Goomba

Goombas are a mushroom-shaped species of enemy featured in the Mario franchise. Since their debut in Super Mario Bros., Goombas have become one of the most common enemies within the Mario franchise, alongside others such as Koopa Troopas and Piranha Plants. Most Goombas serve Bowser as basic footsoldiers within the Koopa Troop, although there are also friendly Goombas, most notably in the role-playing games. Regular Goombas have the appearance of a brown mushroom with round feet and thick black eyebrows.

Super Mario Bros.
In Super Mario Bros., Goombas, or Little Goombas, are the first enemy encountered, appearing as early as World 1-1, and appear in most levels except for those with an underwater or castle setting. A Goomba walks in a single direction, often in groups of two or three, and changes direction upon hitting another enemy or an object. Mario or Luigi can defeat a Goomba through any means, most notably by jumping on it, which flattens the Goomba. Aside from this, Goombas can also be defeated from fireballs shot by Fire Mario or Fire Luigi or if touched by Invincibility Mario or Invincibility Luigi while they are under the effect of the Starman. Each time a Goomba is defeated, the player gains 100 points.

Because of the Nintendo Entertainment System's palette limitations, Goombas in underground areas and castles are teal and light gray, respectively. As enemies, gray Goombas only appear in the last level, World 8-4, although the first False Bowser, found in World 1-4, is revealed to be a gray Goomba if Fire Mario shoots fireballs at him. The Super Mario All-Stars remake retains these color distinctions.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Goombas return in Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, retaining their role and appearance from Super Mario Bros.. They now appear in underwater levels, in which they utilize the same palette as Bloobers. Goombas are light gray like in castle areas, albeit slightly darker, and have black feet and eyebrows like those found on land. This palette is technically present in Super Mario Bros., but is not seen normally. In the Super Mario All-Stars version, underwater Goombas have the same appearance as those above ground.

Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, Goombas once again appear as a common enemy. They act the same as in Super Mario Bros., but no longer have a distinct color for underground and castle areas. Goombas have a winged variant, Paragoombas, which are tan brown in color, and stomping one turns it into a Goomba of said color, which do not otherwise appear.

In World 5-3, Goombas are able to ride in a green boot with a winding key, known as a Goomba's Shoe (or Kuribo's Shoe in the Nintendo Entertainment System release). When a Goomba equips the boot, it can jump toward Mario or Luigi. Normally, the Goombas die if they are jumped upon from above. If Mario or Luigi defeats a Goomba within a shoe, they can ride in the Goomba's Shoe, which grants them invulnerability to most hazards.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS
The Goombas' physical appearance in Super Mario 64 is based on their Super Mario Bros. 3 design, albeit in a 3D-rendered form. A Goomba's behavior is slightly different in that instead of wandering back and forth, they first perform a hop when they spot Mario, as if to indicate surprise, and then chase after him. As usual, Goombas are one of the weakest enemies, and Mario can defeat them using any attack. Aside from jumping, Mario was given several other moves to defeat a Goomba, such as punching, kicking, diving, and Ground Pounding. A Goomba releases a Yellow Coin the first time Mario defeats one while in the course.

In Super Mario 64 DS, a large Goomba boss was added, Goomboss, whom Yoshi has to defeat to obtain the Mario Key and free Mario. Prior to his battle, Goomboss mentions to Yoshi that Goombas have been stomped on in previous Mario games. During his battle, several Goombas follow behind Goomboss as he circles around the arena, and Yoshi can attack Goomboss by spitting a Goomba at his back. Each time after this occurs, Goomboss spawns more Goombas to follow him.

New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., regular Goombas return as enemies again. The game also introduces a large Goomba boss named Mega Goomba.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
In The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Goombas appear as enemies within various dungeons. Link encounters most of them in the sidescrolling passages, often alongside Piranha Plants, except Eagle's Tower, which is the only top-down area where Goombas appear. Link can defeat a Goomba by either jumping on it (provided he has the Roc's Feather equipped), just like in the Super Mario series, or use his signature method of striking it with his sword. If Link jumps on a Goomba, he gains a heart. If a Goomba touches Link, he loses half of a heart in his health meter.

Unlike in most of their appearances, Goombas are depicted with a smiling face. In the Nintendo Direct trailer for the Nintendo Switch remake, Goombas have an identical design to their modern appearance in the Mario franchise, but for the final release, their frowning expression was changed to a smile, more closely resembling their appearance in the original game. The Nintendo Switch remake also features a collectible Goomba figure that can be won in the Trendy Game after clearing the Tail Cave and placed in Marin and Tarin's house. The text that appears upon acquiring the Goomba figure reads, "You got a Goomba figure! Try to resist the urge to jump on it."

