Octopus (boss)
| Octopus | |
|---|---|
 Artwork from Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins | |
| First appearance | Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins (1992) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario-kun ("Wario-kun the superhuman") (1995) |
- “Halt! I'll not let you pass!”
- —Octopus, Mario vs. Wario
The octopus[1][2][3] is the boss of Turtle Zone in Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins. It looks like a Gunion, though no connection has been explicitly made.
History[edit]
Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins[edit]
In Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins, octopus lives in Turtle Zone (inside an acquarium hidden in the depth of the Whale Course) and guard one of the six Golden Coins.
It will attack Mario by swimming around releasing its offspring. The little ones slowly home in on Mario and pass him by, while the parent swims left and right across the arena. In order to defeat the octopus, Mario has to hit its head three times, which can be difficult, as the entire battle with the octopus takes place underwater. Alternatively, Fire Mario can defeat the octopus with six fireballs. The smaller octopodes cannot be harmed, and are the most dangerous threat in the battle. Once defeated, Mario will gain one of the six Golden Coins, stores in a pot of the acquarium.
Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka[edit]
In the illustrated introduction in Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka, a small octopus pampers Wario with other minions. It gives Wario a leg massage.
Mario vs. Wario[edit]
The octopus (referred to by Mario as a monster octopus) also appears in the Mario vs. Wario comic. It attempts to attack Mario while he is crossing a lake, but is stopped when Mario asks what an octopus, a saltwater creature, is doing in a freshwater lake. The octopus ponders this and then exclaims that must be why it has not been feeling well. Mario offers to pour some salt in the water for the octopus, but accidentally pours sugar instead. Hearing this, octopus lays face down on the water, unmoving, while Mario quickly leaves the scene whistling away.
Super Mario Kodansha manga[edit]
In the Super Mario Kodansha manga, Octopus appears in Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 2, as the second boss encountered in the volume. Wario uses dark magic to summon five guardians to guard the Six Golden Coins (giving the sixth one to Tatanga after convincing him to join his cause). The summoned bosses are rappresented by a lit candle in Wario's summoning circle. When a candle goes out, it signifies that the corresponding boss has died. In his first appearance in Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 1, Octopus does not have eyebrows, looking like a regular octopus. In subsequent appearances, he maintains his regular design.
Following the (presumed) loss of his friends and Luigi, Mario is convinced to abandon the quest to save the Mario Land, so Princess Peach calls her feather to come and pick them up. The King arrives with Toad on a submarine, but before they can dock, octopus' tentacles snag the submarine and drag it underwater. Mario and Peach dive in to rescue them. Once they enter inside the submarine, the octopus reappears and blocks the exits, then uses the sharpest tool at his disposal (the author's drawing tools), to stab inside the submarine, in an attempt to poke Mario. Meanwhile, the small octopi bother the sleeping whale, causing it to swallow everyone in the vicinity, including octopus, his children, and Mario and his friends. Mario tries to reason with the octopus to find an exit before they all get digested, but he refuses, claiming that if he has to die, he will ensure Mario goes down with him. Mario and his friends try to attack him with the sharp tools, but octopus coils all of them and, about to deliver the finishing blow to Mario, Luigi (who just got lost at sea), appears and frees Mario by bashing a guitar on the octopus' head. Now free, Peach keeps the small octopi distracted, while Mario and Luigi finish the octopus. The boss still tries to play it off, claiming they will not get out of the whale easily, but Toad finds an oxygen tank and shaves it in octopus' mouth and ties a basket on his tentacles, turning it into a makeshift hot-air balloon that the whale spits out. Luigi also picks up the Golden Coin in his possession. In the followin chapter, a shooting star (possibly one shot by No.48), pops up octopus, sending the basket plummeting in Bubble Course.
In Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 3, Wario uses dark magic to resurrect his army with more magic candles, including the bosses (and the small octopi), but despite appearing during the final chapter, most of them have no relenat role during the fight. Battle Beetle, under Bear's instructions, blows out with his flapping wings the candles, causing all of the fallen enemies to disappear, including the bosses and Bear herself.
