Sneaky Spirits (characters)

"ナ、ナンダヨ~"
"(Wh-what the heck~?)"
— Ghost, Shiro Obake 2

The Sneaky Spirits (しろいおばけ^?, Shiroi Obake), also known as ghosts, are characters in the Rhythm Game of the same name, Sneaky Spirits.

Physical Appearances

The spirits are all-white in color. They have large teeth and exceptionally long tongues. Besides their round shape and short white tails, these are their only defining features.

Interestingly, although their tongues are red in their artwork and when the player misses them in their minigames, it appears with a brighter version of the background color during the game. Their tongues are also always blue in Super Smash Bros., likely because that is the color they take in the original Sneaky Spirits and it can be seen as their most iconic appearance.

Backstory

The Sneaky Spirits are well-known for causing mischief, sneaking from wall to wall while trying to escape their haunted house. They are described as being "kinda mean" and "jerks", but they "aren't evil, exactly". Despite being annoying and making fun of people, they are mentally like children, and so are usually forgiven.^[1]

The arrow used to shoot them, which has been passed down for generations^[2], is magical, as it's crystal tip^[3] has the ability to pierce a ghost. The archer, however, has to keep retrieving it, seeing as they only have the one.^[4] The bow itself has been in the archer's family for generations. It's supposedly made of wood from a sacred tree shaped like a two-headed horse and a left-handed dragon's whisker.^[5]

The ghosts make an appearance in Freeze Frame, where they can sometimes be seen zooming along with the cars in the photos. In Barbershop Remix, they now have hair, and are trying to escape the barbershop. If the player didn't miss any, one can be seen in the second Flipper-Flop 2 section in the seat behind Captain Tuck, complete with an arrow up it's nose.

Appearances

Gallery

Artwork from Rhythm Tengoku
Sneaky Spirits 3DS 2.png

Artwork for Sneaky Spirits from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
Sneaky Spirits 3DS.png

Artwork for Sneaky Spirits 2 from Rhythm Heaven Megamix
SpiritCameo.png

Cameo in Ashley's trailer from WarioWare Gold
Luigi being attacked by a Sneaky Spirit in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Greninja flying past a Sneaky Spirit in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Sonic walking between two Sneaky Spirits in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
Little Mac fighting a Sneaky Spirit in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

In Super Smash Bros.

Sneaky Spirits appear as a common enemy in Smash Run in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. They move just like they did in the original game, by popping up and down in the ground, moving to the right slowly, then jumping to the left to do it again. The popping can damage a player. Since they hide often and move quickly, hitting them can be difficult. However, they are weak otherwise, and managing to hit them enough sends them flying off, dropping a rare star boost, which ups all the stats of the player's character. They also appear as a trophy in the "Other" category.

Sneaky Spirits
	Skinny white ghosts that travel with a smirk on their face. They move like they do in Rhythm Heaven, popping up and down in rhythm before trying to run away. If you manage to defeat one, you'll earn a star-shaped stat boost that improves all of your stats. Time your attacks and keep them from escaping.	These white apparitions seem to have permanent smirks on their faces. Much like in the Rhythm Paradise series, they'll pop up rhythmically from a hiding place beneath the floor, then run away to a distant location. If you do manage to defeat one, you'll get a reward for your troubles, So pay attention to the rhythm and strike!

Trivia

The sounds the Sneaky Spirits make when moving along the wall is a slowed down version of the sounds the Penguins make in Showtime^{[citation needed]}.
The Sneaky Spirits made a cameo during Ashley's Halloween preview for WarioWare Gold.
The information given in the Rhythm Items is generally consistent across languages, but some alter certain details. For example, the Italian version has the speaker unsure if the bow's string was made from a dragon's whisker or a groundhog^[6] and the Spanish version has the speaker acknowledge how crazy the tale sounds, but assures it's simply how they heard it.^[7]

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	しろいおばけ	White Ghost
English^NOA	Sneaky Spirits
English^NOE	Sneaky Spirits
French	Esprits espiègles	Mischievous spirits
Spanish	Fantasmas burlones	Mocking ghosts
Italian	Fantasmi dispettosi	Spiteful ghosts
Dutch	Sneaky Spirits^[8]
Portuguese	Fantasmas Sorrateiros^[8]	Sneaky Spirits
Russian	Хитрые духи^[8]	Sneaky Spirits
Korean	하얀 귀신	White Ghost

