Main characters: The Mario Brothers | Allies (The Princesses) | The Koopa Kingdom (Bowser — Bowser Jr. — The Koopalings — Other High-Ranking Subordinates — Bosses) | Assorted Nasties
RPG characters: Super Mario RPG | Paper Mario (64 — The Thousand-Year Door — Super — Sticker Star — Color Splash — The Origami King) | Mario & Luigi (Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser)
Spinoff series: Yoshi's Island | Luigi's Mansion | Mario Golf | Mario Tennis | Super Mario Maker | Donkey Kong series (Kongs) | Wario series (Wario and Waluigi)
Crossovers: Punch-Out!! | Super Smash Bros. | Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games | Skylanders | Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle | Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Other media: The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach! | Super Mario Bros. (DiC) | Super Mario Bros. (1993) | The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The Turtle Empire that rivals the Mushroom Kingdom. Led by King Bowser, they serve as the primary antagonists of the franchise.
The Koopa Troop/Bowser's Minions
Clockwise from upper-left: Goomba, Boo, Bullet Bill, Thwomp, Spiny, Magikoopa, Piranha Plant, Hammer Bro, Koopa Troopa (center)
"Koopa Pack, ATTACK!"
Bowser's loyal legion of minions, the Koopa Troop/Bowser's Minions (also known as the Turtle Tribe, Koopa Clan or just the Koopas) is countless strong and made up not only of Koopa Troopas but also Goombas, Piranha Plants, Spinies, Bob-ombs, Bullet Bills, and other assorted baddies. Most of them aren't that bad, though; they just have a nasty boss.
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In General
- Adorable Evil Minions: As the games rarely stray from being fun and lighthearted, not even the foes you face can escape the gravitational pull of the series adorable cartoon style, with even the more menacing ones being Defanged Horrors at worst. It's no surprise that the series eventually rejected the idea of them being Always Chaotic Evil and gave just about every enemy species some friendly representation in the RPGs and other spin-off media.
- Affably Evil: Even though they serve the Koopa King, very few of them actually bear any animosity towards the heroes, and are overall friendly creatures. They're just doing their job out of loyalty to Bowser, and will gladly have parties and other get-togethers in the Mushroom Kingdom on their down time.
- Airborne Mook: Multiple enemy species include a variant, usually referred to as Para-[base enemy], which possess small white wings that allow it to move through the air and which will be knocked off if Mario jumps on it, turning it into the regular variant of its species.
- Alternate Self: Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam has paper versions of the Koopa Troop alongside Bowser. They, like Bowser Jr. and Paper Bowser Jr., get along pretty well with each other with no arguing and backtalk.
- Always Chaotic Evil: Subverted. In spinoffs, many are shown to have their own personality and there are even several good members of these species that don't live under Bowser's rule. Even the ones that do work for Bowser are strongly implied to be Punch-Clock Villains. In Super Mario Odyssey, for example, every Koopa Troopa that's part of a 3D segment is a friendly NPC, despite Bowser being the villain as usual.
- Art Evolution: Enemies will often change in appearance depending on the games. Skeeters in particular, as they've never been in two games with the same appearance.
- Artifact Title: Tox Boxes looked like industrial metal boxes with spray-painted faces in Super Mario 64, gaining their name from "toxic" and "box". In Super Mario Galaxy, they're made of stone and resemble oni to make them more like Thwomps, but they retain the now-irrelevant name.
- Badass Army: They may not appear like it, but they have conquered the Mushroom Kingdom multiple times, assaulted the Star Spirits, and kidnapped the local Crystal Dragon Jesus. In Dream Team, several members of the Koopa Troop don't appear as enemies until later in the game, but become the brunt of the enemies encountered afterwards. Including the Goombas.
- Bedsheet Ghost: Peepas are small, white ghosts with nubby arms, round black eyes with white pupils and a permanently smiling mouth.
- Berserk Button: Wigglers are friendly caterpillars, but if you jump on them, they'll become angry, turning red and moving much more quickly. This was originally due to the Wiggler's flowernote — in Super Mario World, bouncing on them would remove the flower, thereby setting their tempers off. Later titles apparently forgot the detail of the lost flowers, making the Hair-Trigger Temper a species trait.
- Canon Immigrant: All the enemies that originated in Doki Doki Panic made their Mario series debut in Super Mario Bros. 2, as the game was reskinned (with Clawgrip and the GBA-exclusive Robirdo being the only additional enemies). Nonetheless, they fit in well. In-universe, this leads to an overlap between the 8-Bits (the enemies that are part of Wart's army) and the Koopa Troop (enemies under Bowser's command). As for when they officially debut as part of the Koopa Troop...Bob-ombs: Super Mario Bros. 3
Ninjis: Super Mario World
Pokeys: Super Mario World
Pidgits: Super Mario World
Shy Guys: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Snifits: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Sparks/Piro Dangles: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Porcupos: Mario Kart 64
Phanto: Super Mario Maker 2
- Counting remakes, Flurries and Hoopsters joined in the GBA version of Super Mario Bros. 3, appearing in certain e-Reader levels. Also, while Birdo returns in later games as well, she's not known to be aligned with Bowser (and rarely antagonizes Mario or his friends at all).
- Cool Airship: They sometimes ride in these, which are essentially pirate ships held up by propellers in the air.
- Dem Bones: Multiple enemies, such as Dry Bones, Bony Beetles, and Fish Bones, are skeletal variants of more common enemy types. They typically collapse into piles of bones after being attacked, and reassemble themselves a short while thereafter.
- Dub Name Change: In Japan they're called Koopa Gundan while in the U.S., they were first called the Koopa Troop in Super Mario RPG and later changed to Bowser's Minions starting with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.
- Giant Mook: Numerous levels throughout the series feature colossal variants of standard Troop members like Koopas and Goombas, including Giant Land of Super Mario Bros. 3, Supermassive Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the Jungle of the Giants in New Super Mario Bros. U. Super Mario World also introduces Big Boos and Banzai Bills, and following games have included more and more. In Super Mario Maker and its sequel, nearly any Troop member can be made giant via the Super Mushroom.
- Hidden Depths: As the Mario RPGs show, a lot of the Koopa Troop members show that the troops are more intelligent than they seem. At least one Dry Bones enjoys table tennis, and even knows of how it first came to be.
- Just Following Orders: Bowser's minions very rarely bear any personal grudge against the heroes. They just really like Bowser a lot and follow him out of admiration. They have even cooperated and even allied with Mario and crew on occasion in the RPG and Party games and some become playable in the Sports and Kart games.
- King Mook: Many of the enemy races have a powerful ruler with unique powers who reports directly to Bowser, including Goomboss/King Goomba (Goombas); Kamek, Kammy Koopa, and Kamella (Magikoopas); Petey Piranha (Piranha Plants); King Bob-omb (Bob-ombs); King Boo (Boos); and General Guy (Shy Guys); Bowser himself is this to the Koopas proper. Some races have giant or extremely powerful versions that have "King" in their name, like King Bill (NSMBWii, the Bullet Bill line) and King Kaliente (Super Mario Galaxy, the Octoomba line).
- Mascot Mook:
- The Goomba and Koopa Troopa are very much symbols of the series, just as much as Mario himself.
- Shy Guys are the mascots of games with Yoshi as the central protagonist, as well as the international Super Mario Bros. 2.
- Mecha-Mooks: Bullet Bills, Bob-ombs, Mechakoopas, their variants and assorted other enemies are all mechanical in some manner.
- Monogender Monsters: The Japanese site for 3D Land refers to Pom Pom as the lone female in Bowser's army. This implies that all of his common mooks are male.
- Monster Town: Mainly in the Paper Mario games, where multiple species – Koopas, Goombas, Bob-ombs and Snifits, chiefly — are shown to have their own civilian settlements and to be normal homebodies just like the Toads; it's just the ones we see most often are Bowser's foot soldiers.
- Monster Clown: Amps are often shown with clown-like faces.
- Mooks: Some of gaming's most famous examples of endless hordes of weak, replaceable minions that players will mow through by the thousands.
- Morality Pet: They occasionally function as this to Bowser in the RPGs, seeing him as something of a superstar while he likewise cares for them in his own irritable fashion. He even lets some stay in the Monster Town in Super Mario RPG and forgives the Trio who tossed him in a safe (while defecting to Fawful willingly (again)) in Bowser's Inside Story.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Not every member of the species works for Bowser. This is displayed most in the first two Paper Mario games, which have helpful individual minions as your allies, though they also fight their usual mook counterparts. Super Mario Odyssey also shows that Goombas and Koopa Troopas freely hang around the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Night of the Living Mooks:
- Many Koopa Troop races have undead counterparts, most notably Dry Bones (skeletal Koopas) and Bony Beetles (skeletal Buzzy Beetles).
- Spectral enemies include Boos, their many subtypes, and a large number of other ghosts.
- Non-Lethal K.O.:
- Several games heavily imply that Mario doesn't actually kill them and they can survive being stomped flat. It's most consistent and explicit with Goombas, Koopas, and Bob-ombs, though the others may vary from game to game. This is a franchise where "Extra Lives" and "Game Over" are canon, after all.
- The Koopalings in particular have been melted, exploded, disintegrated, etc., but always turn up fine next time. Same with Petey, King Boo, Kamek, and Bowser himself sometimes.
- Promoted to Playable: Many Mario spin-off titles allow you to play as a regular enemy. Usual suspects include a green Koopa Troopa, a red Paratroopa, Dry Bones, Boo and Shy Guy, but others appear in at least one game.
- Punch-Clock Villain: The Koopa Troop themselves are not The Evil Army, following Bowser out of genuine admiration more than anything other than the idea that they can be promoted over Bowser and boss him around and seem to have no guff with Mario on downtime. The Lakitus are a stand-out example, appearing regularly as friendly camera crews in Mario sports games.
- Shock and Awe:
- Fizzlits, blob-like purple creatures whose attack pattern is to melt into an electric puddle to try to electrocute Mario.
- Amps, spherical creatures who shock Mario with the electricity crackling around their bodies.
- Superpowered Mooks: There are various Super Leaf and Super Bell-using mooks in 3D Land and 3D World, respectively.
- Too Dumb to Live: Ground enemies in the 2D platformers. With few exceptions—most notably, Red Koopa Troopas—ground enemies in these games are apparently blind and will walk right off the edge of platforms and fall into Bottomless Pits to their deaths.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Throughout the Mario & Luigi series. They go from being easily beaten and/or brainwashed in the first three games to forming the majority of the late-game enemies of their own will (and all this under Bowser, as opposed to the other games) in Dream Team.
- A defining trait of Octoombas seems to be that they become tougher in each subsequent game they appear in. In Galaxy, their only attack is a close-range antenna whip, making them only slightly more of a threat than a Goomba. In the second game, they have a rock-spitting attack similar to the Octoguys, but with a faster and more direct arc. Elite Octoombas also appear, who spit two rocks in succession. In 3D World, there are only regular Octoombas, but they now spit three cannonballs in succession, and are made immune to all attacks but Ground Pounds.
- Underground Monkey: It's extremely for common for enemy species to possess variants, often multiple ones, adapted to or themed around various weapons, environments and game gimmicks. Shy Guys in particular possess an extreme number of subtypes, while Hammer Bros. also possess numerous variants based on throwing different things at you.
- You Don't Look Like You: All the enemies in Super Mario Sunshine look different from their Mushroom Kingdom counterparts, even Delfino King Boo. According to Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros., the Sunshine variants are actually created by Bowser Jr.'s Graffiti.
