Foreman Spike

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This article is about the character named Foreman Spike. For other uses of the name Spike, see Spike (disambiguation).
Foreman Spike
An illustration of Foreman Spike.
Artwork of Foreman Spike from Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten
Species Human
First appearance Wrecking Crew (1985)
Latest appearance The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Portrayed by Sebastian Maniscalco (English, 2023)
“Get this through your tiny brain, Mario. You're a joke, and you always will be.”
Foreman Spike, The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Foreman Spike, occasionally referred to simply as Spike, is the foreman of the demolition site where Mario and Luigi work in Wrecking Crew. He continuously tries to hinder the brothers' progress. He is usually depicted as a dark-bearded man who wears sunglasses, although in Wrecking Crew '98, he does not have a beard.

Foreman Spike was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake, who is also the original designer of Wario.[1][2]

History[edit]

Wrecking Crew series[edit]

Wrecking Crew[edit]

Foreman Spike
Artwork of Mario and Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew
Mario knocking down Foreman Spike

Foreman Spike made his debut in the first bonus stage of Wrecking Crew, where he competes against Mario in finding a coin. While Mario moves in the foreground, Spike runs around in the background, smashing walls with his hammer to find the coin before Mario.

In regular phases, Foreman Spike follows Mario while remaining in the background. Whenever an object comes between the two, he hits it with his hammer to knock Mario all the way to the bottom of the stage. However, Mario can do the same back to him. With a Golden Hammer, Foreman Spike can be knocked down without having to hit an object between them. Like the rest of the enemies in the game, Foreman Spike can only be permanently defeated by trapping him, such as dropping a drum on him or knocking him into an isolated floor.

Foreman Spike's in-game appearance showed the same build as Mario and Luigi, a hooked nose, sunglasses, yellowish brown clothing, a beard, and a mouth full of crooked teeth when struck.

Foreman Spike did not appear in the first game of the series, VS. Wrecking Crew. In that game's single player mode, the CPU Luigi fulfills a similar role and can not be damaged by the enemies just like Foreman Spike.

Wrecking Crew '98[edit]

Foreman Spike

Foreman Spike returns in the Japan-only title Wrecking Crew '98. He is the fourth challenger in the puzzle mode game. In this game, Foreman Spike is working for Bowser, helping him build a series of new hideouts. Foreman Spike was redesigned to have a mustache, no beard, a cleft chin, straight teeth, more defined arm muscles, and a red nose, resembling Wario.

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

The Japanese Super Smash Bros. Dojo website stated that Mario's brown 3P costume in the Super Smash Bros. series is based on Foreman Spike's outfit in the original Wrecking Crew for the Famicom.[3] This color choice for Mario would reappear in Super Smash Bros. Melee and subsequent installments in the Super Smash Bros. series, but becoming more black and white than brown and yellow.

Foreman Spike was a requested character for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee.[4]

Mobile Golf[edit]

It has been requested that this section be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: Add information on his gameplay stats

In Mobile Golf, Foreman Spike is a character who can be unlocked from using the Mobile Adapter GB. He has reverted to his original Wrecking Crew design and is now overweight. As shown in his artwork, he wears a yellow cap and purple clothes, and his hair has a slight purple hue. In-game, his hat appears to have an "S" on it, though his artwork instead shows it as a stylized "BL," for "Blackey."

Waluigi's Gold Mantis kart in Mario Kart DS resembles the excavator Foreman Spike uses in Mobile Golf.

Super Mario Maker[edit]

Foreman Spike, in Super Mario Maker.

In Super Mario Maker, one of the Mario costumes the player can get from a Mystery Mushroom is Foreman Spike. Besides a slight color difference, the sprite is identical to the original NES Wrecking Crew title.

