WMG / Paper Mario: The Origami King

Pre-Release

Partners will be returning

• Multiple screenshots have shown cases of another character (such as a Magikoopa who might be Kamek, and an interestingly prominent Bob-omb) following Mario in a similar manner to how partners would in the first two games. This seems to imply the return of the partner mechanic, or at least to some extent. (No footage has yet shown any of these characters in battle as of writing this)
  • A since deleted Chinese trailer for the game may hint towards partners returning in some form in combat.
  • Confirmed by the second trailer, which shows Mario having Bobby use a "Bomb Bump" attack. The Magikoopa in the trailer was also confirmed to be Kamek.
• Ultimately somewhat confirmed. Any character that is following Mario during a given segment of the game can attack in battle, but they do so on their own after Mario finishes his turn. Each only has one attack, they have a chance to fail (for example, Bobby may trip instead of successfully bumping an enemy), and the player cannot choose which enemy or enemies they attack. Also, every member except one leaves the party permanently after certain points in the story, and the one that does stick around, Professor Toad, will only be present while Mario is in the Scorching Sandpaper Desert. (Bowser will continue to follow Mario around in the room before the final boss fight, but as there are no enemies in it and he refuses to leave once you enter it, he becomes unavailable for any more fights in the final dungeon.)

The consumable attacks from the previous two games games will not be returning

In all the battle footage so far, at least that I've seen, there's been no sign of stickers or cards or etc. This (hopefully) means that the mechanic might not be in use anymore.

• Shiny Boots do appear in one shown battle, but they may be a simple equipment upgrade, as in past games.
• In a (kinda rushed but comprehensible) translation of a battle scene, the menu Mario's boots and hammer are in is translated as "Weapons" while the other option is labeled as "Items". It's possible the game could be returning to a model similar to the first two games, where items behave more like the ones used in battle in the first two games.
  • All the space in the weapon section could imply that there are more normal ways of attacking than boots and hammer. Or we can still use weaker version of these attacks after getting improved one, but there should be a reason to do that since there doesn't seems to be an equivalent of flower points.
• More or less. The game uses a combination of Breakable Weapons that last for multiple battles before breaking and consumable items such as fire flowers, tails, and so on, alongside a basic boot and hammer that never break. Basic attacks thus act as both back-up options and general tools against weak Mooks.

The Bob-omb from the trailer is actually named Bob. There will be jokes about how uncreative his name is.

This is pretty unlikely, but the idea does seem funny.

• Close. His name is Bob-omb, but Olivia keeps calling him Bobby.

The Origami Festival mentioned was in fact a trap by King Olly.

He went after Peach first, before creating the Festival to lure people in to capture and transform. Notice the origami pieces scattered around town? Those are actually the inhabitants, turned into inanimate origami by the king to keep them from causing trouble.

• While the first part has yet to be confirmed, the second part was confirmed by the second trailer. Several Toads have been turned into origami shapes around the world and Mario has to give them a hearty whack with his hammer to restore them to normal.
• Deconfirmed. The Origami Festival is a real event that was supposed to be held in Toad Town. Olly was created by the Origami Craftsman as part of the festival, but things went awry.

The Paper Shy Guy on the box art is the same Shy Guy that Mario spoke with on the Sunset Express.

Possibly an Ascended Extra.

• But... but he got defeated... I think... didn't he?
  • Only if you took him out in Mossrock Theater. Which you by no means have to, since he's on a trapeze and you have to pull him down yourself.
  • Following the logic of even the first and second Paper Marios, "defeated" doesn't equal "dead" for most enemies. After all, most respawn when you reenter an area (and Enemy Cards in Color Splash mean that some decide to join you after defeat), and bosses reappear in the parade-based endings. Even not counting that, SS and CS follow pretty loose canon.
• Jossed, he is not referenced again.

Adding onto the above theory, the Shy Guy who rescues Mario and Bowser in the trailer is that Shy Guy.

This could lead into a minor story arc about the depressed Shy Guy.

• Jossed, he does not return.