Koopas
A race of anthropomorphic turtles. Bowser's primary subjects, the Koopas include numerous variants. Their shells seem to be articles of clothing rather than part of their anatomy. Debut: Super Mario Bros. (or Mario Bros., as Shellcreepers were conceptually prototypical Koopa Troopas).
- Elite Mooks: The Hammer Bros., Lakitus, Magikoopas, Chargin' Chucks, and other bigger and stronger variants are this to garden-variety Koopa Troopas.
Koopa Troopas
A green Koopa Troopa.
A red Paratroopa.
Ordinary Koopas who are Bowser's rank and file alongside the Goombas. Whilst their shells are extremely tough, allowing them to survive Mario's stomps, Koopa Troopas are otherwise weak soldiers. Their shells can be removed or used as projectiles, most famously in the Mario Kart series. Koopa Paratroopas are winged Koopa Troopas, who are able to hop around or outright fly but become regular Koopas if jumped on. They typically appear in green (stalwart soldiers who will follow their assigned routes come bottomless pits or high water) and red (brainy types who will pull a smart about-face at cliff edges); other colors appear much more rarely. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Action Bomb: In Super Mario Land, regular Koopa Troopas are replaced by Bombshell Koopas, who explode when jumped on.
- Airborne Mook: Koopa Paratroopas, Koopas with birdlike wings that fly around in the air and revert to wingless Troopas when jumped on.
- Anthropomorphic Shift: In Super Mario World, Koopa Troopas start walking on two feet and wearing shoes.
- Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag: They're bipeds in New Super Mario Bros., in Super Mario Galaxy they go back to being quadrupeds, in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, they're bipeds again, in Super Mario Galaxy 2 they're quadrupeds again, and in Super Mario 3D Land they're back to being bipeds. Oddly enough, their skeletal Dry Bones variants are bipedal even when regular Troopas aren't.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Besides determining which will and won't walk right into a bottomless pit, Koopa shell colors are often used to signify their various traits when more than the basic red and green show up. In Super Mario World, for instance, red, blue and yellow Troopas will all grant Yoshi different powers if he eats them.
- Commuting on a Bus: Koopa Troopa was playable in the original Super Mario Kart, but disappeared from the series for a while afterward. He returned in Double Dash!!, but it wouldn't be until Mario Kart Wii that he became a series mainstay.
- Elite Mook: The Paper Mario games have Koopatrols, stronger Troopas in full plate armor.
- Fragile Speedster: Whenever they are playable in Mario Kart, Koopas are often lightweights with good acceleration and handling.
- Giant Mook: Supersized versions alternatively called Big Troopas or Giant Troopas appear in certain games, and are usually there for Mario to use their shells to break extra-large obstacles.
- The Goomba:
- Basic Koopas — weak, found early, found often, and found in a staggering variance of mildly more competent forms.
- In lieu of traditional Goombas, the Beach Koopas, which are Koopa Troopas without their shells, take the Goomba role in Super Mario World.
- Helpful Mook: Koopa Troopas in various games exist only so Mario can take their shell for his own use. They can't even hurt Mario and crew in Super Mario 64, only running away in panic and pushing the player with harmless knockback.
- Mario Clash has Koopa Troopas as the only enemy that can be defeated by the Goomba Stomp; every other enemy has to be defeated by being hit by the shells that the koopas generously provide Mario.
- In Super Mario World, Koopas exist largely so that Yoshi can eat them to gain the ability to spit fireballs, cause small earthquakes or fly.
- In Super Mario 64, Koopa Troopas can't even hurt Mario and run away from him instead; their only purpose is for Mario to take their shell to ride after defeating them.
- Super Mario Galaxy has Koopa Troopas appear in certain boss fights so Mario can defeat them, take their shell and use it as a projectile weapon.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Troopas and Paratroopas both traditionally come in two colors, green and red. Consistently, green Koopas have the simplest behaviors and red ones the more complex ones. Green Koopas will walk in straight lines even when these carry them into bottomless pits, while red one about-face at ledges; green Paratroopas fly around randomly or back-and-forth, while red ones patrol rigid routes.
- Mascot Mook: Koopas are very much symbols of the series, almost as much as Mario himself.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Mario has Koopa Troopa partners in both of the first two Paper Mario titles (Kooper and Koops), and in the both games, there are specific towns dedicated to peaceful-living Koopas like Koopa Village and Petalburg. Super Mario Odyssey even has friendly Koopas living in the Mushroom Kingdom.
- Out of Focus:
- In Super Mario Odyssey. Outside of the 2D sections, the only Koopa Troopas in the game are friendly NPCs who host minigames.
- Most 3D platformers turn them from common enemies to uncommon or rare enemies, likely due to changing the mechanics of how their shells work.
- Palmtree Panic: Super Mario Kart Koopa Beaches 1 & 2, Mario Kart 64 Koopa Troopa Beach, Mario Kart Wii Koopa Cape, and Koopa's Seaside Soiree from Mario Party 4 to a lesser extent reveal their affinity for these kinds of environments.
- Removable Shell: Mario can force a Koopa Troopa out of its shell in order to ride it or use it as a weapon. When this happens, the Koopa Troopa is revealed to wear undergarments inside of its shell.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Honestly, the Koopa Troopas are downright adorable, rarely scowling compared to Goombas.
- Rollerblade Good: Rolla Koopas, a new variant introduced in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, wear pink Koopa Shells and ride around on roller skates.
- Superpowered Mooks: The Super Koopas in Super Mario World, who fly through the air and wear colorful capes.
Buzzy Beetles
Small, four-legged turtles vulnerable to jumps but with hard, often fireproof shells — essentially, they're reverse Spinies. Commonly found in underground levels. Variants include Spike Tops (Buzzy Beetles with large spikes, which protect them from overhead stomps), Para-Beetles/Parabuzzies (flying Buzzy Beetles with wings), and Bony Beetles (skeletal Buzzy Beetles that typically have retractable spines). Debut: Super Mario Bros. (Buzzy Beetles), Super Mario Bros. 3 (Para-Beetles), Super Mario World (Bony Beetles and Spike Tops)
- Airborne Mook: Para-Beetles, sometimes called Parabuzzies, appear as either regular or legless Buzzies with small white wings. In the platformer titles, they can be used as platforms; in the Paper Mario games, jumping on them will knock off their wings.
- Armless Biped: In early games, Bony Beetles have a single pair of limbs in contrast to their living counterparts' four.
- Art Evolution: In early works — Super Mario World, the Super Mario Bros. 3 remake, the first Paper Mario title and the Super Mario-kun manga — Bony Beetles have only two limbs, large shoes, and no visible faces outside of a pair of glowing eyes. In Paper Mario: Sticker Star and New Super Mario Bros. U , they're redesigned to more closely resemble living Buzzy Beetles, gaining a second set of legs, losing their shoes, and having their face becomes visible when their spines are retracted.
- Ceiling Cling: Spike Tops can usually walk up walls and alongside ceilings.
- Creepy Shadowed Undereyes: Buzzy Beetles have a shadow cast over their red eyes, making them seem more menacing. Their Helpful Mook cousins, Parabeetles, don't have the same shadowing.
- Dem Bones: Bony Beetles, a skeletal variant that will reassemble itself after being stomped and which possesses retractable spikes.
- Floating Limbs: Bony Beetles typically lack visible legs connecting their feet to their shells.
- Giant Mook: Some games feature Big Buzzy Beetles around twice as tall as Mario. The New Super Mario Bros. games also include Heavy Para-Beetles, a supersized variant of the winged Para-Beetles that can used as large platforms.
- Helpful Mook: Para-Beetles and their giant variant chiefly exist to provide Mario with makeshift platforms in sky-themed levels.
- Immune to Fire: They're entirely immune to Mario's fireballs, and must be defeated with physical attacks instead. They're also immune to lava as a result.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Downplayed in most of their platformer appearances. Buzzy Beetles are Immune to Fire, so you cannot defeat them that way. Jumping on top of them will make them retreat inside their shell just like Koopa Troopas, but this does not kill them and they will resurface if you wait long enough. You can permanently get rid of them by throwing them down Bottomless Pits or using a Super Star, but those aren't always nearby.
- Kill It with Ice: With the introduction of the Ice Flower in 2D Mario in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, this is the simplest way to defeat them. This is particularly effective for Spike Tops, who are immune to both jumps and slopes.
- Leaning Tower of Mooks: Buzzy Beetle Towers, introduced from Super Mario Maker onwards. One also appears as a miniboss in Paper Mario: Color Splash with a Green Spike Guy, a Small Buzzy Beetle, a regular Buzzy Beetle, and a Big Buzzy Beetle forming the tower.
- Non-Indicative Name: Buzzy Beetles aren't beetles, and they don't make any buzzing sounds. The original Japanese name for the species is "Metto" (shortened from the English word "helmet"), so the association with beetles was introduced in the translation.
- No-Sell: Buzzy Beetles are defined by their immunity to fire, giving the player one less avenue to defeat them as they would with the functionally-similar Spiny.
- Pulling Themselves Together: Bony Beetles collapse into piles of bones when struck by an attack. After a few seconds, the bones will pull themselves back into shape and the skeleton will continue on its way.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Later designs of Buzzy Beetles give them solid red dots for eyes, and you better take warning since they are flame-resistant.
- Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: While regular Buzzy Beetles have visible faces sticking out of their shells, Bony Beetles simply have a dark hole with two glowing yellow eyes.
- The Spiny:
- Spike Tops, Buzzy Beetles with a single spike on their shells, which are immune both to jumps and to Mario's fireballs. Instead, they need to be taken out with a cape swing, by hitting the bottom of a block they're walking on, with a hammer strike, or by some other method.
- Bony Beetles, a skeletal variant, possess retractable spines. They can be jumped on as normal when the spines are in, but are immune to stomping when they're out.
Chargin' Chucks
Burly Koopas that wear American Football gear and attack with sports-related weaponry such as footballs and baseballs. Debut: Super Mario World.
- The Bus Came Back: After being absent for almost a decade (their last appearance was in the e-Reader level Vegetable Volley in the Game Boy Advance version of Super Mario Bros. 3), they reappeared in Super Mario 3D World and have made more appearances since then, even becoming playable in Mario Golf: Super Rush.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Diggin' Chucks dig up rocks from the ground.
- Enemy Summoner: Certain Chucks in Super Mario World can whistle to summon enemies. In Forest of Illusion 2, it wakes up the surrounding Rip Van Fish, and in Funky, it summons Super Koopas.
- Gretzky Has the Ball: Some Chargin' Chucks throw baseballs at Mario, even though they're still dressed in football gear. They even appear playing golf in a Mario Golf game.
- Made of Iron: Their bigger size and protective athletic gear often makes them harder to kill than most enemies. In Super Mario World, they needed to be stomped three times and could tank multiple fireballs.
- Mook Lieutenant: A single Chargin' Chuck serves as the boss of Float Castle II in Yoshi's Safari.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Super Mario 3D World shows that they have tufts of hair under their helmets.
- Self-Duplication: The Splittin' Chuck splits into three when the player gets close.
- Suddenly Speaking: Minion Quest is the first game that has them talk, with Paper Mario: The Origami King and Mario Golf: Super Rush giving them more lines.
- Super-Strength: They are amongst the strongest and most destructive enemies faced by the Mario bros, as they can destroy walls of blocks that Mario and Luigi can't destroy, which is required in some levels of Super Mario World. In Super Mario Odyssey capping a Chargin' Chuck allows you to destroy rock blocks, walls and boulders when you charge as long as you don't hit an indestructible wall.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: The sole Chuck in Yoshi's Safari tosses bombs.