Super Mario-kun[edit]
In Super Mario-kun, the octopus (described as the typical strong and protective mother often found in the series) only appears in chapter 6 of volume 7, but throught the Turtle Zone section, the small octopi act as the main enemy agents. They are Wario's spies, often getting eaten by Yokkī. In their first chapter, the small octopi hire a Shark to battle Mario; in the second they deploy the Poko-tachi no sensuikan; in the third they disguise the Whale Course for a resturant, where Mario and his friends face off against their mother. She first tries to torture Mario with her suction cups, but Yokkī saves him. He has less luck in saving Mario from her tentacles, but Carrot finds a Fire Flower and passes it to Mario, and he burns the octopus. Faking defeat, the octopus reveals that the Turtle Coin is stored in a pot and Mario enters to check it, only to be trapped inside. A group of Aqua Goombas saved by Mario appears to rescue him. Furious, the octopus tries to catch them, but they trick her into tying her tentacles around herself
In chapter 10 of volume 8, Mario summons a combined monster from the Casino, by aligning various bosses' figures on the slot machine. The monster, called Buro Pako Kurosu gattai, possesses octopus' tentacles as the supporting limbs.
In chapter 11 of volume 8, while traversing a lake, Mario, Yoshi, and Princess Peach are attacked by the octopus, with her body acting as a maze. Peach and Mario get out alive, while Yoshi eats his way out of her tentacles.
In the special chapter of volume 9, octopus play along the role of the giant monster surveling the sunken treasure for Wario's pleasure. Wario "defeats" her by throwing an underwater volcano at her.
A small octopus appears in chapter 7 of volume 10, when Luigi brings all of the freed Mario Land's creatures to witness the final battle.
The octopus is seen in the second bonus chapter of volume 12, participating in Wario's New Year party. She gets flattened by him so that he can make a kite out of her.
Profiles and statistics[edit]
Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten[edit]
| パコ&ポコ (JP) / Pako & Poko (EN) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Original text (Japanese) | Translation | ||
| アクア |
Tribe | Aqua clan | |
| Disposition | Thug | ||
| ランド２ | Game appearances | Land 2 | |
マリオランド２のタートルゾーンにボスとして |
Terror! Octopus parent-child tag team A giant octopus parent and child appear as bosses in the Turtle Zone of Mario Land 2. A baby octopus, Poko, is ejected from the mouth of the parent octopus, Pako. The parent-child tag team's physical attacks are extremely formidable. | ||
Gallery[edit]
Sprite from Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins
Boss fight in Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins
Names in other languages[edit]
Unless they are the only ones available, names unique to the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia are denoted as such in the "notes" column.
Octopus[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | パコ&ポコ Pako & Poko |
Pako & Poko | [5] | |
| French | Calmar | Squid | [6] | |
| German | Qualle und Söhne | Jellyfish and Sons | [7] | |
| Qualle & Sohn | Jellyfish & Son | [8] | ||
| Spanish | Pako y Poko | Pako and Poko | [9] | |
| Swedish | Bläckfisk | Octopus | [10] |
Pako[edit]
"Pako" refers to the parent octopus.
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | パコ Pako |
Likely from「オクトパス」(okutopasu, "octopus") and「蛸」(tako, "octopus") | [5][11] | |
Ō Tako |
Big Octopus | [12] | ||
| French | Calmar géant | Giant squid | [6] | |
| German | Qualle | Jellyfish | [8][7] | |
| Italian | Polpo | Octopus | [13][14][15] | |
| Piovra | Nintendo La Rivista Ufficiale | [16] | ||
| Octopus | - | Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (first edition) | [17] | |
| Spanish | Pako | - | [9] | |
| Swedish | Bläckfisk | Octopus | [10] |
Poko[edit]
"Poko" refers to the child octopus.
| Language | Name | Meaning | Note(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ポコ Poko |
From「ポコポコ」(pokopoko, "bubbling") and「子」(ko, "child") | [5][11] | |
Ko Tako |
Child Octopus | [12] | ||
| French | Petit calmar | Little squid | [6] | |
| Italian | Piccolo polpo | Little octopus | [17][15] | |
| Spanish | Poko | - | [9] |
References[edit]
- ^ "Use you aquatic experience from other Mario adventures to swim these sunken stages, then collect the Golden Coin from an evil octopus." – November 1992. Nintendo Power Volume 42. Redmond, WA: Nintendo of America (American English). Page 55.
