Gengar, the chuckling trickster from Pokémon.
And King Boo, the mad monarch from Luigi’s Mansion.
These mischievous illusionists have been screwing around in the video game world for decades, but which one is truly the most cunning ghost in gaming?
Well, that’s what I’m here to find out today.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the analysis and find out who would win the ASSAULT!!
(Forest House - Pokémon Diamond / Pokémon Pearl)
When it comes to the vast world of Pokémon, all of the mysterious creatures have been mostly figured out, but the Ghost-Types were always an enigma.
Take Banette for example, a possessed doll seeking revenge on its owner, or Giratina, the lonesome ruler of a world outside space and time.
However, when it comes to Ghost-Type Pokémon, there’s only one answer that comes to mind first: Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon.
(Victory Road - Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
Gengar is #094 in the National Dex, and evolves from Gastly and Haunter through…trade evolution. But we’ll ignore that for now.
Despite being a Ghost-Type, Gengar is also part Poison-Type, and despite preferring to float around, Gengar weighs…almost 90 pounds. Right.
Its typing allows it to gain a double resistance to Poison and Bug-Type attacks, as well as total immunity to Normal and Fighting-Type attacks.
When it comes to its go-to attacks, its favorites include Hypnosis, which can put the enemy to sleep, Shadow Punch, a punch thrown from the shadows and is impossible to avoid, and Curse, which cuts Gengar’s own HP to place a deadly curse on opponents.
It can also use Shadow Claw, a cooler Shadow Punch, and Shadow Sneak, where Gengar can effectively teleport anywhere as long as there’s a shadow there.
However, its favorite move is most likely Shadow Ball.
In spite of what the name implies, Shadow Ball is actually not a ball made of shadows, but rather, it’s a giant circular blob that has a one-in-five chance of lowering the target’s Special Defense.
Which would be good news for Gengar, as its largest stat is its Special Attack.
Gengar prefers to attack at a distance, using projectiles and its ghostly abilities as opposed to getting up close and personal.
Unfortunately for Gengar, though, it’s not very stealthy.
According to the Pokédex, Gengar drops the temperature to nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s hiding nearby. So…good luck catching prey, buddy.
Gengar’s ability is Cursed Body, which will sometimes seal moves that do damage to it. That’s right, do enough damage to it and eventually you won’t be able to attack at all.
Sometimes, Gengar will just look like eyes in the dark, but that’s probably because it likes casually casting curses on people.
And apparently, Gengar can even mimic people’s shadows and even overtake their sources. Hell, Gengar even resembles the shadow of a Clefable.
And unlike most Pokémon, Gengar actively finds pleasure in killing people. Great!
Despite its seemingly malicious outward appearance, it turns out that Gengar can be a pretty straight up dude.
It seems to form genuine friendships with other Ghost-Types, and only steals lives in hopes to become human again.
All of this is thrown out the window, however, when it comes to Gengar’s alternate forms.
(Dark Colosseum - Pokkén Tournament)
Gengar has the ability to Mega Evolve, an already rare ability, however, it can somehow Mega Evolve even without the Gengarite. It just needs to be exposed to large amounts of Synergy. With said Synergy, he can gain the ability to use Shadow Drop, a super powerful finisher that drops the target into a black hole that explodes after laughing menacingly.
Speaking of energy, when exposed to Dynamax energy, Gengar can grow to a ludicrous size and have its stats grow exponentially. Unlike most Pokémon, however, Gengar has the ability to Gigantimax, which is basically the same thing with a different appearance.
However, Gengar does become much more powerful with both of these forms.
Mega Gengar receives boosts in its Defense, Special Defense, Speed, and especially its Special Attack. Nothing changes to Attack though. Weird, considering the giant fists…
Anyway, Mega Gengar also gains a new ability, Shadow Tag, which also prevents the opponent’s escape by stepping on their shadow.
