Goompa

"Putting on badges and taking them off is a vital skill."

- Goompa

Goompa is Goombario's old grandfather. He is an elder Goomba, and has extensive knowledge of the world. In fact, Goompa taught his grandson everything he knows. His knowledge of the world comes from his adventures as a youth. In his prime, he used to travel the globe with his friends Koopa Koot and Bootler. Goompa also has a bad back.

Goompa lives in Goomba Village with the rest of Goombario's family. In the beginning of Paper Mario, Goompa is fixing the veranda of their home with a Hammer. When Mario attempts to leave the village. Kammy Koopa appears and, using her magic, creates a yellow block that prevents Mario from leaving. Mario decides to ask Goompa for his Hammer, and walks to the veranda. Unfortunately, the veranda has fallen apart, causing Goompa and Mario to plummet to the ground below. In order to get back to the village, Goompa will temporarily join Mario. Although he doesn't fight, he teaches Mario how to use the game's battle system and gives Mario his Hammer after it is found.

One of the favors that Koopa Koot asks of Mario is that he retrieve a Tape that had been lent to Goompa a long time ago. When Mario retrieves the tape he is curious of the its contents, but Goompa refuses to tell him what is on the tape commenting only that he enjoyed listening to it.

Physical Appearance
Goompa is for the most part an average Goomba. The only things different are the bushy white eyebrows and his green hat. Also, he usually has a smile on his face.

Tattle

 * He's my grandpa, Goompa. He knows oodles of stuff. Ever since I was a kid, he's been telling me fantastic stories of his youth.

Trivia

 * Goompa's name is a portmanteau of "grandpa" and "Goomba", a namesake which he strangely refers to directly. As a matter of fact, "Goompa" may be a general term for Goomba grandfathers, as Goombario occasionally refers to Goompa as "my [his] Goompa".
 * It is implied that he was the Goomba martial artist who trained The Master.
 * Goompa constantly has his back turned while fixing the veranda, and making him turn around (by talking to him) reveals that he does not even have a Hammer while doing so. Nintendo most likely left these details out to avoid having him hold a Hammer, as he (like all Goombas) lacks arms. Later games would be less shy about having Goombas hold objects; Mario Superstar Baseball, for instance, depicts the one playable Goomba's baseball bat as simply "floating" in the air, which may explain how he fixed the veranda.
 * Interestingly, Goompa does have a C-Down command like all partners. In the beginning of the game when Goompa acts as Mario's partner, pressing C-Down will make Goompa move behind Mario if he isn't already.
 * As he is fit enough to fix a veranda alone, Goompa is apparently quite robust for his old age.
 * Goompa suffers from lower back pain.
 * His name appears in the coding of the game in Mario's list of partners along with Goombaria and Twink, suggesting he was originally going to assist Mario on his quest. His, like all the removed partners, icon is the same as Kooper's.