- Weaponized Ball: Passin' Chucks repeatedly punt bouncing footballs, and Confused Chucks hurl baseballs.
- Wolfpack Boss: The Chargin' Chuck Corps in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam are composed of a dozen Chucks, who will call in reinforcements when some are defeated.
Dry Bones
Skeletal Koopa Troopas that come back to life not long after being stomped. They usually stay in castles, but are also found in deserts. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Airborne Mook: Some games have winged Parabones. Unlike their Paratroopa counterparts, their wings always come back when they reassemble after being stomped, expect in the Super Mario Maker games.
- Ballistic Bone: In the RPG games, they usually attack by throwing a Stock Femur Bone at the protagonists.
- Breakout Mook Character: Dry Bones has been a recurring playable character in many of the spin-off titles beginning as a support character in the Mario baseball games, to being fully playable in Mario Kart DS onwards and in the Mario Party series.
- Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs: Neither grounded Dry Bones nor living Paratroopas appear in either Super Mario 3D World or Super Mario Odyssey, instead there are Parabones, which combines elements from both variants of Koopa.
- Dem Bones: They're the walking, living skeletons of Koopa Troopas.
- Floating Limbs: In the Paper Mario games, they have no legs or arms — their hands and shoes just float next to their bodies.
- Giant Mook: Some games feature Super/Big Dry Bones, which are immune to jumping, but vulnerable to everything else.
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Their eyes are solid black pits with glowing yellow pupils.
- Immune to Fire: Zigzagged. In the platform games they're immune to fireballs (but not to ice balls). However in Hotel Mario, the RPG games, particularly Paper Mario and Super Princess Peach, they're actually weak to fire.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: Several spin-off titles show that Dry Bones are only capable of speaking in "clacks" or "rattles", though their actual words are in parentheses for our convenience. Despite this, however, other characters seem to be able to understand them just fine.
- Losing Your Head: Particularly in the spin-off games, a running joke with Dry Bones are their heads jumping higher than their torso whenever they jump along with other shenanigans involving their head detaching.
- Night of the Living Mooks: An undead version of the setting's most common enemy.
- Pulling Themselves Together: Dry Bones and their subspecies are known for reassembling seconds after an attack causes them to fall apart.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When a Dry Bones revives itself in Super Mario 3D Land, as well as in New Super Mario Bros. U, their eyes shine a brief red glow.
- Reviving Enemy: The poster boy of the trope in the Mario series. Stomping on one will have them crumble to the ground, only to rise and reassemble seconds later. But they can usually be taken out permanently through other means, such as with the Super Star's invincibility or throwing things at them.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: They have been described as "oddly cute little guys" by official sources and (especially in the spin-off titles) have quirky but endearingly expressive animations that play up just how cute they can be.
- Shock and Awe: In Mario Strikers Charged, Dry Bones possess an ability to create an electrified Energy Ball as their skillshot.
- Undying Loyalty: Pun aside, Tattles from the first two Paper Mario titles imply that this is literally the case with Dry Bones under the Koopa King.
- Unique Enemy: Mario Superstar Baseball introduced a variant of Dry Bones which had a unique appearance from its other available Palette Swaps as it had red eyes, a spiked shell similar to Bowser's, and a spiked nose. Aside from its return in its sequel, Mario Super Sluggers, this type of Dry Bones has yet to make an appearance in any other games.
- Xylophones for Walking Bones: Since their debut, a stock xylophone melody was used whenever a Dry Bones falls apart. In some games, such as the Mario Strikers series, the xylophone noises also play whenever Dry Bones does something comical.
Hammer Bros.
- Airborne Mook: Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bros., which sit on flying platforms and throw out a constant stream of hammers.
- Battle Boomerang: Boomerang Bros., a recurring variant of Hammer Bros. who, instead of throwing hammers in a simple arc, throw boomerangs which come to them after reaching their trajectory's furthest point.
- Bombardier Mook: While most Hammer Bros. enemies perch on reachable ledges from which to toss hammers, fireballs, boomerangs or whatever else at Mario, the Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bros. sit on flying platforms well above jumping range and toss endless streams of hammers over their sides and to the ground below.
- Breath Weapon: Fire Bros. originally spat fireballs when they debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3, though modern games show them as throwing their fireballs like Fire Mario does.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The primary distinction between different types of Hammer Bros., beyond their weapons, is the color of their shells — green for the baseline kind, blue for Boomerang Bros, cyan for Ice Bros and red for Fire Bros.
- Color-Coded Elements: Fire Bros. have red shells, shoes and helmets, while Ice Bros. have light blue ones.
- The Dreaded: The tattles in the first two Paper Mario games outright say that Hammer Bros. are one of Mario's toughest enemies, referencing the difficulty to get past them in the Super Mario Bros. games.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: In games that keep track of such things, Fire Bros. are usually especially vulnerable to ice-based attacks, while Ice Bros. are weak to fire-based ones.
- Elite Mook:
- As a whole, Hammer Bros. are often described as elite members of the Koopa Troop, being implicitly this to the regular Koopa variants. Their appearance suggests a more professional, veteran-ish trait within Bowser's army, being armored and carrying weapons, and gameplay-wise their hammer projectiles can make it really difficult to dispatch them, since they travel in the same arc one would take to Goomba Stomp their heads.
- Internally, there are the Sledge Bros., extra-large Hammer Bros. who throw large mallets, deal more damage and are more difficult to defeat.
- Epic Flail: Chomp Bros., from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, wield Chain Chomps that they spin and throw at Mario and Luigi like Olympic hammer tossers.
- Frying Pan of Doom: In Super Mario Odyssey, there is a Hammer Bro in the Luncheon Kingdom who throws frying pans.
- Giant Mook: Sledge Bros. are around twice the size of regular Hammer Bros. and cause earthquakes when they land on the ground.
- Hammerspace: Literal example. Hammer Bros seem to pull an endless amount of their hammers out of nowhere, which is constantly lampshaded across the series.
- An Ice Person: Ice Bros, who throw iceballs that can temporarily freeze Mario and usually appear in ice levels.
- Killer Yoyo: Yo Bros, a variant from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, attack by launching yo-yos at Mario and Luigi.
- Non-Mammalian Hair: Super Mario Odyssey reveals that Hammer and Fire Bros. have hair under their helmets.
- Playing with Fire: Fire Bros, who throw fireballs and usually appear in fire levels. Super Mario Maker 2 introduces the Heavy Fire Bros, a Sledge Bro variant that fights the same as Fire Bros while creating shockwaves just like Sledge Bros.
- Pushy Mooks: Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces Shova, a new Sledge Bro variant that pushes Warp Pipes and other obstacles.
- Shockwave Stomp: Sledge Bros., who are much larger than the regular Bros., create localized earthquakes when they land on the ground. Heavy Fire Bros, a variant introduced from Super Mario Maker 2 onwards, do the same in addition to fighting like Fire Bros.
- Sibling Team: As their name indicates, they usually confront Mario with a sibling.
- Underground Monkey: There are numerous variations of Hammer Bros. that all use different weapons and are often found in thematically related levels, such as Boomerang Bros., Fire Bros., Ice Bros., Sledge Bros. and even rarer kinds like Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bros. and Chomp Bros.
Lakitus
Cloud-riding Koopas who wear visors and throw eggs that hatch into Spinies. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Bombardier Mook: Lakitus are the most common and iconic example of this in the franchise. They don't attack Mario outright, but instead sit on clouds a good way above Mario's jump range and toss an endless supply of Spiny Eggs, which turn into the eponymous enemies on landing. New Super Mario Bros. U introduces Piranha Pods as an alternative projectile.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear as enemies in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, where they attack Link by throwing lightning bolts at him.
- A Dog Named "Dog": The Lakitu in Super Mario Kart is named Fishin' Lakitu in the Japanese manual before switching to Lakitu in Japanese and English for the rest of the Mario Kart games.
- Flying on a Cloud: They fly around on clouds with smiley faces. In Super Mario Bros. 3, the cloud also exists as an item (originally called "Jugem's Cloud" due to Inconsistent Dub) that can be used to skip levels. In Super Mario World, Mario can hijack the cloud and fly it himself. Occasionally, stronger Lakitus ride dark clouds that can shoot lightning.
- Helpful Mook:
- A Lakitu is your cameraman in Super Mario 64 rather than an enemy, introducing himself at the very beginning of the game and explaining to Mario (and by extension, you) how the camera controls work. Of course, there are enemy Lakitus in the game itself, though.
- He's also the track marshal in the Super Mario Kart games, signaling the start of the race and each completed lap. More importantly, he uses his trusty fishing pole to put the player back on the track if they land in water or otherwise go out of bounds.
- In Yakuman DS, he serves as your Mahjong guide.
- World 4-5 of New Super Mario Bros. Wii has blocks that release Lakitus who throw coins instead of Spinies.
- King Mook:
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 has King Lakitu, an extra-large Lakitu with a crown and a red-and-white ruff fought as a boss.
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story features Glam Lakitus and Lakitu Kings, Lakitu variants who wear crowns (which serve the practical purpose of keeping the Bros. from jumping on them).
- Shock and Awe:
- The Thunder Lakitu can launch a ball of lightning, an ability that first appears in the Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! anime movie, as a reference to the Shinto god Raijin.
- Some individual Lakitus, such as Lakithunder and King Lakitu, ride stormclouds that can shoot lightning bolts.
Magikoopas
Koopas dressed in wizard garb that are able to use magic. Kamek is considered the leader of the Magikoopas. They're usually treated as very high-ranking members of the Troop; Bowser's personal advisers are very often Magikoopas. Debut: Super Mario World.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: One of them in Super Princess Peach pulls a Make My Monster Grow on himself to serve as the second to last world boss of the game as "Giant Kamek". Although the name suggests that this is the unique Kamek found in other games, the description suggests otherwise as he is just a regular Magikoopa.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: In Super Mario RPG, where one of them, Wizakoopa, is being controlled by Smithy's gang until you knock some sense into him.note
- Color-Coded Wizardry: In some games, especially the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi RPGs, the color of a Magikoopa's robes will often indicate the type of magic they use. Blue ones have basic damaging attacks, white ones heal other enemies, green ones provide other enemies with status boosts, and red ones increase allies' attacking power.
- Enemy Summoner: Some games, such as Galaxy 2, has them summon Mini/Micro Goombas, Lil' Cinders, and/or normal Goombas in a similar vein to Wizzrobes.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Heavily implied by Wizakoopa in the original SNES version of Super Mario RPG."That's... my child?"
- Flying Broomstick: They're frequently shown flying around on old-fashioned wicker broomsticks.
- Giant Mook: Big Magikoopas, which first appear from Yoshi's Safari onwards, are larger Magikoopas that can take more hits and deal more magic damage.
- King Mook: Kamek, Kammy Koopa, and Kamella tend to play the role of elite, named member of the race who takes orders directly from Bowser.
- Magic Wand: They wield golden rods topped with red stones, which they use to cast their spells.
- Named by the Adaptation: In Japan, they're all A Kind of One alongside the unique Kamek. However, the Japanese version of Super Mario RPG named one of them Kamezard (カメザード), a portmanteau of Kamek and Wizard, and later renamed him in the Switch version as Wizakoopa.
- Portmanteau: Exclusive to the Japanese version of Super Mario RPG, is one of their species type, Kamek, and the English word for Wizard. This was kept as a
Woolseyism as "Wizakoopa" in the Switch remake. - Robe and Wizard Hat: They usually appear wearing full-body robes and pointed, floppy, brimless hats.