Gigantimaxed Gengar gains a new move, G-Max Terror, which is stupid powerful and prevents the opponent from leaving battle. Unfortunately, this form only lasts for three turns.
Both of these forms also force Gengar into an uncontrollable state of power. It sacrifices its motivations and even its own sadism to become a vicious predator. And apparently, you can hear the voices of your loved ones if you stand near its giant mouth.
With its own power, Gengar has done some crazy things. It can smash into stone walls without suffering from recoil, can float through anything completely unfazed, and in its Mega form, can even travel between dimensions!
Gengar’s mouth is also a very powerful weapon, being able to send people into an exploding void in its Mega form, and even directly to the afterlife in its Gigantimax form.
Also, that thing on Mega Gengar’s head? That’s a third eye. Using it, Gengar can see through alternate universes.
Despite all of this, though, Gengar is somewhat of a glass cannon.
While yes, its Special attack and tolerance are very high, it’s lacking in the physical department, and can easily go down with just a few super effective hits.
And speaking of super effective hits, Gengar is weak to Ground, Ghost, Psychic, and Dark-Type attacks.
With all of that being said, though, Gengar remains to be struck down, and still finds joy in ruining the lives of its victims.
(Clip of Gengar’s Synergy Burst and the laughing that proceeds it. I dunno, Gengar can’t talk.)
(Gloomy Manor - Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)
Throughout all of his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario has come across many different types of ghosts.
They mostly resign in haunted houses or wrecked ships, but even Mario knows not to stay for too long.
Because when you do, you end up like Luigi, who was forced to investigate an entire haunted mansion to find his brother. Three times!
And all three of those times, Luigi always finds himself face-to-face with the source of it all: King Boo.
(Main Theme - Luigi’s Mansion 3)
King Boo has had a variety of personalities over the years. The first time he kidnapped Mario, he was a rather proper leader of the ghosts in the mansion. The second time he kidnapped Mario, he was definitely more murderous, but still always had a chuckle on his face. The third time, King Boo gives in to his murderous instincts.
I mean, in Dark Moon, he even blatantly admits to attempts at murder!
So, yeah, I wouldn’t exactly say he’s a very civilized ghost.
Being a ghost and all, King Boo can do some pretty wacky stuff.
And while he does have the occasional boss in the mainline games, we’ll be looking at the extended canon, mainly Luigi’s Mansion.
Why? Well, let’s just say that some of his bosses involve puzzles, stealing coins, and…really, really harmful crying.
In his base state, King Boo can ground pound to create shock waves, summon spike balls from the sky, and even spew bombs from his mouth.
Strangely enough, his tongue can also be one of more useful weapons, as it can stretch out to smack opponents. It’s more harmful than it sounds, I swear.
One of his most utilized abilities, however, is his power to summon lightning.
These bolts of lightning can hit multiple places at once, and they can end up creating sand pits, ice puddles, and even spikes in the ground.
By the way, he really likes using it for some reason.
King Boo’s most important asset, however, is his crown.
Remember the lightning bolts? Well, those can only be summoned by his handy dandy crown. Besides that, he can summon fireballs, clone two identical albeit weaker versions of himself, and even increase the size of objects exponentially.
One time, he increased the size of a painting so insanely much, that it began to suck up the ground beneath it!
Well, trees were uprooted, but Luigi strangely wasn’t, for some reason.
Regardless, the amount of force needed to uproot a tree is around 60 kilo newtons of force, and the painting did it to a number of them!
Oh, and, I should probably mention his paintings.
King Boo and his minions can use paintings to trap people inside of, though, this mostly ends up being used against him.
That being said, he doesn’t have to hold them, but he can control their movement with his mind. Or…whatever’s in that spherical noggin.
(Hellen Gravely - Luigi’s Mansion 3)
Anyway, King Boo has something that a lot of antagonists in the Mario series don’t: Extreme control over his minions.
Obviously, he doesn’t control them directly, but whatever he says goes.
