Huey Character Profile & Biography

Character fact sheet Name: Huey (Penki in Japanese, “paint”) First Appearance: Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U, 2016) Home: Prisma Fountain (his birthplace) / Port Prisma on Prism Island Voiced by: Wordless RPG vocalizations performed by Nintendo studio staff Associates: Mario (party leader), the Toad Brigade of Port Prisma, the inhabitants of Prism Island

General profile

Huey, known in Japan as Penki, is the principal party companion of Paper Mario: Color Splash for Wii U (October 2016). A sentient paint-can creature born from the Prisma Fountain on Prism Island, Huey is a whimsical, bouncy, paint-can-shaped being with a bright yellow body, blue-and-red label, expressive cartoon eyes, and a perpetually-grinning open mouth. He stands at approximately half Mario’s height and serves as Mario’s primary companion throughout the game’s 32-region exploration of the colour-drained Prism Island.

Huey’s gameplay role is multifaceted. He functions as Mario’s talking party guide, delivering lore exposition, character commentary, and tactical hints throughout the game. He also serves as the player’s gateway to the Battle Card system that replaces traditional Paper Mario combat. The Battle Cards, collectable paper-craft attack cards painted with Huey’s help, form the core gameplay loop of Color Splash, with Huey serving as the magical-paint-supplier and combat-strategy advisor. The Cutout Power, a special ability that allows Mario to cut out and rearrange paper sections of the game world, is also enabled by Huey’s magical abilities.

Huey’s defining narrative role is as the cheerful, slightly melancholy guide who accompanies Mario across Prism Island’s colour-drained landscape. His mission is to restore the Big Paint Stars, six magical artifacts whose recovery will restore colour to the entire island, with Mario as his rescuer-of-the-island partner. His self-sacrificial ending, in which he chooses to remain at the restored Prisma Fountain rather than continue adventuring with Mario, is one of the most emotionally affecting moments in the Paper Mario series, frequently cited by fans as comparable to Geno‘s departure scene from Super Mario RPG.

Quotes

Enemies

Huey’s primary enemy is Bowser, who has invaded Prism Island in his Black Paint form and drained the colour from the entire island. The Black Paint-corrupted Bowser is significantly different from the standard Mario series Bowser; his motivations and behaviour are altered by the corrupting effect of the magical black paint. Huey also opposes the Black Paint-corrupted minions: Shy Guys, Goombas, and other typical Mario series enemies all painted with corrupting black paint that affects their personalities. The various boss creatures encountered throughout Prism Island’s 32 regions, including the Iggy Koopa-themed boss of the Crimson Tower, oppose Huey across the game’s campaign.

Friends

Huey’s closest companion is Mario, whom he partners with as his primary adventure-companion throughout the entire Color Splash campaign. Their friendship has the dynamic of supportive-and-supported allies: Mario provides the physical combat capability and platforming skills, while Huey provides the magical paint-supply, navigation guidance, and tactical advice. He has warm relations with the Toad Brigade of Port Prisma (the island’s capital town), the various Toad inhabitants of the colour-drained regions, and the Mushroom Kingdom heroic cast more broadly. His relationships with the Toad characters are particularly significant; he is treated as a friend rather than a magical helper across the entire 32-region adventure.

Appearances

Paper Mario: Color Splash (Wii U, October 2016)

Huey debuted in Paper Mario: Color Splash for the Wii U (October 2016), developed by Intelligent Systems. The game is the fifth Paper Mario entry and the only Paper Mario game released on the Wii U. Huey is introduced in the game’s opening sequence: Mario receives a mysterious letter from Princess Peach asking him to investigate Prism Island, which has been drained of colour, and Mario’s arrival at Port Prisma leads to his first encounter with Huey at the Prisma Fountain. The character was designed by Intelligent Systems’ art team led by Naohiko Aoyama.

Partnership with Mario (2016)

Huey’s partnership with Mario forms the central narrative through-line of Color Splash. The two characters traverse Prism Island’s 32 colour-drained regions together, with Huey serving as Mario’s magical paint-supplier, Battle Card crafter, and Cutout Power enabler. The partnership has been frequently praised by reviewers as one of the most well-written companion dynamics in the Paper Mario series.

Cutout Power and Battle Cards (2016)

Huey enables two critical gameplay mechanics in Color Splash: the Battle Card system (where Mario’s combat attacks are powered by collected paper cards) and the Cutout Power (where Mario can cut out and rearrange paper sections of the game world). Both mechanics are central to the game’s puzzle-solving and combat design. The Cutout Power, in particular, is one of the most innovative gameplay-storytelling integrations in Paper Mario series history.

The Big Paint Stars Quest (2016)

The game’s central narrative drive is the recovery of the six Big Paint Stars: magical artifacts whose recovery will restore colour to the entire Prism Island. Each Big Paint Star is found at the end of a major region’s storyline, with multiple smaller chapters leading up to its boss encounter. Huey’s reactions to each Big Paint Star’s recovery are major emotional plot beats, building toward the game’s climactic restoration of the Prisma Fountain.