Bowser will be the Final Boss after King Olly is defeated.

Nintendo has been reliant on making him the final boss since Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

• Maybe Mario will be forced to fight an Origami Bowser as the final boss just to give the game its obligatory Bowser fight.
• Inverted... Bowser does appear in the final boss battle... but this time, he's helping YOU.

King Olly's final trump card.

Once Mario and co. have him cornered, King Olly will perform a dirty trick against both Mario and the player by having them fight...

• Peach. She's already been turned into Origami, so it would seem reasonable for King Olly to use her against Mario.
• Luigi, because why not?
• The partners from the past Paper Mario games. I know this one is a long shot, but imagine King Olly knew about Mario's past friends and decided to turn them into Origami. Also, that means we would get to see them again!
• Bowser, after tricking Mario and Bowser that he's defeated and will possess Bowser to fuse to an ultimate being.
• Origami Peach and Origami Bowser as a Dual Boss, or folded together to make Koopeach from the Super Mario Odyssey concept art.
• Origami Mario. The first Paper Mario game had Bowser be the final boss, the second had Peach, the third had Luigi, the fourth and fifth had... Bowser again, but he 1) lost his mind to the power in the former and just got a slap to the hand for it after the battle, so it wasn't entirely him being the bad guy 2) wasn't even fully aware of what he was doing and seriously thought he'd just get a fresh shell recolor in the latter. Mario could turn into an Origami and you'd have to free him with whichever companion Mario has for this adventure (Mario's normal attacks would be locked out).
• He may fuse/fold into a much larger and tougher boss after Mario defeats his first form. After all, it's Paper Mario tradition.
  • Last point is confirmed.

The plot will revolve around Mario and co. traveling around the world to free Peach's Castle from Olly at the sources of his power

Notice how when King Olly summons forth crepe paper to overtake Peach's Castle, the paper strips seem to be coming out of five undisclosed locations. If the crepe paper is cut at the source, the rest of it will likely fall off the castle; therefore, the plot will be about trying to sever the paper holding Peach's Castle.

• Confirmed! The second trailer confirms that the game will be about trying to travel to the ends of the crepe paper strands, guarded by members of the League of Stationery.

Mario will be turned into an origami somewhere in the middle of the game.

This will last for a while, like a whole chapter; during that time, Luigi will be playable. Once Mario is saved, the player can alternate between the two brothers.

• Or it would just be something that happens to Mario on the Game Over screen, or if he says "Yes" to Origami Peach's request.
• Jossed, such a thing never happens.

King Olly will be a tragic villain à la Count Bleck.

Olivia, similarly to Tippi, could lament what became of her brother, and team up with Mario in an attempt to save him.

• There may also be a Dimentio figure pulling the strings behind the scenes who becomes the main villain after Olly’s defeat.
• Both characters seem kinda young, so it's possible Olly's villainy is to please their unseen parents.
• Confirmed.

The audience mechanic from TTYD will be returning

All battle footage so far has included stands with an audience, meaning that there may be a comeback of Audience Participation.

• Audience Participation does occur. The size of your audience depends on how many toads you've saved, and Mario can call on them by giving them coins to get the Toads to throw objects at enemies, solve parts of ring puzzles, and give him items or healing.

Items will require Action Commands to use.

It seems like in combat, moves are divided between a weapon menu and an item menu. While items being divided from your regular attacks calls the old games to mind, it's possible some items are used similarly to how they were in Sticker Star and Color Splash, like having to press the button for each fireball thrown from a Fire Flower instead of it automatically dealing damage to every enemy on its own.

• Confirmed. POW Blocks, Tails, Fire Flowers, and such require an Action Command input to deal more damage.

There is a World Tour theme for this game.

Adding to the above WMG about traveling around the world, the trailers not only show Mario following the crepe paper, we see an "Arabian Nights" Days desert, a Wutai palace, and a North American deciduous and evergreen forest. Mario might even be visiting kingdoms the way he did in Super Mario Odyssey, though I have my doubts on that. The game is more likely focused on just the Mushroom Kingdom and maybe the Origami Kingdom.