These include the Greenies, who are standard but reliable foot soldiers, the brute Slammers, the stealthy Hiders, and the sleazy Sneakers.
Obviously, you have his namesake, the Boos. These are his most fiercely loyal minions, carrying out his every move when necessary.
King Boo’s favorite ability is easily his ability to manipulate reality. Kind of.
See, in the final moments of the original Luigi’s Mansion, we can clearly see him spin the room, and in Dark Moon, he purposefully intercepts Luigi’s pixelated to take him to a world of his own: King Boo’s Illusion.
In the world of an illusion, anything goes, and sure enough, King Boo’s Illusion also serves as his playground.
Though he really only does two things in it: Create a platform with an electric fence and a giant hall of death in which he can roll around.
When things get serious, King Boo can even bring out his Bowser suit, with a removable head. This suit can throw spike balls, shoot fire, and create shockwaves. Hey, wait a minute…
To King Boo, life is a game, and he almost never takes anything seriously.
He shattered the Dark Moon with a single hit, managed to capture the elusive Mario in the blink of an eye twice, and escaped the Poltergust 5000 twice.
Keep in mind, that thing made quick work of his minions.
He was even able to disguise himself as Paper Mario once, but his transformations don’t do anything for him ability-wise.
In fact, King Boo can even be a little lacking in some places.
Despite all of his power, he can still get in over his head and make a costly mistake that could potentially be fatal.
And when he loses his patience, King Boo can sacrifice all logic and reason to focus purely on killing his enemies.
But despite that weakness, it’s also what causes the king of the ghosts to be deeply feared in the Mushroom Kingdom.
King Boo: Hey, remember that time you trapped me in a painting for all eternity? Good times. But guess what? I GOT OUT! And now I’m painting the town RED!
All right, I’ve shown you everything the fighters have to offer, I think we’re ready to hop into the ASSAULT!!
It was a dark and stormy night at the Treacherous Mansion.
“Bwahaha! Good work, boys. Looks just like how I imagined it…” King Boo cackled as his minions placed the finishing touches on his glorious throne room wall: Mario, the princess, the Toads…all in agony, which is just what he wanted.
“Your highness! YOUR HIGHNESS!” A panicked Boo stumbled into the throne room. “Your highness, someone’s in the mansion! He’s cleaning out all of the rooms, all of the exhibits…everything!”
“Oh, great…it’s Luigi again, isn’t it?” King Boo shook his head.
“No, no! He’s…purple! I saw him!” The Boo waved his arms about.
“…Wait a minute, do you mean W—“
CRASH!
A sudden boom from across the room pushed all of the Boos back, forcing them into hiding.
The door had been kicked open, by a strange purple figure with a big smile on his face.
“You!” King Boo’s usual grin disappeared. “You’re the one invading my property, aren’t you?!” He rose from his throne and floated down to Gengar’s level.
“You want this mansion, huh? You’re gonna have to pry it from my dead b—“ Suddenly, King Boo got Shadow Ball’d in the face, knocking him back a little.
“URGH! You little…!” King Boo looked over to Gengar, who was having a good laugh from King Boo’s reaction. In response, King Boo rammed right into Gengar.
(Haunted House - Pokkén Tournament)
Gengar was knocked back, but started floating and spawned two Shadow Balls in both of his hands, launching them at King Boo. At lightning speed, King Boo dodged, and as his crown lit up, King Boo began to split in two, creating a clone of himself. While that was going on, Gengar jumped out of their shadows, knocking both of them back with Shadow Sneak.
But after a bit of charging, both of the King Boos unleashed a wave of lightning on Gengar, landing a hit and knocking him into the wall.
Gengar quickly got back on his feet, and went invisible as the following lightning bolt phased right through him, while letting out a laugh.
King Boo and his clone’s crowns lit up once more, and this time, fireballs flew out. While Gengar dodged a few, eventually, he was overrun, and began to take every hit until he was on his knees (figuratively), looking up at King Boo.