- Self-Duplication: In the early Paper Mario games, Magikoopas can create copies of themselves in battle.
- Shoot the Medic First: White Magikoopas in the first two Paper Mario games can heal their allies. Your partners' Tattles in both games recommend going after them first.Goombella's Tattle: That's a White Magikoopa. It's a Koopa wizard dressed in white. Max HP is 7, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. It attacks with magic and can replenish its allies' HP. Better hit it first, huh?
- Teleportation: In some games, they disappear and reappear at another random location, making it difficult to get the jump on them.
- Uniformity Exception: Played Straight for Kammy and Kamella, averted with Kamek. Kamek looks just like any other Magikoopa and is only differentiated by his stronger magic and higher hitpoints. Some games refer to all of the Magikoopas as Kameks.
Mechakoopas
Robotic Koopas powered by wind-up keys. Mechakoopas are typically encountered in airship levels and Bowser's various fortresses. Debut: Super Mario World.
- Airborne Mook: Super Mario Maker 2 has the Mechakoopas, as well as their Blasta, Zappa, and Mega variants fly with jet engines at night during the level themes. Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces the Flying Mechakoopa, a red Mechakoopa that files with a propellor while its windup key is on its head.
- Breath Weapon: They often breathe fire, note preventing Mario from jumping on them, or spit fireballs. Zappa Mechakoopas breath lightning bolts instead.
- Giant Mook: Big/Mega Mechakoopas, which first appeared as a Custom Down Special move for Bowser Jr.'s Mechakoopa move in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, before appearing in the Mario games from Mario Party 10 onwards.
- Mecha-Mooks: In the name — Mechakoopas are robotic facsimiles of regular Koopa Troopas.
- Mythology Gag: They're meant to resemble Bowser, but they more closely resemble his original design from Super Mario Bros. with weirder hair.
- Robot Me: Mechakoopas are actually modeled after the Koopa King himself, explaining why they breathe fire in some games.
- Shock and Awe: Zappa Mechakoopas from Super Mario Maker 2 can release powerful electric beams from their mouths. Flying Mechakoopas can also embed themselves in electricity.
- Throw the Mook at Them: Mechakoopas in platformers have the distinguishing feature of being able to be thrown as weapons after being knocked out. In fact, this was the only way to take down Bowser in Super Mario World.
- Wind-Up Key: Their most notable trait is the large wind-up key sticking out of their backs. This is what powers them, and their need to make frequent stops to wind themselves back up is a weakness that Mario can exploit.
Spikes
Stout, mohawked Koopas with small shells and big lips, Spikes attack by pulling spiked balls (or sometimes bars) out of their mouths, hefting them over their heads and tossing them at Mario. When holding their spiked objects high, they often become immune to jump attacks. Spikes were used very sporadically after their original appearance, but have become much more commonly seen since their inclusion in the New Super Mario Bros. games. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Breakout Mook Character: A Spike is a playable character in Mario Party 10. Notably, they're the only Mook player character in that game, when the Mario Party series generally favors more "iconic" Mario characters such as Koopa Troopas and Boo.
- Carry a Big Stick: Clubbas, a Spike variant which replaces the basic kind in the early Paper Mario games, fight by using large maces tipped with spiked balls like the ones other Spikes throw.
- Giant Mook: Mega Spikes, which first appear in Mario Golf World Tour, are larger Spikes that spit out Giant Spiked Balls and can even deal more Ground Pound damage than a normal Spike.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: With their big, round eyes and short, chubby bodies, Spikes bear a resemblance to stuffed toys.
- Spike Balls of Doom: Their trademark items, and the origin of their name. Spikes typically perch on ledges or raised platforms, from which they toss an endless supply of large spiked balls — or, more rarely, spiked bars — down towards Mario.
- The Spiny: Spikes are an unusual example of this, because they're the Spiny only intermittently. By default, they're as vulnerable to Mario's jump attacks as anything else. When holding up their spiked ball, however, they become immune to jumps because Mario will instead land on the ball and injure himself.
- Smash Mook: Clubbas, a Spike variant from the early Paper Mario games, fight with large spiked clubs and have an attack repertoire of "club once for lots of damage" and "club three times for normal damage".
- Underground Monkey: Snow Spikes, cyan Spikes with snow goggles, gloves and hats that are found in ice levels and throw giant snowballs, and Stone Spikes, blue Spikes that are found in mountainous areas and throw spiked boulders straight down. Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces Fire Spikes, a new variant that spits fireballs just like Fire Bros in their debut and early Mario media.
Spinies
Quadrupedal turtles with spiky shells, which Mario cannot jump on. They're often associated with Lakitus, which attack Mario by throwing Spiny eggs at him. In remakes of the original Mario Bros. arcade game, they replace the original Shellcreepers. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in multiple 2D The Legend of Zelda titles, usually under the name of Spiked Beetles.
- Giant Mook: Big Spinies are larger Spinies that are first introduced from Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! onwards, before officially appearing in the Mario games from Mario Party 9 onwards.
- Intelligible Unintelligible: If they can communicate, it's usually like this in a manner similar to Dry Bones.
- Kill It with Fire: Fireballs are the most iconic and consistent way to dispatch them.
- The Spiny: The Trope Namer. Their shtick is that they're bristling with spines and will hurt Mario if he tries to jump on them.
Sumo Bros.
Muscular Koopas who stand on floating platforms and periodically stomp the ground, releasing lightning bolts from their bottoms. Debut: Super Mario World.
- The Bus Came Back: Their first appearance was also their last for quite some time, as they afterwards vanished from the franchise until they were included in New Super Mario Bros. U twenty-two years later.
- Flying on a Cloud: In Super Mario Party and The Origami King, they ride around on small platforms and/or stormclouds that they release their lightning from.
- King Mook: Boss Sumo Bro, a giant Sumo Bro fought occasionally as a boss.
- Shock and Awe: They can create lightning bolts by stomping down on the ground.
- The Spiny: They have spikes on their heads that protect them from Mario's jumps.
Others
Goombas
These guys are the worst. Not only are they pathetic soldiers, but they're traitors to boot! These armless shiitake mushrooms with Big Ol' Eyebrows once served the Mushroom Kingdom, but defected to Bowser. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- A Dog Named "Perro": It's name is derived from the Hungarian word gomba, which means "mushroom".
- Airborne Mook: Paragoombas, sometimes just called Flying Goombas, can fly thanks to a pair of birdlike wings and revert to wingless Goombas when jumped on.
- Anthropomorphic Food: A consistent design trend with Goombas. Standard Goombas look like mushrooms, Galoombas look like chestnuts, Goombrats look like persimmons, and Goombuds look like leafy hazelnuts.
- Armless Biped: Two feet, no arms, and (almost) no threat.
- Bombardier Mook: Paragoombas, flying versions of the common Goombas, drop loads of Micro/Mini-Goombas on top of Mario, which will try to latch onto him to slow and weigh him down.
- Crossover Cameo: In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, where they appear as enemies in the side-scrolling areas that represent certain underground passages. They can be defeated in any which way, but if Link follows tradition by jumping on them from above they will drop a heart.
- The Chew Toy: Been a common mook they always got hurt, one way or another.
- The Determinator: According to Mario Party 9.
- Evil Counterpart Race: To the Toads, being another type of walking, talking mushrooms that happen to be on the bad guys' side.
- The Goomba: The Trope Namer — extremely weak, extremely simple movements, no special abilities, and almost always the first enemy fought.
- King Mook: Goomboss/King Goomba, and a few other supersized, crowned specimens usually portrayed as Bowser's direct underlings and the leaders of rank-and-file Goombas.
- Leaning Tower of Mooks: Following 3D Land, Goomba Towers — groups of Goombas stacked between three to eight members high — become common encounters in the main series platformers. They serve as a way of multiplying the Goombas' otherwise minimal threat, as each stack will need to stomped or fireballed once for every member to be taken out.
- Mascot Mook: Goombas are iconic enough to serve as symbols of the series, almost as much as Mario himself.
- Mind over Matter: This is implied to be how Goombas can grab things despite lacking arms.
- Mini Mook: Mini/Micro-Goombas, teeny tiny Goombas who scurry around very quickly and try to latch onto Mario, after which they either drain his health over time, slow him down, prevent him from jumping, or some combination thereof.
- Perpetual Frowner: They are always depicted with cross mouths and Angry Eyebrows.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Bone Goombas, which wear skulls as helmets. In the RPG games, this makes their Headbonks hurt more, and in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, this grants them immunity to fireballs and allows them to tank a jump hit, unless the character uses a Ground Pound and/or is in Elephant form.
- The Spiny:
- The first three Paper Mario games have Spiked Goombas, Goombas wearing helmets with a single large spike that keep them safe from Mario's jumps.
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga has Gritty Goombas and their Elite variants, who hold upright spears that protect them from attacks from above.
- The modern series of platforming titles has Prickly Goombas, which hide inside spiny chestnut shells that will hurt Mario if he jumps on them, unless he first burns it away with a fireball.
- Superpowered Mooks: Super Mario 3D Land onwards introduces the Tail Goombas and their Big variants, which swipe their Tanooki tails at Mario and other enemies of the Troop. In addition, Super Mario 3D World onwards introduces the Cat Goombas, which attack by pouncing the same way as Cat Mario does.
- Token Heroic Orc: Goombas are some of the most common enemies Mario fights, but there have been friendly Goombas over the years, such as Goombario and his family in Paper Mario 64, Goombella in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Goombette in Super Mario Odyssey.
- Underground Monkey: The blue subterranean Goombas from Super Mario Bros. are one of the first examples of this in the franchise. Beyond that they've had their fair share of environmental game gimmick variants, such as Goombas floating from balloons, Goombas with raccoon tails, cat Goombas, Goombas with helmets, Goombas with diving gear, Goombas with Jack-o'-Lantern helmets in ghost-themed areas, etc.
- Unique Enemy: Shoe Goombas appear in this role on two occasions: in Super Mario Bros. 3 they appear only in World 5-3, while Paper Mario: The Origami King features a single specimen in a battle with a Spiny at the end of Breezy Tunnel.
- Waddling Head: Probably the Trope Codifier for video games, though Galoombas fit the bill more than the standard Goombas do.
- You Don't Look Like You:
- The Goombas in Super Mario World are round instead of mushroom-shaped. The Japanese version actually acknowledges these as a separate species (Kuribon as opposed to the usual Kuribo). In Super Mario 3D World, these round "Goombas" were reintroduced under a new name as Galoombas and they appear alongside normal Goombas, finally confirming them to be a different species.
- There are also the "Goombas" from the live-action movie, which are depicted as creatures with gigantic humanoid bodies and tiny lizard heads to fit the movie's concept of them and the Toads actually being evolved dinosaurs.
Shy Guys
Humanoid creatures that always hide their faces behind masks, hence the name. They come multiple varieties and colors, and they sometimes carry weapons. Particularly notable variants include the Snifits (Shy Guys who can shoot projectiles from the large nozzles on their masks), Beezos (Shy Guys who have wings and carry spears), Fly Guys (Shy Guys who use propellers to fly) and Bandits (Bandit Mooks who steal items from you). Debut: Doki Doki Panic (Shy Guys, Snifits, Beezos), Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (Fly Guys, Bandits).
- A Day in the Limelight: They don't get a very great deal of attention in the main platformer titles — Bandits and Snifits don't appear there at all — but feature very prominently in the Yoshi and Paper Mario titles, which use them more extensively as enemies and NPC characters and include numerous variants not seen in the rest of the franchise.
