Overview
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Mario can meet and befriend several characters who will join his party. These are known as "Partners." Partners can be used in battle to attack enemies, and they also have abilities that can be used in the field to help explore or discover secrets.
Partners can "rank up" when Mario finds three Shine Sprites and takes them to Merlon, whose house is right next to Prof. Frankly. Every partner can increase their rank to Super Rank initially, but Mario must find a special item to allow Merlon to rank partners up to Ultra Rank.
The damage a partner can do is determined by their rank, and whether or not the player can successfully preform action commands. For example, Goombella's initial base power is 1 x2. This means if the action command is successful she preforms two attacks, each dealing 1 damage. Otherwise, she prefroms a single attack dealing 1 damage.
In contrast, Koops' base power is listed as 1/2, as he only ever preforms one attack. Depending on whether or not the action command is successful determines whether or not he deals 1 damage or 2.
Goombella
| Goombella's moves | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack Name |
FP Cost |
Effect | Details | Default Effect |
Nice Effect |
Attack Input |
Stylish Input |
| Headbonk Initial Rank |
0 | Goombella Jumps on an enemy from above. If the action command is successful, she attacks twice. |
|
1/2/3 Damage | Preforms a second attack | Press  right before landing.
|
Press when Goombella pauses for the jump.
|
| Tattle Initial Rank |
0 | Reveals enemy HP and other information. After this skilled is used, the enemy's information can be looked up in the Tattle Log. |
|
Fails | Reveals enemy HP, information, and adds enemy to the Tattle Log. | Press when the cursor moves over the target.
|
Press right after the first action command
|
| Multibonk Super Rank |
3 | Identical to Headbonk, except for every successful action command preformed lets Goombella attack again until an action command is missed. |
|
1/2/3 damage. | 1/2/3 damage, and for every button hit correctly, you get an additional attack until you miss a button | Press each time before landing on the enemy.
|
Like Headbonk, press when Goombella pauses for the jump, however it can be pressed twice for two flips.
|
| Rally Wink Ultra Rank |
4 | Goombella gives Mario a kiss, granting him extra turns for the next few rounds. |
|
The move fails and nothing happens. | Mario gets 2 actions for his net 3 turns. | Switch between rapidly pressing or  depending on the on-screen prompt.
|
Press as soon as the heart appears on Mario.
|
Koops
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 10 | 15 | 25 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 1/2 | 2/3 | 3/5 |
| Special | 1 Defense | |
Koops is a cowardly Koopa teen from Petal Meadows. His father went to defeat the dragon Hooktail ten years ago, and has not been heard from since. After hearing that Mario plans to take on Hooktail, Koops eventually works up the courage to ask Mario to help him avenge his father.
Koops is the only partner who has 1 defense without the use of buffs or badges. However, he has one of the lowest Max HP, with his ultra rank only having 25. Worse still, he can be flipped over like other koopas, which will drop his defense by 1. Preforming a defense action can prevent this, but otherwise you'll have to wait before Koops flips himself back up.
In the fields you can press 
to shoot Koops out in front of you to retrieve items and hit switches. If you hold , he will hold his position until you release it, and be able to hit things that were behind Mario when he was first launched. If he hits an enemy he will perform a first strike dealing his max damage.
| Koops' moves | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack Name |
FP Cost |
Effect | Details | Default Effect |
Nice Effect |
Attack Input |
Stylish Input |
| Shell Toss Initial Rank |
0 | Koops spins inside his shell than rams into an enemy at full force. |
|
Deals 1/2/3 damage. | Deals 2/3/5 damage. | Hold  and release when the bar is under the star.
|
Press after hitting the enemy and Koops is still spinning.
|
| Power Shell Initial Rank |
3 | Koops spins inside his shell than rams through all enemies on the ground. |
|
Deals 1/2/3 damage to all enemies on the ground. | Deals 2/3/5 damage to all enemies on the ground. | Hold and release when the meter has reached the star. The meter will keep charging to full and then to zero until the attack is preformed.
|
Press as soon as Koops returns to his position next to Mario.
|
| Shell Shield Super Rank |
4 | ||||||
| Shell Slam Ultra Rank |
6 |
|
|||||
Flurrie
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 15 | 25 | 35 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 0-2 | 0-4 | 0-6 |
Flurrie can blow sheets of paper off of the environment. She can also make enemies spin, preventing them from attacking Mario for a short period of time.