“Finally!” King Boo’s clone disappeared. “Swarm him!” He pointed at Gengar.
All of a sudden, Greenies, Slammers, Hiders, and Sneakers flew in from the halls and took turns flying by Gengar to get a hit in. Eventually, they dogpiled onto Gengar, and it looked like he was finished, until an unknown force exploded and knocked them all back. The now Mega-evolved Gengar launched himself at King Boo, tackling him, and causing them both to break through the wall behind them.
Once they were outside, Gengar’s third eye glowed, and a portal opened behind King Boo. “No! WAIT!” But it was too late.
The two of them were sent into a massive portal gateway, but luckily, King Boo was still conscious, and his crown glowed. All of a sudden, the two of them were thrusted into a separate vacuum.
And once they were out of it, King Boo was the first to awaken, his signature grin returning to his face, and fading into the darkness.
When Gengar got up, the floor was made of tiles, and after a bolt of lightning that Gengar dodges, the sky becomes a purple swirl and the entire arena is revealed. Finally, King Boo reveals himself, and out of seemingly nowhere, the giant Bowser suit leaps onto the platform.
Just as Gengar lunges at King Boo, he ducks into the suit and tanks the hit. Gengar is knocked back a bit, before King Boo grabs Gengar and slams him into the ground. And he does this again, and again, and again, before holding him on the ground and grabbing a spike ball with his other hand. Then, King Boo jumps into the air and throws it right on top of Gengar, and it lands. It hits so hard, that Gengar loses his Mega form just as the spike ball explodes into multiple smaller bombs. After King Boo lands, though, Gengar is nowhere to be found. Sure enough, Gengar ended up being right behind King Boo, and Shadow Punched him in the face, causing the Bowser head to come spinning off. After the fact, Gengar sunk into the floor.
King Boo quickly scurried back into the suit and re-attached his head, but once again, Gengar was nowhere to be found.
After a bit of looking, King Boo noticed the giant shadow beneath him. Out of the shadow came a Gigantimaxed Gengar, who, after bursting out of the ground, knocked King Boo back. King Boo unleashed a wave of fire, but at that point, Gengar could block it with just his hands. Once the attack was over, Gengar raised its hands, and giant silverware materialized around King Boo, then collapsed in on him, using G-Max Terror.
The Bowser Suit had been destroyed. “You think that’s big?” King Boo floated up, and zapped in a painting. After the fact, he made the painting insurmountably large, then made another clone of himself. As the painting was slowly being lowered onto Gengar, both of the King Boos stretched their tongues to attack Gengar from a distance. Gengar tried swatting them out of the air like flies, which failed, so he tried using Max Phantasm, and managed to take out the King Boo clone. Angered by this, King Boo forced the painting to descent faster, but Gengar started to inhale King Boo, and into the abyss of its mouth.
The colliding painting caused a bright light to engulf King Boo’s Illusion.
Once it died down, Gengar could be seen, dizzy, but still alive.
WHAM!
Gengar was suddenly hit by a painting. King Boo pulled it back up so he could see it, and sure enough, Gengar was there. “Finally. It will fine addition to my collection.” He then made the world spin and headed back to the mansion.
So, yeah, it’s true that Gengar technically had more of an edge in power.
But remember, King Boo is still able to take quite the beating.
He can take an infinite amount of spike balls to the head. It may stun him, but he eventually snaps out of it, and the same goes for when he eats his own bombs.
But he was also able to take being slammed into the ground, multiple times, by his own tongue.
The only real way to defeat King Boo is to trap him in some way, which was clearly attempted, but remember, King Boo was able to escape the Poltergust in its prime twice.
I’m sure there were plenty of ways Gengar could win here, but King Boo is just a tank, and remember, Gengar is bad when it comes to physical attacks.
So, King Boo wins in that regard. Who could’ve gust?
The winner is King Boo.