- Airborne Mook: There are numerous flying variants of these guys, including Beezos (Shy Guys with two-pronged spears and insect wings), Fly Guys (the most common variant, with propellers on their heads), Glide Guys (with parasols mounted on their heads, they don't fly so much as jump and glide), Propeller Shy Guys/Flying Shy Guys (a large propeller system on their backs), and Sky Guys (float with balloons).
- The Artifact: In Doki Doki Panic, Shy Guys wore masks as part of the game's tie-in with the Yume Kōjō '87 festival, which had an around-the-world motif that prominently featured Italian masks. Shy Guys continue to wear masks in their appearances in Mario games, despite not having that connection.
- Art Evolution: Shy Guys eventually look less like a Waddling Head, while their shoes now have distinctive colors. This also applies to the various colors of Shy Guys, in addition to other variants of Shy Guys, such as Snifits and Beezos, though the latter would not get the Modern treatment until the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG.
- Artifact Mook: Considering that Shy Guy were originally inhabitants of Subcon, their presence in Yoshi's Island and subsequent games (which all take place chronologically before the events of Super Mario Bros. 2) is a bit jarring, but it makes sense that Mario would have Shy Guys as part of his subconscious due to his own experiences as an infant.
- Bandit Mook: Bandits, larger relatives of Shy Guys wearing smirking masks, are so named because when attacking the player they will either steal coins (in most titles) or Baby Mario (in the Yoshi games).
- Bombardier Mook: Aerial Shy Guys take this role in some games.
- In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Fly Guys carry large bombs and will try to drop these on Mario or Luigi's heads during battles.
- In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, when fighting other enemies in Peach's castle, Bowser will sometimes be faced with pairs of Dark Fawful Guys, Fawfulized Fly Guys carrying giant Fawfulized Bob-ombs and flying above the reach of his attacks. They will try to drop the bomb on Bowser's head to damage him, unless Bowser inhales them before they do this and causes the bomb to be dropped on the other enemies instead.
- In Yoshi's Story, black-robed Propeller Shy Guys fly around carrying either bombs or large spiked stones, both of which they will try to drop on Yoshi's head.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening under the name of Mask-Mimics, where they mirror Link's movements and their masks protect them from attacks from the front.
- Defector from Decadence: In Yoshi's Story, White Shy Guys reject their kind's hostility to the Yoshis and work against Baby Bowser and the main Shy Guy army.
- Elite Mooks:
- Snifits are very rare enemies who actually have a dangerous method of attack.
- Bandits in general are much tougher than the average Shy Guy. They also have an even stronger variant through the Zeus Guys.
- Enemy Summoner: Groove Guys, jester-like Shy Guys in Paper Mario, can dance to summon additional Shy Guys to battle.
- Epic Flail: Mace Guys swing around spiked balls on chains that are larger than they are.
- Expressive Mask:
- Bandits' masks can express a wider range of emotions. Their default is a good old-fashioned Psychotic Smirk.
- Shy Guys have occasionally been able to move their masks, but mostly they're only capable of manipulating their mouth-holes. You will rarely find fully expressive Shy Guys.
- The Faceless: Shy Guys (and to a lesser extent their Snifit cousins) have only ever been seen with the same three-hole mask since the days of Doki Doki Panic and rely on body language to properly express themselves. They've rarely been seen without their masks, and only by Luigi. In Luigi's Mansion, there are Ghost Guys that manage to be even more faceless by virtue of masks without eyeholes. On the flipside, these ghosts are capable of losing their masks, revealing only a pair of glowing eyes under the hood, which may mean that Shy Guys are literally faceless.note This is supported by one Shy Guy's comment in Paper Mario: Color Splash, where he states that Mario would make a terrible Shy Guy because he has a face.
- The Goomba: They usually fill this role in games where you have to get rid of enemies by other ways than stomping, like throwing them on each other (Super Mario Bros. 2 and Mario vs. Donkey Kong) or in the Yoshi series where you have to swallow the enemies before doing sonote .
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: In Yoshi's Story, the only Shy Guys to be friendly to the Yoshis are the ones in white robes.
- Hollywood Natives: Spear/Jungle Guys, a variant usually found in Jungle Japes levels. They wear grass skirts, wield long spears, and sport stripes of red facepaint (or maskpaint, anyway). Dancing Spear Guys, another variant found in said levels, are yellow and sport stripes of green face/maskpaint.
- Incendiary Exponent: Pyro Guys, literal Shy Guys on fire.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: When Shy Guys are split into variants based on the color of their robes, Black Shy Guys are usually the strongest or most dangerous type.
- Leaning Tower of Mooks: Shy Guy Towers, first encountered in Paper Mario 64 are Shy Guys stacked on top of each other. They can also come in various colors.
- Man on Fire: Flamer Guys/Pyro Guys are enveloped in flames that leave only their arms, shoes and masks visible. They usually deal more damage than regular Shy Guys, and may have additional effects such as letting Yoshi spit fireballs if he eats them or being weak to ice and water attacks.
- Mascot Mook: For the Yoshi games, where they're far and away the most prominent enemy type.
- The Medic: Medi Guys, in Paper Mario, will restore health to their allies mid-battle.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Many games show that Shy Guys take on hobbies and jobs outside of the usual Mook versions. Like mail carriers, patrolmen, chefs, referees, and many more.
- Night of the Living Mooks: Boo Guys, Snufits and Lantern Ghosts. Crafted World also has Zombie Guys.
- Our Ghosts Are Different:
- Boo Guys, ghostly Shy Guys still wearing their iconic masks.
- Ghost Guys, from the Luigi's Mansion games, resemble floating, faceless versions of their living selves.
- Snufits, the ghostly counterparts of Snifits that appear in Super Mario 64.
- Polterguys from the Mario vs. Donkey Kong are ghosts of wind-up toy Shy Guys.
- Palette Swap: Shy Guys often appears with robes in different colors from the usual red; these are typically green, blue, yellow, pink, cyan, and orange, note with black and white being more uncommon. With some exceptions, this is a purely aesthetic detail.
- Pokémon Speak: A Lost in Translation example. Shy Guys tend to produce a vocalization that sounds a lot like "hey-ho!". Their Japanese name is, in fact, "Heihō".
- Produce Pelting: Their main attack in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser and Bowser Jr.'s Journey consists of them throwing Turnips at enemies, with them dealing extra damage against Lakitus in both games, Lakipeas in the former, and Lakitu Kings in the latter. Ironic, since Turnips and other vegetables were their old boss's weakness.
- Riddle for the Ages: What exactly is behind the mask? The world will likely never know.
- Shoot the Medic First: In Paper Mario 64, Medi Guys can restore the health of their partners mid-battle. Consequently, Goombario advises taking them out first to keep them from undoing the damage you deal to the rest of the enemies.Goombario's Tattle: This is a Medi Guy. Medi Guys are the emergency workers of the Shy Guy clan. Max HP: 7, Attack Power: 1, Defense Power: 0 They have the power to heal their wounded companions. Of course, they also attack. We'd better hurry up and take them out of the mix. It's a pain if they keep fixing all the damage we do.
- Underground Monkey: Shy Guys have more variants in this vein than any other type of enemy, enough so as to make a game featuring only Shy Guy subtypes entirely feasible — there are multiple types of flying Shy Guys and Shy Guy weapons variants alone, before getting into ghostly Shy Guys in spooky levels, pirate Shy Guys, sombrero-wearing Shy Guys who play stat-boosting music, jungle-dwelling Shy Guys with tribal facepaint, Shy Guys in camouflage, Shy Guys on stilts, Shy Guys floating with inner tubes... and that's before considering the Bandits' and Snifits' own variations.
- Unique Enemy: In Super Mario Bros. 2, most Snifits are grey or green, and stand still without moving from their places, or pink, and move about but turn around when they hit a ledge. A single red Snifit shows up in one room of level 3-3, and will jump down at ledges to pursue the player. Notably, most subsequent appearances of Snifits in Mario games and media have had them be red by default.
- Unusual Weapon Mounting: Some Shy Guys in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, known as Boom Guys, wear Bill Blasters on their heads.
- Waddling Head: Were this in their initial appearance, but later games would give them more of a body.
Blarrgs
A Blarrg from Super Mario World
A Magmaargh from Super Mario Galaxy 2
Blarrgs are an enemy type from early platformers, particularly the Yoshi games, founding hiding inside lava pools and which would surge out when Mario or Yoshi passes by and attempt to devour them. Magmaarghs, derivative enemies with largely identical behavior, take their place in modern platform titles. Debut: Super Mario World (Blarggs), Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Magmaarghs).
- Art Evolution: Blarggs first appeared as red-orange dinosaur-like creatures living inside lava, but are redesigned in later games as red-orange Blob Monsters seemingly made out of lava themselves.
- Blob Monster: For the most part, these creatures look like little more than hulking blobs of lava with gaping mouths, although some types (such as the very fishlike Carvaarghs) have more distinct anatomies.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Not even being invincible will defeat these guys.
- Living Lava:
- In their later appearances, Blarggs are depicted as red-orange Blob Monsters all but identical to the lava they live in.
- Magmaarghs are much more explicitly made out of molten rock, allowing them to pass directly through and around solid obstacles.
- Raarghs, a variant introduced in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, are solid lava and will charge at Mario and his friends if they are in range.
- Palette Swap: Blargg/Magmaaargh variants designed for different environments are typically simply recolored to match the new area's palette, such as blue for water or yellow for sand.
- Sentient Sands: Sandmaarghs, a Magmaaargh variety found in desert areas in Super Mario 3D Land, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, are made out of living sand instead of lava and lurk within the dunes, lunging out at the Bros. when they get too close.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Magmaaarghs are this to Blarggs. Blarggs appeared as a recurring but not too common enemy in several early titles, but make their last appearance in main-series games in Yoshi's Story, in 1997. When Super Mario Galaxy 2 came out in 2010, it featured Magmaarghs, creatures clearly derived from and functionally identical to Blarrgs, among the numerous new enemies it introduced. Magmaarghs would go on to appear in most of the following platform titles, taking the role of and completely displacing their predecessors.
- Underground Monkey: Blarggs and Magmaaarghs occasionally get variants themed around non-lava environments, such as Nep-Enuts (blue Blarggs found in water levels) and Sandmaarghs (yellow Magmaarghs found in sand levels), which besides being colored differently look and behave exactly like their base counterparts.
Bloopers
Squid who aggressively chase Mario and co. In some games, they can shoot out ink. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Aquatic Mook: One of the most common in the series; Bloopers chiefly exist to hinder Mario's progress when underwater.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in a single part of Catfish's Maw, and in the Switch remake as possible catches on the Fishing Minigame.
- Flying Seafood Special: In Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, Bloopers can be found floating in the sky, a trait they retain in their appearances in the RPG games.
- Interface Screw: In the Mario Kart games, they spray ink on players' screens to make it difficult for them to see where they're going.
- King Mook: There are a number of supersized Bloopers fought as unique bosses, including generic Mega Bloopers/Giant Bloopers/Big Bloopers, King Calamari and the recurring boss Gooper Blooper.
- Mecha-Mooks: Mecha-Blooper, robotic Bloopers from Superstar Saga with missiles instead of tentacles.
- Mini Mook: Blooper Babies, miniature Bloopers that follow Blooper Nannies in groups.
- Mook Maker: Blooper Nannies can generate an endless supply of Blooper Babies to shoot off towards Mario.
- Poisonous Person: Poison Bloopers, from the later Paper Mario games, squirt toxic ink that will poison Mario if it hits him.
