All Partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Ranked From Worst to Best

One of the most defining features of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is its colorful cast of characters that you meet along the way that can join your party. So, in celebration of the remaster’s release, let’s rank all of the game’s partners from worst to best.

All Partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Ranked From Worst to Best

Throughout Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, you’ll have the opportunity to have seven different partners join your party, each with their own unique abilities and stats. Some partners are suitable for certain situations over others, and in the heat of combat, you’ll probably want to know who you can rely on when the going gets tough. So, here’s our ranking of every partner in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

7) Ms. Mowz

For as cool as it is to have a thief join your party, Ms. Mowz is realistically the one character you’ll use the least. Not only is she completely missable due to her being locked behind a side quest, but once you unlock her, she’s nothing to write home about. While her basic attack, Love Slap, can pierce through enemy defenses, her abilities are primarily for support. She can steal an enemy’s badge or item, which is highly situational, make enemies dizzy, and heal Mario at the cost of a staggering 10 FP, but everything that Ms. Mowz can do is more or less what certain items can already do but better. The mystique surrounding her at the beginning of the game is cool, but everything interesting about her fades away the second she joins your party.

6) Flurrie

I don’t dislike Flurrie by any means, but when I think of her practicality in combat, I usually draw a blank. Her main attack is Body Slam, which can do a decent amount of damage, and Gale Force is great for eliminating weak enemies, but the more you level her up, the less viable she becomes. Lip Lock is an okay move that heals Flurrie and damages enemies simultaneously, but it won’t heal for much. Meanwhile, Dodgy Fog will make enemies more likely to miss Mario, but it doesn’t make Mario invulnerable. If I need someone to soak up damage, Flurrie does have a purpose, but other characters just have more versatility.

5) Yoshi

Yoshi is a partner that I love and hate. He’s great at dealing a lot of damage to enemies in rapid succession, with his base move, Ground Pound, and his strongest move, Stampede, hitting enemies for multiple attacks. The problem is that each hit will only do one damage, and it stacks, so if Yoshi is attacking an enemy with a single point of defense, he’s almost completely useless unless his attack is boosted. Mini-egg is unremarkable as well, given how it shrinks enemies, and that status effect isn’t a guarantee, but Gulp does help overcome some of his flaws as it can deal a hefty amount of damage that bypasses all enemy defenses. It’s a move that can change the tide of battle, but Yoshi needs too much help to become a great partner.

4) Koops

At first, I loved Koops as a partner. Despite having a low amount of health, Koops is the only party member who has a defense point, which somewhat balances it out. His attacks are simple to use, with his basic attack, Shell Toss, smacking an enemy on the ground, and Power Shell and Shell Slam being upgraded versions of it that can hit all enemies and bypass defense in the case of Shell Slam. Shell Shield is a solid defensive move as well, but as I got later into the game, I just found myself using him less and less. Koops is a perfectly fine partner with no notable flaws, but outside of bypassing enemy defenses with Shell Slam, he rarely joins combat.

Related: How to Get to Twilight Town in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

3) Bobbery

As the last mandatory partner you unlock in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Bobbery is pretty tough. His attacks hit hard and can do a ton of damage, like Bomb and Bob-ombast. Bobbery’s whole deal is to deal a lot of damage and soak it up, too, sporting a solid 40 HP when fully leveled up. As a purely offensive character, he’s great. However, his two other moves, Bomb Squad and Hold Fast, are very situational and feel much more imprecise. As long as you want a partner who can lay on the damage and take it, too, Bobbery is your boy.

2) Goombella

As far as support partners go, Goombella is the best. With her Tattle ability, she’s able to tell you an enemy’s stats, and her Rally Wink gives Mario another move for a surprisingly low amount of FP. Her attacks are nothing to sneeze at, too, with her Headbonk being an attack that hits twice and her Multibonk becoming absolutely broken when paired with the Charge P Badge. She’s just an all-around solid choice to have for nearly every situation, though her inability to attack spiked enemies does drop her down ever so slightly.

1) Vivian

The former Shadow Siren is a great asset to your party for a number of reasons. First off, Veil can help you avoid powerful enemy attacks, which becomes an essential ability in the late game. Her fire-based attacks also have the chance to deal additional damage to enemies after they land, like the single-attack Shade Fist or the multi-enemy hitting Fiery Jinx. Both Veil and Fiery Jinx are easy moves to pull off, and they cost very little FP, making Vivian great in several situations. Her only move that’s somewhat disappointing is Infatuate, which confuses all enemies, but her party-wide attacks and fire status effect make her a great offensive party member and our choice for the best partner in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

And those are all partners in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, ranked from worst to best.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is available now.