Antasma

Antasma
Species	Bat
First appearance	Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)
Latest appearance	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (spirit cameo) (2018)

“SCREEEK! I vanted to steal Peach's power...But I changed my mind! You are much stronger...and evil! SCREEEONK! Vork vith me! SCREEEP!”

—Antasma, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Antasma is an evil bat king and one of the two main antagonists in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, along with Bowser. His name likely derives from "fantasma," the word for "ghost" in various Romance languages, and the prefix "anti-."

History

Background

Antasma having seized the Dark Stone.

As told by a Master Pi'illo in west Somnom Woods, at one point, many years ago, Antasma was a normal bat living on Pi'illo Island. However, he once fed on the nightmares of a Pi'illo, and continued to feed on nightmares afterward, slowly turning him into his current self.

Setting his eyes on the Dark Stone, Antasma stole it for himself. The Pi'illos, along with the Zeekeeper, fought Antasma to stop his wishes from coming true and managed to imprison him into the Dream World; however, just before his seal was complete, Antasma shattered the Dark Stone, causing the chunks to rain down all over the island. The shards of the Dark Stone turned all the Pi'illo they touched into stone, causing the demise of the Pi'illo civilization and triggering most subsequent events in the game.

Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Mario preparing to fight Antasma.

Antasma (referred to as ???? during the first battle) first appears on the blimp ride to Pi'illo Island during a nightmare dreamt by Luigi. He initially appears as his pillow form, and after swatting almost everyone off the blimp, transforms into his humanoid form and attacks Mario. His only attack is to split into multiple bats and charge at Mario, who must jump over the ones that align with him. After a brief battle, Antasma is defeated, but pierces through the bottom of the blimp as he floats away, causing it to plummet towards the island, at which point Luigi's dream ends.

Peach being abducted by Antasma.

Antasma is not seen again until Prince Dreambert's pillow is found and Luigi sleeps on it, opening a portal to the Dream World. From there, Antasma calls out to Princess Peach, and proceeds to immobilize and suck her in when she approaches the portal. Mario gives chase into Dreamy Pi'illo Castle, but Antasma distracts him with a dream counterpart of him he creates on the spot, and opens up a hole to Dream's Deep after Mario defeats his counterpart, which he promptly departs to and seals up behind him. Despite this, Mario manages to save Prince Dreambert whose Nightmare Chunk is found later on in the Dream World, who explains to Mario what had transpired the last time Antasma had tried to conquer the world, and Mario suspects that Antasma was Peach's kidnapper.

With the help of Eldream and his pet, Mario manages to reach Dream's Deep, and it doesn't take long for Mario, Dreamy Luigi, and Prince Dreambert to reach Antasma; before he can react, however, Bowser appears and gives him a solid punch that knocks him away briefly. Antasma retaliates by leeching Bowser's face and screeching loudly, flooring everyone except Bowser, Dreambert, and himself, and then speaks for the first time in the game. He reveals that he had kidnapped Peach to exploit her power and escape the Dream World so he could conquer the Real World, but that the appearance of Bowser - who, unlike Peach, is both strong and evil - caused him to change his plans, and he suggests that they work together. Bowser initially disagrees to this and insults Antasma, but Antasma ultimately convinces Bowser to form an alliance on the basis of giving him greater powers. Antasma then powers up Bowser, and together they manage to defeat Mario and Luigi before leaving the Dream World.

After defeating the Mario Bros., Antasma and Bowser head for Dozing Sands to acquire the Dream Stone. The Bros. attempt to stop them, but arrive too late, and the villains get the stone and take it to Mount Pajamaja. The brothers sign up for a tour to the mountain's summit and in the end find Antasma - now accompanied not only by Bowser, but also by Kamek and the Elite Trio - at its peak. To channel the Dream Stone's power, Private Goomp turns on a set of speakers that begin to play the Dreambeats, which promptly puts everyone on the island to sleep except for Antasma, Starlow, Prince Dreambert (all three seemingly immune to the noise), Bowser (due to covering his ears) and Mario (who has to actively resist the lullaby). Luigi, who did not manage to resist the noise, falls asleep and with Mario's assistance rolls to a nearby Dreampoint, which Mario enters in order to escape the noise.

