Bootler
| Bootler | |
|---|---|
 Sprite from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door | |
| Species | Boo |
| First appearance | Paper Mario (2000) |
| Latest appearance | Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024) |
- “Lady Bow, your beauty is like the song of a nightingale in the evening. Indeed... I feel you've grown into a fine young girl who'd make your ancestors proud!”
- —Bootler, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bootler is a Boo butler who works for Lady Bow in Boo's Mansion during the events of Paper Mario. He also acts as her personal adviser. Bootler is very over-protective of Lady Bow, and initially opposes her joining Mario on his quest to defeat Tubba Blubba (and even then wishes to go along with her, though she does not acquiesce). This protective behavior towards his mistress makes him similar to Toadsworth.
His name is a pun on "Boo" and "butler". Goombario states that "his title would be 'butler'" upon tattling Bootler, indicating that the portmanteau in his name may have simply been caused by the unique Boo speech patterns seen exclusively in Paper Mario (which do indeed involve replacing words and parts of words with "Boo"). He, the Boo portraits found on the second floor of Boo's Mansion, and later Mario and Luigi's Boo forms all have facial hair.
Bootler seems to have a certain connection with Lady Bow's ancestors. He constantly reminds her that the ancestors would be displeased if she was harmed in any way. According to a seemingly knowledgeable Toad found near Toad Town's port, Bootler was once in love with Lady Bow's grandmother, who was apparently Boo's Mansion's mistress during Bow's early childhood. This Toad also reveals that, in his youth, Bootler traveled the globe with Goompa and Koopa Koot.
In Paper Mario, Bootler scares Fice T. and Mario at the entrance of Forever Forest. When he frightens people, he grows to many times his normal size and screams at the victim. Bootler seems to enjoy scaring Fice T., as implied in the letter he sent to him. Bootler has also written Lady Bow a letter expressing his worry about her safety, which the player can read at the Toad Town Post Office.
After Mario defeats the Shadow Queen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Lady Bow and Bootler go to Poshley Heights for a nice vacation, where Mario can talk to them. In the remake, wanted posters of a cowboy Boo resembling Bootler are seen scattered across the outside of the east side of Riverside Station.
Bootler also makes a cameo appearance in Super Paper Mario, as a poster of Francis's collection.
Profiles
Paper Mario
- Tattle: "He's a Boo called Bootler. He's the manager of the mansion and the personal assistant of Lady Bow. Ordinarily his title would be "butler." Being a butler is hard work. Hmm... Maybe I'm just imagining this, but doesn't it look like he's enjoying himself? Maybe he likes hard work??"
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
- Tattle: "That's Bootler. He's Bow's butler... but what does a butler do, exactly? It looks like he only listens to Bow, so I guess he wouldn't answer me if I asked..."
Gallery
Lady Bow and Bootler in Paper Mario
Lady Bow and Bootler in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Bootler in the Nintendo Switch remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year door
Concept art from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo Switch, featuring the wanted poster Boo character who bears a resemblance to Bootler
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | セバスチャン[?] Sebasuchan |
Sebastian; a common name used for butler characters in Japanese media | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 嘘嘘管家[?] Xūxū Guǎnjiā |
Boo Butler | Paper Mario |
| 赛巴斯钦[?] Sàibāsīqīn |
Sebastian | The Thousand-Year Door remake | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 賽巴斯欽[?] Sàibāsīqīn |
Sebastian | |
| French | Majordôme[?] | Pun on majordome ("butler") and fantôme ("ghost") | |
| German | Buhutler[?] | Pun on "butler" and Buu Huu ("Boo") | |
| Italian | Boolindo[?] | From "Boo" and lindo ("clean") | |
| Korean | 세바스찬[?] Sebaseuchan |
Sebastian | |
| Spanish | Ambrosio[?] | From "ἀμβρόσιος" (ámbrósios, Greek adjective for "immortal") |
Trivia
- Bootler is the only minor character in the Paper Mario series to make a visual appearance in three of six games, aside from Whacka, who is likely three different Whackas in all his appearances, as there is more than one Whacka.
