Bonetail is the oldest sibling of the Hooktail Dragon family and was featured in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door as an Optional Super Boss. He is so old that his entire body has degenerated entirely to nothing but bones. He also appears to have lost his sanity and intelligence to time, as his only vocalizations are shouting "Aroooo!" semi-randomly while fighting Mario.
History[]
Bonetail is the strongest of the three dragons, outclassing his younger siblings in HP, Attack Power, and variety of attacks. His attacks include a variable breath attack that can freeze, confuse, shrink or put Mario and/or Partner to sleep. He also has the hallmark attacks of the dragon family of stomping and biting.
Bonetail may as well be the hardest boss in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year. Because his attacks are extremely strong and he has a base health of 200 HP and often, due to his healing abilities, an effective health approaching 260 (assuming 3x usage of his instant 20HP recovery ability) -- Bonetail can easily end a player who has barely survived the Pit.
Bonetail's difficulty is also amplified significantly due to his location at the bottom of the Pit of 100 Trials, forcing the Player to go through the long gauntlet before battling enemies before fighting him. When defeated, Bonetail coughs up the extremely rare and useful Return Postage Badge -- effectively the grand prize of the Pit of 100 Trials.
Attacks[]
Bonetail's abilities are very similar to the likes of Hooktail and Gloomtail, but his attacks are much higher then those of Hooktail and are the same as Gloomtail, he can bite in close range at either Mario or a Partner if in front which can take away 8 Hit-Points and can slam his paw at either Mario or a Partner which can also take away 8 Hit-Points if not blocked, but there are two different, the first of which is that Bonetail can recover 20 HP on his own at will, but the second is the most noticeable, much like his two younger siblings, he can spew out a breath which can take away 8 Hit-Points if not blocked and can pierce though defenses, but depending on what color that breath is, can case a number of status effects if not blocked, if white, it will put the Player to sleep, if green, it will confuse the Player, if purple, it will shrink the Player and if blue will freeze the Player.
Battle Tips[]
This battle can be considered hard for some people, however with a few key elements Bonetail isn't very difficult. If Players choose not to battle him in a Pre-Hooktail run, these are ideas you could use. Having the Feeling Fine badges for you and your partners is beneficial to this battle, as only two of his breath attacks are dangerous leaving the other three useless. Having anything that pierces defense is a must have as it'll make getting past Bonetail a lot easier. Using attack buffs such as Power Lift, Charge, or any Power Plus Badges are recommended. Soft Stomp can also be useful here. In terms of party members Madame Flurrie is the Players' go-to option as she can completely tank and stall the entire battle for them. Flurrie is a must need for this battle with her Lip Lock ability. As his attack power is only 8, meaning she can already restore 90% of her health back. Influencing Flurrie with attack buffs is also highly recommended. Learning how to Superguard or Guard the other two dragons can also help with this fight too. Using Fire Drive, Power Bounce, Spring Jump, Soft Stomp (two of them) Piercing Blow are all highly effective for this fight. The key to taking out Bonetail lies in beating him down with powerful moves and surviving all he throws at the Player. With Flurrie, this makes it all very easy. Player's must also be very packed with healing items and must at least have a very big amount of them depending on their health stat, its highly recommended for Players to bring Jelly Ultras as a way to both heal and recover Flower Points. A good strategy is to use Mega Rush on several turns, then attack. This will knock out most if not all of Bonetail's HP.
Bonetail's defeat will come with recognizing his attack patterns. His varied breath attacks can cause every negative status in the game on top of causing massive amounts of damage, and he will take advantage of an instant-heal for twenty heart points three times over the course of the battle. Alongside Flurrie, Players should also make use of Vivian's veil move if they see him charge. Players that cannot cause large amounts of damage and take as much as they give will not survive this fight. If it comes to gradual damage versus mass damage, choose mass damage, as trying to take him down bit by bit or conserving points or items will see the player beaten down before any serious chance of defeating Bonetail comes within range.
Trivia[]
- Bonetail's status are the same as Gloomtail.
- Bonetail is the only one in the Hooktail family to not have speech capabilities; instead, it frequently howls like a wolf.
- In a way, unlike the two other Reskin Bosses in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bonetail doesn't get any new attacks aside from the four Status Inflicting breaths and the ability to recover his own HP, and as such, is a stronger version of Hooktail.
- Bonetail has the most Status Infecting Attacks out of any boss in the Paper Mario series, with a total of four Status Infecting Attacks.
- In early game development, Bonetail was meant to have black colored eyes with dark blue colored pupils.
- It's possible (though hugely difficult) to defeat Bonetail before Hooktail (as early as prologue) if the Player uses glitches.