Bob-ombs
Walking wind-up bombs that explode when they get close to Mario. In the RPGs, they can usually reform after blowing up. Debut: Doki Doki Panic.
- Action Bomb: Their main shtick — they walk up to you and explode. Some games, mostly in the RPG series, give a bit of thought to how the bombs themselves feel about having been made just to explode.
- Airborne Mook: Sort of. Unlike other para- enemies, Parabombs actually parachute, dropping down from the sky and slowly making their way towards the ground below.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, where they can be used as makeshift bombs to clear obstructions in dungeons.
- Cartoon Bomb: They're straightforward living versions of the classic black orb with a raised top attached to a stout wick.
- The Dreaded: Their explosive nature makes them pretty dangerous for the user and target. Select media outside of the games makes them a threat no one wants to mess with.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In the debut game, Bob-ombs had neither wicks nor a wind-up key but instead possessed a pair of arms. Their designed was changed to the modern one in Super Mario Bros. 3, and their original appearance hasn't been back since.
- Fantastic Fireworks: Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces the Babooms, a new firecracker variant that were created by the Koopa Troop/Bowser's Minions and spews fireworks upon having their fuses lit.
- Giant Mook:
- Mega Bob-ombs, from the platform games, are essentially just bigger versions of the usual ones with larger explosions.
- Bulky Bob-ombs and Bob-ulks in The Thousand-Year Door, giant Bob-ombs with high armor and damage output.
- King Mook: King Bob-omb, a recurring boss, is a giant, crowned, mustachioed bomb who seemingly rules over other Bob-ombs.
- Suicide Attack: Obviously played straight most of the time, but zig-zagged in the RPGs. Enemy Bob-ombs appear to die after attacking, but friendly ones come back after a short period of time.
- Superpowered Mooks: Super Mario 3D Land introduces the Tail Bob-ombs, which are the game's version of Parabombs.
- Wind-Up Key: They're depicted with one in most appearances. Stomping on one will stop the key, making it stop moving and prepare to explode.
Boos
Mischievous little blobs of ectoplasm who chase Mario relentlessly. They're painfully bashful, though, and stop moving to cover their faces when anyone looks at them. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Action Bomb: Bomb Boos, black Boos with golden eyes and teeth found in the Super Mario Galaxy games, will explode when they hit something or after a certain amount of time passes.
- Ambiguous Gender: Most boos have practically genderless appearances and have high-pitched laughs. And like other enemies of the franchise, you can't tell them apart at all. However, there are some well-known boo characters with a defined gender and are unique; such as King Boo, The Spooky Speedster, and Lady Bow.
- Breakout Mook Character:
- Boo is a recurring character in the Mario Party games, being playable in 5 through 8, Island Tour, and Super Mario Party. In fact, it is the most recurring mook to be playable in the subseries.
- While the other captains in Mario Sports Superstars are established named characters, Boo is the only mook among them.
- Cowardly Lion: Boos in Super Mario RPG are impossible to inflict with Fear, not because they're fearless, but because they're already at the maximum level of Fear possible while interacting with you.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, where they can only be defeated by lighting the torches in the room they wait in.
- Can't Move While Being Watched: In platformers, Boos will cover their faces and freeze in place when the Mario Bros. are facing towards them. Mad Boos in Super Princess Peach have the opposite behavior.
- Electromagnetic Ghosts: Two different types; the ones in Luigi's Mansion are easily detected through how they make a light on the Game Boy Horror blink, while the ones in Super Mario RPG are the game's first Lightning-spamming foes.
- Giant Mook: Titanic Boos much larger than Mario, usually called Big Boos or Atomic Boos, show up in several games. There is also another type of Big Boo known as the Boohemoth, which inches towards the Mario Bros. if they stare at it for too long.
- Invincible Minor Minion: In some main-series platform games, they cannot be defeated in any manner. This is averted in the RPG titles, where they can usually be beaten like everything else.
- Invisible Introvert: Boos in the mainline Super Mario Bros. games are shy ghosts who always turn partially invisible (and often cover their faces) if anyone looks at them. However, this is often averted in the spinoff games such as the Paper Mario series, for while they can still turn invisible, there aren't many Boos that have that crippling shyness.
- King Mook: There have been a number of supersized Boos fought as bosses, such as Big Boo, King Boo and Boolossus, over the game's history.
- Mini Mook: Yoshi's Story onwards introduces the Mini Boos, small versions that swarm their enemies.
- Musical Theme Naming: They were originally named Boo Diddlys as a riff on Bo Diddley.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Round, white, incorporeal and named after the archetypal noise made to scare someone. Notably, the only reference to Boos being undead is Goombario speculating in Paper Mario 64 that Igor was "a merchant before he became a Boo". Another reference was made in Luigi's Mansion 3 in the dialogue leading up to the final battle where King Boo claims to be sick to "double death" of Luigi. The Luigi's Mansion series is of particular note here, as the games draw a very clear distinction between Boos and the other ghosts which are unambiguosly formerly-living people.
- Perpetual Smiler: In most of the games as of the Wii era, you'll almost never see any of them frowning, especially when their mouths are open. A notable aversion is in Luigi's Mansion 3 where King Boo frowns when he expresses disappointment or anger while the smaller Boos continue to play this trope straight.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: These round, silly and painfully shy ghosts with high-pitched voices can be quite cute, in a creepy sort of way.
- Silly Spook: As ghosts, they're more silly than actually scary due to their shyness. Boos in the spin-offs in particular just enjoy playing pranks on the other characters instead of actually scaring people.
- Smash Mook: Broozers are Bedsheet Ghosts equipped with a pair of boxing gloves and a menacing glare. Their preferred tactic is blindly charging in the direction of Mario and Luigi, plowing through any breakable blocks in their path to do so.
- The Spiny: Even though Boos don't possess spikes anywhere, they are invulnerable to being jumped on.
- Stock Sound Effect: Their first laugh voiceclips are pitched up modifications of "Comical Laugh: Male" from the General Series 6000 sound library.
- Superpowered Mooks: Super Mario 3D Land onwards introduces the Tail Boos, Boos that have been powered up by the Super Leaves and will rush towards Mario and/or Luigi when they turn their backs to them like regular Boos, but swipe at them with their tails when faced at them.
- The Trickster: Boos are portrayed as mischievous and tricksters of habit. Even on the games where they are unaffiliated with Bowser, Boos are still keen on playing tricks of varying degrees of dangerousness on the Mario Bros. and other characters, simply because they find it amusing.
- Weakened by the Light: Games such as the Galaxy duology and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker give them a weakness to bright lights.
- Zerg Rush: Super Mario World onwards introduces the Boo Crews, Boos that rush towards Mario, Luigi, and other enemies of the Koopa Troop, with one Boo becoming visible during its charging.
Bullet Bills
Living artillery that get shot out of cannons known as Bill Blasters. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Alliterative Name: Some variants, such as Torpedo Teds and Missile Megs, follow this naming convention.
- Anthropomorphic Zig-Zag: Most modern games portray them strictly as items and objects, even when other enemies are given more in-depth characterizations, although other titles depict them as capable of speech and emotions.
- Depending on the Writer: The English translation of the Mario Portal consistently calls Banzai Bills "Bomber Bills" and Bull's-Eye Banzais "Bulls-Eye Bomber Bills" for unknown reasons with the The Super Mario Bros. Movie also referring to a Banzai Bill as a Bomber Bill.
- Giant Mook: Banzai Bills, which can be two to three times a Bullet Bill's size, King Bills, which are so big they take up nearly the entirety of the screen, and Big Seeker Bullet Bills, which are giant versions of Seeker Bullet Bills that act the same, but can smash ? Blocks.
- Homing Projectile: In some games, they'll actively follow Mario around instead of moving in straight lines. In some cases, this ability is given to a distinct variant called Bull's-Eye Bills. New Super Mario Bros. Wii onwards introduces Bull's-Eye Banzais, New Super Mario Bros. U onwards introduces Targeting Teds, Super Mario 3D World onwards introduces Cat Bullet Bills and Cat Banzai Bills, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces Seeker Bullet Bills and Big Seeker Bullet Bills.
- Invincible Minor Minion: In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, King Bills are completely indestructible by any means.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: In Japan, Bullet Bills are known as "Killer" and Banzai Bills are called "Magnum Killers".
- Nonindicative Name: While they are shaped like bullets, they work more like missiles than anything.
- No-Sell: Like Buzzy Beetles, they're usually immune to fireballs.
- Superpowered Mooks: The Tail Bullet Bills from Super Mario 3D Land act the same as Bullet Bills, but will also swipe their Tanooki tails at enemies. Super Mario 3D World also has the Cat Bullet Bills and Cat Banzai Bills.
- Underground Monkey: They come in a variety of calibers, including the massive Banzai and King Bill and the underwater Torpedo Ted. Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces the Missile Meg, a new rocket-like variant, as well as the Seeker Bullet Bills.
Bullies
Metallic creatures with large horns, who attempt to shove Mario off of platforms and into hazards. Debut: Super Mario 64.
- Brutish Bulls: Their name, design, and propensity for attacking with an aggressive headlong rush are all inspired by stereotypical bull behavior.
- Collision Damage: One of the very few aversions in the series, as the player can collide with Bullies without being harmed. That said, they usually will try to push you into something far more dangerous.
- Forcibly Formed Physique: The Prince Bully is just as invincible as his minions. If you push him into a pipe, he'll be dragged through and come out squashed into the shape of a beer or soda can. Kicking him while he's in this form damages him.
- Giant Mook: Some games include extra-large Big Bullies, which first appeared as a boss in Super Mario 64.
- King Mook: Unique, powerful Bullies, such as Prince Bully and Chief Chilly, appear as bosses in some games.
- No-Sell: They can shrug off most attacks Mario and his friends can throw at them. The key to beating them is often to exploit their averting Collision Damage by hitting them so they fall into a pit or the water.
- Perpetual Frowner: Their faces are set in perpetual angry scowls.
- Pushy Mooks: Their main method of attack is ramming into Mario. This usually won't deal damage, but will bounce Mario away and into something that will deal damage. The primary means of beating them is doing this right back: pushing them off ledges and into lava or pits.
- Underground Monkey: Chill Bullies, one-horned Bullies made of ice that appear in ice areas in Super Mario 64.
- Waddling Head: They're little more than armored, horned heads waddling along on a small pair of feet.
Chain Chomps
Black orbs with eyes, sharp teeth, usually a chain and not much else. They act like and seem to be the local equivalent of dogs. Unchained ones are often called "Chomps", but not always. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Angry Guard Dog: Chain Chomps were
inspired by a childhood memory of Miyamoto's, where he was almost mauled by one of these but saved by a chain that was just too short. They seem to be the in-game equivalent of dogs; they regularly make barking sounds and quite a few NPCs own them as pets. - Big Friendly Dog: Some depictions of Chain Chomps don't have them as truly evil. They are certainly dangerous for sure, but generally behave like wild and free creatures. Freeing the Chain Chomp in Bob-omb Battlefield will make it jump around happily and break open the cage containing the Power Star for Mario before running off on its own.
- Crossover Cameo:
- They appear in a number of early The Legend of Zelda games, either as indestructible enemies tethered to a single spot or as doglike allies that Link can carry around and that will eat other monsters. Relatedly, a Red Chomp is Link's Level 4 upgrade for the Ball and Chain weapon in Hyrule Warriors.
- A Chain Chomp appears as an unlockable weapon in Bayonetta 2, where Bayonetta and Jeanne can attach it to their ankles and use it like a flail.
