Shy Guy

A Shy Guy in Mario Party 4.
Shy Guy
Origin	Subcon
Type	Humanoid
Debut	Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic

The Shy Guy is a recurring type of enemy and NPC appearing throughout the Super Mario series, most consistently within the Yoshi games. They were originally created for the game Doki Doki Panic.

Information

Shy Guys are mysterious creatures who hide themselves behind colorful robes and emotionless masks. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The common Shy Guy is short and mostly harmless, although some carry slingshots or other primarily juvenile weapons. They are often portrayed as being more mischievous than genuinely evil.

Variants

Prominent

• Beezo - Beezos are winged Shy Guys who are usually armed with spears, appearing in Super Mario Bros. 2 as well as Super Mario RPG. In the latter game, and they are also shown to specialize in gardening as well as serving Valentina. The Super NES localization of Super Mario RPG called them by the name 'Shy Away', but the Switch remake replaced that with the Beezo name.
• Boo Guy - A Shy Guy ghost that appears in Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS, Partners in Time, Yoshi's New Island and Yoshi's Wooly World. In the former games they operated a variety of traps in fortress levels, while in Partners in Time they appeared in the Toadwood Forest and attacked by rolling as well as by producing a duplicate.
• Fat Guy - From Yoshi's Island, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy and Yoshi's Island DS, as well as Paper Mario in the form of the Gourmet Guy character. As its name suggests, it is a large and fat version of the Shy Guy that can be eaten to produce giant Yoshi eggs.
• Fly Guy - The most common variation of the Shy Guy that was introduced in Yoshi's Island. It has since appeared in most of the Yoshi games, Super Mario 64, Partners in Time, Dream Team, Paper Jam and the Minion Quest mode of the Superstar Saga remake, as well as Mario Party games, Mario Power Tennis and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. They are Shy Guys with helicopteresque propellers attached to their heads, and sometimes they are portrayed as being mechanical with a wind-up device on their backs. In the Yoshi games they often hold coins or rare items and eventually fly away, while in Super Mario 64 Mario can jump on them to spin upwards in the air. In Partners in Time, they appear at Star Hill and carry time bombs for the battle, while in Dream Team they attack by dropping Goombas on one of the brothers.

Super Mario RPG

• Shy Ranger - The Shy Ranger is a very rare and powerful camouflaged Shy Guy found in the Pipe Vault during Piranha Plant battles. They most often will immediately retreat from battle, and players need to have high speed to attack them. If beaten, they give out high amounts of experience points.
• Shymore - Mechanical beings made by the Smithy Gang that are identical to red Shy Guys but are a completely different species. They bounce around on sword-like pogo sticks known as Shyhoppers. They serve under Claymorton and aid in his attack on the Mushroom Kingdom, with some of them acting as his Bodyguards during the boss battle. All Shymores share an obsession with bouncing. Machine Made versions of the Shymore Bodyguards also appear in the Weapon World, but there are none of the normal Shymore because, according to Springer's Monster List entry, the Shymore were made for mass production from the start. This enemy was called 'Shyster' in the original Super NES localization, but it was changed in the Switch version to 'Shymore', which is a play on the type of sword known as a 'claymore'.
• Shyndelier - These are Shy Guys who hold up the chandeliers in Bowser's Castle after the Smithy Gang conquers it. They cannot actually be battled, but storyline-wise, one drops Boomer to his doom upon his request, while the other takes Mario's party to the roof to face Exor. Known as 'Chandeli-Ho' (based on the Shy Guy's Japanese name) in the Super NES localization.
• Shyper - This is the strongest form of the Shymore that appears during the first phase of the final boss fight, where Smithy will meld them from ooze produced by the Smelter to assist him in battle. In addition to their bouncing abilities, they also have strong magic attacks such as Sword Rain. As they were just made, they have a monochromatic color scheme like the Machine Made enemies, and it is unknown what their final color would be.
• Sling Shy - Clad in green, they are stronger versions of the normal Shy Guy found in Nimbus Castle in service of Valentina. They use slingshots in battle as their name suggests as well as Scarecrow Bell, Doom Reverb and Spore Chimes magic spells.
• Springer - A stronger green variant of the Shymore appearing in the Weapon World. Its Monster List entry says that there are apparently no Machine Made versions of them because they were designed for mass production from the start.

