Cortez

Cortez
Artwork from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“I'll turn your mustache into a bone-polisher, amigo!”

—Cortez, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Cortez is the holder of the fifth Crystal Star, the Sapphire Star, in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its Nintendo Switch remake. He resides on the Black Skull, a pirate-ship-like vessel, deep within Pirate's Grotto on Keelhaul Key. Cortez's name is presumably a reference to Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador most well-known for embarking upon an expedition that led to the downfall of the Aztec empire, as well as cortar, which is a Spanish word that means "to cut" (referencing Cortez's various weapons). "Cortez" itself is also a common Spanish-Portuguese surname.

Cortez speaks in a Spanish accent, which in the remake is further elaborated on where he says more words and phrases in Spanish than he did in the original game.

History

Background

According to Wonky, Cortez often raided the ancient city that predated Rogueport, but was eventually betrayed by one of his crew. He sailed away with all his treasure not long before he died. Eventually, the Skull Gem which powers his ship was stolen by Flavio's ancestor, causing him to be stuck in the Pirate's Grotto on Keelhaul Key, where his spirit guards his treasure.

According to Grifty, Cortez is the one who defeated the Stalwart Koopa and caused him to be sealed in a magic black chest. Cortez then took possession of the Sapphire Star.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Cortez tries to scare Mario and his partners away (in the same vein as Tutankoopa in the first game) when he thinks they are after his treasure; when his eerie messages fail, he drops the act in disgust and begins a battle. After his defeat, Cortez seemingly prepares to vanish, only to reveal that his state of undeath renders him effectively invincible. However, Mario is finally able to explain that he was not interested in Cortez's treasure, only in the Crystal Star. Somewhat bemused and asking why Mario "didn't just say so" in the first place, Cortez willingly hands over the artifact, offhandedly remarking that he never particularly cared for the Crystal Star anyhow.

When Four-Eyes revealed his true identity as Lord Crump, Mario and Flavio return to Cortez, in order to request the use of his ship. Cortez was not particularly interested, spouting that he did not want the Black Skull to be used as a luxury liner. He also tells them that even if he wanted to lend them his ship, the ship is useless, as it will not operate, because of the loss of its power source, the Skull Gem. Flavio then reveals he has the gem, causing Cortez to be even more furious, and not wishing to help them even further. He eventually relents after Flavio reminded him that Mario defeated him once, and hints he will have Mario fight Cortez again for the ship. He also says that if Cortez does not help, he will throw the Skull Gem into the water where Cortez will never find it. Cortez relents, and proceeds to help Mario in battle against the X-Naut attack on Keelhaul Key. From then on, Cortez stays docked at Rogueport, and would ferry Mario to Keelhaul Key and back whenever he wanted. Goombella's field tattle on Cortez is viewable after Mario returns to Rogueport from Keelhaul Key.

At the end of the game Goombella says Bobbery, Cortez, and a few others went to sail the world.

In the Nintendo Switch remake, Cortez appears in the end credits alongside the other Chapter 5 characters, where he scares Flavio off the stage. He laughs with Bobbery at Flavio’s cowardice before he leaves in a tornado, taking Bobbery with him.

Super Mario-kun

Cortez in Super Mario-kun

Cortez appears in volume 34 of Super Mario-kun, where he fights with Mario and his partners on their quest for the Crystal Stars. He is initially only able to speak in groans and exclamations. Before he deals what seems to be a finishing blow, Cortez carves a message in the stone wall behind them, thanking them for playing with him. Mario hears Cortez's voice as it is revealed that he was always lonely during his life as a pirate king, and he thanks the party before he seems to disappear as his soul is finally laid to rest. He reappears moments later as a gag. They take a commemorative photo before Cortez bids them farewell from Keelhaul Key. On the ship, Mario and the others realize in shock that many other creepy, undead spirits appear in their photo after its development.

Cortez reappears later in the same volume during a flashback when Bowser is telling the story of how he was chasing after Mario. After arriving at Keelhaul Key, Bowser makes his demands clear to Cortez, who engages Bowser in battle to protect his new friend. A punch sends Bowser flying, causing several objects stored in his shell to fall out, including a photograph of him and Mario fighting. Cortez picks up the photo, interpreting them as playing as he did with Mario earlier. He tells Bowser that Mario is headed to Poshley Sanctum. After the flashback, a panel shows Cortez apparently reading volumes of Super Mario-kun, stating that Mario and Bowser seem to be good friends.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Although Cortez does not physically appear, he is directly mentioned in Animal Crossing: New Horizons by Captain Gullivarrr, who was added in the update released on July 3, 2020. One of his possible wake up quotes is "Arrr! Have at ye, Cortez! Three swords AND a hook? Let's make this a fair duel..."

Battle

Cortez in his basic form. The Sapphire Star is visible on the right.

