Sushie

Sushie as seen in Paper Mario
Sushie
Species	Cheep Cheep
Relatives	Sashimie (daughter)
Debut	Paper Mario

Sushie is a Cheep Cheep who was featured as a playable partner in Paper Mario. She was the seventh partner who could be recruited in the game and the first playable Cheep Cheep in the Mario series.

Background

Sushie was a Cheep Cheep who resided on Lavalava Island, where she worked as a nanny. She had her own family, including a daughter named Sashimie. Sashimie was pregnant with her own child during the events of Paper Mario, making Sushie into a "grand cheep". She easily became protective of others, especially her charges, and she could be headstrong when it came to protecting them. She was said to love romantic stories and to cry "at the drop of a fin". She seemed to be unaware of the affairs of the Mushroom Kingdom, as she had never heard of Mario before, which she chalked up to him likely being from somewhere far away.

She was featured in Chapter 5 of Paper Mario. Sushie had been assigned to watch over a group of troublemaking Yoshi children known as the Fearsome Five. When they ran off into the jungle to play hide-and-seek, Sushie attempted to pursue them so that she could bring them back to the village. But she fell into a trap laid by one of them and ended up being stuck in a tree, until she was saved by Mario. She decided to work with Mario in order to find the children. After they were all sent back to the village, Sushie found out that Mario was trying to enter the volcanic Mt. Lavalava. She immediately protested out of concern for Mario's safety, but Mario explained his quest to rescue Princess Peach. Sushie found his story to be romantic, so she decided to lend her aid to Mario for the rest of his adventure. Her skills ended up being crucial in reaching Raphael the Raven's area of the jungle and fending off the fiery foes within Mt. Lavalava.

After the princess was rescued, Sushie returned to her babysitting duties at Lavalava Island. She was seen watching over two of the Fearsome Five when Parakarry delivered an invitation to a celebration that was being thrown at Princess Peach's Castle. She and the Yoshi Leader went to attend it.

Gameplay

Sushie lets Mario ride on her back to cross water.

Outside of battle, Sushie can be used at certain docks throughout the game to carry Mario across bodies of water. While swimming, Sushie can also dive under the water to grab treasures or duck under bridges.

In battle, Sushie has the following attacks:

• Belly Flop - Sushie leaps onto an enemy, stomach first. It is similar to a jump attack with the typing of a hammer.
• Squirt - For 3 FP, Sushie will fill herself with water and spray it on an enemy. This is especially effetive against fiery enemies.
• Water Block - For 3 FP, Sushie traps Mario inside of a watery shield that raises his defense by 1 for a few turns.
• Tidal Wave - For 6 FP, Sushie will swim across the screen and hit every enemy with waves of water.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• In Super Mario-Kun, Sushie made an appearance during the arc based on Paper Mario. Her role was similar to the role that she played in the game.

Canceled Appearances

• Updated sprite data for all of the Paper Mario partners was found within the files of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. This implies that they were all intended to make some sort of return appearance, but the final game only contained cameo appearances for Parakarry and Bow. The nature of Sushie's potential appearance is unknown.

Trivia

• Sushie and Sashimi's names are respectively plays on "sushi" and "sashimi", which are two types of Japanese dishes that are made from raw fish. This naming schme would later be continued with Chief Shimi in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but it is unknown if there is any relation between them.
• Her Japanese name is "Opuku", with "O-" being an honorific prefix, while the "puku" is taken from "Pukupuku", which is the Japanese name for the Cheep Cheep.
• She can receive letters from Sashimie and Raphael over the course of Paper Mario.
• In Super Paper Mario, Sushie is seen in a group photo of the Paper Mario partners that is seen in Mario's house, and she also has a Catch Card that is found on the eightieth floor of the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials. It can be sold for 329 coins.
  • #247 "It's Sushie, the unfortunately named star of Paper Mario. Being fishy doesn't always have to be a bad thing."