The mountain Peach's Castle was sent to is a volcano.

And it will erupt at least once, most likely after the final boss to launch the castle back where it was.

• Jossed, it never erupts, although there is lava in it.

Olly's plan to take over the Mushroom Kingdom is an attempt to replace his own.

For a variety of reasons, such as a disaster, invasion, or his own mistakes, the Origami King is without his original Kingdom. So he's decided to make a new one...

• The Legion of Stationery is made of arts and crafts supplies, adding to this theory.
  • Jossed... instead, Olly wants to get rid of EVERY Toad ever.

Bowser will remain folded the entire game until the final battle where he will get unfolded and help you defeat the final boss.

He'll be like Huey from the previous game, only helping after the "invincible" phase goes by.

• Going off the above, it will be during a fight with Origami Peach.
  • Confirmed for the main WMG, as he is the primary help for the second phase.

Going on the above, this 11th-Hour Superpower for Bowser will be triggered by King Olly attempting to harm Bowser Jr.

Alternatively, Jr. will help out when Olly tries to harm his dad.

• Jossed. There is a scene near the end where Bowser is enraged by Jr. being in danger and uses his fire breath, though.

Olly will possibly remain evil to the end.

Whether it be in various ways.

• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse will be invoked and regardless of his excuse for what he did, Mario and his friends will retort that it still doesn’t excuse brainwashing people left and right
• Possibly being a Big Brother Bully who wants to expand his kingdom by force. With Olivia wanting Olly to stop his conquest.
• Assuming King Olly has Mario fight Luigi, Peach, or even the past partners. It could be treated as him crossing the Moral Event Horizon.
• Olly will be on the receiving end of a Heel–Face Door-Slam courtesy of the main villain.
  • Confirmed that he learned the error of his way at the end, sacrificing himself to undo his wrongdoings.

The walking rubber band thing in the trailer is the true villain.

At one point in the trailer, we briefly see some humanoid thing seemingly made of yellow and black rubber bands, strutting along in a rather arrogant-looking way. Maybe this character will be either The Man Behind the Man for Olly, or the Dimentio-like figure proposed in one of the above entries.

• Doesn't seem to be the case, as the second trailer showcases it along with the other bosses. Likely, it just serves as another boss to fight.
  • Rubber Band is confirmed to be one of Ollie’s subordinates guarding the blue streamer.
  • But what if, like Dimentio before him, he’s only pretending to be a minion?
• Jossed, he's a regular baddie.

As Olly's forces weaken Bowser will attempt to hijack the plot.

Whether he succeeds or not is up in the air. The UK website lends credence to this by mentioning he's eager for payback.

• Jossed, Bowser stays folded up until the end of the game.

The consumable attacks from the past two games will return.

As far as one can see, there was no FP meter, just HP, indicating that attacks will probably just be the same consumable attacks like in Sticker Star and Colour Splash, including the realistic Thing attacks.

• Jossed. The attack system is closer to that used in Breath of the Wild in that Mario has a basic Jump and Hammer option at all times, but can also purchase upgraded weapons (jump, hammer, etc) that are more powerful but break after a set number of uses, as well as classic consumable items such as the Fire Flower.

Olly is not the true villain of the game.

The King Olly in the trailer is an impostor. Since he can fold into a yellow Shy Guy, what if the Olly we see is yet another disguise?

• By extension, Princess Peach was never brainwashed or transformed, only impersonated.
• Jossed, he's the villain true and true.

Olivia is Evil All Along and wanted her brother out of the way so she could rule.

That'd be a fun twist on a partner that hasn't been done in a PM game before!

• Adding to this, the Nintendo gameplay stream showed she's first found sealed in 'a weird in-between dimension' (a wall). Possibly a Sealed Evil in a Can?
• If true, she will have a nightmarish true form a la Mimi.
• Jossed, she sticks to Mario throughout the entire game.

