Swoop

Swoops, originally called Swoopers, are bats that first appeared in Super Mario World and since then, Swoops have become recurring enemies, appearing in several other games, including main-stream and spin-off ones. A similar species known as Buckies also appears in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.

In Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, New Super Mario Bros., Super Paper Mario, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, New Super Mario Bros. 2, New Super Mario Bros. U, and New Super Luigi U, they hang idly on the ceiling and when the player's character comes near, they fall and fly towards the player, hurting the heroes on contact.

Super Mario World
In Super Mario World, Swoops would hang from the ceilings of caves upside down, waiting for Mario or Luigi to approach. When they come near, the Swoops would fly down and try to hurt Mario or Luigi. They could easily be defeated by stomping on them. They were found in Vanilla Dome.

Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS
Swoops (called as such for the first time) also appear in Super Mario 64 and its DS remake. Found only in Hazy Maze Cave, these Swoops are recolored from green with brown wings to blue with purple wings, which would go on to be their color scheme in future appearances. Like in Super Mario World, they hang still on the ceiling waiting for Mario to come, falling off the ceiling and flutter in a spot shortly to dash towards its victim.

New Super Mario Bros.
Like in Super Mario 64, they would be on the ceiling waiting to attack. A rare one appears in World 2-3 whereas the other 12 appear in World 5-2. They are blue and have purple wings. Their design was extremely similar to their design in Super Mario 64.

Super Mario Galaxy
Swoops appear in Super Mario Galaxy. These bats are brown in this game, have a similarity to Keese from the Zelda series, and cling to the ceiling or appear flying. If Mario approaches, they will lock-on and swoop at him. In fact this is the same attack as Keese use except that those appear in large groups, switch to red eyes when attacking, and can sometimes dodge Link's attacks when he tries to hit them with his sword in Skyward Sword. Swoops could be defeated by a jump or a spin, and give a Coin or three Star Bits depending how they are defeated. If a Swoops hits Mario, it will laugh at him and taunt him. There is also a cyan ice variation called Ice Bats that will freeze Mario for a few seconds when contacted, which is also akin to Ice Keese in the Zelda series. Attacking them with the Jump combat move will make Mario frostbitten, causing him damage. The only way to defeat them is to use fireballs as Fire Mario (or Fire Luigi) since Spinning an Ice Swoop will not kill it. It also taunts and laughs at Mario due to its ice protection. Ice Swoops only appear in the Freezeflame Galaxy.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Swoops appear in caves in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They look just like their New Super Mario Bros. counterparts, and behave exactly the same. They appear in World 5-2 and World 6-6.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Ordinary Swoops from Super Mario Galaxy reappear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and they behave the same way as they did in the first game. They appeared in galaxies such as the Slimy Spring Galaxy and the Fleet Glide Galaxy but are rare enemies. Ice Bats do not appear in this game. The Prima Guide refers to them as "bats".

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Swoops reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, behaving exactly as they did in the previous games. They only appear in World 5-Ghost House.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Swoops reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U, behaving exactly as they did in the previous New Super Mario Bros. games. Their eyes also glow in the dark. They only appear in 3 levels: Perilous Pokey Cave, Light Blocks, Dark Tower, and Shifting Floor Cave.

Nintendo Adventure Books
A trio of Swoops appear in Dinosaur Dilemma, living in the upper floor of an abandoned mansion. Upon spotting Mario, they attack him by dropping Koopa Shells. Depending on which page the reader chooses to turn to, Mario either avoids the Swoops and hides until they grow bored and leave, or one of their shells will connect and knock the plumber out for several hours, allowing Bowser to easily conquer Dinosaur Island.

Paper Mario series
For enemy profiles of Swoops in the Paper Mario series, jump to the Paper Mario series stats and tattle information section on this page.

Paper Mario
Swoops made their first appearance in the Paper Mario series in Paper Mario. They are found inside the Dry Dry Ruins, where they are either constantly flying or hanging on the ceiling. When they are hanging from the ceiling, Mario cannot reach them using a regular jump attack, and must instead use the Quake Hammer, Skolar's attack, an item, or one of his partners (such as Parakarry) to knock them lose from the ceiling. They attack by simply swooping down and physically ramming their opponent. A stronger version of Swoops exists, called Swoopulas.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Swoops also appeared uncommonly in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Four Swoops led by Sir Swoop make up the Glitz Pit team Wings of Night who appear during Chapter 3 to serve as a brief replacement for the KP Koopas after King K. "retires".

Later on, in Chapter 4, Swoops can be found in outside areas of Creepy Steeple. They attack like they did in Paper Mario. Additionally, Swoopulas return, and a new species debuts, the Swampire, even stronger than a Swoopula.

Super Paper Mario
Swoops also re-appeared in Super Paper Mario. They are mainly found in Chapter 2 (Gloam Valley and Merlee's Mansion). Swoops can be found in Gloam Valley in a secret area via using the Flip and falling into a 3D-accessible hole near the Star Block. Their Catch Card can be found here, along with the Shlurps' Catch Card. Swoops are also found in the line-of-coins trap in Merlee's Mansion as well as a room in Merlees basement.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Swoops re-appear in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, for the Nintendo 3DS. They appear in the first section of Drybake Desert, inside the Yoshi Sphinx, and during Sandshifter Ruins. They look just like their previous incarnations in the past Paper Mario games. In battle, they will always be in mid-air and never hang from the ceiling but they are not common in fact they are a little rare and four of them only appear outside battle. They attack by swooping down at Mario. Swoops also make an appearance in the final battle, where they are summoned by Bowser. Swoops also assist Paragoombas, Paratroopas, and Spikes.

Mario Kart DS
Swoops appear first in Mario Kart DS, in the track Banshee Boardwalk, a racecourse once appearing in Mario Kart 64. In the game, Swoops appear in large flocks that fly in the opposite direction that all racers go. Though they are not a real hazard, Swoops can get in the way of any incoming karts, slowing them down.

Mario Kart Wii
Swoops also appear in Mario Kart Wii and act in the same way as seen in DS. They only appear in the courses Wario's Gold Mine and Dry Dry Ruins. Additionally, players can wipe out these bats by using certain items such as Shells, or under the power of a star.

Mario Kart 7
Swoops reappear in Mario Kart 7 in the course Rock Rock Mountain. They behave the same way as in previous titles slowing down racers. There is also a glider that looks like a Swoop.

Mario Kart 8
Swoopers appear as obstacles in Mario Kart 8 during the cave portion of Mount Wario, N64 Yoshi Valley and  Wii Wario's Gold Mine. In Hyrule Circuit, Swoopers are replaced with Keese to fit with the theme of the course.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
This time the Swoops were not on the roof, but flying around. They only appeared in a boss fight against Donkey Kong trying to attack the Mini Marios. The Swoops' artwork can be seen during the credits.

Mario Party 8
Swoops make their first appearance in the Mario Party series as a cameo in Mario Party 8: they appear on the wrapper of the Vampire Candy. The Swoops appearing on the wrapper are blue, making them look like the Super Mario 64 and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 versions of Swoops.

Mario Party 9
Swoops also have a minor appearance in Mario Party 9, flying around Boo's Horror Castle board. In the minigame Chain Event, several Swoops can be seen in the background as the player slides down the chain.

Mario Party: Island Tour
Swoops appear in Mario Party: Island Tour on the Star-Crossed Skyway board. In the first and third stages, it gives out two Mini Stars.

Mario Party 10
Swoops appear again in Mario Party 10 in multiple minigames.