The Shadow Sirens (The Three Shadows in the 2024 Remake) are a group of Mario's enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its 2024 Remake on the Nintendo Switch. The group serves as a recurring boss encounter (much like Jr. Troopa in the first game). They are first fought as the first boss of Chapter 2, and later on as the second boss of Chapter 8. They serve as the second and fourteenth boss encounters of the game overall.
Summary[]
The Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows appear to serve Sir Grodus, but are really only loyal to the Shadow Queen. They confront Mario once in Boggly Woods, and again in Palace of Shadow with Upgraded moves, although Vivian has by that point joined Mario's team, so she is replaced with Doopliss. With the Shadow Queen defeated, they are believed to have been disbanded, or at least to have stopped committing evil deeds.
Members[]
Beldam is the leader of the Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows. She has the ability to control the element of ice but isn't all too strong of a fighter. To make up for this, she is also able to power up others, mainly Marilyn. She used to be incredibly cruel to the other members, mainly Vivian and Doopliss, until her redemption at the end of the game.
Marilyn is the powerhouse of the Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows. She controls the element of electricity, is the strongest member of the Shadow Sirens, and has the most hit points. She is loyal to Beldam and never questions her. She never intelligibly speaks except to say "The Three".
Vivian is considered to be the weakest of the Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows. She has the ability to control the element of fire. She left the Shadow Sirens and joined Mario after taking too much abuse from Beldam. She was later replaced by Doopliss in The Shadow Sirens for joining Mario and his friends. In the Epilogue, she returned with her sisters, while they promised to never be mean to Vivian ever again.
Doopliss is Vivian's replacement. He is able to copy the image and abilities of any person, primarily Mario. You fight him for the Ruby Star in Creepy Steeple. Due to not being the same species as the other members, he can't travel through the shadows. During the Epilogue, he appears to have left the Shadow Sirens to perform alongside Madame Flurrie in a play based on Mario's adventures.
Attacks[]
In the first battle, all three of the Shadow Sirens will mainly use short ranges punches/slaps on Mario and Co. Marilyn will increase her attack power by 2 and Beldam will also attack using magic, such as shrinking Mario and Co., or enlarging Vivian, Marilyn, or herself to give them an attack boost. After losing around half of their health, they begin to use their element magic attacks: Vivian will use Fiery Jinx to hit both Mario and his partner, Marilyn will summon lighting to hit both Mario and Co., and Beldam will fire an ice-like stream that also hits both Mario and Co.
In the second battle, Marilyn regains all of her attacks, now with higher attack power, and Beldam gains a new ability, which makes Mario and Co. lose a turn. Beldam also regains her Ice Stream Attack, though this time it can infect the Freeze Status should it not be blocked. Doopliss regains all of his attacks that he had previously, though this time he can transform into Mario or any of Mario's partners and use their attacks against them.
Strategy[]
Original 2004 Nintendo GameCube Version[]
Due to having to battle three bosses at once, this battle can be tricky. In both battles against the Shadow Sirens, it's recommended for the Player(s) to have the Quake Hammer Badge and/or use Earth Tremor to deal decent damage to all three Shadow Sirens (and Doopliss). During the second battle, Mario should have the Feeling Fine Badge equipped to avoid getting frozen by Beldam's Icy Wind attack should he not be able to block it. The Emerald Star's Clock Out ability is incredible useful during the second/final battle agents the Shadow Sirens as it can freeze all of them if used correctly, which can also allow the Player(s) to use moves that deals high damage to all Targets.
2024 Nintendo Switch Version[]
In the remake versions, both fights agents the Shadows are nearly identical to their GameCube Counter-Part, though in the first battle, Vivian will telegraph her punch attack, thus making it easier to block/counter-block her attack; in the second fight, Doopliss, Marilyn and Beldam gain a higher residents to the Emerald Star's Clock Out ability.
Trivia[]
- In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its 2023 Remake, the Shadow Sirens/the Three Shadows are always fought in evens, and are always fought after a battle against a Dragon-type boss, and before a battle against one of the X-Nauts.
- All three of the Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows are represented by an element (Vivian: Fire, Marilyn: Electricity, Beldam: Ice).
- The Shadow Sirens/The Three Shadows are the first and currently only bosses in the Paper Mario series to be encountered as a trio, rather than one or two enemies. Lava Piranha and Smorg are excluded as they are each one boss that has two or three parts which can regain health.