- Epic Flail: Being already a very heavy sphere on the end of a chain, a Chain Chomp can be wielded this way. Bowser does so in Super Mario RPG, the Chomp Bros. enemies spin and launch Chain Chomps in this manner in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and, more inexplicably, it's the final weapon unlock in Bayonetta 2. It's also unlockable as a weapon for Link in Hyrule Warriors, used with the level three version of the Gauntlets.
- Giant Mook: Some games feature oversized specimens called Big Chain Chomps/Chomp Sharks, which cannot be defeated in the Yoshi games.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Very few things short of a star will defeat Chain Chomps, not even Yoshi. Heck, even Rodin can't kill one. In Super Mario Odyssey, the only way to defeat them is by capping a T-Rex.
- Mecha-Mooks:
- They're sometimes implied to be these. The ones in the Galaxy subseries in particular simply roll in the direction they are moving and are built in factories, with only Silver Chomps being able to move on their own volition.
- More explicitly, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saganote has Mecha-Chomps, doglike robots with Chain Chomp heads.
- Promoted to Playable: A single Chain Chomp can play tennis in Mario Tennis Aces.
Cheep Cheeps
Goggle-eyed fish that swarm underwater and sometimes leap into the air. Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Aquatic Mook: One of the most common in the series. Cheep Cheeps will get in Mario's way underwater, but will also often jump out at him when he's on dry land.
- Crossover Cameo:
- They appear in a number of early The Legend of Zelda games, where they inhabit flooded sidescrolling portions of certain dungeons and will jump up at Link when he passes above them.
- Cheep Cheeps, Eep Cheeps and Cheep Chomps could be caught in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's fishing tourney during Mario Day 2019.
- Cowardly Mooks: Unlike Cheep Cheeps (which swim in uniform straight lines) and Deep Cheeps (which swim towards Mario when they see him), Eep Cheeps turn tail and run as soon as they spot the player.
- Dub Name Change:
- Big Cheep Cheeps are known as some variation of "Pukupuku" (Giant/Huge Cheep Cheep) in Japan. The ones in Super Mario Bros. 3 are called Big Berthas (the ones that swim around and release Baby Cheeps) and Boss Basses (the ones that try to eat Mario). In Yoshi's Story, they're called Red and Blue Blurps.
- Cheep Chomps are called Bakubaku in Japan. The one in Super Mario 64 is called Bubba by the Strategy Guides due to basically being a bigger Cheep Cheep (referred to as Bub) by the guide. In DS, Mario Kart DS and Yoshi's Island DS, Cheep Chomps look like Boss Basses but with closed eyes and strategy guides do call them Boss Bass with Big Cheep Chomp being called Bessie Bass. In New Super Mario Bros., Cheep Chomps gain their current look and their English name.
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In Super Mario 64, Cheep Chomps looked like this
◊ and in DS to Yoshi's Island DS, they used Boss Basses' model. It wasn't until New Super Mario Bros. that they gained their current look and English name. - Flying Seafood Special: Downplayed as they simply jump instead of fly, but they still have amazing jumping abilities for fish.
- Giant Mook: Cheep Cheeps have had a number of supersized variants, including straightforward Boss Basses/Big Cheep Cheeps and Cheep Chomps.
- Informed Attribute: The Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten claims that Cheep Cheeps are pufferfish but the only ones who look like pufferfish are Spiny Cheep Cheeps, Porcupuffers and Puffer Cheeps from the GBA version of Superstar Saga and the one from Mario Pinball Land.
- Mecha-Mooks: Mecha-Cheeps, introduced from New Super Mario Bros. U onwards, are robotic Cheep Cheeps powered by wind-up keys.
- Painful Pointy Pufferfish:
- Spiny Cheep Cheeps are a purple variant of basic Cheep Cheeps with large spikes down their backs. While they damage Mario on contact, all Cheep Cheeps do so — their main danger comes from the fact that they will actively chase Mario around, which regular Cheep Cheeps don't do.
- Super Mario World introduces the Porcupuffer, a gigantic pufferfish-like Cheep Cheep that chases Mario around some levels. The spikes on its back prevent Mario from jumping on it, as they will damage the plumber. After a long hiatus, they reappear commonly in later Mario games.
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saganote has the Puffer Cheeps. They first look like blue Cheep Cheeps, but when damaged by the plumbers, they puff up, revealing their spikes which damage and poison the Mario Brothers when jumped on. Harming them once more will deflate them.
- Mario Pinball Land has the Porcupuffer as the boss of the Frosty Frontier stage. Mario must flick a Bob-Omb into it to inflate and stun it and then hit it. It later reappears for a rematch at Bowser's Castle if Mario goes exploring rather than fight Bowser straight away.
- Palette Swap: In modern platform games, Cheep Cheep varieties are usually distinguished by color. Basic Cheeps are primarily red, but other types swap this for yellow (Eep Cheeps), green (Deep Cheeps) or purple (Spiny/Snow Cheep Cheeps).
Fuzzies
Chittering blobs of black fur, Fuzzies are usually found circling in the air or around platforms, serving as mobile obstacles to Mario's progress. Debut: Super Mario World.
- Advancing Wall of Doom: A few levels of Super Mario 3D World feature the player(s) being chased by a crowd of Fuzzies. They're completely indestructible and instantly kill any player unlucky enough to hit them.
- Giant Mook: Some games feature Big Fuzzies, colossal specimens that, as they can't simply be jumped over, provide additional challenges to navigation.
- Invincible Minor Minion: In their debut game, Fuzzies were completely invincible. In later titles, they're often only defeatable if Mario throws a Koopa Shell, uses a Fire or Ice Flower, carry a Potted Piranha Plant and they'll eat the Fuzzies, and/or runs into them while invincible himself.
- Life Drain: In the early Paper Mario games, Fuzzies drain HP from Mario when they hit him.
- Palette Swap: Usually, distinct kinds of Fuzzies are distinguished from the base variant and each other by simply being colored differently.
- Self-Duplication: In the Paper Mario series, Fuzzies will create copies of themselves in battle if they're hit without being killed.
- Underground Monkey: The Paper Mario games feature a lot of these, including green Forest Fuzzies, gold Jungle Fuzzies, and extra-strong Pink Fuzzies.
Lava Bubbles
Fireballs that leap out of the lava pits that Bowser so loves. Sometimes called "Podoboos" or, less often, "Sparkies" or "Spark Spooks". Debut: Super Mario Bros.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in a number of early The Legend of Zelda games, inhabiting lava-filled areas and acting much as they do in their home games.
- Depending on the Artist: In Super Mario RPG and the early Paper Mario games, Lava Bubbles look like animated candle flames with narrowed eyes rather than the bouncing blobs of lava they otherwise resemble.
- Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors: The role-playing games give them a weakness to ice and water attacks.
- Elite Mook: Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has Embers, stronger Lava Bubbles that act as minions to the undead pirate Cortez.
- Evil Living Flames: Living fireballs with no features besides simple eyes, which often act as hazards in fire-themed levels. They're usually passive — most appearance just have them jumping in and out of lava, only hurting Mario if he runs into them — but the RPG games such as Super Mario RPG and the Paper Mario series have them as more aggressive enemies that actively attack Mario and resemble floating candle flames.
- Giant Mook: Some games have Big Lava Bubbles, a larger variant that acts the same as their regular counterparts.
- Invincible Minor Minion: In platform games, Lava Bubbles are invincible to everything but stars (and later ice balls and bubbles).
- Kill It with Ice: In the New Super Mario Bros games, Lava Bubbles can be eliminated with Ice Balls from Ice/Penguin Mario.
- Palette Swap:
- Super Mario Galaxy, its sequel, and Super Mario 3D World has Blue Lava Bubbles in some areas.
- In Paper Mario, Embers and Phantom Embers use the game's sprite for Lava Bubbles but recolored blue or green, respectively.
- In Super Mario Run, Poison Bubbles are simply a purple recolor of Lava Bubbles.
- Underground Monkey: Super Mario Run has Poison Bubbles, purple Lava Bubbles that leap out of the pools of poisoned water in the Spike Bar Jungle.
Monty Moles
Near-sighted little mammals that live underground and have a knack for machinery. They have a variant called Rocky Wrenches that chucks wrenches at Mario and Luigi. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Rocky Wrenches), Super Mario World (Monty Moles).
- Art Evolution: Originally, Rocky Wrenches were mole-like turtles and technically a type of Koopa. Later, Monty Moles were loosely based on them and ended up becoming much more widespread, resulting in Rocky Wrenches being redesigned to be a type of Monty Mole.
- Giant Mook: Giant versions, alternatively called Big Monty Moles, Morty Moles, Mega Monty Moles and Mega Moles, appear in some games and are usually impervious to attack.
- Mole Miner: In RPG games, Monty Moles are established as handling most underground work for the Koopa Troop — a group of Monty Moles is in charge of digging a tunnel to Peach's castle in Bowser's Inside Story, for instance, while Mario travels through an area where the moles have dug out a large mine for Bowser in The Origami King.
- Stealthy Mook: Their default role has them hiding in the ground and pop out when the player comes near.
- Whack-a-Monster:
- Rocky Wrenches hide beneath manholes, emerging intermittently to throw wrenches, Bob-ombs, and/or Coins at the player.
- Monty Moles also act this way sometimes — the ones in Super Mario 64 hide in holes and pop out to throw rocks at Mario — but usually just chase after Mario when they emerge from their holes.
Ninjis
Ninja-like enemies that tend to see greater use in side games than in main-series platformers, Ninjis tend to be tricky little devils. Debut: Doki Doki Panic.
- Art Evolution: Originally, they had claws and the red spots in their sprites represented fangs. In modern depictions, the claws are gone and the red spots are large buttons.
- Conjoined Eyes: Their eyes are a single, conjoined white blob with two pupils. Zigzagged in later Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi games where their idle animations have their pupils blinking, implying that those are their eyes and the white area is simply their skin.
- Flash Step: In Color Splash, they will disappear when approached by Mario and reappear directly in front of him.
- Giant Mook: Super Mario Advance introduces the Big Ninjis, which act the same as their smaller counterparts.
- Mobile Shrubbery: Parodied in The Origami King, where Ninjis found in jungle areas carry around a pair of branches presumably meant to camouflage them somehow.
- Ninja: Cartoony, stylized ninjas clad all in black, complete with sneaky tactics and Ninja Logs.
- Ninja Log: In later Paper Mario games and Paper Jam, they will dodge certain attacks by vanishing in a cloud of smoke, leaving a wooden log behind. In the former, they'll drop down from above for a sneak attack on Mario, while in the latter, they simply dodge another Hammer or Jump attack from the Bro that attacked them without a counterattack.
- Promoted to Playable: A Ninji becomes a playable character in Mario Golf: Super Rush.
- Stealthy Mook: Ninjis in the RPGs tend to hide when in the overworld, such as within shrubbery, underwater, beneath camouflage sheets or under trick panels in the floor, and jump out at Mario when he passes by. In Super Mario World, they instead hide in dark areas where they coloration makes them hard to see.
- Unique Enemy: In Super Mario World, the only Ninjis in the game are found in one room of Bowser's Castle.
Piranha Plants
Barely-sapient carnivorous plants with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Piranha Plants commonly live in pipes. Their most distinctive subtypes are the Fire Piranha Plant or Venus Fire Trap, which spits fireballs; the Nipper Plant, a small, white plant without visible teeth and with the ability to hop around freely; and the Muncher, a black version of the Nipper that is immobile and typically appears in long rows. Debut: Super Mario Bros. (Piranha Plant), Super Mario Bros. 3 (Fire Piranha Plant, Nipper Plant, Muncher).
