Stapler

Stapler
Stapler's introduction tagline in The Origami King.
Chronological information
First game	Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)
Game appearances	Paper Mario: The Origami King
Personal information
Alias	The Fanged Fastener
Gender	Neutral
Status	Inanimate
Species	Stapler
Connections
Affiliation	Legion of Stationery
Character traits
Alignment	Evil
Strengths	Dog Tag Untag Wag Staple Gun Bite Barrage
Weaknesses	Having its mouth open Getting its staples removed
Behind the scenes
Creator	Intelligent Systems

"You'd think I'd be used to facing art and office supplies by now... but this one is SUPER scary!"

—Olivia, Paper Mario: The Origami King

'Stapler (ホッチキス, Hocchikisu^?), also known as The Fanged Fastener (王のばんけん, Ō no Banken^?, lit. King's Watchdog), is a member of the Legion of Stationery and the penultimate boss in Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Profile

Physical description

Stapler is an oversized black stapler with King Olly's insignia on its side.

Personality traits

It appears to have a dog-like personality, frequently emitting dog sounds throughout its battle, and is the only Legion of Stationery member to not have any dialogue outside of barking.

Biography

Spoiler warning : Don't you even dare read the spoiler! Because if you do… Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoooooo… A horrible fate awaits you.

Stapler is a member of the Legion of Stationery. When King Olly took over royal control by abducting the Princess Peach's Castle with the five streamers. Unlike the other members, it does not guard any of the streamers, but is instead guard the Origami Castle as King Olly's last line of defense.

The Stapler's shadow is seen at the beginning of the game in Peach's Castle, where it transforms Bowser's minions into Folded Soldiers, ensuring that they cannot unfold themselves. Prior, it was also the one who kept Bowser stuck in his folded form.

Later, in Origami Castle, as Mario, Olivia and Bowser corner King Olly, he sets the Stapler on them. After Mario defeats the Stapler, the staple keeping Bowser folded is destroyed, allowing Mario to Hammer him, causing him to unfold and return to his normal self.

Spoiler ends here: You looked! Even if I told you not too!

In Paper Mario: The Origami King

Stapler is one of the members of the Legion of Stationery and it is the last-standing member of the group to be the boss in Origami Castle. Every member from the Legion of Stationery has their primary color corresponding to the streamer they are guarding. However, Stapler is exempted from this rule since it is the only member of the group to not guard a streamer but the castle itself.

Combat

Stapler has three colors of staples: gray, red, and gold, each doing more damage than the last. When it reloads, provided it is not already on gold staples, it upgrades staple types, being equipped with thirty staples of its current type.

When Stapler attacks, if Mario is close, it will use Dog Tag, attacking Mario twice, dealing 7-9 damage and using a staple per hit, and, if not blocked, pins him down, wasting his next turn, allowing it to use Untag Wag, dealing 22 damage and freeing Mario. If Mario is farther away, it will instead use Staple Gun, firing eight staples at Mario for 6-8 damage per staple.

After one attack, Stapler will charge up Bite Barrage to attack Mario 16 times for 6-8 damage per hit, each hit using a staple (should it run out of staples during the attack, the remaining hit will do no damage), then use Staple Gun to fire the rest of its staples. After using Bite Barrage, as Stapler is out of staples it needs to one turn to reload its staples, leaving it vulnerable to another attack.

Every time Stapler is hit, one staple is wasted. Thus, it is better to use Jump attacks over Hammer attacks, as Jumps hit four times, while Hammers hit only once. Using a rush attack with the 1,000-Fold Arms is even better, having the capacity to waste more than half of its staples.

When Mario rushes Stapler with the 1,000-Fold Arms and it gets to 1 HP, Mario is prompted to open its "mouth" so wide that it smashes open, defeating it.