Paper Mario: Power Bounce Caps

In Paper Mario speedrunning, you'll often see the term 'capped' when you hear about Power Bouncing on enemies, particularly bosses. A 'cap' is a value programmed into the game where you simply unable to continue bouncing even if you hit the action command perfectly. This value varies from enemy to enemy, and is totally random each time you enter a battle so it is impossible to manipulate or know what you cap may be, unless you are doing a TAS of the game.

There are two very distinct animations to look for in relation to caps. These can help tell you if you missed, or if the game stopped you.

Capped - Mario jumps back very far on the last bounce
Missed - Mario falls straight to the ground after last bounce

Here's a list of caps that we know exist on every relevant boss in the game. Not every value is listed because very high caps are usually irrelevant.

* = Most common, average
** = Uncommon
*** = Very rare

Blooper
8**
9**
10-14*
14-16**
17+ ***

Buzzar
4**
5*
6+ **

Tutankoopa
4**
5*
6+ **

Ch 3 Jr Troopa
4**
5*
6+ **

Tubba's Heart
4**
5*
6*
7+ **

Lantern Ghost
4*
5*
6**
7**

General Guy
4*
5*
6+ **

Lava Piranha
3***
4*
5*
6**
7**

Lakilester
4**
5*
6*
7+ **

Huff N Puff
3***
4*
5*
6**
7+ **

Ch 7 Troopa
4**
5*
6*
7+ **

Crystal King
3***
4*
5*
6+ **

Ch 8 Troopa
3***
4*
5*
6+ **

Hallway Bowser
3**
4*
5**
6+ **

Final Bowser
3*
4*
5+ **