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Reclusa is the overarching antagonist of Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It is an ancient entity who eradicated worlds by trapping the residents of those worlds in isolation.
Description[]
Personality[]
Reclusa is a sadistic being who despises the concept of bonds to the point that it is willing to trap its victims in artificial dream worlds just to prevent them from interacting with anyone else. Its sadistic nature is exemplified in how Snoutlet calls it out for trapping persons in isolation as that would result in them starving to death only for the fiend to respond that that is precisely the point. Its demeanor is also shown as extremely childish, exemplified by its words and posturing, its habit of breaking out into a sing-song, comparing everything to toys that it breaks for fun, and also being prone to tantrums if it does not get what it wants. Reclusa also addresses itself with the pronoun boku-chin, which is generally reserved for young boys, in the Japanese version of the game, highlighting its childish demeanor further.
Physical Appearance[]
Reclusa has multiple forms that it goes through in the game. At first, it looks like an egg with a black and red shell and a single yellow eye glaring out.
In its true form, Reclusa has a body resembling Cackletta's dress and what appears to be a television or computer for a head, with the screen bearing its face which is used to convey its emotions. The back of the fiend's head has cables, with two serving as arms along with its actual arms. All of Reclusa's arms have red fingers.
The final battle against Reclusa sees more forms assumed by the fiend, such as Weeping Reclusa, which is assumed by combining with the Soli-Tree itself to become an arboreal giant monstrosity with large branches for arms, and the Weeping Core, which involves it merging with white spiked plates to turn into a spherical armored monster.
History[]
Very little information is known regarding Reclusa's background, though as stated by Shun, it is older than any of the cast, and Reclusa itself claims that it had already destroyed the bonds of various worlds prior to its arrival on Concordia.
Reclusa is first seen in the game in its egg form when Zokket meets Mario and Luigi and Snoutlet at his fortress. The Zokket Army's dark lord laments that he does not have enough Glohm to resurrect Reclusa, and attacks them for not allowing it to be reborn properly. The Bros. kill Zokket, but Zokket donates his remaining life force to the egg, giving the fiend the energy necessary to reawaken, although Cozette, the original Wattanist who cared for the Uni-Tree, is saved. As the Bros., Snoutlet, and Cozette flee, Reclusa creates the Soli-Tree with Zokket's fortress as the foundation, setting a barrier to keep its lair immune to invasion, and traps many Concordians in flowers which trap them in lonely delusions.
Mario and Luigi manage to invade Reclusa's lair anyway by gathering seven significant Bonds. However, their invasion is interrupted when they run afoul of the fiend's flowers, although the Bros. escape much to its dismay. It then sics its minions on them at the top floor of its fortress, but Bowser manages to kill Reclusa's soldiers in his mad efforts to get revenge after what Zokket (who is already dead at this point) did. It retreats deeper into its lair, with the Bros. following behind it and fighting it. After a grueling final battle with the fiend combining with the Soli-Tree and with the Bros. entering the Weeping Reclusa body to face Reclusa itself, Mario and Luigi eventually slay Reclusa, who, after the budding Wattanist Connie tells it off, disintegrates with the Soli-Tree collapsing immediately afterward as the Bros. and Wattanists escape.
Combat[]
Reclusa is fought in a multi-phase battle. It has multiple forms and a total of 19,912 hit points across all of them, with damage gates at 15,100 and 10,000 hit points remaining.
Phase 1: Chase[]
During the first phase of the battle, Reclusa, who has attack, defense, and speed stats of 250, 214, and 582, respectively, is fought in a chase-style battle where it constantly runs through a path littered with Doom Blooms as the Bros. ride a plug-shaped hovercraft. They also have access to the fire and ice powers, and must shoot down the fireballs and enchanted snowballs Reclusa throws to make its escape. If they crash into a Doom Bloom, the Bros. are forced to battle the creature. Eventually, the Bros. will catch up to Reclusa, who will charge up with either fire or ice and has to be extinguished by the opposite power. Upon weakening the boss, the Bros. can attack Reclusa with their Bro. Bomb ability, giving them one turn to attack the boss using regular gameplay, though ground-based weaponry is useless against it. It will recover on its next turn, allowing it to resume the chase section of its fight. After it drops to 15,100 hit points, Reclusa merges with the Soli-Tree, commencing the next phase of the fight after a cutscene.
Phase 2: Weeping Reclusa[]
During the second phase of the battle, Reclusa, having become Weeping Reclusa, cannot be targeted directly. It has three attacks in this form:
- Hand Sweep: Reclusa sweeps its arms low across the stage. The arm used determines which Bro. must jump. If the player has the Easy-Peasy Counters Battle Plug equipped, the target can avoid the attack completely, though this means the opposite Bro. has to dodge the hand as well. If a Bro. lands on a hand, they will catch on and then get thrown at the opposite Bro. and must be caught.
