The Shy Guy is a recurring enemy appearing throughout the Super Mario series (particularly the Yoshi games), despite originally hailing from the game Doki Doki Panic.

Information

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

Shy Guys are mysterious and (in most cases) short 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.

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 and Yoshi's Island DS. Baby Bowser also has primarily Shy Guys in his army during Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time in a nod to their prominence in these games.

Within the Mario games, 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 appear as the primary members of the audience during battles, and similarly they appear in Super Paper Mario after being impressed by Stylish moves.

Ghosts of Shy Guys notably appear in Luigi's Mansion, where they wield spears and can only be sucked up after Luigi sucks their masks off with the Poltergust 3000. This is the only time that a Shy Guy can be unmasked but even so only a pair of glowing eyes can be seen from beneath the hood.

Sports

Shy Guys appear in various sports spin-offs, where they are often friendlier than in the main games. The Shy Guys often appear as either playable characters, background cameos or obstacles in courses.

Kart Racing: A randomly-colored Shy Guy is playable in Mario Kart DS, where it is automatically assigned to the challenger in DS Download Play mode. The Shy Guy later appeared as a normal playable character in Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart 8, in addition to still being the default character for Download Play users in the former game.
Tennis: A Shy Guy appears as an unlockable character in Mario Tennis 64 after beating the Star Cup in Single Matches. The Shy Guy is also playable in Mario Power Tennis, with the Fly Guy appearing as an unlockable character in that game.
Baseball: Shy Guys of all colors appear as playable team members in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Super Sluggers, where they are part of Yoshi's team.
Soccer: Shy Guys appear as sidekick characters in Mario Strikers Charged.
Basketball: Fly Guy appears as a playable character in Mario Hoops 3-on-3.

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. A Shy Guy also appears as an unlockable playable character in Mario Party 9.

Variants

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.
Beezo/Shy Away - 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's American release they are instead called Shy Aways, and they also specialize in gardening as well as serving Valentina.
Boo Guy - A Shy Guy ghost that appears in Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Island DS and Partners in Time. 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.
Boom Guy - Cannon-wielding Shy Guys that appear in Partners in Time. They appear in Prince Bowser's Castle and fire Billet 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.
Chandeli-Ho - These are Shy Guys who hold up the chandeliers in Bowser's Castle after the Smithy Gang conquers it in Super Mario RPG. They cannot actually be battled, but storyline-wise, one drops Boomer to his death when he requests it while the other takes Mario's party to the roof to face Exor.
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.
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.
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.
Fly Guy - The most common variation of the Shy Guy that appears in Yoshi's Island, Super Mario 64, Yoshi's Story and Partners in Time as well as Mario Party games, Mario Power Tennis and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. They are Shy Guys with helicopteresque propellers and sometimes are portrayed as being mechanical and wind-up. 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 in the air. In Partners in Time they appear at Star Hill and carry time bombs for the battle.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Medi Guy - In Paper Mario, they are medically oriented Shy Guys that ride small floating crafts and specialize in healing other enemies.
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 and Paper Mario. 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.
Shy Ranger - In Super Mario RPG, 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.
Shy Squad - In Paper Mario, is a crowd of normal Shy Guys that must be battled during the General Guy boss battle.
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.
Shyper - In Super Mario RPG, this is the strongest form of the Shyster that appears during the final boss fight, where Smithy will meld them from ooze produced by the Smelter. In addition to their bouncing abilities, they also have strong magic attacks such as Sword Rain.
Shyster - In Super Mario RPG, these are Shy Guys riding pogo sticks that resemble swords created by the Smithy Gang. They work under Mack and can be battled anywhere in the Mushroom Kingdom area during Mack's reign over the castle. They are known for their love of bouncing. Machine Made versions of the Shyster also appear at Smithy's Factory.
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.
Sling Shy - In Super Mario RPG, they are stronger versions of the normal Shy Guy found in Nimbus Castle serving Valentina. They use slingshots in battle as their name suggests as well as S'crow Bells and Spore Chimes magic spells.
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.
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).

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.
Propeller Shy Guys appear in the Yoshi's Story level of Super Smash Bros. Melee, often carrying food or items and can be attacked. Shy Guys also appear in the Mario Circuit level of 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. 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.

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.
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.

Shy Guy

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