Hotel Mario
In Hotel Mario, four types of Goomba appear. The first two are normal Goombas and Paragoombas (called Flying Goombas in the game). Regular Goombas walk around and open doors, while the Paragoombas can fly around within the floor they are on. The game also exclusively features two variants, Bellhop Goombas and Rhinestone Goombas.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and its Game Boy Advance remake, Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, unlike most of their appearances, Goombas are an uncommon enemy which appear in only one level, GO! GO! MARIO!!, meaning they are only encountered by Green Yoshi. Instead, like Super Mario Bros. 2, Shy Guys take Goombas' role of being both the most common and weakest enemy.

Goombas retain their regular pattern of slowly walking in one direction, with the possibility of hitting Yoshi. Goombas are more durable in that a regular jump only flattens them, and they keep walking until they have popped back up. Goombas can be defeated with a Ground Pound, or eaten and turned into a Yoshi Egg.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Goombas are one of the lowest-level monsters. They have two attacks: a bite attack and a thorn-spitting attack. There are also Goombas who are not enemies. In Monstro Town, Mario can visit a store run by a Goomba family, which comprises a regular Goomba and its three Triplets. Like most of the monsters in Monstro Town, the Goomba family decided to quit the Koopa Troop and live a peaceful life.

Mario Party series
In the Mario Party series, Goombas have frequently appeared as shopkeepers, party hosts, events, and items.

In Mario Party, a Goomba appears at a junction between Bowser and Toad in Peach's Birthday Cake, where he hosts the Flower Lottery.

Super Smash Bros. series
In Super Smash Bros., Goomba sprites appear in the background of the secret Super Mario Bros. level, and in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Goombas are extremely rare items that sometimes come out of item-holding objects such as Party Balls and Crates. In Adventure, Goombas are also commonly found throughout the Mushroom Kingdom stage. They are defeated by attacks or by being jumped on, and are otherwise like Mario game Goombas. Additionally, the game features a Goomba trophy that can be collected.

Paper Mario
Paper Mario introduces a myriad of both Goomba characters and enemies. The game, as well as the Paper Mario series in general, is notable for characterizing Goombas beyond enemies, and to a larger extent than Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. There are various unique individual Goombas that play a part in the game's plot. For the Koopa Troop, there is a boss named the Goomba King, who has a pair of henchman called the Goomba Brothers, consisting of Red Goomba and Blue Goomba.

The most prominent Goomba who was introduced is Goombario, who is an admirer of Mario, even having a blue hat with a G symbol, based on Mario's cap. Throughout Mario's journey, Goombario can help Mario by fighting enemies and providing information about their surroundings. He lives in Goomba Village, a peaceful village inhabited by friendly Goombas, with his family, which consists of Gooma (grandmother), Goompa (grandfather), Goomama (mother), Goompapa (father), and Goombaria (sister).

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Instead of Goombario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door features a different playable Goomba, Goombella, a female college student who attends the University of Goom, an implied university specifically attended by Goombas. She and her instructor, Professor Frankly (who is also a Goomba) are studying about the legendary treasure beneath the city of Rogueport. After learning of Mario's ongoing search for the treasure, Goombella joins his party.

Rogueport is largely inhabited by Goombas, several of which are thieves, and they wear green hats resembling Link's tunic from The Legend of Zelda franchise. These Goombas are generally unfriendly, but are not fought as enemies. Regular Goombas are fought as enemies in Rogueport Sewers, Petal Meadows, and Riverside Station. Furthermore, a group of five Goombas, the Goomba Bros., are among the opponents fought in the Glitz Pit.

Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, Goombas make another returning appearance. They are both the first and the weakest enemy encountered, having only one HP.

WarioWare series
Throughout the WarioWare series, since WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!, Goombas have appeared in some microgames, especially 9-Volt's.

In WarioWare: Smooth Moves!, either a Goomba or a bottomless pit appears on Level Three of the Super Mario Brothers microgame.

Mario Kart series
Although Goombas are one of the most prominent enemies in the Mario franchise, it was not until Mario Kart: Double Dash!! when they became recurring course hazards throughout the Mario Kart series. Their overall first appearance in the series is in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, in which a few make a cameo appearance in the winner's circle. If a racer drives into a Goomba, they spin out. A Goomba can usually be defeated by using Lightning or by driving into a Goomba while under the effects of a Super Star.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Goombas are fought again as enemies. They appear at the very beginning in the Koopa Cruiser as a battle tutorial.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Goombas are a common enemy that can be found in Bowser's Castle in the past. They attack by charging into either Mario or Luigi and/or their baby counterparts, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. The same Goombas are also found in the underground section of Princess Peach's Castle in the present. They are slightly stronger than in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, but still offered little EXP and money.

