History WakeUpCallBoss / SuperMarioBros

** The game world of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' is essentially traversed twice, with each area being visited once at the beginning of the game and once much later, after the player is far higher-leveled. The first area, [[GreenHillZone Sunbeam Plains]], is where you fight the WarmUpBoss, [[ManEatingPlant Petey Piranha]]. When you revisit the area, there waiting for you is, well, [[TitleDrop Paper]] Petey Piranha. If you think the fight is going to be the same, though, think again: at the very beginning of the fight, he [[PowerCopying inhales Paper Mario's Copy Block]], ''sextupling his HP'' unless you can pin down the original, which is no mean feat given that you can only attack whatever copy his attack patterns shuffle into the front. Even without his copies, Paper Petey hits unreasonably hard given his nature and his attack patterns are difficult to dodge.

** The midboss of the Ancient Gardens, Pirabbid Plant. It has a huge movement range (10 cells) and a weapon capable of firing even further. Said weapon hits hard, is capable of destroying cover in one shot and inflicting the Burn status, arguably the most dangerous status in the game. Past battles could be won with little strategy; this one needs much more knowledge of what you can do.

* Hooktail from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' can be one of the hardest bosses in the game... even if you have ''that'' badge on. On the other hand, that badge is easy to find and the game heavily hints that you should wear it, so maybe that's a player problem.

*** The rematch against Croco is a wake-up call to use HP Rain instead of relying on items like Mushrooms and Pick Me Ups, as he steals them halfway through the fight.

** The World 2 (Sherbet Desert) midbosses, Blizzy and Sandy. Not only do you have to contend with the regular {{Mook}}s littering the battlefield, but you also have two powerful enemies. Blizzy is the first enemy you'll encounter to have "Villain Sight", allowing it to attack any character that enters its line of sight when it isn't its turn. Said attack has a 50% chance of giving a [[StandardStatusEffects freeze]] status, preventing the use of passive abilities. Meanwhile, Sandy can activate shields and has an attack that ''will'' inflict [[StandardStatusEffects burn]] on whatever character it hits and send them running randomly across the field. And both enemies have larger attack ranges than any enemy you've encountered so far, meaning that there's a good chance of being hit by one -- if not both -- of them if you aren't using cover wisely. If you haven't been honing your tactical skills already, this battle forces you to finally play smart by planning for their different attacks, keeping in mind where they are so they can't easily hurt your party members, while also dealing with their flunkies. Oh, and if you have [[FriendlySniper Luigi]] on your team so you can keep your distance using his main and secondary weapons? [[ArtificialBrilliance They'll focus their attacks on him]].

** The game world of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam]] is essentially traversed twice, with each area being visited once at the beginning of the game and once much later, after the player is far higher-leveled. The first area, [[GreenHillZone Sunbeam Plains]], is where you fight the WarmUpBoss, [[ManEatingPlant Petey Piranha]]. When you revisit the area, there waiting for you is, well, [[TitleDrop Paper]] Petey Piranha. If you think the fight is going to be the same, though, think again: at the very beginning of the fight, he [[PowerCopying inhales Paper Mario's Copy Block]], ''sextupling his HP'' unless you can pin down the original, which is no mean feat given that you can only attack whatever copy his attack patterns shuffle into the front. Even without his copies, Paper Petey hits unreasonably hard given his nature and his attack patterns are difficult to dodge.

** The game world of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam]] is essentially traversed twice, with each area being visited once at the beginning of the game and once much later, after the player is far higher-leveled. The first area, [[GreenHillZone Sunbeam Plains]], is where you fight the TutorialBoss, [[ManEatingPlant Petey Piranha]]. When you revisit the area, there waiting for you is, well, [[TitleDrop Paper]] Petey Piranha. If you think the fight is going to be the same, though, think again: at the very beginning of the fight, he [[PowerCopying inhales Paper Mario's Copy Block]], ''sextupling his HP'' unless you can pin down the original, which is no mean feat given that you can only attack whatever copy his attack patterns shuffle into the front. Even without his copies, Paper Petey hits unreasonably hard given his nature and his attack patterns are difficult to dodge.

** The Elite Trio boss of Corporal Paraplonk, Private Goomp, and Sargent Guy in dreamy driftwood shore. Hope you've been practicing your Luiginary attacks, because this boss is a ''nightmare'' without them. The trio will revive each other whenever you leave at least one alive, and with only Mario attacking it's near impossible to KO all three of them in one turn. The only way to finish this battle the hard way is to whittle the trio's health down, then counter-attack an attack that is difficult to counter, does lots of damage if it hits, and is easier if you avoid it. And just avoiding said attack will not work. You have to counterattack or else Private Goomp will survive and revive the other two, forcing you to wait until said attack is used again. Or you could do the smart thing and use your Luiginary attacks.

* ''[[VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Edition]]

* Finding ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Mario & Luigi Dream Team]]'' easy so far? Well there are two bosses in this game that act as a nice wake up call to show you how more difficult things will soon get.