Pep

Pep
Left to right: SPEED Pep, DEF Pep, POW Pep sprites from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey
First appearance	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)
Latest appearance	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey (2018)

Peps are a type of enemy from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. The three types of Pep are found in the Energy Hold in Bowser's body. Their name probably comes from the word "peptide".

The Peps have two special abilities. They can merge with other enemies to make them stronger in speed, power, or defense, similar to the Ghoul Guys from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. If a Pep merges with another enemy, they will not give out any rewards after the battle. They can also change themselves into a different type of Pep, similar to the Viruses from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Types

POW Peps

POW Peps are red with big muscular arms. POW Peps attack by getting close to Mario or Luigi and attempting to punch them, but Mario or Luigi can counterattack by using the Hammer at the correct time when the Peps drop their guard. If this enemy is fused with another enemy, the other enemy gets increased Power.

Palookas in Mario & Luigi: Brothership have an attack that is similar to the attack the POW Pep uses.

DEF Peps

DEF Peps are green with a shield next to them. DEF Peps do not attack at all, making them easy to defeat, despite their Defense. If this enemy is fused with another, the other enemy will gain higher Defense.

SPEED Peps

SPEED Peps are blue with three shark-like fins. These Peps attack by bolting towards Mario and Luigi, which has a good chance of inflicting the trip status effect. The brothers can counterattack by either jumping on them or staying still, depending on which area they are attacking. SPEED Peps have the ability to teleport in combat, which they exploit to string attacks together. If their charge attack starts from the middle of the battlefield, the Peps will fire off a duplicate during their charge attack, striking both Bros. Stomping on a SPEED Pep or the copy will damage them and make them quit attacking for that turn. Unlike the other Peps, this enemy doesn't fuse itself with another enemy to improve its Speed in the original game, though it does in the remake; additionally, although its Speed stat is the highest in the original game, it is the lowest in the remake despite its name.

Statistics

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story enemy
POW Pep
	HP	105 (158)	POW	53 (133)	DEF	48 (72)	SPEED	51
	Coins	40 (60)	Level	16	Fire	Normal	Burn?	Normal
	Role	Common	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Location(s)	Energy Hold	Dizzy?	Normal
	Stat down?	Normal	KO?	Normal	Experience	120	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 3.5% No-touch Socks - 1.5%
Notice: The second set of numbers next to the enemy's HP, POW, DEF, SPEED and Coins are stat increases from the Challenge Medal accessory; a 50% increase for HP, DEF, SPEED and Coins earned, and a 150% increase for POW.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story enemy
DEF Pep
	HP	105 (158)	POW	46 (115)	DEF	68 (102)	SPEED	51
	Coins	40 (60)	Level	16	Fire	Normal	Burn?	Normal
	Role	Common	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Location(s)	Energy Hold	Dizzy?	Normal
	Stat down?	Normal	KO?	Normal	Experience	120	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 4.0% DEF Mush Jam - 1.0%
Notice: The second set of numbers next to the enemy's HP, POW, DEF, SPEED and Coins are stat increases from the Challenge Medal accessory; a 50% increase for HP, DEF, SPEED and Coins earned, and a 150% increase for POW.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story enemy
SPEED Pep
	HP	105 (158)	POW	46 (115)	DEF	48 (72)	SPEED	71
	Coins	40 (60)	Level	16	Fire	Normal	Burn?	Normal
	Role	Common	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Location(s)	Energy Hold	Dizzy?	Normal
	Stat down?	Normal	KO?	Normal	Experience	120	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 3.5% No-touch Socks - 1.5%
Notice: The second set of numbers next to the enemy's HP, POW, DEF, SPEED and Coins are stat increases from the Challenge Medal accessory; a 50% increase for HP, DEF, SPEED and Coins earned, and a 150% increase for POW.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey enemy
POW Pep
	HP	94	POW	80	DEF	64	SPEED	44	Experience	120
	Fire	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Coins	40
	Burn	1x	Dizzy	1x	Stat down	1x	Speed down	1x	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 30% POW Mush Jam - 5%
Level           16	Location(s)	Energy Hold

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey enemy
DEF Pep
	HP	94	POW	64	DEF	80	SPEED	29	Experience	120
	Fire	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Coins	40
	Burn	1x	Dizzy	1x	Stat down	1x	Speed down	1x	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 30% DEF Mush Jam - 10%
Level           16	Location(s)	Energy Hold

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey enemy
SPEED Pep
	HP	94	POW	72	DEF	64	SPEED	53	Experience	120
	Fire	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Battled by	Mario & Luigi	Coins	40
	Burn	1x	Dizzy	1x	Stat down	1x	Speed down	1x	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar - 30% No-touch Socks - 15%
Level           16	Location(s)	Energy Hold

Names in other languages

POW

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ＰＯＷエナジー[?] POW Enajī	Power Energy
French (NOA)	Pep PUIS.[?]	POW Pep. PUIS. is an abbreviation of Puissance, which means "Power" (POW).
French (NOE)	Attaquine[?]	From Attaque ("Attack"), similar to European Spanish.
German	ANGR.-Amin[?]	POW Amine
Italian	Energia ATT[?]	From energia ("energy"). ATT is an abbreviation of Attacco ("Attack").
Spanish (NOA)	Pep atacante	Attacker Pep
Spanish (NOE)	Ataquina	From Ataque ("Attack") with the -ina ending, a Spanish suffix used in medicine.

DEF

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ＤＥＦエナジー[?] DEF Enajī	Defense Energy
French (NOA)	Pep DÉF.[?]	DEF Pep. The abbreviation DÉF. comes from Défence, which means "Defense" (DEF).
French (NOE)	Défensine[?]	From Défense ("Defense"), similar to European Spanish.
German	VERT.-Amin[?]	DEF Amine
Italian	Energia DIF[?]	From "energia" ("energy"). DIF is an abbreviation of Difesa ("Defense").
Spanish (NOA)	Pep defensor	Defender Pep
Spanish (NOE)	Defensina	From Defensa ("Defense") with the -ina ending, a Spanish suffix used in medicine.

SPEED

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ＳＰＥＥＤエナジー[?] SPEED Enajī	Speed Energy
French (NOA)	Pep VIT.[?]	SPEED Pep. VIT. is an abbreviation of vitesse, which means speed.
French (NOE)	Vitessine[?]	From Vitesse ("Speed"), similar to European Spanish.
German	GES.-Amin[?]	SPEED Amine
Italian	Energia VEL[?]	From energia ("energy"). VEL is an abbreviation of Velocità ("Speed").
Spanish (NOA)	Pep veloz	Fast Pep
Spanish (NOE)	Velocina	From Velocidad ("Speed") with the -ina ending, a Spanish suffix used in medicine.