Paper Mario

• Anti Guy - A dark shadowy Shy Guy that is a particularly deadly and powerful enemy. One appears as an optional enemy guarding the Power Plus badge in Shy Guy's Toy Box (and can actually be bribed away without a fight using a Lemon Candy) while more appear in Bowser's Castle where Mario is forced to fight them if he answers quiz questions incorrectly.
• Groove Guy - In Paper Mario, they are Shy Guys dressed as jesters who dance in battle and appear in Shy Guy's Toybox. Their dances can summon other Shy Guys into battle or can make Mario Dizzy.
• Jungle Guy - In Paper Mario, Jungle Guys are Spear Guy-like Shy Guy tribesmen found on Lavalava Island. They use spears and dances to battle and can summon other Jungle Guys into battle with their dances. They may through their spears, in which case they lose them permanently.
• Medi Guy - In Paper Mario, they are medically oriented Shy Guys that ride small floating crafts and specialize in healing other enemies.
• Shy Squad - In Paper Mario, a Shy Squad is a crowd of normal Shy Guys that must be battled during the General Guy boss battle. A similarly named Shy Guy Squad appeared for one of Bowser's attacks in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.
• Shy Stack - In Paper Mario, this is a group of Shy Guys stacked in a totem pole that must be battled before General Guy. A less balanced version appears in Yoshi's Island DS.
• Spy Guy - In Paper Mario, they are Shy Guys wearing military-esque camouflage gear. They switch between using a slingshot or hammer every time they attack, and if Mario does not defend correctly the hammer temporarily disables one of his action commands.

Mario & Luigi

• Boom Guy - Cannon-wielding Shy Guys that appear in Partners in Time. They appear in Prince Bowser's Castle and fire Bullet Bills from shoulder-mounted cannons. After their cannon is destroyed, they will be left defenseless and either panic or whistle for a new cannon that is dropped by Fly Guys.
• Chuck Guy - Tribal Shy Guys that appear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and are found in the Chucklehuck Woods as well as the Guffawha Ruins (where they will attempt to capture Peach). They are similar to the Spear Guys and similarly use primarily spears in battle.
• Dark Fawful Guy - In Bowser's Inside Story, they are are dark Fly Guy versions of the Fawful Guy appearing in some areas of Peach's Castle. Two will randomly appear during battle carrying a Dark Fawful Bomb and can be sucked up by Bowser's vacuum (causing the bomb to fall on the other enemies) at which point Mario and Luigi can fight them. Otherwise they eventually drop the bomb on Bowser.
• Elite Boom Guy - In Partners in Time, they are stronger versions of the Boom Guys garbed in blue that are found in the Gritzy Caves.
• Fawful Guy - In Bowser's Inside Story, Fawful Guys are twisted versions of the Shy Guys that have Fawful faces. Only Mario and Luigi fight them, as they are instantly destroyed by Bowser's size.
• Ghoul Guy - In Partners in Time, they are stronger and faster versions of the Shy Guys found in the Shroob Castle. In addition to the Boo Guy's moves, Ghoul Guys can fuse their essences with other enemies that enhance the enemies' stats after the Ghoul Guy itself is defeated.
• Leaf Guy - In Bowser's Inside Story, they appear during the Wiggler boss fight. They are green Fly Guys with leafy propellers. Some appear holding a Giant Turnip in the top screen, and if Bowser inhales them they will drop the Turnip on Wiggler, and Mario and Luigi could then battle the Leaf Guys.
• Shy Guy R/Fly Guy R - These names are simply designated for stronger versions of the Shy Guy and Fly Guy, respectively, in Dream Team.
• Walker Guy - Appearing at Neo Bowser Castle in Dream Team, they are simply Shy Guys who act as dog walkers for Chain Chomps. They attempt to use the Chain Chomps to attack Mario and Luigi, but it was very easy for the Walker Guys themselves to get hurt (both accidentally and intentionally) by the Chomps.

Other

• Jetpack Guy - in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, they are black Shy Guys with jetpacks that hover through the air. The Mini-Mario toys can step on them to cross gaps.
• Limbo Guy - A Spear Guy-like type of Shy Guy that appears in one level of Yoshi's Story, where they hold up limbo sticks as obstacles throughout the stage.
• Mace Guy - From Yoshi's Island and Yoshi-Topsy Turvy. These uncommon enemies are Shy Guys that swing maces around, although the mace can be eaten by Yoshi.
• Mufti Guy - From Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island DS. These Shy Guys were flowers over their heads and hide in flowery areas as camouflage. One named Petal Guy also appears in Mario Party Advance.
• Pirate Guy - From Yoshi's Story and Yoshi's Island DS (as well as cameos in various Mario Party games). They are simply Shy Guys dressed as pirates that make rare appearances, often in command of a ship of some sort.
• Propeller Shy Guy - In Yoshi's Story, these are Shy Guys that fly around with wooden propellers attached to their back and dangle fruit that the Yoshis can swipe.
• Pyro Guy - From Yoshi's Island, Tetris Attack, Paper Mario and Yoshi's New Island. These are Shy Guys set aflame so that only their faces and feet can be seen in the flames, and move faster due to being on fire. In Yoshi's Island they can be swallowed to give Yoshi three shots of fire, while in Paper Mario they appear in Shy Guy's Toybox and were vulnerable to both ice and exploding attacks.
• Sky Guy - From Super Mario World 2 and Paper Mario. They are Shy Guys that float using balloons. In the former they dropped crates and bombs on Yoshi from above, while in the latter game they attacked with slingshots and could be grounded by destroying the balloons.
• Stretch Guy - In Yoshi's Island 2, these strange Shy Guys are literally stretched out and thus appear taller. Jumping on one pushes its body down and also causes it to spit out a stream of watermelon seeds. They only appear in two levels.
• White Shy Guy - In Yoshi's Story, the White Shy Guy is a friendly Shy Guy that can be found in some levels. After being found, the White Shy Guy can be used in between levels to retrieve one lost Yoshi, essentially acting as an extra life).