WarioWare Gold[edit]

Foreman Spike appears in the WarioWare Gold microgame Wrecking Crew, where he sometimes appears behind the blocks after the player destroys them.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]

Spike in The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Spike in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
“Well, well, well! If it isn't Brooklyn's favorite failures, the Stupid Mario Brothers! [...] Tell me... Have you even gotten one call since you left me to start your dumb company?”
Foreman Spike, The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Spike appears in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, marking his first physical appearance in over 21 years since Mobile Golf. He is voiced by Sebastian Maniscalco in the film's English version,[5] according to whom Spike serves as the former boss of Mario and Luigi in the movie,[6] and Yasuhiro Mamiya in the Japanese version. Mario and Luigi resigned from their old job under Spike, and while the reason isn't explicitly explained, the SMBPlumbing.com website mentions that they left because they had enough of his unlikeable attitude. Despite the fact that the emblem used to represent Spike depicts his original sprite's design, Spike has a noticeably different appearance in the film itself. His outfit has the logo "Wrecking Crew" on his hat and left sleeve.

Spike first appears in the film at Punch-Out Pizzeria, where he mocks the brothers (calling them the "Stupid Mario Brothers") after the airing of their first commercial, scoffing at the idea that the Mario Bros. will succeed on their own and telling them that their plumbing business will fail; when Mario stands up to him, Spike threatens him physically before leaving. When Mario gets flung back into Brooklyn due to the Bomber Bill exploding in the Warp Pipe, Spike nearly runs over Mario and is shocked to see him land right in front of his van before he starts to yell at him for nearly damaging his vehicle, only to run away when other objects from the Mushroom Kingdom begin appearing. He is later seen among the panicking civilians when Bowser's army invades New York and is saved by Luigi while being attacked by Bowser’s minions, much to his shock. After the final battle between the brothers and Bowser in Brooklyn, Spike is the one who starts up the cheers for Mario and Luigi, finally calling them "the Super Mario Brothers".

A fictional testimonial on the SMBPlumbing.com website is attributed to Spike, who goes by the username SpikeIsCool. Spike does not directly address the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing company itself, to which the website pertains, instead directing the testimonial towards the Mario brothers, who operate the company; in it, he is bitter and critical, stating, with many spelling and grammatical errors, that the brothers used to work for him until they left to start up their own business. He ends the testimonial by threatening that they will "learn their lesson someday."[7]

Since the release of the film, the testimonial has changed with Spike recognizing the brothers' heroism and increasing his rating of the company from one star to one and a half.

Other appearances[edit]

Two of the Wrecking Crew related challenges in NES Remix involve competing against Foreman Spike.

Profiles[edit]

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten[edit]

ブラッキー (JP) / Foreman Spike (EN)
An illustration of Foreman Spike.
Original text (Japanese) Translation
出身しゆつしん / 種族しゅぞく アメリカ Place of origin/tribe America
性格せいかく いじわる Disposition Ill-tempered
登場とうじょうゲーム クルー Game appearances Crew
オレが元祖がんそライバルだ

「オレのきがいはマリオの仕事しごと邪魔じゃまをすること。ハシゴをこわしてのぼれないようにしてやるのさ。」[8]

I'm the original rival.

"My job is to get in the way of Mario's work. I break ladders so he can't climb them."

Mobile Golf[edit]

  • Website bio:
    • Japanese:
      久しぶりに登場したこのキャラクター。実は、見かけによらず努力家で、かなりの腕前のようですが......?
      Translation:
      This character hasn't appeared in a while. In fact, despite appearances, he is a hard worker and seems to be quite skilled...?

List of appearances[edit]

Title Description Release date System/format
Wrecking Crew Enemy 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System
Wrecking Crew '98 Challenger, unlockable playable character 1998 Super Famicom
Mobile Golf Unlockable playable character 2001 Game Boy Color, Mobile Adapter GB
NES Remix Enemy on a Wrecking Crew stage 2013 Wii U
NES Remix Pack Enemy on a Wrecking Crew stage 2014 Wii U
Super Mario Maker Costume Mario outfit 2015 Wii U
WarioWare Gold Cameo in microgame 2018 Nintendo 3DS

Voice samples[edit]

Audio.svg The Super Mario Bros. Movie - "Well, well, well! If it isn't Brooklyn's favorite failures, the Stupid Mario Brothers! [...] Tell me... Have you even gotten ONE call since you left me to start your dumb company?" - Foreman Spike meeting Mario and Luigi in Punch-Out Pizzeria
File infoMedia:TSMBM - Foreman Spike.oga
Help:MediaHaving trouble playing?