Moves:
- Body Slam (0 FP)
- Gale Force (4 FP)
- Lip Lock (3 FP)
- Dodgy Fog (4 FP)
Yoshi
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 10 | 20 | 30 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 1 x4 | 1 x5 | 1 x6 |
Yoshi moves twice as fast as Mario. Press while riding him to flutter jump. This move enables you to cross big gaps. Press again or to dismount.
Moves:
- Ground Pound (0 FP)
- Gulp (4 FP)
- Mini-Egg (3 FP)
- Stampede (6 FP)
Vivian
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 3 | 4 | 5 |
Vivian is the youngest of three Sisters known as The Shadow Sirens, and is constantly abused by her eldest sister, Beldam. While initially an enemy of Mario, after he shows her kindness while his name and body are stolen, Vivian decides to help him get his identity back, not knowing who he is. She eventually joins the party even after learning that she's been helping Mario.
Vivian can drag Mario into a round shadow. In this state objects will pass over him (including enemies), birds will ignore his presence and talk out loud. Pressing again to return to normal. In combat Vivian can attack any enemy regardless of height or position. All of her offensive attacks inflict fire damage that can deal damage over time.
| Vivian's moves | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attack Name |
FP Cost |
Effect | Details | Default Effect |
Nice Effect |
Attack Input |
Stylish Input |
Rank |
| Shade Fist | 0 | Punches an enemy anywhere on the field. If successful it won't do extra damage, but will set the enemy on fire, dealing 1 damage at the end of the next 3 rounds. |
|
3/4/5 Damage | Same as default, while also inflicting burn. | The player must press a hidden button that appears after a few seconds. The possible buttons are and 
|
Press as soon as Vivian reappears next to Mario
|
Initial |
| Veil | 1 | Vivian hides Mario in shadow for 1 round. |
|
Fails and nothing happens. | All attacks miss Mario and Vivian for 1 round. | The player must hit the correct 5 buttons in a row, all of which are revealed at the start. The buttons are either or
|
Press as soon as Vivian reappears next to Mario but after the enemies have attacked
|
Initial |
| Fiery Jinx | 6 | A powerful fire attack that attacks all enemies and ignores defense. If successful it will inflict burn on all surviving enemies. |
|
1 damage for each correct button pressed, ignoring defense. | Same as default, while also inflicting burn. | The player must hit 5 correct buttons in a row. Only one is revealed at a time and hitting a wrong one ends the move. The possible buttons are and
|
Press just before the attack connects.
|
Super |
| Infatuate | 4 | Vivian blows kisses at the enemy to confuse them |
|
No effect. | Confuses enemy for each correct hit. | Press when a heart appears over the enemy's head.
|
Press when a heart appears over the Vivian's head.
|
Ultra |
Admiral Bobbery
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 20 | 30 | 40 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 0-4 | 0-5 | 0-6 |
Press to pick Bobbery up, and release to throw him. He will walk a few steps forward and then set his fuse. You can set the fuse prematurely by pressing again. The explosion can break cracked walls and initiate a first strike.
Moves:
- Bomb (0 FP)
- Bomb Squad (3 FP)
- Hold Fast (4 FP)
- Bob-Ombast (9 FP)
Ms. Mowz
| Stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Initial Rank | Super Rank | Ultra Rank |
| HP | ||
| 15 | 20 | 25 |
| Base Attack | ||
| 1-2 | 1-3 | 1-4 |
You can unlock Ms. Mowz by doing the trouble labeled by "???," but she is not required to win the game. She can tell you if any collectible objects are around. When you press , she will point in the direction of the object. Use this to help zero in on it. She will not tell you how to get the object.
Moves:
- Slap (0 FP)
- Kiss Thief (2 FP)
- Tease (3 FP)
- Smooch (10 FP)