Appearances

The Shy Guys were originally one of the four "shy" type enemies introduced in Doki Doki Panic/Super Mario Bros. 2, in which they were part of Wart's army based in Sub-Con. The instruction manual said that the Shy Guys were part of a club called the 8-bits, although this club has not been elaborated upon or mentioned since. They did not start making regular appearances in Mario games until they were reintroduced several years later in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

In Yoshi's Island, Shy Guys served as the basic grunt of Baby Bowser's army during his battle with the Yoshis, and it was this game that introduced a great variety of Shy Guy variants. Shy Guys would continue this role as the basic grunt in the follow-up games Tetris Attack, Yoshi's Story, Yoshi Touch & Go, Yoshi Topsy-Turvy, Yoshi's Island DS, Yoshi's New Island and Yoshi's Woolly World. Baby Bowser also primarily had Shy Guys in his army during the past storyline of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time in a nod to their prominence in these games.

Within the Mario games, in Super Mario RPG, normal Shy Guys only appeared as enemies at locations like Rose Way, but a number of Shy Guy variants appeared throughout the game as minions of Smithy. Only Fly Guys appeared in Super Mario 64, but a greater variety appeared in Paper Mario with the fourth chapter revolving around them. They were shown to be living within an enchanted toybox and were commanded by the boss character General Guy, stealing from the citizens of Toad Town to wreak havoc. In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door the Shy Guys appeared as the primary members of the audience during battles, and similarly they appeared in Super Paper Mario after being impressed by Stylish moves.

Ghosts of Shy Guys notably appeared in Luigi's Mansion, where they wielded spears and could only be sucked up after Luigi pulled their masks off with the Poltergust 3000. This was the only time that a Shy Guy could be seen unmasked, but in this case only a pair of glowing eyes could be seen from beneath the hood. In Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a Shy Guy news reporter appeared at the beginning, and toy versions of Shy Guys appeared as enemies throughout the series. Skating Shy Guys also appeared as enemies in the Frosty Frontier and Shifty Sands areas of Mario Pinball Land.

Within the Mario & Luigi games, they mostly appeared in different variations for most of the games. In Bowser's Inside Story, Bowser could free a group of Shy Guys to act as one of his special attacks, called Shy Guy Squad. In Dream Team, they tried attacking from aerial ships known as Shy Guy Airtubs, and the Shy Guys themselves could only be battled after the ship was shot down. Several Fly Guy thieves (the R variant) also stole the Driftwood Jelly Sheets within the game, and they had to be tracked down and defeated by the brothers. In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, they appeared as both normal and Paper versions, and the Paper Shy Guys would sometimes be tossed at the brothers as an attack.

Shy Guys appeared as enemies in Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash. Their appearance in Color Splash was more prominent, as Slurp Guys were responsible for draining most of Prism Island's colors. That game also notably featured a Shy Guy who could be spoken to on the Sunset Express. That Shy Guy would treat Mario to a long, existential talk about the depressing role of minions in video games. Mario could later unknowingly defeat that Shy Guy in a different area, at which point the Shy Guy would express gratitude that if anyone had to defeat it, at least it was Mario.

In Super Mario Maker, they only appeared as potential Mystery Mushroom costumes that Mario could assume the form of after being unlocked through completion of a 100-Mario Challenge. Shy Guys also made an appearance as common enemies in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

Sports, Racing and Party Spin-Offs

Shy Guys have appeared in various sports-related spin-offs, as either playable characters, background cameos or obstacles in courses.

