Mario franchise strategy guide/Enemies/Bob-omb

A Bob-omb (ボムへい) is a robotic bomb character or item, featured in Nintendo's Mario series of video games. In some games they will follow the player until they explode, while in other games they stand still while exploding. Bob-ombs are mostly black, though in some games they're red or blue. They generally flash red when they are about to explode. Along with Goombas, Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Snifits, and Koopas, they are the most common enemies in the Mario series.

Appearances
The Bob-ombs were first introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2, where their general habits (walk around for a while, then explode) were made clear. Some were also hidden in the ground and would explode roughly 2 seconds after pulled up by the player. However, SMB2 was the only game where Bob-ombs had arms (although in Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart DS, it is revealed that the Bob-omb King has arms, and several Bob-ombs reveal their arms and wave in the victory parade at the end of Paper Mario). Bob-omb was the only enemy common to both Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3, which, upon its late 1980s release, largely adopted the look, feel, and enemies of the original Super Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros. 3, the Bob-ombs had the addition of small wind-up keys on their backs &mdash; if the key was attacked, they would explode after a few seconds; otherwise, they would peacefully wander back and forth. Like Koopa Troopas, they could also be carried and tossed when knocked out. In later worlds, cannons on tanks and ships continuously spawned them in great quantities. Bob-ombs later were the subject of many minigames in the Mario Party series. In Super Mario 64, the black Bob-ombs either tried to chase Mario down and explode, or man cannons and shoot water blasts at him. In the game, Bob-ombs can be picked up and thrown, but will explode if Mario holds them for too long. Also in the game is the Chuckya, an enemy who bears great resemblance to a Bob-omb (possibly a relative of it). Bob-ombs and their more powerful counterparts, Rob-ombs, also appeared in Super Mario RPG. Also, the Bob-ombs made a cameo appearance as helpful "gifts" from the Mushroom King in the motion picture based on the Mario series (one of these small machines was instrumental in the defeat of King Koopa, traversing a long bridge, a twenty-foot drop, and a long, vertical walk up a fungi-covered wall to explode right under Koopa's feet).

Paper Mario was the first appearance of an actual home of the Bob-ombs, known as the Koopa Bros. Fortress. The fortress was taken over by the Koopa Bros. Also in the game, a pink Bob-omb named Bombette joins Mario on his quest. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door featured a Bob-omb partner, named Admiral Bobbery. The other Bob-ombs helped Mario reach the X-Nauts' moon base by launching him out of a giant cannon. The game also introduced a large enemy Bob-omb known as Bulky Bob-omb (and the more powerful counterpart, Bob-ulk). If not defeated quickly, they would explode and deal a lot of damage (obviously at the expense of their own HP).

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Bob-omb reappears along with Lethal Bob-omb, a more powerful version. On Star Hill, in the boss battle against Commander Shroob, his fellow Support Shroobs tote around a big giant purple Bob-omb with Shroob eyes called Shroob-omb. If the Mario Bros. get struck by it when the Shroobs toss it at them, or if it rolls at them if the middle or back Support Shroob is left, another one is brought in.

In Super Mario World and Super Princess Peach, some Bob-ombs parachuted from the sky as Para-Bombs (Para Boms in Japan), and in the case of SMW, also floated in bubbles. In Super Mario 64 DS and New Super Mario Bros., Bob-ombs appeared in several mini-games, including one that involves sorting red and black Bob-ombs in a factory of some sort.

Bob-ombs have also appeared in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, where golf balls impacting on a Bob-omb causes it to explode, sending the ball out in the opposite direction. In Mario Superstar Baseball they appear in the minigame Bob-omb Derby They also have appeared in Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Kart DS, Super Mario Strikers, and the Mario Party series as items.

In Super Mario Sunshine, the Bob-omb returns for a few episodes as a weapon of Monty Mole, receiving a tune-up with a more mechanical look, including the wind-up key,a timer face, and simplistic feet. If you spray them they will turn blue, enabling you to pick them up, however if they are left out too long they will still begin the countdown. Their traditional face is replaced by a digital display.

Bob-ombs have even appeared in various Legend of Zelda games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. If you strike them with your sword once, they will run frantically around the room in a diagonal pattern, ricocheting off of walls and objects until they explode. If you manage to strike them again, they stop moving and explode. However, the foes in Link's Awakening have a different guise, named 'Bombites'. There exists a different variety as well (Countdown Bombites) that follow Link and count down from 3 before exploding.

The Bob-omb is also an item in the Super Smash Bros. game series. Bob-ombs in the series are an incredibly potent attack item - throwing a Bob-omb at an enemy packs incredible punch. If a Bob-omb is left alone for too long, it will start walking around with its fuse lit. Even touching a Bob-omb while it is in this state is lethal. The Bob-omb also appeared in the Super Mario Bros. film. Unlike its gaming counterpart, it was much smaller and not sentient, needing to be wound up to move and only walking in one direction. It could also walk up walls and was immensely more powerful than in the games given its size, so much so that the mere sight of a Bob-omb caused mass panic and even made King Koopa duck and cover. In an obvious display of product placement, Bob-omb's feet were festooned with the Reebok logo, visible for a split second before he explodes.

