely black with two glowing yellow eyes where the mask's eyes would be. It is unknown whether this is what a Shy Guy's face looks like when it is alive, as they, like the game's other generic ghosts, were imitations created by Vincent Van Gore. Additionally, in Paper Mario: Color Splash, a Shy Guy in the Golden Coliseum says that Mario would make a terrible Shy Guy because he has a face, suggesting that Shy Guys do not have a face.

It is also possible that the Shy Guys' so-called "masks" are not masks at all, but rather faces. In Yoshi's Island DS, the sleeping Shy Guy's mask eye holes are closed, supporting this. Also, the Bandit variant of Shy Guy have been shown to have the ability to change the expressions on their masks as if they were their actual faces. The picture that is shown when Bandit wins in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Mini-Battles even suggests that he is able to stick out his tongue. Also, the eye holes of Shy Guys in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars comically spin when the Shy Guy is confused, much like people's eyes do in cartoon gags; the Shy Guys of Super Mario RPG are also able to blush on their masks. Spear Guys and Dancing Spear Guys are perfectly capable of moving their mouth holes when chanting and singing, as Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island shows, while Boo Guys are shown regularly changing their expressions and blinking. Most recently, in Mario Strikers Charged, Shy Guys have been shown to yet again be perfectly able to change the expressions on their masks.

An unmasked  in

An unmasked Ghost Guy in Luigi's Mansion

Some early Super Mario Bros. 2 artwork of Shy Guys, as well as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, depicted Shy Guys as wearing mask-like badges depicting an angry face, similar to that of Phanto. It is unknown what this badge represents, but it is possible that it is an emblem of the 8 bits. Another Shy Guy-related element seen only in Super Mario Bros. 2. and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! are also notable for using game artwork of the earliest forms of Shy Guys, making them tall, stout, and human-like; however, the appearance of Shy Guys was later redesigned to their in-game sprite appearance in Super Mario Bros. 2.

In the first few episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Shy Guys were depicted as being similar in appearance to their game counterparts, though with one large exception - their masks possessed only two holes. They only had eye holes perpetually in a scowling position. Later episodes of the show have Shy Guys resembling their game versions more with three holes in their mask, all of which were perfectly circular.

Even though Shy Guys appear to be short, squat humanoids, they are shown to have stick-like legs under their robes in the game Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.[5] Their legs can also be seen in Mario Kart 8 when winning first place in a race or while performing certain tricks.

In Paper Mario: The Origami King, a Shy Guy in Spring of Jungle Mist implies that Shy Guys have very short necks that make it difficult to look up.

Although Shy Guys generally do not wear much else besides their masks and robes, there are a few instances where they wore additional items. An example of this is in Mario Kart Tour, where a Shy Guy wears a pastry chef hat and a red neckerchief, carrying a whisk.

Color variations[]

Much like Yoshis and Birdos, Shy Guys come in many different colors. The following is a list of all known Shy Guys and the first appearance of said Shy Guy.

Image Color Shoe color First appearance
MSS Red Shy Guy Artwork Red Blue Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
MKT Artwork BlueShyGuy Blue Magenta Super Mario All-Stars
MKT Artwork YellowShyGuy Yellow Green Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
MKT Artwork GreenShyGuy Green Brown Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
MKT Artwork PinkShyGuy Pink Purple Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic
MKT Artwork LightblueShyGuy Light-blue Red-brown Mario Kart DS
MKT Artwork BlackShyGuy Black White Yoshi's Story (as black Flying Shy Guys)
Mario Superstar Baseball (as normal Shy Guys)
MKT Artwork WhiteShyGuy White Black Yoshi's Story (as White Shy Guys)
MKT Artwork OrangeShyGuy Orange Blue Mario Strikers Charged
YWW Woozy Guy Purple Orange Yoshi's Woolly World (as Woozy Guys)
Yoshi's Crafted World (as normal Shy Guys)
YWW Brown Shy Guy Brown Dark-green Yoshi's Woolly World
YWW Dark-Green Shy Guy Dark-green Brown Yoshi's Woolly World

Main appearances[]

Super Mario Bros. 2 / Super Mario Advance[]

Shyguy SMB2 sprite Shy Guy SMAS SMB2 sprite
From left to right: a Shyguy in the NES and SNES versions

In Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic and its Mario conversion, Super Mario Bros. 2, Shyguys, along with the other 8 bits, help Wart conquer Subcon. Shyguys are the most common enemies that the four heroes meet. They attack Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool by walking in their general direction. They can be easily disposed of by being picked up and thrown against another enemy or into a nearby pit. They can also be defeated by having an object thrown at them. The remakes give the red ones purple shoes, which would later become their definitive blue coloration, although are still consistently colored white in artwork. This also applies to Beezos.

Red Shyguys walk off ledges while pink ones do not, striking a resemblance to green and red Koopa Troopas respectively, although the primary difference is that red Shyguys turn in the direction of the player after landing. Red ones are also known to ride Autobombs and Ostros and often appear out of jars. Pink ones became blue in the remakes of Super Mario Bros. 2. The Super Mario Advance remake adds Big Shy Guys. It takes time to pick them up because of their size. If the player picks up a Big Shy Guy and throws it to the ground, or defeats it, it drops a Heart.

The game also marks the first appearance of two variants of Shyguys: Snifits and Beezos.

Super Mario Maker[]

ShyGuySMM

Actual Shy Guys do not appear in Super Mario Maker, but one of the unlockable costumes for the Mystery Mushroom is that of a Shy Guy in its Super Mario Bros. 2 appearance. This costume is unlocked at random if the player completes the 100 Mario Challenge on any difficulty, and after getting unlocked, the costume can only be used on Mario in Super Mario Bros. style. Sound effects are also reused from Super Mario Bros. 2 and some spin-off games.

Other appearances[]

Spinoff game appearances[]

Mario Kart DS artwork of Shy Guy next to his .

Mario Kart DS artwork of Shy Guy next to his Standard SG.

Although Shy Guys are very uncommon in the Super Mario series of platforming games, they are among the most common species in spinoff games.

Spinoff media appearances[]

In Mario media outside the games, Thwomps typically play more of a direct antagonistic role.

Non-Mario appearances[]

A Shy Guy in Super Smash Bros

A Shy Guy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Shy Guys have a major role in Yoshi franchise, being enemies in the platforming titles, but they almost never appear in the Wario franchise and Donkey Kong franchise. Shy Guys do make recurring appearances in some Mario-related crossover series.

Partnered franchises[]

Crossover games[]

Quotes[]

Statistics[]

Hat mario For Shy Guy's in-game
statistics, click here.

Flavor text[]

Hat mario For profiles of Shy Guy,
click here.

Gallery[]

Hat mario To view Shy Guy's
image gallery, click here.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "A member of the “8 bits” ( a club from evil dreams ). He wears a mask because he's shy." - Super Mario Bros. 2 instruction booklet, page 23 (Shyguy - Red description).
  2. M. Arakwa. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Player's Guide. Page 128.
  3. Wessel, Craig. Super Mario Advance. Page 93.
  4. 魔夢族一員ずかしがりやなのでおをかくしている。」 ("A member of the Mamu Family. They wear a mask on their face because they're shy.") - Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic instruction booklet, page 30 (ヘイホー).
  5. Screenshot

External links[]


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Source: This article contains content from the article Shy Guy from the Super Mario Wiki A list of the original authors can be found on that article's history page or on the local history page.

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