Mario Superstar Baseball
Mario Superstar Baseball features both a Goomba and a Paragoomba as playable characters, being the first game to do so. Both Goomba and Paragoomba can use either a bat or a glove in spite of the impediment of having no arms.

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, Goombas can be defeated in three ways; throwing it at another enemy, hitting it with Perry, or having Perry eat it.

Appearances in other media
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Goombas are loyal soldiers in King Koopa's army. The general appearance of the Goomba resembles the sprites found in the Mario video games. In many of the episodes, the Goombas appear as zombies, pirates, or other thematic variations in accordance with the plot. (One episode, ironically, had both of the Mario Bros. fleeing like cowards from a single Goomba.) When the show spun off into The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, they continued their job as soldiers in the Koopa army in a few episodes. However, the Super Mario World cartoon only featured them twice.

In 1990, a few Mario characters became part of a series of McDonald's Happy Meal's toys to promote the release of Super Mario Bros. 3. The Mario toy set featured Mario (in his Raccoon form), Luigi, Paratroopa, and Little Goomba. The Goomba toy is spring loaded and has a hinge between its head and feet. There is a small suction cup at the front of the Goomba's head and sticks to the top of its feet when pressed down. Once pressed down, the toy backflips a few moments later by way of a compressed spring inside the casing of Goomba's head. Various forms of Goombas have also made appearances as plush dolls, largely from Asia.

In the film Super Mario Bros., (1993), the term Goomba refers to someone who de-evolves after being hit by King Koopa's de-evolution ray. As with most of the characters in the film, the Goombas are drastically different in appearance in comparison to their video game counterparts, represented as large (about seven feet tall) reptiles with extremely disproportionate bodies (tiny heads, and large bodies). They also, inexplicably, wear trench coats. There are two types of Goomba, one resembling a Koopa Troopa and the other resembling a Mushroom Goomba by the shape of their heads. The "goomba" Goomba has a rounded head, whereas the "koopa" Goomba has a more reptilian shape (in addition to the obvious reptilian features upon their) head. They are played by human actors in costume and do not resemble the small Goombas seen in the video games at all. The actor who stars as the Goomba in the Super Mario Bros. film is David Wrafter.

Other appearances
On the Homestar Runner website, the Goomba plays a part in a Super Mario Bros. game parody. The joke is found in the "Pumpkin Carve-nival" animation as a hidden easter egg. Basically, a Homestar Runner character named King of Town dresses up as Mario for Halloween and dies instantly when he attempts to stomp on a Goomba. The death scene imitates the original Mario game, where King of Town shrinks and falls off the screen while he sings the Mario death music.

A Goomba can also be spotted as an easter egg on Basic Run in Wii Fit Plus.

Characteristics
Typically, Goombas are brown and look like mushrooms with faces and feet. In North America, they are commonly believed to be mushroom creatures that betrayed the Mushroom Kingdom in alliance with the Bowser's Koopa army.

According to the American version of the Super Smash Bros. Melee Goomba trophy, the Goombas once lived in peace in the Mushroom Kingdom, but they betrayed their homeland to side with Bowser, reinforcing the Super Mario Bros. manual. Mario games such as Paper Mario elucidate that not all Goombas are bad. They are, according to Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the lowest level of Bowser's army basically being nothing but cannon fodder.

Goombas can attack Mario by touching him from the side or (more rarely) falling upon him from above. However, they can be defeated by jumping or stomping on them. Goombas are typically the weakest enemies in Mario games; their only attack is walking slowly towards the player, and they can usually be dispached in one hit. In the various Mario role-playing titles, they are weak enemies encountered near the beginning of the game, but have stronger incarnations that appear later on in the games.

Goombas normally have bushy eyebrows formed into a scowl, and occasionally upward-pointing fangs. Goombas are blue or gray in the dark underground areas of the Mario video games and darker brown in night-time areas. This is probably intended to show lack of light while saving palette colors. "Little Goomba" is the name sometimes used for an ordinary Goomba in the games. The other distinct types of Goombas have their own names as well. When they are jumped on, they flatten.

Naming
After Mario was given an Italian name, a number of other Mario characters were named following an Italian theme. Thus, the name "goomba" is believed to have come from the slang word "goombah" used by Italian-Americans to describe themselves; over time, it has gained a slightly derogatory connotation. The Italian-American slang term originates from the Italian word compare (akin to Spanish compadre), which was already (and still is) used in south Italy abbreviated in "compa'" and literally means "friend" and it is used colloquially mainly to address people living in the same town. Coincidentally, the Hungarian word gomba means "mushroom."