References

↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/chara/stage02.html
↑ "これは、尾場家（おばけ）に、代々伝わる家宝の矢じゃ。これであれば、おばけの体もすりぬけずに、やっつけることができるのじゃ。ものすごいじゃろ？なんじゃ、ほしいのかえ？あげないぞよ。（村やくばのソンチョーより）" (This is the arrow that's been passed down in the Obake family for generations. With it, you can kill the ghosts without it slipping through. Amazing, isn't it? What, you want it? I won't give it to you. (From the mayor at the village office.)), ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits, Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus
↑ "Sa pointe en cristal magique peut transpercer des fantômes ! Avec elle, ils sont dans de sales draps ! Bon... évidemment, on n'en a pas 10 000... On n'en a qu'une, et on doit la récupérer après chaque tir..." (It's magic crystal tip can pierce ghosts! With it, they are in trouble! Well... obviously, we don't have 10,000... We only have one, and we have to get it back after each shot...), ~ Rhythm Item description for Esprits espiègles, Rhythm Paradise Megamix
↑ "This magic arrow can pierce a ghost! Impressive, right? (Of course, we only have the one, so we keep having to fire and retrieve it." ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
↑ "This bow has been in our family for generations. It's made of wood from a sacred tree and a dragon's whisker. And the dragon was left-handed! The tree was shaped like a two-headed horse!" ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits 2, Rhythm Heaven Megamix
↑ "Questo arco appartiene alla nostra famiglia da generazioni. Il legno proviene da un albero sacro e la corda è fatta con il baffo di un drago... o forse era una marmotta, non ricordo." (This bow has been in our family for generations. The wood comes from a sacred tree and the rope is made with a dragon's whisker... or maybe it was a groundhog, I don't remember.), ~ Rhythm Item description for Fantasmi dispettosi 2, Rhythm Paradise Megamix
↑ "Este arco ha estado en manos de mi familia durante generaciones. La madera es de un árbol sagrado y la cuerda, de pelo de dragón... (No me mires así, ¡eso es lo que me dijeron!)" (This bow has been in my family's hands for generations. The wood is from a sacred tree and the string, from a dragon's hair... (Don't look at me like that, that's what they told me!)), ~ Rhythm Item description for Fantasmas burlones 2, Rhythm Paradise Megamix
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

[1] ttps://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/chara/stage02.html

[2] "これは、尾場家（おばけ）に、代々伝わる家宝の矢じゃ。これであれば、おばけの体もすりぬけずに、やっつけることができるのじゃ。ものすごいじゃろ？なんじゃ、ほしいのかえ？あげないぞよ。（村やくばのソンチョーより）" (This is the arrow that's been passed down in the Obake family for generations. With it, you can kill the ghosts without it slipping through. Amazing, isn't it? What, you want it? I won't give it to you. (From the mayor at the village office.)), ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits, Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus

[3] "Sa pointe en cristal magique peut transpercer des fantômes ! Avec elle, ils sont dans de sales draps ! Bon... évidemment, on n'en a pas 10 000... On n'en a qu'une, et on doit la récupérer après chaque tir..." (It's magic crystal tip can pierce ghosts! With it, they are in trouble! Well... obviously, we don't have 10,000... We only have one, and we have to get it back after each shot...), ~ Rhythm Item description for Esprits espiègles, Rhythm Paradise Megamix

[4] "This magic arrow can pierce a ghost! Impressive, right? (Of course, we only have the one, so we keep having to fire and retrieve it." ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits, Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[5] "This bow has been in our family for generations. It's made of wood from a sacred tree and a dragon's whisker. And the dragon was left-handed! The tree was shaped like a two-headed horse!" ~ Rhythm Item description for Sneaky Spirits 2, Rhythm Heaven Megamix

[6] "Questo arco appartiene alla nostra famiglia da generazioni. Il legno proviene da un albero sacro e la corda è fatta con il baffo di un drago... o forse era una marmotta, non ricordo." (This bow has been in our family for generations. The wood comes from a sacred tree and the rope is made with a dragon's whisker... or maybe it was a groundhog, I don't remember.), ~ Rhythm Item description for Fantasmi dispettosi 2, Rhythm Paradise Megamix

[7] "Este arco ha estado en manos de mi familia durante generaciones. La madera es de un árbol sagrado y la cuerda, de pelo de dragón... (No me mires así, ¡eso es lo que me dijeron!)" (This bow has been in my family's hands for generations. The wood is from a sacred tree and the string, from a dragon's hair... (Don't look at me like that, that's what they told me!)), ~ Rhythm Item description for Fantasmas burlones 2, Rhythm Paradise Megamix

[smash-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

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