Antasma

"SCREEEK! I vanted to steal Peach's power...but I changed my mind! You are much stronger...and evil! SCREEEONK! Vork vith me! SCREEP!EEEONK! Vork vith me! SCREEP!"

- Antasma

Antasma is the secondary antagonist in the game Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, though he initially seemed to be the main antagonist.

History
He was once a normal Bat on Pi'illo Island. He somehow fed off a Pi'illo's nightmare which drove him to become the Bat King, who stole the Dark Stone in order to full fill his chaotic dreams. After the Pi'illos, along with the Zeekeeper, managed to imprison him into the Dream World, he shattered the Dark Stone at the last moment, causing the chunks to rain down all over the island. The shards of the Darkstone turned all the Pi'illo they touched into stone, but with their last breaths, the Pi'illos managed to seal him in the dream world.

Mario and Luigi are tasked with rescuing the Pi'illows which Antasma froze, but Antasma's bonds weakened allowing him to escape. He kidnaps Princess Peach, taking her to Dream's Deep, where Bowser confronts him, furious that someone besides him kidnapped Peach. However, Antasma makes an alliance with him, and they defeat the Mario Bros. and escape to take over the real world. They steal the Dream Stone from Dozing Sands and take it to Mount Pajamaja where they use the Dreambeats to put everyone on the island to sleep so their dreams can restore the Dream Stone's power. Antasma wishes for a castle as his base of operations, thus creating Neo Bowser Castle, which he uses to destroy the islands all over the world. Bowser kidnaps Peach afterward.

When the Zeekeeper destroys Neo Bowser Castle's barrier and sends it falling, and Mario and Luigi enter, Antasma has Bowser fall asleep while using him as a pillow in order to increase his power. The Mario Bros. wake Bowser up by defeating his giant form in the dream world. Bowser betrays Antasma afterward, saying that he (Bowser) doesn't work well with others, as well as revealing he's just been using Antasma to further his own goals, and leaves him to the Mario Bros. Antasma fights Dreambert, and then reveals that he made a wish with the Dream Stone for the power to open dream portals at will, thus preventing him from ever being imprisoned again. Antasma defeats Dreambert, but Mario, re-entering the dream world, fights him alongside Dreamy Luigi (Luigi in the dream world as he enters it by falling asleep) as the penultimate boss, and they defeat him. Returning to the real world, Antasma inflates like a balloon and explodes, thus dying for good.

Trivia

 * Antasma seems to bear similarities in appearance to Cackletta, Elder Princess Shroob, and the Dark Star from the same series as well as villains from other series like Mortamor and Andross.
 * Like Elder Princess Shroob and Fawful, antagonists of previous Mario & Luigi games, Antasma explodes into purple particles. He also expands before he explodes like Fawful, except Antasma's was more of an inflation, more painful-looking, and a direct result of his defeat rather than a selfdestruct.


 * Antasma's name is likely derived from the Latin word phantasma, meaning "spectre" or "apparition" or the spanish word "fantasma," specifically meaning ghost.
 * Antasma has many similarities with Count Dracula. Antasma speaks with a Slavic accent, similar to Dracula. Also note that Dracula is a vampire and can transform into a bat. Antasma is a ghostly bat king and can also transform into a bat.
 * In some translations, Antasma is called a count instead of a king, just like Dracula. Antasma's Russian name, Mrakula, is even a play on Dracula's name.
 * In the Dutch translation, Antasma speaks with a German accent and he also uses actual German words quite frequently.