Professor Toad is the professor from Chateau Chanterelle.

They're both Yellow Toad archeologists, and it would provide a nice sense of continuity.

Olly and Olivia will do a Fusion Dance for the final battle.

What's scarier than one origami person? TWO!

• Jossed... Olly fights solo.

Much like in Color Splash, there will be a traumatic Game Over sequence of Mario being forcibly turned into origami.

And possibly a Non-Standard Game Over where Olly offers to let you join him.

• Jossed for the Game Over, but there is a Non-Standard Game Over about joining Olly near the end of the intro.

King Olly's real form is the yellow Shy Guy "disguise".

Olivia is also secretly a Shy Guy.

• Jossed.

Bowser was too tough to origami-fy so they folded him instead.

Assuming he does get origami-fied somewhere down the line Olly will have to do it himself.

Bobby the Bob-Omb is a transformed Luigi.

At least one of the official websites says Luigi's gone missing, while Bobby looks up to Mario as an older brother.

• Deconfirmed. In a GameXplain video, the narrator states that Bobby is not Luigi and that the theory is "completely wrong".

Olly and Olivia were originally non-origami folk until something changed them into what they are now.

• Jossed, they've always been origami.

Bobby used to be a Folded Soldier, but escaped and got amnesia.

This shows that the process isn't permanent and can be reversed, as otherwise Peach would be in serious trouble.

• Jossed. Bobby's amnesia came from something else. He never was a Folded Soldier.

Paper Mario NX will be a Deconstruction of how there are just Toads in Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash

Not only that but it will have three slots in a party and it will have Wart as the Big Bad and the game will be Nintendo Hard.

• The rest of it is entirely off-base, but the deconstruction bit did turn out to be the case! At least, the villain of The Origami King is motivated largely by a desire to rid the world of Toads so that he won't have to see their "stupid faces" everywhere.

Paper Mario Switch will feature friendly races that were introduced in Super Mario Odyssey.

Apparently, the reason "everyone's a Toad" is because Miyamoto insisted the games start using only characters from the main Super Mario series. But since Odyssey is part of the Super series, the writers now have a fresh and diverse pool to draw from. It's the perfect loophole!

• Not so. The Origami King only uses Toads and Bowser's minions as NPCs.

Post-Release

There are more Vellumentals that were never encountered.

Well, more than those that appeared in this game, anyway, meaning either a sequel or DLC some time down the line.

For example, there could be the following:

• Lightning Vellumental: A porcupine that can shoot its quills, which make lightning walls that change based on how the rings are moved and the direction the quills are pointing, making a tricky maze. Requires Wind Vellumental to blow the quills away.
• Wind Vellumental: An eagle that can blow away panels using similar to the Water Vellumental, or use a tornado to scramble the panels. Has a gale supermove that requires Stone Vellumental to defend against.
• Plant Vellumental: A Pirahna Plant. Weak against fire. Ties panels together using spiky impassable vines that need to be burned away. Tries to strangle Mario with vines.
• Stone Vellumental: A rhino, weak to Plant Velumental. Has a horn guard, break it and it spams a one-hit charge attack with its deadly sharp horn, similar to Scissors, but faster.
• The Vellumentals themselves are based off of The Four Gods, each representing a cardinal direction, with a fifth being, the Yellow Dragon, placed in the center, suggesting a fifth Vellumental like this one could exist. It would also most likely use either Wood or Metal, two elements the gods represent but are eschewed for Ice in this game.
  • One thing to note: considering that the Vellumentals are based off the The Four Gods, one of them, namely the Wind Vellumental, would likely have to be represented by a tiger rather than an eagle since, aside from having to stick to the Natural Elements theme, they'd have to stick to the god theming as well.

Expanding on the above, DLC could work like this...

