Mario franchise strategy guide/Enemies/Hammer Bro

Hammer Bros. (ハンマーブロス) are enemy characters present in many of Nintendo's Mario series of video games. Their trademark distinction is that they appear in pairs, though there are instances where only one appears. Their trademark move is that they attack by throwing large hammers in an arcing path. Their appearance shows them having distinct beaks, classifying them as "Beaked Koopas." However, there are some games where they do not have the distinct beaks and look like normal Koopas.

Super Mario Bros.


The Hammer Brothers are one of the few Mario characters (its first appearance taking place in Super Mario Bros.) that still enjoys usage today. They often appear in pairs (hence the name "brothers"), but they sometimes appear separately.

They are usually found on parallel platforms and jump up and down and move back and forth. They are notorious for being one of the hardest enemies to defeat, making avoiding them the easier choice, because they move around so quickly and constantly throw a continuous torrent of hammers all over the place. Bowser moves much slower and the later Bowsers only send one to two barrages of hammers.

An interesting note is that while normally immobile, if the player waited long enough, the Hammer Brothers would charge towards them.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Hammer Brothers behave the same in this game, but certain ones slowly charge the player instead of staying in one spot.

Super Mario Bros. 3
In Super Mario Bros. 3, several variants of the Hammer Bros. were introduced:


 * Boomerang Bros. looks similar, but only appears on the ground and throws boomerangs one at a time instead of hammers. They also appeared in New Super Mario Bros., The Thousand Year Door, Super Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga although their appearance is drastically changed in the latter.


 * Sledge Bros. are a large version of the Hammer Brothers, with giant hammers which they throw just like regular Hammer Bros. They are hammer brothers whose weight create earthquakes that immobilize Mario. They appeared in New Super Mario Bros..
 * Fire Bros. (extremely rare) spit fireballs instead of hammers, much like those from Fire Mario. They also appeared in The Thousand Year Door, Super Paper Mario, and New Super Mario Bros.. Fire bros. were first seen in Super Mario Bros. 3, and only found in world 2 and world 8. In world 2 if the player defeats the fire bro, they get a special item called a warp whistle.

Hammer Brothers also appeared on the world map as patrolling police-like figures. When Mario ran into one of them, a battle would begin. After defeating the Hammer Brother, Mario would get a treasure chest that gave him an item. These map Hammer Brothers could be avoided by putting them to sleep with a Music Box item.

This game also had a Hammer Bro Outfit for Mario, which allows him to throw Hammers just like a Hammer Bro as well as use the armored back to protect himself from objects like piranha plant's fireballs when crouching.

A pair of Sledge Bros. were frequently featured in episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 cartoon series, usually to serve as guards for King Koopa's (as Bowser is known in the cartoons) prisoners. One episode, "Tag Team Trouble", also had Koopa entering them in a tag team wrestling contest.

Super Mario World
In Super Mario World, there was no mention of the Hammer Bros. or their variants from Super Mario Bros. 3. However, the game did feature two new variants:




 * Amazing Flyin' Hammer Brother (Appare in Japan) flew on a platform and rapidly threw hammers down on Mario, but could be easily knocked off. The platform would still fly and Mario could jump on it afterwards to reach high areas unreachable by jumping. This particular variant also appeared in Super Princess Peach.  In that game, Peach can knock them off by using the "rage" vibe.


 * Sumo Brothers (K. K. in Japan) mostly resided on the top of blocks. When Mario was close to them, one would stomp up and down, using his colossal bulk to send flaming shockwaves 4-5 spaces below.  Their protective girth prevents them from being squashed, so they could only be taken out by jumping underneath them, using a star, or throwing a Koopa shell.

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
In Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, the Hammer Bros. appear in level 3-1. They guard the entrance to Wario's Carnival, until the Mario Bros. subdued them into submission in order to give the trio enough time to enter the carnival without fear.

Super Princess Peach
In Super Princess Peach, both Hammer Bros. and Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bros. appear, in addition to the Calm Hammer Bro. and Calm Amazing Flying Hammer Bro., both sleeping variants of their main species. An individual Hammer Bro. named Army Hammer Bro. also appears. According to the Glossary, Army Hammer Bro. is the leader of the others, but the Glossary remains unsure if he is actually any stronger. He obviously is the most trusted by Bowser, though, who grants him Rage with the Vibe Scepter before he battles Peach.

New Super Mario Bros.
In the New Super Mario Bros., the Hammer Bros. return, along with a few Boomerang Bros., and, in World 8-7 only, Fire Bros. and a much fatter version of the Sledge Bros. (referred to as Sumo Bros. in the Player's Guide). A lone Hammer Brother will also patrol the map screen (a'la Super Mario Bros. 3) in Worlds 5 through 8. The Hammer Brother will give up a random item when defeated.

