Lucien

Lucien
Lucien alongside Mario's racket
First appearance	Mario Tennis Aces (2018)

Lucien is an ancient tennis racket with the power to control people. It appears as the main antagonist of Adventure Mode in Mario Tennis Aces.

History

According to Aster, many years before Mario Tennis Aces, King Bask heard of Lucien's power and took it for himself, only for it to destroy the ancient Kingdom of Bask. However, King Bask managed to strip Lucien of its power and divided the power between five Power Stones, and he hid Lucien in a secret room.

In the beginning of Adventure Mode, Wario and Waluigi, who found Lucien while digging in the Bask Ruins, give it to Mario and Peach as a "prize" for winning the championships. Despite Toad warning him, Luigi takes the racket, causing him to be possessed by Lucien just like Wario and Waluigi, forcing Mario to go and get the five Power Stones before Lucien does. Toad accompanies Mario in doing this.

Mario and Toad manage to obtain three of the Power Stones, but the possessed Wario and Waluigi take the other two. The group decide to have a tennis tournament in Marina Stadium for the Power Stones. Peach and Daisy need to defeat the possessed Wario and Waluigi, while Mario needs to defeat the possessed Luigi. After Mario and his allies win, Bowser takes Lucien and the five Power Stones for himself, and brings them to the Temple of Bask Shrine. Lucien and Bowser combine to form Bowcien, who then challenges Mario. However, Mario defeats them, breaking Lucien with a Zone Shot in the process. Lucien's remains emit powerful energy, which causes the shrine to crumble and nearly cave in on Mario, but he is teleported out safely before he can be crushed by the falling debris.

Afterwards, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, and Daisy celebrate Lucien's destruction, although Wario and Waluigi express disappointment in it happening, as they hoped to become the best tennis players with the racket. Daisy scolds Wario and Waluigi by reminding them of how all the events, including their possession, had been the result of their trying to use Lucien, as well as the fact that Lucien's powers were ultimately no match for Mario anyway.

Later, Mario and Toad go to the recently appeared Ruins of Trials, where Mario eventually completes the King's Trial (the Last Trial Boss Challenge, where Mario defeats all of the bosses, including Bowcien, in successive rematches) and obtains a non-sentient replica of Lucien as a reward. This replica can then be used when playing as Mario outside of Adventure mode.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	エスター[?] Esutā	Aster
Chinese (simplified)	圣德芬[?] Shèngdéfēn	From「圣」(shèng, "holy") and a pun on「得分」(défēn, "score")
Chinese (traditional)	聖德芬[?] Shèngdéfēn	From「聖」(shèng, "holy") and a pun on「得分」(défēn, "score")
Dutch	Lucius[?]	The Roman name "Lucius" could either derive from lux ("light" in Latin), whereby the name would be related to Lucifer, or descend from the Etruscan lucumo ("king")
French	Jeseth[?]	Pronounced like jeu, set ("game, set"); also derived from "Seth"
German	Luzius[?]	A corruption of the Dutch name
Italian	Lucigna[?]	Based on the Italian name of Candlewick (Lucignolo) from The Adventures of Pinocchio
Russian	Лукий[?] Lukiy	Lucius
Spanish	Lucius[?]	Same as Dutch

Trivia

• Terrormisu from Wario: Master of Disguise has similarities to Lucien. Like Terrormisu, Lucien was summoned by the king of an Egypt-themed kingdom, which led to the downfall of kingdom and like Lucien, his powers were sealed away inside the Wishstone.