After the origami festival, a tall shiny (paper) mirror is found in the castle basement, it was shaken out after the castle got returned... Mario, curious, checks out the mirror... and is sucked into a dark mirror universe, where Mirror!Olly was made for unscribbled paper and so was good and folded Mirror!Oliva so he could have a sister... only for Mirror!Olivia to turn out to be the evil one because SHE was the one folded from scribbled-on-by-a-Toad paper. To add insult to injury, it's a short shopping list of "Eggs, Milk, Bread". She throws Mirror!Olly out and basically performs the same evil plan as Prime!Olly, only in the dark mirror universe, she is much more effective at her plan, even origami folding Mario, Luigi, and Bowser into her ultimate Folded Soldiers. Basically, this would more or less be a Nightmare mode of the original game. The Vellumentals above would replace the original ones, everything would be more destroyed, and in the end, Mirror!Olly would be the one wishing away everything Mirror!Oliva did... and staying behind in the Mirror Universe to help rebuild it, instead of vanishing like Prime!Olivia did.

• Also, everything, maps, models, textures, is the mirror image of the prime universe, just to drive home the point that this is a mirror universe. Well, except the UI. That would be too far. Also, all your equipment, including the four Prime!Bibliofolds, would carry over, and Mirror!Olly would be able to access them, but Mirror!Olivia would only have access to the powers of the Mirror!Velumentals.
• Mirror!Olly may even be able to refold Prime!Olivia...

Professor Toad is a colleague of Professor Frankly

Considering that both are interested in ancient civilizations and temples, I don't think this is too far of a stretch.

• Pun... intended?

The Vellumentals were either always origami and Olly just brainwashed them or were meant to be folded sometimes and Olly took advantage of that

They all leave instruction books on how to fold them once defeated, and considering that Olly probably wouldn't create something for Mario and Olivia to use against him, I think that the Bibliofolds were meant to be used by the people they protected in the event that the Vellumentals were either completely destroyed, unfolded, or in a situation where (if their regular forms weren't already origami like some dialogue seems to suggest) them being origami would be beneficial.

Hole Punch might have been faking his personality.

Look, I know this is a really big stretch, and I really hope this isn't true, but he might have been faking his love for disco this whole time.

The reason multiple Folded Soldiers appear after a single one jumps you...

Is because multiple Soldiers can be tucked and folded within a larger one, to make movement and keeping track of them more efficient. It's a nightmarish experience for whatever parts of their personalities survive the folding, but Olly isn't generally inclined to care.

Bobby getting his memory back and his resolution were supposed to happen near the end of the game.

Within the code of the game, not only is there data to support Bobby being in places he’d never be able to go- there’s also data for dialogue on Scuffle Island when he sits that out.

In addition, it’s very odd how this is the only time in the game Mario goes to a later world, needing to backtrack all the way to Shogun Studio’s blue pipe to even begin the voyage to the Princess Peach. Something like that would make more sense and be more convenient if, say, the warp pipe was just a few steps away, in front of, perhaps, a certain uprooted large castle with a certain locked door.

Alongside that, a required door on the Princess Peach ship has a natural event flag locking it until later in the game. Who’s to say “when” it unlocks wasn’t changed? Furthermore, there’s a line T Ode says at Musee Champignon ^note  “What is lost may never be found. All that remains is a shattered reflection, like a teardrop in a pond.” that would make more sense narratively to incorporate if Bobby was supposed to be in the room as well in an earlier draft.

Finally, there’s that whole airship battle before reaching that certain castle, something that would logically cause Bobby to regain his memory.

All of this together might suggest the boulder scene, the visit to the Princess Peach, and Bobby going kaboom were supposed to happen exactly before entering that castle, but something bumped the events up to much earlier. By that same token, either the room where Olivia cries was meant to be for something else or relocated from near Hotfoot Volcano.

Olivia’s not dead.

Remember how Olivia worded her wish? “May all the origami folded by my brother be undone.” You might think “Olivia still falls under that!” However, that’s not completely true. See, while Olly may have initially folded Olivia, he was not the most recent person who did so. That was actually Kamek, back in Shangri-Spa. Olivia only wished for her brother’s folding be undone, not anyone else’s. Therefore, there’s a chance she survived, and just ended up somewhere else far away.

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