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Spike / Foreman Spike[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese ブラッキー (before The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Burakkī
スパイク[9]
Supaiku
Blackey / Blacky, presumably in reference to his hair

Spike, after the Western name

Catalan Spike
-
Chinese (simplified) 司派克
Sīpàikè
Spike

Chinese (traditional) 布拉奇[10]
Bùlāqí
Blacky

Dutch Spike
-
French Spike
-
German Vorarbeiter Spike
Foreman Spike
Italian Capomastro Spike[11]
Caposquadra Spike (Super Mario Maker)
Spike (The Super Mario Bros. Movie)
Master builder Spike
Foreman Spike
-
Korean 블랭키[12]
Beullaengki
Blanky

Portuguese Capataz Spike
Foreman Spike
Russian Прораб Спайк
Prorab Spaĭk
Foreman Spike

Spanish Capataz Spike
Foreman Spike
Thai สไปค์[13]
Sa-pai
Spike

SpikeIsCool[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Chinese 酷酷司派克[14]
Kù kù Sīpàikè
Cool Cool Spike

French (NOE) SpikeIsCool[15]
-
German SpikeIsCool[16][17]
-
Italian SpikeÉfigo[18]
SpikeIScool
Portuguese (NOA) SpikeIsCool[19]
-
Spanish (NOA) SpikeElCool[20]
SpikeTheCool
Spanish (NOE) SpikeMola[21]
SpikeRocks

Trivia[edit]

  • Foreman Spike holds the record for the longest time between his first appearance and his first voiced appearance, with nearly 38 years between Wrecking Crew and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Nintendo DREAM, Vol. 173 (September 2008) Wario creator interview
  2. ^ (December 14, 2022). ワリオ誕生秘話(2008年 9月号より). Nintendo DREAM WEB. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Japanese Super Smash Bros. website lists Mario's 3P palette as originating from "Blackey - FC Wrecking Crew". Retrieved April 4, 2015. (Archived March 1, 2000, 10:30:31 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  4. ^ アンケート集計拳!! nintendo.co.jp. Retrieved March 8, 2022. (Archived January 9, 2000, 10:44:58 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  5. ^ Nintendo of America (September 23, 2021). Nintendo Direct - 9.23.2021. YouTube. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Marc Kaliroff. (August 8, 2021) Sebastian Maniscalco says he will be playing Foreman Spike in Illumination's Super Mario Bros. movie Nintendo Wire. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  7. ^ SMB Plumbing | Testimonials
  8. ^ Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten. Page 32.
  9. ^ Nintendo (April 20, 2023). ファミリーコンピュータ向けソフト『レッキングクルー』などに登場するキャラクター「ブラッキー」の名称を、欧米での名称と同じ「スパイク」に変更いたします。 Twitter. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  10. ^ Taiwanese version of the official trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (November 30, 2022), YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  11. ^ Wrecking Crew Italian booklet, pag. 11
  12. ^ South Korean version of the official trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (November 30, 2022), YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  13. ^ Thai version of the official trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (November 30, 2022), YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
  14. ^ 客戶評價. SMBPlumbing.tw. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 11, 2023, 22:33:27 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  15. ^ Témoignages. supermarioplomberie.fr. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 10, 2023, 02:37:03 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  16. ^ Bewertungen. SMBKlempner.de. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 11, 2023, 22:31:40 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  17. ^ Bewertungen. SMBKlempner.ch. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 11, 2023, 22:31:22 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  18. ^ Dicono di noi. SMBIdraulica.it. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 9, 2023, 22:44:37 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  19. ^ Depoimentos. SMBEncanadores.com.br. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 7, 2023, 06:51:25 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  20. ^ Testimonios. SMBplomeria.com.mx. Retrieved March 11, 2023. (Archived March 10, 2023, 02:54:42 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
  21. ^ Testimonios. SuperMarioBros-Fontaneros.com Retrieved March 19, 2023. (Archived March 7, 2023, 20:45:32 UTC via Wayback Machine.)