11 Video Game Bosses With Genius Hidden Weaknesses
10. Hooktail - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The first chapter of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door concludes with Mario duking it out with a dragon called Hooktail. This beefy beast may be the first big boss, but she's not going to make things easy. Throughout the brawl, the wicked wyvern blasts Mario with her fire breath and gulps down his allies when she's feeling a bit peckish.
However, the Mushroom Kingdom's beloved hero should have no trouble with Hooktail, if he takes advantage of her weakness. In the village near Hooktail's Castle, Mario can find a letter mentioning how the dragon fears something beginning with 'cr' and ending with 'icket'.
If the player SOMEHOW cracks this cryptic riddle, they'll know to equip the Attack FX R badge, which lets out a cricket chirp when Mario hits his target.
Unless the player found this letter, they'd have no incentive to equip this item, since it seems useless. But if Mario batters Hooktail while this badge is in tow, the nasty lizard's attacks and defences will plummet. After hearing that chirping a couple of times, Hooktail will call it a day.