Super Mario series
Goomba's first three variants were introduced in Super Mario Bros. 3: Paragoombas, Mini Goombas (originally named Micro-Goombas), and Giant Goombas. Paragoombas are the winged counterpart of Goombas, somewhat like how Koopa Paratroopas are to Koopa Troopas. Paragoombas have two wings which it uses to fly around an area. They are featured in two shades of brown: the lighter colored Paragoomba can fly and occasionally release Micro-Goombas, while the darker colored Paragoombas do not release Microgoombas and hop along the ground like green Paratroopas. Paragoombas roughly correlate with the seagoing Blooper enemies, who sometimes lead a string of nuisance Baby Bloopers. A Mini Goomba is a miniature, parasitic Goomba that attaches to Mario or Luigi to reduce his jumping ability; in Super Mario Bros. 3, they have a variant named Pile Driver Micro-Goombas, which hide under a Brick Block and jump whenever Mario or Luigi approaches. Mario or Luigi can defeat a Microgoomba by either going into a body of water, repeatedly shaking, or by jumping several times in a row. In New Super Mario Bros., the Microgoomba appears in several areas that can only be reached by Mini Mario. Giant Goombas are found in Giant Land, and aside from having a larger size are indifferent to regular Goombas.

In Super Mario Land, another type of Goomba was introduced: Goombo (originally named "Chibibo"). They are essentially the same as Goombas in the 2D Super Mario titles.

Super Mario World introduces another variant, Galoomba (originally named Goomba). Their appearance differs in that they have a roughly spherical head rather than a mushroom cap and lack a stem, instead having the feet attach directly to the bottom of the head. If Mario or Luigi stomp on a Galoomba, it is knocked upside down and rendered immobile for a short period of time. They can then pick up a Galoomba and carry it, until the Galoomba resuscitates itself. If either character is holding a Galoomba while the Galoomba is recovering, they take damage. In Super Mario World, Galoombas have two variants, Parachute Galoombas (named "Paragoomba" in their debut), which arrive by dropping in from a parachute, and Paragaloombas (named "Flying Goomba" in their debut), which are a Galoomba's counterpart of Paragoombas. Galoombas always had a different Japanese name from Goombas, but it was not until Super Mario 3D World when they received their own name.

In Super Mario Sunshine, though Goombas do not make an appearance, there is a common enemy named Strollin' Stu that are the Isle Delfino counterpart of Goombas, according to The Perfect Guide of Super Mario Sunshine.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In addition to normal Goombas, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars introduces Gu Goombas, which have a light green hue. Gu Goombas appear in Bowser's Castle, and they sometimes jump out from behind statues to attack Mario, and are sometimes found in enemy parties. If Bowser is one of the three party members, the Gu Goombas flee in fear of him. Goombette is a smaller version of Goomba, and resemble a Mini Goomba. Goombettes are mainly hidden inside treasure chest monsters.

Paper Mario series
The first Paper Mario introduces several Goomba enemy variants. One of them is Spiked Goombas, which wear a spiked helmet to counteract Mario's jumping ability. Another one is Gloombas, which are teal-colored Goombas that are found mainly in underground areas; as such, they are based on the underground Goombas from Super Mario Bros.. Gloombas also have a Paragloomba and a Spiked Gloomba variant. There are also Hyper Goombas, a stronger variant capable of charging their attacks. Similar to Gloombas, Hyper Goombas have a winged variant, Hyper Paragoomba, and a spiked variant, Hyper Spiked Goomba.

Super Paper Mario introduced Headbonk Goombas, which are silver Goombas that leap into the air and lunge themselves toward anybody near them.

Mario & Luigi series
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, a few variants were introduced. One of them is Gritty Goomba, which covered in mummy-like bandages and have a spear with a red flag strapped to its head. Gritty Goombas can conjure sandstorms to distort their target's vision. In Gwarhar Lagoon, there are stronger Gritty Goombas with a blue flag strapped to their head. Another variant is Tanoomba, a type of Goomba based on Mario's Tanooki form in Super Mario Bros. 3, which has a raccoon tail and a green leaf on its forehead. During its attack, a Tanoomba transforms into a copy of either Mario or Luigi, and proceeds to attack the brother opposite of its appearance. A third variant, Goomdivers, are found on the seafloor. They have the appearance of a regular Goomba wearing a scuba diving helmet, and attack by swimming toward Mario or Luigi.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time features a Shroob variant of Tanoomba, named Tashrooba.

Super Princess Peach
Super Princess Peach introduces a two emotional variants of Goombas — Sad Goomba, Mad Goomba — who each also have a Paragoomba variant: Sad Paragoombas and Mad Red Paragoombas, respectively.