After the Dreambeats subside, the Bros. exit the Dream World to immediately encounter Antasma and Bowser by the Dreampoint, who gloat over their now usable Dream Stone. Upon the realization Peach was in danger, the Bros. hurry to Pi'illo Castle in order to protect Peach, who would surely be Bowser's first target. Back at Mount Pajamaja's summit, Antasma and his new allies begin discussing what to wish on the Dream Stone to conquer the world with. Antasma suggests that they wish for an impenetrable castle; when this is quickly approved of by everyone else, Antasma wishes for this, which leads to the instantaneous creation of Neo Bowser Castle. Antasma then takes the castle for a 'test-drive', blowing up several islands near Pi'illo Island with a large laser cannon situated on the bottom of the castle, sending the inhabitants of Pi'illo Island into a panic.

Although he is mentioned repeatedly after the creation of Neo Bowser Castle, Antasma only reappears again once the Bros. invade the castle. He first appears shortly after Kamek scrambles the castle's doors, ripping open a portal to the Dream World to allow Kamek to escape from Mario and Luigi. After Kamek is defeated the first time, Antasma convinces Bowser to fall asleep on him to use his powerful dreams to power the castle. When the Bros. finally reach the duo, Bowser's dreams are providing such great power that Bowser himself is invulnerable to real world attacks, and the Bros. are forced to enter Bowser's dream to wake him up and weaken Antasma.

After Bowser is defeated in the Dream World, Bowser is awoken and Antasma carries him to the next floor. Upon the Bros. arrival, Antasma prepares to fight them alongside Bowser, but at this point, Bowser throws Antasma to the ground and betrays him, revealing that he had been using Antasma all along. Declaring the castle and the Dream Stone to be solely his, Bowser warps to the top floor using the Dream Stone he claimed, leaving Antasma to swear revenge for his former partner's betrayal and then challenge Dreambert to a duel. After a duel in the real world proves indecisive, Antasma rips open another portal to the Dream World and flees inside while warning Dreambert that he has grown stronger. Dreambert follows and is quickly defeated. In Dreambert's stead, Mario enters Antasma's Dream World and confronts him; with the assistance of Dreamy Luigi and Dreambert, Mario eventually defeats Antasma. When Mario leaves Antasma's Dream World, Antasma follows a few seconds later, inflates like a balloon, then bursts, ending his evil schemes for good.

Antasma gives the largest amount of EXP in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, at 7500 EXP (before multipliers). This exceeds the Gold Beanie, the second largest EXP provider, by 3500 EXP, and the previous non-giant boss (Pi'illodium) by 3900 EXP. He also has many similarities with Count Dracula. Antasma speaks with a Slavic accent and can transform into a bat, and his Russian name, "Mrakula", is a pun on "Dracula".

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Antasma's cameo in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Antasma makes a cameo on one of Bowser's Battle Cards.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Antasma appears as a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a grab-type spirit. His battle is on the Peach's Castle stage in Battlefield form, as the character Robin from the Fire Emblem series. In the battle, touching the floor will make the player fall asleep, referencing the theme of sleep from Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, and the spirit will also attempt to eat any food that spawns on the stage, referencing Antasma's bat-like nature and feeding off of dreams.

General information

Physical description

Antasma seems to bear similarities in appearance to all of the previous antagonists in the Mario and Luigi series (Cackletta, Elder Princess Shroob, the Dark Star and Dark Fawful).