- Hailfire Rain: Fireballs and enchanted snowballs rain down. Their target has to use a hammer strike to repel the attack. Both Bros. can be targeted.
- Spiked Fruit: Reclusa plucks a durian from its canopy and spikes it into a Bro. This must be repelled via a hammer strike. Failure to repel the fruit will cause a rock to fly at the opposite Bro.
To progress to the next phase, Mario and Luigi have to defeat the Doom Blooms, freeing Snoutlet. Luigi then has to use his Luigi Logic skill to have Snoutlet create another plug craft and ride it upward. The Bros. have to avoid the protrusions, but their elemental powers can allow them to destroy the fireballs and magic snow balls raining down. Near the end, a blob of dark energy appears in their way, but can be repelled with a Bro. Bomb. If they succeed, the Bros. will enter Weeping Reclusa's maw to confront Reclusa itself within.
Phase 3: Weeping Core[]
At this point, Reclusa has only 15,100 hit points remaining due to the damage it took during the first phase of the battle. When this phase begins, it realises much to its chagrin that the Bros. have cornered it again, leading to its transformation into a white-shelled cycloptic spiked beast called the Weeping Core. This form is able to counter jump attacks, has an attack power of 285, a defense of 397, and a speed of 620. In this state, it has the following abilities:
- Rolling Charge: Reclusa rolls at the Bros. and must be repelled with a hammer, alternating between the Bros. If it hits a Bro., it knock him off the screen. However, Reclusa will give up after the next immediate strike, regardless if it successfully knocks away the second Bro. or not. If the Bros. repel its charges without getting knocked away, the fiend will eventually finish the move with a stronger charge. This must be repelled with both Bros. by pressing X.
- Spike Spin: Four of Reclusa's lower spikes stretch to the ground. These spikes are spun around and must be dodged by jumping, and their rotation speed and/or direction may change every couple of sections.
- Analyse/Sabotage: This is not an actual attack, but more of a passive move where attacks that are used too many times against Reclusa are sabotaged on subsequent uses.
Upon dropping Reclusa's health to 10,000 hit points, its shell breaks, leading it to emerge from the wreckage in its regular form.
Phase 4: True Reclusa[]
Reclusa's fourth phase uses its regular form, but this time, it has a wider variety of moves and no longer initiates chases. Reclusa has an attack power of 290, a defense of 250, and a speed of 602 in this form. It still sabotages attacks that were performed against its Weeping Core form too many times, and its moveset consists of the following:
- Clone Bullets: Reclusa generates six copies of itself, with three flashing M or L emblems. Four random copies will then throw fireballs, with only those that had the emblem firing directly at the Bros. After the four attacked, all remaining copies will simultaneously fire a stronger version of these fireballs. The Bros. have to use their hammers to repel the fireballs; for every fireball they repel, Reclusa takes damage, and a copy gets removed; thusly, the Bros. can make the second phase easier by repelling more of their adversary's fireballs. When Reclusa has 5,000 hit points or less, an extra clone is created and five or six shots are fired during the first phase of the move.
- Dead Weight: This cannot be dodged, but is followed by Beatdown. It is only used with both Bros. standing. The targeted brother instantly loses his colour and falls unconscious.
- Beatdown: This is used immediately after the Dead Weight attack with both Bros. standing; if only one Bro. still has health, it can be used without using Dead Weight. The Bro. who did not get hit by Dead Weight carries his brother, and must jump over Reclusa's claws and small fireballs. This attack is concluded with a large fireball that must be repelled with a hammer strike. If the still-active Bro. fails to repel this last fireball, both take damage, with the victim of Dead Weight taking more. After this last fireball, the Bro. who got hit by Dead Weight gets his colour back and returns to normal. At low health, more fireballs and swipes are issued, with the large fireball being thrown from afar and either turning invisible, shrinking, or burning and growing to throw the player off.
- (Low HP): Fireball Fury: This attack is only used when Reclusa's health is at 5,000 hit points or below. It fires several fireballs, and the Bros. must jump in the order corresponding to when the fiend flashes their emblem on its face. The last one generates a shockwave which they both must jump over, with the prior ones being instantaneous and single-target.
Upon dropping the fiend to 0 hit points, a cutscene plays showing it apologising. It then reveals its regret to be fake, leading to it destroying the floor to trigger the final phase.
Final Phase: Final Freefall[]
Mario and Luigi have to attack Reclusa with their hammers, charging their attacks with Bond power. Ten charged hits to Reclusa will defeat the fiend once and for all.
Trivia[]
- Reclusa is the first final boss from the Mario & Luigi series to not be a form of Bowser.