Best Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Partner Characters

There are seven characters who can be possible partners for Mario in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Some are necessary at times, due to there being chapter-specific gimmicks their out-of-battle skills handle or fights that basically mandate their appearances. However, some can be better than others.

Editor’s Note: There are spoilers for the characters who will join as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door partners below.

I’ll be going over the Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door partner characters from best to worst below. Some absolutely can be better than others. However, with the exception of the optional Ms Mowz, who you can only recruit around chapter 6, you will need to wait to recruit allies other than Goombella. 

Vivian:

Vivian is great both before and after her rank upgrades. Her Shade Fist attack that doesn’t require any FP does damage and has a chance to burn the enemy for a few turns if you nail the prompts. The 1 FP Veil is fantastic for protecting Mario during boss fights or ones with lots of enemies. I’m a big fan of AOE abilities in the game too, and her rank-up Fiery Jinx and Infatuate both target multiple foes for either damage or confusion.

Yoshi

Yoshi is another one of the top tier characters who can be one of your partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The character’s Ground Pound outshines Goombella’s jumping attack, since it can hit multiple times. The 4 FP Gulp is great for dealing with troublesome enemies and lowering the number of foes on the field. Once we rank up the character, Stampede is a good AOE attack (at a costly 6 FP). 

Ms Mowz

I like Ms Mowz a lot and recommend her, because she really shines in a support role. Yes, she can deal damage with Love Slap for 0 FP. Sure, you have a great Tease ability that makes every enemy dizzy for 3 FP once you rank her up for the first time. But what I really appreciate is her 2 FP Kiss Thief and 10 FP Smooch abilities. The former will steal an item so an enemy can’t use it. The latter heals Mario for 10 HP, so you can save items or not bother with his own healing skills. 

Koops

Koops is the best of the early-game characters who becomes one of Mario’s partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Power Shell is a great way to deal damage to every enemy for 3 FP. Especially since it is available from the very start. His 0 FP Shell Toss is easy to kick off. His 4 FP Shell Shield, which you get after the first rank-up, is handy and can help Mario, but it’s quickly outclassed by Vivian’s Veil. His Shell Slam is a great AOE attack, however, given it only costs 6 FP and ignores defenses.

Admiral Bobbery

Admiral Bobbery is one of those characters that is above average, but the cost and practicality of some of his moves keep him from being higher up the list. His 0 FP Bomb attack is handy. The 3 FP Bomb Squad that sets off three time bombs is good, but you also have to wait a turn for it to happen. That’s inconvenient for some fights. Bob-ombast, which you get after he ranks up, is great since it deals AOE damage. However, that costs 9 FP. I also wish Hold Fast offered more guaranteed damage, instead of just making it so anyone who attacks him takes damage for 4 FP. 

Madame Flurrie

Flurrie is one of the first allies you’ll get who will deal more damage than Goombella and Koops. However, her Body Slam input is finicky since you need to align it properly. Gale Force is also finicky, since the 4 FP move might blow enemies out of battle depending how well you build it up. Her Lip Lock is good for healing her own health while dealing damage for 3 FP. However, she doesn’t learn the Mario-projecting Dodgy Fog until her final rank-up, and by that time you have the better Veil or even Koops’ Shell Shield.

Goombella

I’m not a Goombella fan. Unless you absolutely need to see someone’s detailed information, which is rare, Tattle is useless. Headbonk is very situational and only deals minimal damage initially and after her first rank-up. Multibonk forces you to nail the timing for her bounces to deal damage. Also, while Rally Wink allowing Mario to attack again is handy for 4 FP, it really is just easier to have her use an item instead of having Mario act again.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is available for the Nintendo Switch. It originally appeared on the GameCube.