And King Boo, the mad monarch from Luigi’s Mansion.
These mischievous illusionists have been screwing around in the video game world for decades, but which one is truly the most cunning ghost in gaming?
Well, that’s what I’m here to find out today.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the analysis and find out who would win the ASSAULT!!
(Forest House - Pokémon Diamond / Pokémon Pearl)
When it comes to the vast world of Pokémon, all of the mysterious creatures have been mostly figured out, but the Ghost-Types were always an enigma.
Take Banette for example, a possessed doll seeking revenge on its owner, or Giratina, the lonesome ruler of a world outside space and time.
However, when it comes to Ghost-Type Pokémon, there’s only one answer that comes to mind first: Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon.
(Victory Road - Super Smash Bros. Brawl)
Gengar is #094 in the National Dex, and evolves from Gastly and Haunter through…trade evolution. But we’ll ignore that for now.
Despite being a Ghost-Type, Gengar is also part Poison-Type, and despite preferring to float around, Gengar weighs…almost 90 pounds. Right.
Its typing allows it to gain a double resistance to Poison and Bug-Type attacks, as well as total immunity to Normal and Fighting-Type attacks.
When it comes to its go-to attacks, its favorites include Hypnosis, which can put the enemy to sleep, Shadow Punch, a punch thrown from the shadows and is impossible to avoid, and Curse, which cuts Gengar’s own HP to place a deadly curse on opponents.
It can also use Shadow Claw, a cooler Shadow Punch, and Shadow Sneak, where Gengar can effectively teleport anywhere as long as there’s a shadow there.
However, its favorite move is most likely Shadow Ball.
In spite of what the name implies, Shadow Ball is actually not a ball made of shadows, but rather, it’s a giant circular blob that has a one-in-five chance of lowering the target’s Special Defense.
Which would be good news for Gengar, as its largest stat is its Special Attack.
Gengar prefers to attack at a distance, using projectiles and its ghostly abilities as opposed to getting up close and personal.
Unfortunately for Gengar, though, it’s not very stealthy.
According to the Pokédex, Gengar drops the temperature to nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit when it’s hiding nearby. So…good luck catching prey, buddy.
Gengar’s ability is Cursed Body, which will sometimes seal moves that do damage to it. That’s right, do enough damage to it and eventually you won’t be able to attack at all.
Sometimes, Gengar will just look like eyes in the dark, but that’s probably because it likes casually casting curses on people.
And apparently, Gengar can even mimic people’s shadows and even overtake their sources. Hell, Gengar even resembles the shadow of a Clefable.
And unlike most Pokémon, Gengar actively finds pleasure in killing people. Great!
Despite its seemingly malicious outward appearance, it turns out that Gengar can be a pretty straight up dude.
It seems to form genuine friendships with other Ghost-Types, and only steals lives in hopes to become human again.
All of this is thrown out the window, however, when it comes to Gengar’s alternate forms.
(Dark Colosseum - Pokkén Tournament)
Gengar has the ability to Mega Evolve, an already rare ability, however, it can somehow Mega Evolve even without the Gengarite. It just needs to be exposed to large amounts of Synergy. With said Synergy, he can gain the ability to use Shadow Drop, a super powerful finisher that drops the target into a black hole that explodes after laughing menacingly.
Speaking of energy, when exposed to Dynamax energy, Gengar can grow to a ludicrous size and have its stats grow exponentially. Unlike most Pokémon, however, Gengar has the ability to Gigantimax, which is basically the same thing with a different appearance.
However, Gengar does become much more powerful with both of these forms.
Mega Gengar receives boosts in its Defense, Special Defense, Speed, and especially its Special Attack. Nothing changes to Attack though. Weird, considering the giant fists…
Anyway, Mega Gengar also gains a new ability, Shadow Tag, which also prevents the opponent’s escape by stepping on their shadow.