First form

In battle, Cortez has three forms. His first form appears as a massive skeleton with four arms and no legs, his spine emerging from a spiky pile of bones on the ground. Cortez wields a different bladed weapon in each hand - a bronze sword, a cutlass, a rapier, and a rusty hook that can cause poison. Between his ensemble of weapons, Cortez can attack either one or both heroes every turn.

Second form

Once this first form is defeated, Cortez transforms into a serpentine state, trading his arms and weapons for an enlarged rib cage concealing a green gem. This form attacks with a headbutt, and can charge before throwing a bone at either character, dealing great damage in the process. Attacking the pile of bones will cause Cortez to lower his upper half, and doing so twice will cause him to open his rib cage, exposing the green gem. This gem lacks Cortez's usual 1 defense, and additionally takes 1 more damage than usual from all attacks.

Third form

After his second form is defeated, Cortez abandons a body and returns to a simple floating head. Although he is limited to a simple bite attack, he compensates by animating his weapons from the first state, effectively giving Mario and his partner five opponents to worry about. The weapons have different properties to their attacks and are immune to frontal attacks due to their pointed tips. Using a moderately strong attack that strikes all opponents, such as a Thunder Rage item and Vivian's Fiery Jinx, can disable the weapons simultaneously. This effect is temporary, for they reanimate themselves after two turns. Flurrie's Gale Force, if successful (though it will not affect Cortez himself), can blow the weapons out of the stage permanently. If Cortez falls to 10 HP or less, he can absorb souls of the audience to restore his HP, similar to Hooktail and the Shadow Queen. The only difference is that Cortez can only absorb souls equal to half the current audience members, and the remainder will remain to support Mario; by contrast, the Shadow Queen will absorb the entire audience, and Hooktail scares away the uneaten members. With good planning, it is possible to defeat Cortez with a swift assault before he gets a chance to absorb the souls of the audience.

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

GameCube

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Cortez
	Max HP	60 (has 20 HP per round)	Attack	4	Defense	1
	Location(s)	Pirate's Grotto	Role	Boss	Level	77
	Sleep?	40%	Dizzy?	50%	Confuse?	50%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	40%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	25%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	'Stab (4; hits front character), Slash (4; hits rear character), Multi-Stab/Slash (2x4), Bone Throw (4), Headbutt (4), Charge (raises Atk. Power by 4), Bite (4), Recover (devours souls of audience)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 105	Log	A pirate spirit who stayed at Keelhaul Key to guard his treasure.
	Tattle	That's Cortez! He's the dreaded pirate spirit who haunts the island! Max HP is 20, Attack is 4, and Defense is 1. His HP may seem low, but he's a spirit, so even when his HP hits 0, he'll come back. Plus, he has tons of different attacks. He's as tough and scary as he looks. I'd say just keep damaging him, and sooner or later he'll go down for good! Let's give this tormented spirit some eternal rest!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Cortez's weapons
	Max HP	4	Attack	Hook: 2 Sabre: 2 Rapier: 3 Sword: 2	Defense	Hook: 1 Sabre: 0 Rapier: 0 Sword: 0
	Location(s)	Pirate's Grotto	Role	Support	Level	0
	Sleep?	0%	Dizzy?	95%	Confuse?	90%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	80%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	85%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	90%	KO?	0%	Moves	Sword: Slash (2x2) Hook: Poke (2; Poison) Sabre: Slash (3) Rapier: Stab (2, hits both characters, Piercing)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 105	Log	N/A
	Tattle	N/A

Nintendo Switch

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Cortez
	Max HP	60 (has 20 HP per round)	Attack	4	Defense	1
	Location(s)	Pirate's Grotto	Role	Boss	Level	77
	Sleep?	40%	Dizzy?	50%	Confuse?	50%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	40%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	25%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	'Stab (4; hits front character), Slash (4; hits rear character), Multi-Stab/Slash (2x4), Bone Throw (4), Headbutt (4), Charge (raises Atk. Power by 4), Bite (4), Recover (devours souls of audience)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	100	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 109	Log	A pirate spirit who stayed in Keelhaul Key to guard his treasure.
	Tattle	That's Cortez! He's the dreaded pirate spirit who haunts the island! Max HP is 20, Attack is 4, and Defense is 1. His HP may seem low, but he's a spirit, so even when his HP hits 0, he'll come back. Plus, he has tons of different attacks. He's as tough and scary as he looks. I'd say just keep damaging him, and sooner or later he'll go down for good! Let's give this tormented spirit some eternal rest!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Cortez's weapons
	Max HP	4	Attack	Hook: 2 Sabre: 2 Rapier: 3 Sword: 2	Defense	Hook: 1 Sabre: 0 Rapier: 0 Sword: 0
	Location(s)	Pirate's Grotto	Role	Support	Level	0
	Sleep?	0%	Dizzy?	95%	Confuse?	90%
	Tiny?	0%	Stop?	80%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	85%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	90%	KO?	0%	Moves	Sword: Slash (2x2) Hook: Poke (2; Poison) Sabre: Slash (3) Rapier: Stab (2, hits both characters, Piercing)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 109	Log	N/A
	Tattle	N/A

Field Tattle

• "That's Cortez, remember? The dread pirate ghost feared by all? Ring a bell? Boy, hard to imagine someone that scary would like us... But he's just a big sweetie! Plus, he's like our taxi service between Rogueport and Keelhaul Key! I love him!"