Au'some candies made container that looked like the bob-omb and was filled with candy powder. when 9/11 came along, they discontinued it.

Mezzo Bombs, Micro Bombs, and Rob-ombs
Micro bombs are small bob-ombs found in Super Mario RPG that attack with a small explosion. They are basically just small versions of the original Bob-omb. Mezzo Bombs are on the other end of the spectrum. They are giant bombs with a much more powerful explosion. Both bombs, as well as the original Bob-omb, make appearances as allies to the boss Punchinello. Also in Super Mario RPG there are bob-ombs named Rob-ombs. They make their first appearance in Booster's Tower and the only difference between a Bob-omb and a Rob-omb in looks is a Rob-omb has purple shoes.

Big Bob-omb
"Lord of all blasting matter, king of ka-booms the world over" as he describes himself, Big Bob-omb (Bomb King in Japanese) appears in Super Mario 64, Super Mario 64 DS, and Mario Kart DS- Mission Mode as a boss. He resembles a normal Bob-omb, but he has arms, a golden crown and an enormous white moustache. He fights by grabbing Mario and throwing him off the mountain top they fight on. Mario (or Luigi or Wario in SM64DS) must use this tactic against the king to grab and throw him around the mountaintop, but if the player throws him off the mountain, he jumps back up and accuses the player of cheating. When Yoshi first challenges him, he can't be thrown so he instead throws Bob-ombs at the dinosaur, which have to be spit at the Bob-omb King. He made cameo appearances in the numerous Mario Party games, notably in Mario Party Advance, where he reveals himself to be the leader of a Bob-omb mafia that defends Shroom City. He also is the boss of a set of missions in Mario Kart DS, where you must hurl Bob-ombs from a kart at him. He also made a cameo appearance in the minigame "Bob-omb Derby" in Mario Superstar Baseball as a Bob-omb you have to hit for points. Hitting him will earn you several extra bonus points. He made another cameo appearance in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. In that game he appeared in the Peach's Castle Grounds course on top of the mountain you battle him on in Super Mario 64. If your golf ball hits or comes very close to him, he will jump back and tumble down the mountain. Bulky Bob-ombs appear as enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, detonating after a set amount of rounds, or instantly if they are set on fire. Although theoretically this could wipe out the whole force just by exploding Admiral Bobbery next to one of them, the explosion hurts both allies and enemies. Since the explosion hurts enemies, it blows up the other Bulky Bob-ombs nearby, and could result in a lot of damage for your party.

Mario Kart
In Mario Kart 64, the multiplayer "Battle-mode" features a unique system where, in a 3-or-4-person battle, when a player has been defeated, the player can take control of a Bob-omb, and perform a suicide-bomb attack on another remaining player. After this attack, the Bob-omb is destroyed and the player is no longer able to move around. Also, in "Versus mode" there were little Bob-omb carts which drove around in small circles at predetermined spots on the course. Driving into the Bob-omb would cause the player to be thrust up into the air.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash, the Bob-omb is a special weapon used by Wario and Waluigi (it can be also used by Petey Piranha and King Boo since they can use any special item). One of the battle modes in the game is called "Bob-omb Blast", where the one and only weapon is Bob-ombs. In Mario Kart DS, the Bob-omb can be thrown at other racers in a normal race. Bob-ombs can flip the player over in the blast because the blast is very big. The Mushroom Bridge and Mushroom City levels of Double Dash also have Bob-omb Cars on the roads, which explode on impact.

Bob-omb Buddies
The pink Bob-ombs, called Bob-omb Buddies, were first introduced in Super Mario 64. These Bob-ombs were at war with the common black Bob-ombs. They are almost always portrayed as allies of Mario. They did not harm Mario, but instead helped him by opening up cannons so he could reach high places. In Super Mario 64 DS, some also show the locations of red coins in the lower touchscreen. They also appear in a minigame called "Sort or ‘Splode". The first Bob-omb Buddy to be given a starring role was in Paper Mario, where Bombette joins Mario in his quest for the Seven Star Spirits. Bombette helps Mario in Paper Mario, enabling Mario to toss her at cracked walls. Admiral Bobbery helps Mario in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, doing the same job Bombette does: Mario can throw him to explode near cracked walls, except he'll walk a little before he explodes. Also in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, a Bulky Bob-omb named Lucky ran the lottery in Rogueport. The Bob-ombs appear in the Fahr Outpost (with Russian accents) in the same game, helping Mario get to the moon and sending him their good luck wishes so he could defeat the Shadow Queen.