Gigantimaxed Gengar gains a new move, G-Max Terror, which is stupid powerful and prevents the opponent from leaving battle. Unfortunately, this form only lasts for three turns.
Both of these forms also force Gengar into an uncontrollable state of power. It sacrifices its motivations and even its own sadism to become a vicious predator. And apparently, you can hear the voices of your loved ones if you stand near its giant mouth.
With its own power, Gengar has done some crazy things. It can smash into stone walls without suffering from recoil, can float through anything completely unfazed, and in its Mega form, can even travel between dimensions!
Gengar’s mouth is also a very powerful weapon, being able to send people into an exploding void in its Mega form, and even directly to the afterlife in its Gigantimax form.
Also, that thing on Mega Gengar’s head? That’s a third eye. Using it, Gengar can see through alternate universes.
Despite all of this, though, Gengar is somewhat of a glass cannon.
While yes, its Special attack and tolerance are very high, it’s lacking in the physical department, and can easily go down with just a few super effective hits.
And speaking of super effective hits, Gengar is weak to Ground, Ghost, Psychic, and Dark-Type attacks.
With all of that being said, though, Gengar remains to be struck down, and still finds joy in ruining the lives of its victims.
(Clip of Gengar’s Synergy Burst and the laughing that proceeds it. I dunno, Gengar can’t talk.)
(Gloomy Manor - Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)
Throughout all of his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, Super Mario has come across many different types of ghosts.
They mostly resign in haunted houses or wrecked ships, but even Mario knows not to stay for too long.
Because when you do, you end up like Luigi, who was forced to investigate an entire haunted mansion to find his brother. Three times!
And all three of those times, Luigi always finds himself face-to-face with the source of it all: King Boo.
(Main Theme - Luigi’s Mansion 3)
King Boo has had a variety of personalities over the years. The first time he kidnapped Mario, he was a rather proper leader of the ghosts in the mansion. The second time he kidnapped Mario, he was definitely more murderous, but still always had a chuckle on his face. The third time, King Boo gives in to his murderous instincts.
I mean, in Dark Moon, he even blatantly admits to attempts at murder!
So, yeah, I wouldn’t exactly say he’s a very civilized ghost.
Being a ghost and all, King Boo can do some pretty wacky stuff.
And while he does have the occasional boss in the mainline games, we’ll be looking at the extended canon, mainly Luigi’s Mansion.
Why? Well, let’s just say that some of his bosses involve puzzles, stealing coins, and…really, really harmful crying.
In his base state, King Boo can ground pound to create shock waves, summon spike balls from the sky, and even spew bombs from his mouth.
Strangely enough, his tongue can also be one of more useful weapons, as it can stretch out to smack opponents. It’s more harmful than it sounds, I swear.
One of his most utilized abilities, however, is his power to summon lightning.
These bolts of lightning can hit multiple places at once, and they can end up creating sand pits, ice puddles, and even spikes in the ground.
By the way, he really likes using it for some reason.
King Boo’s most important asset, however, is his crown.
Remember the lightning bolts? Well, those can only be summoned by his handy dandy crown. Besides that, he can summon fireballs, clone two identical albeit weaker versions of himself, and even increase the size of objects exponentially.
One time, he increased the size of a painting so insanely much, that it began to suck up the ground beneath it!
Well, trees were uprooted, but Luigi strangely wasn’t, for some reason.
Regardless, the amount of force needed to uproot a tree is around 60 kilo newtons of force, and the painting did it to a number of them!
Oh, and, I should probably mention his paintings.
King Boo and his minions can use paintings to trap people inside of, though, this mostly ends up being used against him.
That being said, he doesn’t have to hold them, but he can control their movement with his mind. Or…whatever’s in that spherical noggin.
(Hellen Gravely - Luigi’s Mansion 3)
Anyway, King Boo has something that a lot of antagonists in the Mario series don’t: Extreme control over his minions.
Obviously, he doesn’t control them directly, but whatever he says goes.