Antasma appears, for the most part, as a bat with a gaping mouth. At the beginning of the game, though, he appears as a purple cloud, and then a bat. Later in the game, he is shown in his true form, which consists of a torn cape, a bow tie with a spinning spiral in the center, bone-like arms and two claws. In battle, Antasma takes his bat form or a more ghostly looking version of his true form. This form is taller and skinnier and reveals his arms.

In Pillow form, Antasma appears as a purple Pillow with his cape spikes and eyes.

Personality and speech

Antasma's speech is based on old Dracula movies with most words having "v"s in them (indicating a Slavic-Hungarian accent) and screaming tics which come from his bat side. In the Japanese version, his speech is written completely in katakana. He makes careful decisions, since after his imprisonment, such as choosing whose power he needs to help realize his dreams but can be jumped on easily when in a false sense of security, such as Bowser attacking him in Dream's Deep and betraying him later on. He has a temper and strong hatred for the Pi'illos, especially Prince Dreambert. Others show fear towards him, except for the Zeekeeper, who sees him as just a pest.

He appears to be generous, allowing Bowser to make the first wish on the Dream Stone, and saying he could have the world when Bowser states that he wants to be the one to rule, but whether this was genuine or to try and manipulate Bowser is debated by fans, as is whether or not Bowser was correct in assuming Antasma was going to betray him.

Antasma seems to like working with others who are similar to him, as he abandoned his original plan of stealing Princess Peach's power in favor of teaming up with Bowser, noting both that the Koopa King seemed stronger, and that he was evil. He also chose to team up with Bowser rather than trying to steal Bowser's power.

Abilities

Artwork of Antasma in his bat form.

Antasma has many abilities inside and outside of battle, being able to transform into 3 different forms throughout the game.

In his bat form, Antasma is able to screech ultrasonic waves that will stun a foe or power up an ally. He is also able to carry great weights such as Bowser and fly long distances. This ability is very similar to Cackletta's bat transform ability.

In his true form, Antasma is able to hover and teleport from locations. He is also able to grow vines which he spreads through Neo Bowser Castle to supply power to it from Bowser's dreams. By the end of the game, a wish to the Dream Stone gave Antasma the ability to open portals to the Dream World at will, allowing him to access his stronger battle form.

Antasma first appears in his battle form at the beginning of the game on the blimp, and engages in a tutorial battle with Mario. Antasma appears in his battle form for the final time after Mario enters his Dream Portal, directly transforming from his true form into his battle form. This form of Antasma is far more powerful than his prior forms.

Battle

Antasma is fought 3 times in the game, 4 if counting the battle with Dreamy Mario. In the first tutorial fight on the blimp, Antasma's only attack is to split up into several bats, which will all rush at Mario from the right side of the screen. Mario must jump over any of the bats that are directly aimed at him. The battle ends after 2 turns, and there are no damage values in this fight.

In Dreamy Mario's boss fight, Antasma appears as a dark miasma cloud carrying Princess Peach in the background. He is not a direct target for this battle, but he does aid Dreamy Mario in a few attacks, such as an attack that makes him spit out fireballs, mushrooms, and coins. When Dreamy Mario has taken enough damage, Antasma can spew clouds of gas that make it harder for Mario to avoid Dreamy Mario's invincibility attack.

Antasma is fought again in Bowser's boss fight in Dream's Deep, this time in his bat form. At the start of the battle, Antasma merges with Bowser in the same way Dreamy Luigi merges with Mario. After performing one of his fire-spewing attacks, Bowser will cough up a cloud of Antasma clones that will surround Bowser. All of the bats will fly to the right side of the screen and then start flying towards the left side, usually attempting to ram Mario; Mario must counter these bats with a hammer. The remaining bats will return to Bowser, and any damage Mario took from the attack will be healed to Bowser.

Final Battle

The final fight with Antasma is fought in the Dream World, at the top of Neo Bowser Castle, and Antasma will transform to his battle form seen at the start of the game. Antasma's turns usually start with him creating a ring of Antasmunchies around him. At the beginning of most turns, after creating the Antasmunchies, Antasma will then proceed to eat two to three Antasmuchies before attacking: each Antasmunchie gives him an increase in attack power. Prince Dreambert will be able to heal Mario by 30HP at the start of Mario's attack turn(s).