- ^ August 1993. Nintendo Magazine System (AU) Issue #5. Page 55.
- ^ English Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins entry on the official Mario Portal. nintendo.co.jp (English). Retrieved August 13, 2022. (Archived December 21, 2025, 19:32:03 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ 1994. 「パーフェクト版 マリオキャラクター大事典」(Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten). Shogakukan (Japanese). Page 151.
- ^ a b c Itoi, Shigesato, Takashi Watanabe, Hiroyuki Jinnai (APE), Jin Kobayashi, Ryuji Osawa, and Shigeo Tanabe, editors (1992). 『スーパーマリオランド2 - 6つの金貨任天堂公式ガイドブック』. Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-102413-0. Page 9.
- ^ a b c Smith, Mark, editor (1993). "Super Mario Land 2" in Club Nintendo, vol. 1, ed. 7. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (French). Page 28.
- ^ a b Moyes, Claude M., Andreas G. Kämmerer, and Marcus Menold, editors (1994). "Super Mario Land 2" in Offizielle Game Boy Spieleberater 2. Großostheim: Nintendo of Europe GmbH (German). Page 22.
- ^ a b Pohlmann, Susanne (1994). "Super Mario Land 2" in Club Nintendo, vol. 6, is. 1. Nintendo of Europe GmbH (German). Page 55.
- ^ a b c Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, and Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), editors (2017). "Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins" in Enciclopedia Super Mario Bros. 30ª Aniversario. Translated by Gemma Tarrés. Barcelona: Editorial Planeta, S.A. (European Spanish). ISBN 978-84-9146-223-1. Page 76.
- ^ a b Bjarneby, Tobias (1993). "Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins" in Power Player, no. 30. Atlantic Förlags AB (Swedish). Page 4. Supplemental for Nintendo-Magasinet, vol. 1.
- ^ a b Motoyama, Kazuki (6 July 1993). Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 1, Super Mario, vol. 18. Tokyo: Kodansha (Japanese). ISBN 4-06-319398-5. Page 6.
- ^ a b Kazuki Motoyama (8 Jan. 1994). Super Mario Land 2 - 6-tsu no Kinka 2. KC Deluxe (Japanese). ISBN 4-06-319443-4. Page 3.
- ^ Fletcher, John, editor in chief (1993). "Super Mario Land 2" in Club Nintendo, vol. 1. Linea Gig S.p.a., Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Italian). Page 25.
- ^ «Woah! Un polpo mostruoso!» – Kentaro Takekuma (30 Nov. 2017). Super Mario Adventures (Edizioni BD). Translated by Federico Salvan. Milan: J-Pop (Italian). ISBN 9788832750959. Page 106.
- ^ a b Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2025). "Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins" in Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia (2nd ed.). Translated by Alessandro Apreda. Milan: Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 979-1259575760. Page 76.
- ^ Andrea Minini Saldini (November 2011). Nintendo La Rivista Ufficiale Numero 122. Milan: Future Media Italy SpA (Italian). Page 84.
- ^ a b Sakai, Kazuya (ambit), kikai, Akinori Sao, Junko Fukuda, Kunio Takayama, Ko Nakahara (Shogakukan), and Marco Figini, editors (2018). "Super Mario Land 2 - 6 Golden Coins" in Super Mario Bros. Enciclopedia. Translated by Marco Amerighi. Milan: Magazzini Salani (Italian). ISBN 889367436X. Page 76.