Super Mario RPG
The Hammer Brothers were the first bosses in the game. Their special attacks included Hammer Time (an offensive attack) and Valor up (which increases its attack power). Mario received the hammer after he defeated the Hammer Bros. At Bowser's Castle, the player meets a quiz-loving Hammer Bro. named Dr. Topper, who is basically a palette swap of the normal Hammer Bro.

Quote: "My hammer and I don't like you!"

Paper Mario
In this game, the Hammer Brothers are one of the strongest guards of Bowser, along with the Koopatrol. They are found in Bowser's Castle, but they can also be found in Shy Guy's Toy Box, if the player chooses.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The-Thousand-Year-Door, Hammer Bros. were found roaming Rogueport Sewers. The Boomerang Brothers and the Fire Brothers are new introductions joining the Hammer Brothers. The Boomerang Brothers attack causes damage on its forward and return trip while the Fire Brothers would spit fire balls, which would cause Mario to catch fire. In the same game, a previously unknown type of Hammer Brother was mentioned; the Business Brother. They are never actually seen in-game, but a lengthy dialogue with a Hammer Bro. in the Glitz Pit reveals that his father was/became a Business Bro. An interesting fact, as revealed by the son of the Business Bro. is that, unlike regular Hammer Bros. (and similar to standard Koopa Troopas) Business Bros. can be flipped on their backs.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

 * Border Bros. Seemingly individual, green Hammer Bros. who run the border between the Mushroom and Beanbean Kingdoms. They made Mario and Luigi participate in a Border Jump minigame at the beginning of the game. They may be Hammer Bros. from Super Mario Bros., as they seem to personally know Mario and Luigi and their game features a Super Mario Bros. theme.
 * Yo Bros. Used Yo-Yos as its weapon. It used the green one against Luigi and the red one against Mario.
 * Limbo Bros. Found in Guffawha Ruins and on the west side of Teehee Valley. It attacks by walking towards Luigi doing the limbo and striking him with its torch.
 * Boomerang Bros. Found in Gwarhar Lagoon. The boomerang it threw can attack one brother twice, or both brothers once. Looked almost nothing like their SMB3 counterparts. This variety has what appears to be a sprout on top of its head, going along with the other plant-based enemies, and is probably the species of Bommerang Bro. native to the BeanBean Kingdom. Bears a slight resemblence to Waluigi.
 * Hammer Bros. Found in Bowser's Castle. Like past games, it would throw hammers at Mario and Luigi.
 * Chomp Bros. Also found in Bowser's Castle. As the name suggest, its main weapon was a Chain Chomp. If players jumped on the chomp, Either a new chomp would come up to him as a replacement, or else he would just leave.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Two Hammer Bros, appear in the Vim Factory, being controlled by the Shroobs and calling themselves "The L33T Hamm3r Broz." They talk using l33t speak:

AREA RESTRICTED. ALL NOOB INTRUDERS 2 B HAXORED BY US L33T HAMM3R BROZ.! WE R TEH SHROOB ALLIES. WE ROXOR U AND THEN ROFL. THEN U AM CRY. WE RECEIVE ORDERS THRU ANTENNAS ON THESE L33T HELMETS. THEY R HOTNESS. WE MUST OBEY ALL ORDERS. WE LIKE 2 PWN NOOBS 4 TEH MASTER SHROOBZORS. U = NOOBS. BROZ. = L33T. PREPARE 4 TOTAL PWNAGE. WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! NOOBZ STILL R NOT PWNED. CONTINUE PWNERSHIP UNTIL ALL NOOBZ R PWNED. TEH ESCAPE IS IMPOSSIBLE. WE R 2 L33T. WE OWNZ JOO. U WILL GET FLATZORED BY R L33T HAMMERS.

After being defeated by Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, the antenna helmets are broken and they give the babies two spare hammers as thanks for freeing them.

Hammer Bros. as a playable character
In Mario Superstar Baseball, the Hammer Brothers are unlockable playable characters. The Fire Bros. and Boomerang Bros. are also playable as well. The Hammer Brothers are fearsome hitters with unbelievable power, making them threats to hit home runs every time. All other states for them (defence, pitching, speed) are only average or slightly above average. It is also revealed in the same game that the Hammer Bros can breakdance (if one should strike a player out with one of the Bros, the Bro will breakdance).

In Super Mario Strikers the Hammer Brothers are playable as sidekicks along with Koopas, Toads, and Birdos.

A single Hammer Brother will be an unlockable character in Mario Party 8. The Hammer Brothers will return and be a playable sidekick character in the upcoming sequel to Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football), Mario Strikers Charged.