| “ | The game-and your freedom-are over. Sayonara, sucka! Bwahaha! | „ |
| ~ The Lamp Scam Snifit claiming Mario's "soul". |
The Lamp Scam Snifit is a minor antagonist in Paper Mario: The Origami King. He runs a booth with a magic lamp on top, where the contestants either earn 10,000 coins or be ridden of their freedom permanently within the lamp.
Biography[]
In Snif City within the Scorching Sandpaper Desert, Mario and Olivia have Professor Toad decipher the murals on the second floor of the hotel to open the entrance to the cave of the Fire Vellumental. Most of the mural is blocked off by one of the suites, which was currently occupied by Luigi. One of the staff members directs the party to look at the market booths for that was where Luigi was last seen.
Exploring the booths for the possible whereabouts for Luigi, Mario comes across a stand with a large magic lamp on top with a green "L" written on it. Running the stand is a red Snifit, who offers Mario a prize of 10,000 coins with 100 coins to play. In his game, Mario must guess the mood of the Snifit based on his sniff. Mario is given the option to guess if the sniff was spiteful, strange, sad, or snickering. The chance of each is random. If Mario fails three tries, the Snifit reveals losing causes them to lose their freedom and offers three more guesses for 1,000 coins. Refusing the offer prompts the Snifit to suck up Mario within the magic lamp, adding a red "M" to the lamp next to the "L", with Luigi greeting Mario.
In the second round of guesses, the Snifit lets out a "heh heh" while telling Mario of how many remaining guesses he has, foreshadowing that the correct answer of a snickering sniff. If Mario guesses correctly, the Snifit begins panicking, claiming that someone winning the game would throw him out of business. He then declares to return to his old job as a claims adjuster and runs out of the stand without giving Mario his reward. While fleeing, the Snifit accidentally knocks over some folding paper that exposes a Magic Circle, allowing Mario to rub the lamp with his 1,000-Fold Arms to free Luigi. Olivia confirms that his attraction was a scam.
After Mario restores the desert's condition by destroying Hole Punch and the Yellow Streamer, a Toad takes over the lamp stand. While other red Snifits are encountered by Mario during the remainder of his journey, whatever happened to the specific Snifit that bribed him of his coins remains unknown.
Trivia[]
- During the credits, one red Snifit can be seen dancing with a group of Toads in Shroom City. Whether this is the Lamp Scam Snifit or not is unknown.
- The Snifit himself is not given a proper name, although the stand itself is called "Lamp Scam" according to its Collectible Treasure.
