Personnage articulé en carton, style Paper Mario, entouré de blocs de bois

O'Chunks: Count Bleck's Loyal Colossus

1515 words | Reading time : 7 minute(s)

BossSuper Paper MarioCount Bleck

A Scottish colossus in a kilt, with a red beard and a code of honor. Known as O'Chunks in the original version, Mc Astagne is Count Bleck's most loyal minion in Super Paper Mario, released in Europe on 14 September 2007. This profile digs into his past as a disgraced general recruited in shame, his four battles — a record in the game — and a loyalty that goes all the way to sacrifice.

Mc Astagne (O'Chunks in the original version) is one of the most loyal minions of Count Bleck (Comte Niark in French) in Super Paper Mario, released on Wii in 2007. This red-bearded Scottish colossus in a kilt is brute force put at the service of a hopeless cause.

Not the sharpest, but loyal to the bone, he is also the boss you face the most often in the game: four duels over the course of the adventure. Behind that thuggish build, though, hides a genuine code of honor.

Contents

A Scottish colossus in Count Bleck's service

In Super Paper Mario, Mc Astagne is one of Count Bleck's five minions, alongside the secretary Nastasia, the shape-shifter Mimic, the mysterious Mister L and the wizard Dimensio. His mission fits in a single line: crush anyone who stands in the way of his master's plans.

His look fools no one. Bushy red beard, kilt and a Scottish accent thick enough to cut with a knife, Mc Astagne cultivates every cliché of the Highland warrior. He talks loud, hits even harder and always prefers a brawl to thinking things through.

His French name, incidentally, is a tasty pun: "Mc Astagne" blends the Scottish prefix "Mc" with the colloquial French word "castagne", meaning a scrap or a brawl. Where English uses the Irish prefix "O'" in O'Chunks, the French version swings squarely over to the Scottish side.

Artwork of Mc Astagne, the red-haired colossus in a kilt
Kilt, red beard and a lumberjack's build: the character fully owns the caricature.

A fallen general recruited in disgrace

Before joining Count Bleck, Mc Astagne was a general commanding more than a thousand soldiers. His military career could have made him a war legend respected by all.

But one of his own advisers betrayed him, and his entire army was wiped out by the enemy. Ruined by shame and crushed by defeat, the colossus sank into a deep depression, stripped of the only role he knew how to play.

It was precisely that despair that Count Bleck exploited in order to recruit him. By offering this broken man a new cause to defend, the Count secured an unshakable loyalty that becomes Mc Astagne's true trademark throughout the game.

The most-fought boss in Super Paper Mario

Mc Astagne holds a record: he is the boss you fight the most often in the game, four times in all. No other opponent turns up that often across the adventure's eight chapters.

  • A first duel as early as Chapter 1, where he is the first genuinely serious obstacle placed in Mario's path.
  • Two clashes in Chapter 5, one of them after Dimensio's magic turns him into a puppet with no will of his own.
  • One final battle at the entrance to Castle Bleck, in Chapter 8, this time in a giant, menacing form.

In battle, Mc Astagne bets everything on his sheer bulk: ground slams, shoulder charges and throws that send you flying. In the later duels he adds spinning tornadoes and even flights propelled by his own gas, a gag right in line with the series' offbeat humor.

Mc Astagne facing Bowser in Super Paper Mario
You fight him more often than any other boss in the game.

Gruff, but faithful to a code of honor

For all his outward brutality, Mc Astagne is no unscrupulous thug. Facing Princess Peach, he refuses to fight dirty and insists on giving her a proper duel, worthy of a true warrior.

His loyalty to Count Bleck is absolute, which puts him at the very opposite of the treachery of Dimensio, the plot's real manipulator. When Nastasia reveals the wizard's betrayal to him, Mc Astagne does not hesitate for a second to switch sides and go find and save his master.

This explosive mix of muscle, naivety and honor makes him one of the game's most endearing minions, a far cry from the throwaway boss you forget straight away.

The sacrifice at Castle Bleck and the redemption

Mc Astagne's most heroic moment comes in the heart of Castle Bleck. As the ceiling threatens to collapse on the group, the colossus holds the whole structure up with his bare hands to cover the escape of Mario and his allies, reckoning they have earned the right to pass.

At that point he is believed dead, crushed under the rubble. Yet, true to his legendary toughness, Mc Astagne turns up alive and well a little later to lend a hand in the adventure's final stretch.

Right at the very end, he joins the heroes and his former companions to build together the ideal world Count Bleck had once promised them. From brutal minion, Mc Astagne ends up a redeemed and surprisingly kind-hearted figure.

A colorful opponent turned cult favorite

Beyond his role as an antagonist, Mc Astagne brings a hefty dose of humor to Super Paper Mario. His gruff one-liners, cartoonish accent and improbable attacks make him a recurring comic device throughout the adventure.

His forced transformation into a puppet under Dimensio's control, stripped of all free will, also underlines the cruelty of the game's true villain in contrast with his own perfectly sincere loyalty.

For many players, Mc Astagne remains one of the most memorable minions of the Paper Mario era: not quite a villain, not really a hero, but always true to his word.

Mc Astagne (O'Chunks) at a glance

French name Mc Astagne
English name O'Chunks
Debut game Super Paper Mario (Wii)
Release 19 April 2007 (Japan), 14 Sept. 2007 (Europe)
Role Count Bleck's loyal minion
Boss fights 4 (the most fought in the game)
Distinctive features Red beard, kilt, Scottish accent
Final fate Joins the heroes to build the ideal world

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FAQ

  • What is Mc Astagne's real name?
    Mc Astagne is the character's official French name, while the original version calls him O'Chunks. The French name is a pun blending the Scottish prefix "Mc" with "castagne", a colloquial word for a brawl.
  • How many times do you fight Mc Astagne in the game?
    You fight him four times over the course of the adventure, which makes him the most frequently faced boss in Super Paper Mario. Those duels stretch from Chapter 1 all the way to Chapter 8, at the entrance to Castle Bleck.
  • Is Mc Astagne really a villain?
    He is one of Count Bleck's minions, but he lives by a genuine code of honor and refuses to land cheap shots. His loyalty is sincere, so much so that he ends up switching sides and joining the heroes at the end of the game.
  • What happens to Mc Astagne at the end of Super Paper Mario?
    After sacrificing himself by holding up the ceiling of Castle Bleck so Mario could escape, he reappears alive and well. In the finale, he joins the heroes to build the ideal world Count Bleck had promised them.
  • Which game does Mc Astagne appear in?
    Mc Astagne appears in Super Paper Mario, a Paper Mario series game released on Nintendo Wii in 2007. In it he plays one of Count Bleck's main minions.

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