These include the Greenies, who are standard but reliable foot soldiers, the brute Slammers, the stealthy Hiders, and the sleazy Sneakers.
Obviously, you have his namesake, the Boos. These are his most fiercely loyal minions, carrying out his every move when necessary.
King Boo’s favorite ability is easily his ability to manipulate reality. Kind of.
See, in the final moments of the original Luigi’s Mansion, we can clearly see him spin the room, and in Dark Moon, he purposefully intercepts Luigi’s pixelated to take him to a world of his own: King Boo’s Illusion.
In the world of an illusion, anything goes, and sure enough, King Boo’s Illusion also serves as his playground.
Though he really only does two things in it: Create a platform with an electric fence and a giant hall of death in which he can roll around.
When things get serious, King Boo can even bring out his Bowser suit, with a removable head. This suit can throw spike balls, shoot fire, and create shockwaves. Hey, wait a minute…
To King Boo, life is a game, and he almost never takes anything seriously.
He shattered the Dark Moon with a single hit, managed to capture the elusive Mario in the blink of an eye twice, and escaped the Poltergust 5000 twice.
Keep in mind, that thing made quick work of his minions.
He was even able to disguise himself as Paper Mario once, but his transformations don’t do anything for him ability-wise.
In fact, King Boo can even be a little lacking in some places.
Despite all of his power, he can still get in over his head and make a costly mistake that could potentially be fatal.
And when he loses his patience, King Boo can sacrifice all logic and reason to focus purely on killing his enemies.
But despite that weakness, it’s also what causes the king of the ghosts to be deeply feared in the Mushroom Kingdom.
King Boo: Hey, remember that time you trapped me in a painting for all eternity? Good times. But guess what? I GOT OUT! And now I’m painting the town RED!
All right, I’ve shown you everything the fighters have to offer, I think we’re ready to hop into the ASSAULT!!
It was a dark and stormy night at the Treacherous Mansion.
“Bwahaha! Good work, boys. Looks just like how I imagined it…” King Boo cackled as his minions placed the finishing touches on his glorious throne room wall: Mario, the princess, the Toads…all in agony, which is just what he wanted.
“Your highness! YOUR HIGHNESS!” A panicked Boo stumbled into the throne room. “Your highness, someone’s in the mansion! He’s cleaning out all of the rooms, all of the exhibits…everything!”
“Oh, great…it’s Luigi again, isn’t it?” King Boo shook his head.
“No, no! He’s…purple! I saw him!” The Boo waved his arms about.
“…Wait a minute, do you mean W—“
CRASH!
A sudden boom from across the room pushed all of the Boos back, forcing them into hiding.
The door had been kicked open, by a strange purple figure with a big smile on his face.
“You!” King Boo’s usual grin disappeared. “You’re the one invading my property, aren’t you?!” He rose from his throne and floated down to Gengar’s level.
“You want this mansion, huh? You’re gonna have to pry it from my dead b—“ Suddenly, King Boo got Shadow Ball’d in the face, knocking him back a little.
“URGH! You little…!” King Boo looked over to Gengar, who was having a good laugh from King Boo’s reaction. In response, King Boo rammed right into Gengar.
FIGHT!
(Haunted House - Pokkén Tournament)
Gengar was knocked back, but started floating and spawned two Shadow Balls in both of his hands, launching them at King Boo. At lightning speed, King Boo dodged, and as his crown lit up, King Boo began to split in two, creating a clone of himself. While that was going on, Gengar jumped out of their shadows, knocking both of them back with Shadow Sneak.
But after a bit of charging, both of the King Boos unleashed a wave of lightning on Gengar, landing a hit and knocking him into the wall.
Gengar quickly got back on his feet, and went invisible as the following lightning bolt phased right through him, while letting out a laugh.
King Boo and his clone’s crowns lit up once more, and this time, fireballs flew out. While Gengar dodged a few, eventually, he was overrun, and began to take every hit until he was on his knees (figuratively), looking up at King Boo.