Antasma has various attacks he can use with and without Antasmunchies:

• His first attack involves him creating clones of himself, with the real Antasma displaying a large electrical orb in his hand. The Antasmas will then quickly be shuffled into a line and pull their hand out one at a time: the real Antasma will fire the orb as soon as he pulls his hand out. The orb can lower Mario's defense, but can be countered with the hammer.

• Antasma can turn into a swarm of bats, which, like in the tutorial battle, also rush Mario from the right and can be avoided by jumping at the right times. This attack is generally faster and the amount of bats has increased, and it can now cause the Trip ailment.

• Antasma can also trap Dreamy Luigi in an Antasmunchie and shuffle them around to prevent the defeat of the Antasmunchie holding him captive. This cannot be prevented, and without Dreamy Luigi, Mario cannot benefit from the stat boost or perform Luiginary Attacks. If Antasma eats the Antasmunchie containing Dreamy Luigi, his power increases tremendously, and spits Dreamy Luigi out right after his attack turn.

• Antasma's last attack is to turn the Antasmunchies into a ring of explosives. Antasma will create a ring of Antasmunchies, and then proceed to chase Mario into the foreground. Every so often Antasma will throw the bombs straight in front of him, often re-directing them with his hand. Mario must get in the middle of the ring of Antasmuchies and jump when Antasma makes them explode to avoid damage. If Mario touches an Antasmunchie, or if he is outside the ring when the shockwave is made, Mario will suffer heavy damage and go flying; otherwise Antasma will take damage from the shockwave instead. Notably, the recoil damage Antasma can take from this attack is related to Antasma's attack power, not Mario's: thus, Antasma will take more damage on hard mode than he would in normal mode due to his higher attack power.

If Mario takes damage from any of Antasma's attacks, he may get a dark cloud around him, sending him to the "nightmare area." In this area, Mario will find himself being chased by a slightly larger Antasma that shoots purple fireballs that must be jumped over. Getting hit by the fireballs will send Mario tumbling uncontrollably forward a decent distance. Portals are found throughout the nightmare; to escape the nightmare, Mario has to find the Rainbow Portal, which contains coins and a Super Mushroom; if Mario falls in a red portal, it takes him into an area with floating sawblades that must be avoided by tilting the 3DS, after which the chase will resume, with a spider web covering the portal he had fallen into. Jumping over a portal will reveal what kind of portal it is, thus making it easier to avoid the red portals and find the rainbow portal. Escaping the nightmare allows the battle to proceed as normal.

If Antasma takes a sufficient amount of damage, he may hang off the top of the screen, raising a shield around him and hibernating to recover health (200 HP per Antasma's attack turn after the turn the move is activated). While Antasma is hibernating, his Antasmunchies will transform into insect-like monsters that cannot be jumped on due to their spikes. The Antasmunchies will all try to ram Mario each turn from different directions, lowering his power if they succeed; this attack must be countered with a hammer. After all the Antasmunchies are defeated, Antasma wakes up and resumes the battle. Occasionally Antasma will flip the screen upside-down during this move, making countering the Antasmunchies more difficult.

