Shine Sprites are an important collectable in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (yes, even in the Nintendo Switch remake), as you’ll need them to upgrade your party members.
These collectables are often hiding in plain sight inside of a box to hit (as seen in the screenshot at the top of this guide), but some of them can be a little tricky to find. There are 42 Shine Sprites total in the game, and you’ll be able to find them all by the time you’re about halfway through Chapter 7.
Below, we explain what to use Shine Sprites for and where to find all 42 Shrine Sprites in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
What to use Shine Sprites for in Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
Merlon, a wizard who lives next door to Professor Frankly, will beef up your partners in return for three Shine Sprites each. Every time you power them up, they’ll learn a new FP ability, gain more max HP, and deal a bit more damage, making these collectables pretty important.
Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
There are enough Shine Sprites to max out every character (even the optional Ms. Mowz). Each character gets upgraded twice, though you’ll need to help Merlon find a missing item in order to unlock the second upgrades.
Where to find Shine Sprites in Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
We list all of the Shine Sprites locations based on how early you can find them. That said, you should be able to have our list next to you as you play, just running down chapter-by-chapter to help you find all 42 Shine Sprites.
In general, just look out for these boxes as you walk around. Most of them will be hanging out in plain sight, but some of them are tucked away behind decor or other objects.
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Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon
You can also check the percentage of Shine Sprites you have in each area via your in-game map.
If you’re stuck, Merluvlee, who lives in the house next to Dazzle in the Rogueport sewers, will give you hints about where to find any remaining sprites on the map, though you can also refer to our list below, which covers all Shrine Sprites and their locations in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
All Shine Sprite locations in Paper Mario: TTYD
| # | Chapter | Area | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Chapter | Area | Location |
| 1 | Chapter 1 | Hooktail Castle (First Floor) | In plain sight after you defeat the pink dry bones. |
| 2 | Chapter 1 | Hooktail Castle (Third Floor) | In the treasure room where you first meet Ms. Mowz. |
| 3 | Chapter 1 | Hooktail Castle (Grand Staircase) | At the very top of the stairs before the door with the blue lock. |
| 4 | Chapter 1 | Rogueport (Sublevel Three) | In the room with the Thousand-Year Door, use ZR to slip through the fencing and jump on the spring. Fly across using the airplane to get a sprite |
| 5 | Chapter 2 | Boggly Woods | Use Koops to hit the Shine Sprite block at the top of the silver pipe. |
| 6 | Chapter 2 | The Great Tree (First Floor) | In the room with the second Puni switch, jump down to see the Shine Sprite on the right. |
| 7 | Chapter 2 | The Great Tree (Sublevel One) | Once you use Flurrie to blow the structure off the airplane platform, glide straight to the right on to another platform. Then glide to the left to this Shine Sprite. |
| 8 | Chapter 2 | The Great Tree (Sublevel Two) | After getting the Super Boots, use the Spin Jump ability on the panel on the floor right outside of where you got the boots. Jump on the paltforms to get the Shine Sprite. |
| 9 | Chapter 2 | The Great Tree (Sublevel Four) | After draining the water in the tree, hit the Shine Sprite block from a lilypad. |
| 10 | Chapter 3 | Glitzville | Between the juice bar and the Glitz Pit. Use Koops’ shell to hit an invisible block under to make it reachable. |
| 11 | Chapter 3 | Glitz Pit | At the top of the stairs in the Glitz Pit storage room. |
