“Then, you wretched fools...you shall learn the error of your ways!” —Shadow Queen
The Shadow Queen is an ancient demon and the final boss of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Prior to the start of the game, she destroyed an ancient civilization and began a conquest on the entire world with the aid of numerous monsters that she created and the Crystal Stars. In the end her plans were ruined and she was sealed away by four heroes within the Thousand-Year Door. Even though she was sealed away, her followers vowed to bring her back into the world and did so around the time when the seal on the door was weakened enough. Her followers tricked others into opening the thousand year door allowing the queen to be free from her prison.
The Shadow Queen
Personality
Like many Mario villains within the series, the Shadow Queen is shown to be a cold-hearted villain who cares for nothing but power and control. She is a highly sadistic, power hungry, and ruthless demon whose actions have led to the destruction of entire lands and the murders of millions. She is shown to be one of the more disturbing villains within the series as she has been known to be completely pure evil, having no kindness. Many of the monsters Mario fought were part of her army, and her most loyal followers were the ones manipulating the course of events to revive her.
In addition to being a demon from the dark depths, the Shadow Queen is highly sadistic as all her strongholds and fortresses are overflowing with thousands of mutilated corpses. This all contributed to her sadistic personality and thirst for violence. Her power seemed to posses no limits as she created demonic armies, three immortal dragons, and even the Crystal Stars themselves. The Crystal Stars seem to have unlimited power and taking into account that they represent only portions of the queen's power, her powers seem nearly god-like. After years of her reign of terror, her reputation became so horrible and well known, that people shuddered at the mere mention of the her or any of her followers and monsters. Almost like Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.
Unsurprisingly, the queen was able to instill massive fear in not just the world itself, but her followers as well. She seems to be so evil, that her very presence brings a horrible aura as well as darkness in the skies. Her palace and even the Thousand-Year Door itself all have a horrible feeling and even the thugs of Rougeport stay away from the door due to the feeling it evokes. Even after her first defeat, her minions, the Shadow Sirens, attempted to revive her by using other villains. Other than the stories told within the game, not much more in known about the demon and it seems that she has done nothing else within her existence other than creating destruction, chaos, and mass murder.
1000 Years Ago
Legend has it that the Shadow Queen simply appeared one day and waged war against the city where Rogueport now stands. She destroyed the city, murdered all who stood in her path. The war itself would be described as a "great cataclysm where the earth shook and skies roared". After the attack the city crumbled and sank into the earth. One third of the city was constructed to be the Palace of Shadow where the entrance would be the 1,000 Year-Door itself.
The demonic Queen next set her sights on the rest of the world, hoping to plunge it into an endless time of darkness under her control. she created numerous demonic beasts and spirits to make the core of her army. Among them were the three Shadow Sirens who would be the most trusted followers of the queen. With her new army, the Shadow Queen set them on the surrounding areas of the world. The demons wiped out all resistance as they took the lands by force, killing millions of people in the process. Towns were destroyed and their treasures were stolen to be stored within the palace, soon to become rich with valuables. The Shadow Queen was far from finished though and created three dragons, Hooktail, Gloomtail, and Bonetail. These dragons became the loyal pets of the queen and quickly spread fear and suffering throughout the world, feasting on numerous people.
The queen and her army quickly became feared above all else and the mere mention of their name sent people into a fearful state of panic. As more areas fell to the Shadow Queen, she next created the Crystal Stars. These stars were placed in separate areas around the world to exert the queen's influence. Realizing that her opposition were still recruiting others, the queen created a dungeon called the Pit of 100 Trials. The place was a torture chamber where people were devoured by demonic beasts and Bonetail.
Just when all hope seemed lost, four brave warriors stepped forward to end the reign of the demon once and for all. The four were a Toad from Petalburg, a wise Goomba from Boggly Woods, a scarred and feared Koopa, and a Boo. The Toad from Petalburg came to be seen as a hero when he defended his town from the Queen's evil forces. The wise Goomba was a resident of the Boggly Woods and used his vast set of knowledge to aid the Punis in defending themselves against the monsters. The scarred Koopa went around the world battling evil. He became feared among the dark army, but eventually a trap was set for him and he soon fell into it. The Boo warrior of the army then left her demonic allegiance and helped the Koopa. The Boo then used her powers to predict that they would need the aid of the Toad, and the wise Goomba in order to have a fighting chance against the Shadow Queen. The Four banded togather and obtained the Crystal Stars and ventured into the Palace of Shadow. There they faced the demon in an epic battle. After an intense fight, the heroes defeated the queen. Even then though, the queen's demonic spirit lived on and attempted to kill the warriors. The heroes made one last effort and sealed the queen in her own palace.
Before the seal was complete though, the queen sent a portion of her magic into the heroes. The effects would not be felt while they held the stars, but afterward the heroes would become trapped within black chests. The queen vowed to return one day and will conquer the world when that day dawns. The heroes then realized that the demon's threats may not just be a bluff. They sealed the Palace entrance with the stars and the seal would remain for 1,000 years, the entrance to the palace would then go on to be known as The Thousand-Year Door. Realizing that others may need the stars in case the queen returns, they made a map of the stars in case other heroes would need them. To insure that the map only fell into pure hands, they placed it in a chest that could only be opened by one pure of heart.
While the war finally seemed to be over, there were other plans in effect to insure that the demon would return to the world. The Shadow Sirens began to spread rumors of a great treasure hidden in the earth beneath the location of the old city. People then constructed a town over the city, which soon became filled with thugs and robbers, hoping to claim the treasure for themselves. None of them knew that the treasure was actually a demon and that the rumor of the treasure was nothing more than a ruse in part of an insidious plot.