Profiles and statistics

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

• Website Bio: This evil bat king was once trapped in the Dream World by the Pi'illo Folk but he used the last of his power to turn the Pi'illo folk into petrified pillows. Now he's back and ready to take revenge on those who sealed him away.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy
???? (Antasma)
	HP	20	Role	Boss, training	Level	1	Location(s)	Zeeppelin
	Power	15	Position	Normal	No Hitter	—
	Defense	15	World	Real	Weakness	None	Item drop	None (0%) None (0%)
	Speed	17	Experience	0 (0)	Coins	0 (0%)

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy
Antasma (1)
	HP	6	Role	Boss	Level	9	Location(s)	Dream's Deep (Area A)
	Power	59	Position	Normal	No Hitter	—
	Defense	43	World	Dream	Weakness	None	Item drop	Syrup Jar (3%) None (0%)
	Speed	1	Experience	0 (0)	Coins	0 (0%)

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team enemy
Antasma (2)
	HP	2435	Role	Boss	Level	35	Location(s)	Dreamy Neo Bowser Castle
	Power	416	Position	Normal	No Hitter	—
	Defense	284	World	Dream	Weakness	None	Item drop	None (0%) Dark Hammer (100%)
	Speed	168	Experience	7500 (9000)	Coins	900 (100%)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit

Name	Image	Series / game	Type	Class	Strength / effects	How to obtain	Spirit battle
							Opponent(s)	Battle conditions	Stage	Song
Antasma		Mario & Luigi Series	Support (1)	Advanced	Death's Scythe Equipped	Anna's Emporium; Spirit Board	Robin (♂)	Rule: Item: Food Hazard: Slumber Floor The floor is sleep-inducing The enemy becomes more powerful after eating The enemy is easily distracted by items	Peach's Castle (Battlefield)	The Grand Finale

Gallery

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  Artwork of Bowser with Antasma in his bat form close by

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  Antasma in his bat form seen on Box art

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  Japanese character bio

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  Antasma with Mario, Peach and Toadsworth

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  Antasma in the first battle

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  Antasma possessing Bowser

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  Antasma airlifting Bowser out of the Dream World

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  Antasma in the final battle

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  2014 nengajō for Nintendo Dream by developers of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Quotes

Main article: List of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team quotes#Antasma

• "I can give you power beyond your vildest dreams!"
• "SCREEEEMBERT! You! Meddling vith me again..."
• "I vish... TO CONQUER THE VORLD!"
• "SCREENK! Always, these pests vex us..."
• "SCREEYEE! I can open dream portals venever I vish now... For that is vut I vished from the Dream Stone... In the dream vorld, I vill be at full strength...I haff changed, Dreambert. You haff been varned..."

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	アックーム Akkūmu アクムコウモリ (bat form) Akumu Kōmori	Corruption of the word 「悪夢」(akumu), meaning "nightmare". It may also be a play off the word「悪魔」 (akuma, "devil" or "demon") From「悪夢」(akumu, "nightmare") and コウモリ (kōmori, "bat")
Dutch	Antasma	-
French (NOA)	Phobieux	Word play on phobie ("fear")
French (NOE)	Antasma	-
German	Antasma	-
Italian	Inkubak	From incubo ("nightmare")
Korean	아크몽 Akeumong	Corruption of 악몽 (Akmong, "nightmare"). It may also be a play on or the contraction of the word "Archdemon".
Portuguese	Conde Antasma	Count Antasma
Russian	Мракула Mrakula	From mrak ("gloom") and Dracula
Spanish (NOA)	Antasma	-
Spanish (NOE)	Conde Pesadillo	From conde ("count") and pesadilla ("nightmare")

Trivia

• Antasma bears much resemblance to Cackletta with his attacks, such as attacking with a swarm of bats, or duplicating oneself. He also joins his power with Bowser in the Bros.' fight against him much like Cackletta does for a longer period of time; however, Bowser's mind is not taken over and instead, Antasma is just simply boosting his power, in the same manner that Dreamy Luigi boosts Mario's power (with similar animations). Additionally, they both have spiked capes.
• Antasma's text box sound effects are erroneously replaced with the one used by characters such as Britta in two occasions. The first is after Mario escapes Dreamy Mount Pajamaja, and the second is when he creates a Dream Portal for Kamek.
• In the Nintendo Switch version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, the same sound effects used by Antasma from the battle in Dream's Deep are used by the Shadow of Ganon when he sends Firebats to attack Link.