Popple

Popple in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Popple
Species	Bean
Debut	Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Popple the Shadow Thief is a bumbling burglar who is a self-proclaimed master thief. He likes to recruit sidekicks, whom he often refers to as Rookies. He initially appeared as a recurring enemy in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and made a return appearance in Dream Team.

Background

Popple was a persistent but ultimately ineffectual thief who called himself "the shadow thief" and was based in the Beanbean Kingdom. He sought to make himself rich through thievery and considered himself to be a much more successful thief than he actually was. Popple was easily enraged by his failures.

Superstar Saga

During the events of Superstar Saga, he took in an amnesiac Bowser as his masked sidekick and nicknamed him "Rookie". The pair wre first seen at the Chateau de Chucklehuck, where they attempted to steal the Chuckola Reserve. There they met Mario and Luigi, and when Popple assumed that they were rival thieves, he and his Rookie engaged them in a battle. The two thieved ended up fleeing after being defeated and then waited within the Chucklehuck Woods until Mario and Luigi open the path to the Chuckola Reserve. Popple and Rookie managed to arrive at the Chuckola Reserve first, only to be trapped in barrels and then sent flying away by the Chuckolator.

They next showed up in the basement of the Woohooniversity, where the Beanstar fell to them after Cackletta's defeat. However, Mario and Luigi soon arrived and defeated them again. At that point, a Peach robot speaking in Birdo's voice irritated the Beanstar to the point where it flew off in a rage with the Mario Brothers, Popple and Rookie all holding on, until the star split into pieces. This split the four up, and Popple was never reunited with his original Rookie due to Bowser regaining his memories and then being possessed by Cackletta. Popple wound up back in the Chucklehuck Woods, where he struggled to retrieve a Beanstar piece from a statue. Mario and Luigi arrived just as he claimed it. Without a Rookie to depend on, he was easily defeated and forced to surrender the Beanstar piece.

Popple was later able to recruit a second Rookie in the form of Birdo, who formed a romantic attraction to Popple, although Popple seemed to mostly be frustrated by this. They were based in the Teehee Valley, where they discovered an unconscious Luigi and captured him in order to lure Mario into a battle with them, believing that his new rookie made him unstoppable. However, after they were defeated again, he blamed the loss on Birdo and gratuitously insulted her abilities before firing her. This caused Birdo to turn on Popple and send him flying with a smack from her tail. Near the end of the game, it is shown that this apparently caused Popple to lose his memory, after which he was captured by authorities and forced to work community service scrubbing mushrooms in Little Fungitown, under the supervision of a Toad who ironically referred to Popple as a "rookie".

Dream Team

Popple made a return appearance in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. It seems that his memories returned for the most part. He recalled how he was constantly defeated back at the Beanbean Kingdom by two "fat-stached palookas", and once he re-met the Mario Brothers, he thought that they reminded him of those past foes, without realizing that they actually were the same two people.

In any case, Popple once more acted as a thief, referring to himself as the Shadow Thief and the Baron of Burgle. He traveled to Pi'lllo Island in hopes of making a fresh start following his Beanbean defeats and relentlessly sought out treasure. He first ran into the brothers while fleeing from a house at Wakeport, He was disappointed that he was not able to find any treasure there and soon fled the area. Popple turned up again at Driftwood Shore, where he tagged along with a tour group, but he ultimately ditched it when he realized that there was no treasure to be found there, either. Next, he set his eyes on the mountain hidden atop Mt. Pajamaja. Being inexperienced with mountain climbing, he tried to join the Treasure Tour run by the Massif Bros., but they immediately rejected him because they claimed to have no room on their tour. Popple decided to return to Wakeport and have his revenge by finding the treasure that was hidden in that one house.

Finally, he made his way back to Wakeport, having discovered a secret entrance to the house he had broken into earlier, which he believed would lead him to the treasure. The only apparent obstacle that he found in his way was a Wiggler, whom he assumed was a security guard, though in reality the Wiggler was a tourist who was only there to establish a flower garden. Encountering the brothers again, Popple assumed them to be fellow thieves, attempted to recruit them as his new rookies and then provoked the Wiggler into fighting them despite Mario and Luigi's protests. During the fight against Wiggler, Popple did nothing but agitate the Wiggler further, and the brothers could attack him to prevent him from doing so. After the Wiggler was defeated, Popple turned on the brothers and attempted to fight them in order to claim the treasure for himself, only to be beaten again. After the battle, Popple finally became aware of his misunderstanding and yelled at the Wiggler about it. He insulted the flower garden, which enraged the Wiggler again and caused him to chase Popple away.

Trivia

• He is referenced in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door in a rare continuity callback when the player controls Bowser in his attempt to steal the Garnet Star from the Poshley Sanctum; when Pennington asks Bowser who he is, one of the options is "The Shadow Thief", and when chosen Bowser will say a line similar to one of Popple's from the game (likely taken from his memories of his time as Popple's Rookie).