3D Cutscene Appearances (2016)

While the standard Paper Mario series presents characters in flat paper-cut-out form, Color Splash includes several cutscenes where characters appear in 3D rounded form to differentiate them from the standard 2D paper-flat sprites. Huey’s 3D form retains his standard paint-can silhouette with the addition of subtle three-dimensional shading.

The Self-Sacrificial Ending (2016)

The ending of Paper Mario: Color Splash features one of the most emotionally affecting moments in the Paper Mario series: after the Prisma Fountain is restored, Huey chooses to remain at the fountain rather than continue adventuring with Mario. The decision is portrayed as Huey’s acceptance of his magical-paint-can nature; he is fundamentally tied to the fountain that gave him life, and his role is to protect it rather than wander. The farewell scene with Mario has been frequently cited by fans as one of the most emotionally devastating endings in the Paper Mario series.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Spirit (2018)

Huey returned to wider Mario series gaming as a collectible Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch (December 2018). His Spirit can be summoned in Spirit Battles with combat modifiers reflecting his paint-supplying and Battle Card-crafting abilities. The Spirit’s inclusion confirmed his canonical status within the broader Mario series Smash continuity.

Trivia & Official Sources

• Huey was designed by Intelligent Systems’ art team led by Naohiko Aoyama for Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016). The character’s paint-can design was a deliberate creative choice to reflect the game’s central theme of colour-restoration.
• The Japanese name Penki literally translates to “paint,” directly referencing the character’s paint-can species nature. The Western name “Huey” is a play on the colour-spectrum term “hue,” preserving the colour-related naming convention.
• Huey is one of the few major Paper Mario party characters to be canonically born from a non-traditional birthplace. Most Paper Mario partners are members of established Mario series species; Huey, by contrast, was magically created at the Prisma Fountain rather than being part of any established species.
• The Pix’n Love Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros. (2018) describes Huey as “the magical paint-can companion of Mario in Paper Mario: Color Splash, born from the Prisma Fountain on Prism Island.”
• The Battle Card system enabled by Huey in Color Splash is one of the most innovative combat mechanics in Paper Mario series history. The system replaced traditional turn-based RPG combat with a card-collection-and-play mechanic that gave players strategic flexibility within each encounter.
• Huey’s Cutout Power, the special ability that allows Mario to cut out and rearrange paper sections of the game world, was widely praised by reviewers as one of the most-innovative platforming-puzzle mechanics introduced in the Paper Mario series.
• Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016) sold approximately 1.6 million copies worldwide on the Wii U, making it one of the less-successful Paper Mario series entries commercially, a result widely attributed to the Wii U’s overall sales decline rather than the game’s quality. Huey’s introduction in this game has nonetheless made him a recognised modern Paper Mario character.
• Huey’s self-sacrificial ending, in which he chooses to remain at the restored Prisma Fountain rather than continue adventuring with Mario, is one of the most emotionally affecting moments in the Paper Mario series. The farewell scene has been frequently cited by fans as comparable to Geno’s departure scene from Super Mario RPG (1996).
• The character’s relationship with Mario throughout Color Splash is established as a close friendship rather than a romantic or familial bond. Their partnership has been described by reviewers as one of the most-well-written companion dynamics in the Paper Mario series.
• Prism Island, Huey’s home setting, is one of the most thematically coherent settings in the Paper Mario series. The island’s 32 regions each feature a different colour-themed aesthetic, with the Big Paint Stars’ recovery gradually restoring the island’s rainbow-coloured natural state.
• The 2018 Spirit inclusion of Huey in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate confirmed his canonical status within the broader Mario series Smash continuity. He has not appeared as a playable fighter or Mii Fighter costume.
• The character’s yellow-and-blue paint-can colour scheme was a deliberate creative choice to evoke classic European art-supply company branding. Huey’s design was inspired by traditional 1930s-era paint can illustrations rather than modern paint products.
• Huey has not made any major standalone appearances outside of Color Splash (2016). His role in the broader Mario series has been limited to the single Wii U title and his subsequent Smash Bros. Spirit appearance.
• The character’s in-universe height is approximately half Mario’s height, making him one of the smaller Paper Mario party companions. The diminutive size emphasises his vulnerability and contrasts with his magical paint-supplying capabilities.
• Huey has not been confirmed to appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 2026) as of late 2025 pre-release marketing. The Paper Mario party characters’ film-adaptation status remains one of the open questions for Illumination’s Super Mario film series.
• The character’s emotional, melancholy personality, visible in his expressive face animations (happy, sad, angry, surprised) and his self-sacrificial ending, represents one of the most-developed character voices in the modern Paper Mario series. His emotional range was a deliberate creative choice by Intelligent Systems to differentiate him from typically cheerful Mario series companion characters.