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, known as Akkumu (in Japanese: アックーム) in Japanese, is the central antagonist of the 3DS game Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

History
Antasma was once a normal Bat on Pi'illo Island, until he somehow fed off a Pi'illo's nightmare which gave him power and transformed him into the evil Bat King. He then stole the Dark Stone in order to fulfill his chaotic dreams, however the Pi'illos, along with the Zeekeeper, managed to imprison him into the Dream World. But at the last moment, he shattered the Dark Stone, causing the chunks to rain down all over the island, turning all the Pi'illos they touched into stone and causing the civilization to vanish.

Mario and Luigi are tasked with rescuing all the Pi'illows Antasma froze, but Antasma's bonds weakened allowing him to escape. As Luigi created a portal into the Dream World, he kidnaps Princess Peach, hoping to use her power for his sinister plans. He takes her to Dream's Deep, where Mario and Dreamy Luigi confront him until Bowser appears, furious that someone besides him kidnapped Peach. Sensing much more evil power within him, Antasma makes an alliance with the Koopa King, and they combine their power to defeat the Mario Bros. and then escape to take over the real world.

They then 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. Bowser wishes for a castle as his base of operations, thus creating Neo Bowser Castle, which has the power to destroy anything he pleases. Bowser then kidnaps Peach afterward.

When the Zeekeeper destroys Neo Bowser Castle's barrier and sends it falling, Mario and Luigi enter and confront Kamek, who Antasma aids by transporting him into the Dream World. Antasma then 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 was later found holding on to Antasma while Antasma gloated that this time the outcome of the final battle will be different, as Bowser is assisting him. But suddenly, Bowser betrays Antasma afterward, literally hurling him at the ground, saying that he doesn't work well with others, as well as revealing that he was just using Antasma to further his own goals, and leaves him to be destroyed by the Mario Bros. while taking Peach and the Dream Stone for himself. Antasma is deeply enraged by this deception and swears revenge. He then 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 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, Princess Shroob, 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 self-destruct.
 * Antasma's death scene is a physically darker version of the death scenes of other bosses in the game: In place of rainbow lights, rays of black, dark red, dark blue, and dark green lights shine from him, and he explodes into purple stars instead of rainbow stars.
 * Sadly for Antasma, he is the first main antagonist in the Mario & Luigi games to be betrayed by Bowser.
 * Though it is assumed that Antasma would have betrayed Bowser sooner or later, not being the type of villain who would completely share power, and was only shocked because Bowser beat him to the punch.
 * The audience was likely meant to think that Antasma would betray Bowser first, since he resembles a cross between the other villains who overshadowed Bowser in previous Mario & Luigi games.
 * Most importantly, the player can infer that Bowser will betray any villain that works with him as a partner rather than for him as a minion, however Bowser has gotten along with partners before, such as King Boo, who seems to be on good terms with him. It is possible that Bowser saw Antasma as a severe threat to the world he wants to conquer.
 * 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.
 * Antasma was voiced by Takashi Nagasako, who also does the voice of Ganondorf.

Navigation
Antasma