| 12 | Chapter 3 | Rogueport (East) | On the roof of the far building in the background. Use Yoshi’s flutter jump to jump in front of the skull bridge, head up to the area with the boxes, and flutter jump to the roof. Walk back behind the chimney to get to the roof with the sprite. |
| 13 | Chapter 3 | Rogueport (East) | Use ZR to slip through the crack next to the Trouble Center to go to an alleyway. Use Yoshi’s flutter jump to cross the water to get to this sprite. |
| 14 | Chapter 3 | Rogueport (Sublevel Two) | Behind the yellow block in the fast travel pipe room. (You need the Super Hammer to smash the yellow block.) |
| 15 | Chapter 3 | Rogueport (Sublevel One) | Drop into the sewers from the west side using ZR and then use Yoshi’s flutter jump to reach the platform on the left. |
| 16 | Chapter 4 | Twilight Trail | Jump behind the next tree after jumping out of the hole from the background. |
| 17 | Chapter 4 | Creepy Steeple | Spin Jump on top of the well in front of the Creepy Steeple and jump down. |
| 18 | Chapter 4 | Creepy Steeple | In the treasure room you need to paper roll into from the entrance. |
| 19 | Chapter 4 | Creepy Steeple (Sublevel One) | In the well room with the save block. (You need Vivian in your party to get here.) |
| 20 | Chapter 4 | Rogueport (West) | Roll into the crevice in the first house on the right’s upper floor. |
| 21 | Chapter 4 | Rogueport (East) | In the back room of Captain Bobbery’s house. |
| 22 | Chapter 5 | Keelhaul Key | Towards the top of the platforming area of the jungle. |
| 23 | Chapter 5 | Keelhaul Key | On the right side of the bridge. |
| 24 | Chapter 5 | Pirate’s Grotto | At the top of the half sinking boat. |
| 25 | Chapter 5 | Pirate’s Grotto | At the top of the cliff with the heal and save block with the locked door. You need to hit a hidden block under it to reach it. |
| 26 | Chapter 5 | Pirate’s Grotto | On top of the barrels in the room with the lift and Grotto Key. You’ll need to time Koops’ shell and jump on to the box from the lift, and then jump to the barrels. |
| 27 | Chapter 5 | Pirate’s Grotto | By the cliffside with the rolling waves. Use Koops’ shell to grab it. |
| 28 | Chapter 5 | Pirate’s Grotto | In the room with the floating barrels. Use your hammer to reveal a hidden block under it to reach it. |
| 29 | Chapter 5 | Rogueport (West) | Blow up the wall all the way to the west using Bobbery |
| 30 | Chapter 5 | Rogueport (Sublevel One) | Use boat form in the room with the warp pipe that takes you to Petalburg. |
| 31-32 | Chapter 5 | Rogueport (Sublevel Two) | In a secret room accessible only by boat. From the western side of the sewers, enter the alcove with the pipe and head left to get on the boat platform. Ride the boat straight through the water to get to this room. (The third sprite requires a further upgrade, so ignore it for now.) |
| 33 | Chapter 6 | Excess Express (Car Two) | Inside the train car at the beginning of the chapter. |
| 34 | Chapter 6 | Excess Express (Car Four) | A reward from the Bob-omb family after giving the son the conductor’s autograph. |
| 35 | Chapter 6 | Riverside Station (Deck) | By the stairs on the floor. |
| 36 | Chapter 6 | Riverside Station (Records Room) | At the top of the stairs. Use Koops’ shell to reach it. |
| 37 | Chapter 6 | Poshley Heights | Outside the sanctum on the right. Super Jump to grab it. |
| 38 | Chapter 6 | Poshley Sanctum | On the left ledge in the front of the secret room the Crystal Star is in. |
| 39 | Chapter 6 | Rogueport (Sublevel Two) | In the same secret room as #31-32, but now you can Spring Jump to reach it. |
| 40 | Chapter 6 | Rogueport (Sublevel One) | On top of the pillar behind Dazzle. Access the pillar by using your Spring Jump behind the elevator platform in the town area of the sewers where the water is dripping. |
| 41 | Chapter 7 | Path to Fahr Outpost | Behind a tree on the left side of the map. |
| 42 | Chapter 7 | Fahr Outpost | Next to the building on the east side of the outpost. |
For more Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door guides, see how to get Ms. Mowz, learn all Thwomp quiz answers, and check out Great Boggly Tree walkthrough. You can also see where to find all Shine Sprites.