- An Ice Person: Frost Piranha Plants (which are exclusively blue) try to to chomp on Mario with freezing fangs or blowing ice at him. In New Super Mario Bros. U, they're called Ice Piranha Plants and spit ice balls, while being colored like regular Piranha Plants.
- Art Evolution: Originally, Fire Piranha Plants resembled regular Piranha Plants in all respects except for their fact that their mouths pointed downwards at an angle instead of straight up. Most games keep this appearance, but a few starting with Super Mario 3D Land depict them as having dark grey bulbs with orange spots, which is also shared by Big Fire Piranha Plants from Super Mario Maker 2 onwards in the game's Super Mario 3D World style.
- Binomium ridiculus: In Super Mario Bros. 3, the giant-sized Piranha Plants found in Giant Land are called Piranhacus Giganticus.
- Bones Do Not Belong There: Despite being plants, they apparently have skeletons — Bone Piranha Plants appear in some games, with vertebrae for their stems, skeletal leaves, and "skulls" with holes where their spots normally go.
- Breakout Mook Character: A Piranha Plant — of all things — somehow manages to make it into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a DLC character. Notably, it's the only generic Mook from any Nintendo series to get this treatment.
- Breath Weapon: Fire Piranha Plants, a very common variation, spit fireballs at Mario. The rarer Frost/Ice Piranha Plants breathe freezing air or iceballs at him instead.
- Bullet Seed: Melon Piranha Plants, a new variant in Super Mario Bros. Wonder, spits watermelon seeds just like Ukikis, another fellow Koopa Troop member.
- Crossover Cameo: They appear in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, where they inhabit pipes in side-scrolling areas in their usual manner.
- Dem Bones: New Super Mario Bros. 2 includes Bone Piranha Plants, with skeletal stalks, bony bulbs with holes instead of spots, and grey leaves. Somehow. Super Mario Bros. Wonder introduces the Trottin' Bone Piranha Plants.
- Depending on the Writer: Frost Piranha Plants are called Ice Piranha Plants in the New Super Mario Bros. U strategy guide, most likely due to looking like regular Piranha Plants and spitting ice balls.
- Giant Mook: Oversized Piranha Plants appear is several games under a variety of names, and usually require multiple attacks to defeat. This also applies to the Fire Piranha Plant, Bone Piranha Plant, Poison Piranha Plant, Trottin' Piranha Plant, and Note Piranha Plant variants, which are known as Big Fire Piranha Plants, Big Bone Piranha Plants, Big Poison Piranha Plants, Big Trottin' Piranha Plants, and Big Note Piranha Plants.
- Helium Speech: While no helium is actually involved, in the Super Mario Bros. Wonder level, "Piranha Plants on Parade", during the Wonder Effect, they all sing in very high pitched and squeaky voices.
- Helpful Mook: Super Mario 3D World introduces Potted Piranha Plants which you can carry around. They won't harm whoever is carrying them, and will eat enemies and even grab out-of-reach Plot Coupons.
- Interface Screw: Inky Piranha Plants spit globs of ink at the screen, making it difficult to see and avoid enemies, pitfalls and traps. Poison Piranha Plants can also do this in Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, albeit with poison.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Munchers cannot be defeated in any manner — even invincibility will not do the trick, although it will allow Mario to run over them without being hurt.
- King Mook: There have been a number of extra-large, extra-powerful individual Piranha Plants fought as bosses and sometimes implied to be in charge of the regular ones. Besides Petey Piranha, the most commonly-appearing one, there have been Dino Piranha, Naval Piranha, and Lava Piranha, among others.
- Man-Eating Plant: They're a pretty standard fictional take on meat-eating plants, sporting a clear awareness of their surroundings, the ability to move, and a colorful fleshy bulb clearly meant to work like an animal's mouth, with teeth, a tongue, a throat and all.
- Palette Swap: Different varieties of Piranha Plant are often distinguished by coloration. Fire Piranhas in later 3D titles are dark grey with burnt orange spots, Frost Piranhas are light blue with white spots, Inky Piranhas are black with white spots, and Putrid Piranhas are yellow with red spots and purple teeth.
- Plant Person: Individual, named specimens, such as Petey Piranha and Dino Piranha, usually go the full way to anthropomorphism and sport actual humanoid bodies made out of plant matter, although they retain the smaller kind's eyeless bulb-head. The regular Piranha Bean enemies in Superstar Saga sport a similar body type.
- Poisonous Person:
- Putrid Piranhas, in the Paper Mario games, have venomous bites and breathe toxic gas. Being hit by either attack will cause Mario to be poisoned.
- Poison Piranha Plants, in Super Mario Odyssey, spit balls of purple poison that leave dangerous puddles on the ground.
- Punny Name: The original name for the Fire Piranha Plants was "Venus Fire Traps".
- Spike Balls of Doom: Ptooies keep a spiky ball suspended above them by blowing upwards, which causes contact damage if Mario touches it.
- The Spiny: Jumping on one is usually a bad idea, though in most 3D games jumping on the bulb is safe as long as you don't make contact with their teeth.
- Underground Monkey: They possess numerous thematic and environmental variants, such as ones that spit different substances (fire, ice, ink, poison), with flexible and extendable stems, that walk, that jump, that live underwater, that resemble hearts and live inside Bowser's body...
Pokeys
Ambulatory cacti made of round segments and with perpetually happy expressions. Debut: Doki Doki Panic.
- Crossover Cameo: Pokeys can be found in desert areas in The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: In their debut game, Pokeys are colored green instead of orange or yellow, and their heads are safe to mount. In later games, the only way to touch their heads without taking damage is with a spin jump. In Paper Mario: Sticker Star, green and yellow Pokeys are shown to be different (but closely related) breeds.
- Dem Bones: Partners in Time features Skellokeys, undead Pokeys reduced to skeletons that they somehow have despite being plants.
- Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables: Starting with "New Super Mario Bros Wii", Pokeys can turn into non-spiky orange fruits whenever the music has a "Pah" for a few seconds. Yoshi can earn more coins by eating them like that.
- Giant Mook: Towering Big Pokeys appear as enemies in a number of games, where their falling segments or toppling forms are often as much as risk to Mario as their actual attacks.
- Plant Mooks: Cactus Mooks, specifically.
- Poisonous Person: Poison Pokeys in the Paper Mario games will inflict poison on Mario should they hit him.
- Snowlems: The Snow Pokey, introduced in Super Mario 3D World, are made of spiky snowballs instead of having a xerophyte structure.
- The Spiny: Zigzagged. In their debut game they can be jumped upon, but in most of the games afterwards they cannot.
- Underground Monkey: Toothys — Pokeys made out of teeth, are found in Plack Beach during Bowser's Inside Story — and Snow Pokeys made out of large snowballs are found in snow areas in Super Mario 3D World.
Thwomps
Giant rock creatures lined with thick spikes and with perpetually angry expressions. They drop down to crush enemies and are often positioned in key spots to provide maximum annoyance. Debut: Super Mario Bros. 3.
- Crossover Cameo: Thwomps can be found in a couple of early The Legend of Zelda games, where they're encountered in sidescrolling passages and behave exactly like their Mario counterparts.
- Giant Mook: Some games feature outsized variants called Big Thwomps or Super Thwomps.
- Helpful Mook: In the 3D games, they can usually be stood on in order to reach higher-up places.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Thwomps usually require invincibility at minimum to defeat.
- Leaning Tower of Mooks: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time featured 2 Thwomp subspecies known as Thwacks and Wonder Thwacks. They can combine to form this trope, known as a Thwack Totem.
- Mini Mook: Some games feature miniature Thwomps called Thwimps.
- Non-Standard Character Design: Nintendo 64 titles such as Super Mario 64 and the Mario Party titles had a blue, cuboid Thwomp design, much unlike the stone-grey, rectangular, spiky Thwomp featured both in earlier and later games. The redesign communicated their ability to be stood on more easily, but revisits to those games (such as Super Mario 64 DS and certain minigames like Dungeon Dash in Mario Party Superstars) replace them with the grey Thwomp design instead.
- Perpetual Frowner: Their default expression is an exaggerated angry grimace.
- Smash Mook: Powerful and hard for the player to damage, but their only attack consists of falling from a great height to squash whatever they're trying to hit. Thwomps tend to get treated as glorified level hazards more than actual enemies.
- Spike Balls of Doom: A number of Thwomp relatives and varieties, such as Spiny Tromps in Paper Mario and Grrols in New Super Mario Bros U, are giant spiked balls that try to roll into and crush the player.
Urchins
Urchins who move in a pre-set pattern. Despite their limited movement, they are very tough as they can only be defeated with a few methods. In New Super Mario Bros. U, they appear angry when out of water. Debut: Super Mario World.
- Action Bomb: Urchins in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam can explode after a few turns, which damages Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario at the cost of their own lives.
- Giant Mook: Big Urchins sometimes appear as outsized obstacles.
- Invincible Minor Minion: Some of the time. You (obviously) can't touch them, and are immune to fireballs. Provided the game doesn't give you the option, there's no way to defeat Urchins and you just have to avoid them.
- Mini Mook: New Super Mario Bros. 2 introduces the Small Urchins, which are always stationary unlike their normal sized and giant sized relatives.
- Sea Hurtchin: Essentially living caltrops with faces, in this case. In their Super Mario Galaxy appearance, they and Ground Urchins, a new variant introduced in this game, are mobile and can even extend their spikes a little if Mario gets too close from them.
- Stationary Enemy: They don't usually move around, and mostly tend to act as living obstacles in Mario's way.
- Weak to Fire: The Urchins in Super Mario Galaxy can be burned up with fire. Justified, since they are out of water. New Super Mario Bros. Wii onwards makes them vulnerable to Fire Mario.
Wigglers
Giant caterpillars with flowers on their heads. When attacked, they get mad and become much more aggressive. Debut: Super Mario World.
- Accessory-Wearing Cartoon Animal: They're essentially caterpillars wearing gloves, shoes and nothing else.
- Adaptational Jerkass: The Super Mario World cartoon has Wigglers always angry and vicious. This would carry over into the games from Super Mario Galaxy 2 onwards, where some Wigglers are always angry from the get-go.
- Airborne Mook: Flutters, Wigglers who completed their metamorphosis into butterflies and sprouted wings.
- Berserk Button: Stomping on their heads where their flowers are usually what makes them angry, though that has become The Artifact. Insulting their gardening hobbies is what can also piss them off, as Popple learns the hard way on Pi'illo Island.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Caterpillars who are taller than Mario at the shoulder. Their giant versions get even bigger.
- Caring Gardener: A few Wigglers not associated with the Koopa Troop are seen tending to their gardens or farms. For example, the Wiggler Family Farm in Bowser's Inside Story.
- Giant Mook: Big Wigglers many times larger than the regular kind appear in some games, and may serve as mobile platforms of sorts, though as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and the Super Mario Maker games have shown, they are still enemies to Mario regardless.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Wigglers have very short tempers. Many games, comics and other media show them blowing their tops at the slightest provocation.
- Helpful Mook: Big Wigglers in the later platformer games can be used as moving platforms, and will instantly defeat any other enemy they run into.
- Turns Red: Literally. By default, Wigglers are peaceful and slow-moving. If jumped, they get mad, turn bright red, and start charging around at high speeds. In the Mario & Luigi games, the Wigglers fought as bosses are invulnerable while in this stage and must have each individual segment returned to their original state by attacking them before the Wiggler can be damaged.