Gallery

• 

  First form

• 

  Second form

• 

  Third form

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コルテス[?] Korutesu	Cortez
Chinese (simplified)	科尔特斯[?] Kēěrtèsī	From the Japanese name
Chinese (traditional)	科爾特斯[?] Kēěrtèsī	From the Japanese name
Dutch	Cortenaers[?]	From Egbert Bartholomeusz Kortenaer, a Dutch admiral from the 17th century
French	Cortese[?]	Similar to the English name
German	Cortez[?]	-
Italian	Cortez[?]	-
Korean	코르테스[?] Koreuteseu	Cortez
Spanish	Cortés[?]	Same as in English and Japanese; a Spanish surname

Bone Pile

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ほねづか[?] Honezuka	Bone Pile
Chinese (simplified)	骨冢[?] Gǔzhǒng	Bone Pile
Chinese (traditional)	骨塚[?] Gǔzhǒng	Bone Pile
Dutch	Bottenstapel[?]	Bone pile
French	Tados[?]	Clipping of Tas d'os ("Pile of bones")
German	Beinhaufen[?]	Leg Pile
Italian	Elsa Vertebrale[?]	Vertebral Hilt
Korean	뼛더미[?] Ppyeotdeomi	Bone Pile
Spanish	Montón de Huesos[?]	Pile of Bones

Cortez Hook

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コルテスクロウ[?] Korutesu Kurō	Cortez Claw
Chinese (simplified)	科尔特斯钩子[?] Kēěrtèsī Gōuzi	Cortez Claw
Chinese (traditional)	科爾特斯鉤子[?] Kēěrtèsī Gōuzi	Cortez Claw
Dutch	Haak[?]	Hook
French	Crochet[?]	Hook
German	Enterhaken[?]	Grappling hook
Italian	Uncino Cortez[?]	Cortez Hook
Korean	코르테스클로[?] Koreuteseu Keullo	Cortez Claw
Spanish	Garfio de Cortés[?]	Cortez's Hook

Cortez Rapier

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コルテスレイピア[?] Korutesu Reipia	Cortez Rapier
Chinese (simplified)	科尔特斯刺剑[?] Kēěrtèsī Cìjiàn	Cortez Rapier
Chinese (traditional)	科爾特斯刺劍[?] Kēěrtèsī Cìjiàn	Cortez Rapier
Dutch	Degen[?]	Rapier
French	Rapière[?]	Rapier
German	Rapier[?]	-
Italian	Stiletto Cortez[?]	Cortez Stiletto
Korean	코르테스레이피어[?] Koreuteseu Reipieo	Cortez Rapier
Spanish	Estoque de Cortés[?]	Cortez's Rapier

Cortez Sword

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コルテスソード[?] Korutesu Sōdo	Cortez Sword
Chinese (simplified)	科尔特斯直剑[?] Kēěrtèsī Zhíjiàn	Cortez Sword
Chinese (traditional)	科爾特斯直劍[?] Kēěrtèsī Zhíjiàn	Cortez Sword
Dutch	Zwaard[?]	Sword
French	Épée[?]	Sword
German	Schwert[?]	Sword
Italian	Spada Cortez[?]	Cortez Sword
Korean	코르테스소드[?] Koreuteseu Sodeu	Cortez Sword
Spanish	Espada de Cortés[?]	Cortez's Sword

Cortez Sabre

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	コルテスサーベル[?] Korutesu Sāberu	Cortez Saber
Chinese (simplified)	科尔特斯军刀[?] Kēěrtèsī Jūndāo	Cortez Saber
Chinese (traditional)	科爾特斯軍刀[?] Kēěrtèsī Jūndāo	Cortez Saber
Dutch	Sabel[?]	Sabre
French	Sabre[?]	-
German	Säbel[?]	Sabre
Italian	Sciabola Cortez[?]	Cortez Saber
Korean	코르테스세이버[?] Koreuteseu Seibeo	Cortez Saber
Spanish	Sable de Cortés[?]	Cortez's Sabre

Trivia

• Despite having only 20 HP, Cortez's recovery move will recover up to 100 HP, depending on how many audience members are present.
• If Cortez's Rapier misses the character in front (due to a Lucky), the character in the back will automatically perform a Guard.