“Finally!” King Boo’s clone disappeared. “Swarm him!” He pointed at Gengar.
All of a sudden, Greenies, Slammers, Hiders, and Sneakers flew in from the halls and took turns flying by Gengar to get a hit in. Eventually, they dogpiled onto Gengar, and it looked like he was finished, until an unknown force exploded and knocked them all back. The now Mega-evolved Gengar launched himself at King Boo, tackling him, and causing them both to break through the wall behind them.
Once they were outside, Gengar’s third eye glowed, and a portal opened behind King Boo. “No! WAIT!” But it was too late.
The two of them were sent into a massive portal gateway, but luckily, King Boo was still conscious, and his crown glowed. All of a sudden, the two of them were thrusted into a separate vacuum.
And once they were out of it, King Boo was the first to awaken, his signature grin returning to his face, and fading into the darkness.
When Gengar got up, the floor was made of tiles, and after a bolt of lightning that Gengar dodges, the sky becomes a purple swirl and the entire arena is revealed. Finally, King Boo reveals himself, and out of seemingly nowhere, the giant Bowser suit leaps onto the platform.
Just as Gengar lunges at King Boo, he ducks into the suit and tanks the hit. Gengar is knocked back a bit, before King Boo grabs Gengar and slams him into the ground. And he does this again, and again, and again, before holding him on the ground and grabbing a spike ball with his other hand. Then, King Boo jumps into the air and throws it right on top of Gengar, and it lands. It hits so hard, that Gengar loses his Mega form just as the spike ball explodes into multiple smaller bombs. After King Boo lands, though, Gengar is nowhere to be found. Sure enough, Gengar ended up being right behind King Boo, and Shadow Punched him in the face, causing the Bowser head to come spinning off. After the fact, Gengar sunk into the floor.
King Boo quickly scurried back into the suit and re-attached his head, but once again, Gengar was nowhere to be found.
After a bit of looking, King Boo noticed the giant shadow beneath him. Out of the shadow came a Gigantimaxed Gengar, who, after bursting out of the ground, knocked King Boo back. King Boo unleashed a wave of fire, but at that point, Gengar could block it with just his hands. Once the attack was over, Gengar raised its hands, and giant silverware materialized around King Boo, then collapsed in on him, using G-Max Terror.
The Bowser Suit had been destroyed. “You think that’s big?” King Boo floated up, and zapped in a painting. After the fact, he made the painting insurmountably large, then made another clone of himself. As the painting was slowly being lowered onto Gengar, both of the King Boos stretched their tongues to attack Gengar from a distance. Gengar tried swatting them out of the air like flies, which failed, so he tried using Max Phantasm, and managed to take out the King Boo clone. Angered by this, King Boo forced the painting to descent faster, but Gengar started to inhale King Boo, and into the abyss of its mouth.
The colliding painting caused a bright light to engulf King Boo’s Illusion.
Once it died down, Gengar could be seen, dizzy, but still alive.
WHAM!
Gengar was suddenly hit by a painting. King Boo pulled it back up so he could see it, and sure enough, Gengar was there. “Finally. It will fine addition to my collection.” He then made the world spin and headed back to the mansion.
K.O.!
So, yeah, it’s true that Gengar technically had more of an edge in power.
But remember, King Boo is still able to take quite the beating.
He can take an infinite amount of spike balls to the head. It may stun him, but he eventually snaps out of it, and the same goes for when he eats his own bombs.
But he was also able to take being slammed into the ground, multiple times, by his own tongue.
The only real way to defeat King Boo is to trap him in some way, which was clearly attempted, but remember, King Boo was able to escape the Poltergust in its prime twice.
I’m sure there were plenty of ways Gengar could win here, but King Boo is just a tank, and remember, Gengar is bad when it comes to physical attacks.
So, King Boo wins in that regard. Who could’ve gust?
The winner is King Boo.