• Kart Racing: A randomly-colored Shy Guy was playable in Mario Kart DS, where it was automatically assigned to the challenger in DS Download Play mode. The Shy Guy later appeared as a normal playable character in Mario Kart 7 (where it was also the default racer for Download Play users), Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Kart Tour (unlockable through the game's gacha feature or in-game shop). In Tour, various Shy Guy variants were added over time, most of which were only available during certain tours: Pastry Chef (November 2019), Black (October 2019), Pink (January 2020), Gold (October 2020), Green (April 2021), Ninja (April 2021), Light-blue (February 2022) and Pink Ninja (March 2022).
• Golf: Shy Guy appeared as a playable character in Mario Golf: Super Rush after being added to the game through a free update in November 2021. Shy Guys had only made cameo appearances in past Mario Golf games.
• Tennis: A Shy Guy appeared as a playable character in Mario Tennis 64 (unlocked by beating the Star Cup in Single Matches), Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis Aces (initially available by competing in an online doubles tournament in December 2018 and added to the game regularly through a free update in January 2019). In Power Tennis, a Fly Guy could also be unlocked as a playable character. Shy Guys also appeared as lines judges for the Wario Dunes court in Mario Tennis Open, and as audience members, stage hazards and an opponent for Adventure Mode in Aces.
• Baseball: Shy Guys of all colors appeared as playable team members in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Super Sluggers, where they were part of Yoshi's team.
• Soccer: Shy Guys appeared as sidekick characters in Mario Strikers Charged. A Shy Guy also appeared as a playable captain Mario Strikers: Battle League after being added to the game through a free update in July 2022.
• Other Sports: Fly Guy appears as a playable character in Mario Hoops 3-on-3. Shy Guys also acted as goalkeepers for hockey games in Mario Sports Mix, where they could not be controlled beyond being able to command them to lunge.
• The Olympics: Shy Guys make minor appearances in most of the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games subseries, typically as audience members. They did, however, act as goalies for Ice Hockey and Fever Hockey in the DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. In Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a Shy Guy organized ghost matches for the player.

In the Mario Party games, Shy Guys and several variant guys appear often in stages and in minigames. One Shy Guy known as the Game Guy has his own space in Mario Party 3 and treats those who land on it to chance games. In Mario Party 4, a nameless Shy Guy wearing a fedora is one of the four hosts bringing the player a birthday present and hosts the Shy Guy's Jam board. There is also another Shy Guy-themed board called Shy Guy's Shuffle City in Mario Party: Island Tour. A Shy Guy also appears as a playable character in Mario Party 9 (unlocked by completing Solo Mode) and Super Mario Party.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Shy Guys appear as enemies in dungeon areas of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, where they are known as Mask-Mimics in the American version. They mimic Link's movements and can only be hurt from behind due to their protective masks, most easily through use of a spin attack. In the Switch remake, a figurine of a Shy Guy can be won from the Trendy Game and put on display in Papahl's house. Both descriptions of the figurine focus on the mystery of its hidden face and how nothing can be seen behind the mask's eyeholes.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Propeller Shy Guys appear in the Yoshi's Story level that was first used in Super Smash Bros. Melee. They often carried food and items, and they could be attacked. Shy Guys also appear in the Mario Circuit level introduced in Brawl, where they ride karts as an obstacle in the stage, and they play similar roles in kart-racing stages in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. In the 3DS game, normal Shy Guys also appear as enemies in Smash Run with four different variations that each bear a different stat boost. Shy Guy Masks are also available as gear for Mii Fighters in the 3DS/Wii U game and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
  • Trophies of the Shy Guy can be obtained in both of the first two games, and in Brawl stickers of a Shy Guy and a Propeller Shy Guy from Yoshi's Story, a Fly Guy from Mario Power Tennis and a Mace Guy from Yoshi Topsy-Turvy can be obtained. In the 3DS Smash, there are trophies for the four different types of Shy Guys found in Smash Run: the normal variety (Red), Blue Shy Guy, Yellow Shy Guy and Green Shy Guy, and in addition to that there is a trophy featuring a Shy Guy with a Standard Kart from Mario Kart 7.
  • In Ultimate, a Shy Guy is also represented as a Primary Spirit which has the added effect of raising the strength of fist attacks. When fought in a Spirit battle, the Shy Guy's Spirit will possess a group of Mii Fighters (one of each type) that all wear Shy Guy Masks.
• A Shy Guy appears as an opponent in Yakuman DS.
• With the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack available for Nintendo releases of Minecraft, Shy Guys are available as a playable skin, and Endermen are replaced by Stilt Guys.
• In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Shy Guys themselves do not appear, but their masks are seen adorning several areas of the Spooky Trails.

Other Media

• Shy Guys made regular appearances as minions of King Koopa in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

Trivia

• The Shy Guy's Japanese name is "Hei-Ho". This is particularly notable as they are often shown communicating by speaking this name during the games.
• It has never been explicitly shown what Shy Guys look like beneath their masks. One scene in Mario Power Tennis does show Luigi's reaction to seeing one after it dropped its mask, and his expression implies that their faces are unsettling in some way.
• In Color Splash, Shy Guys refer to Mario as a "fleshface". This seems to imply that their own faces are of a different nature then those made of flesh, or that they consider their masks to be their true faces.
• Areas named after the Shy Guys include the Shy Guy Desert in Mario Golf 64 and the Shy Guy Beach in Mario Kart: Super Circuit.