Hermite Crab

Hermite Crabs are red hermit crabs with a small sprout on their shells that appear in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. In the field, Hermite Crabs hide under their shells, occasionally peeping their eyes out, and pick up their shell and chase Mario and Luigi if they get near.

In battle, Hermite Crabs, like on the field, hide under their shells during the Bros.' attack turns. They will move from shell to shell every few seconds to confuse the Bros., as more often than not, there will be more shells than Hermite Crabs. Mario and Luigi must attack the shell once in order to remove it from battle and be able to attack the Hermite Crab that may be underneath. If the Hermite Crab's attack turn arrives while it is still under its shell, it will likely attack. If not, the Hermite Crab will leave for a moment to throw more unoccupied shells into the battle, some covering its friends, if any.

A Hermite Crab can attack by picking up its shell and throwing it high into the air above a Bro. It will then approach the Bro. it is targeting and idle by him until the shell hits him. The targeted Bro must swing his hammer with the right timing to both knock the shell away and hit the Hermite Crab. If the Hermite Crab stutters backwards when picking up the shell to throw, it will approach the Bro. that will not get hit by the shell; it will also side-step away from the Bro. it approaches at the moment before the shell hits the other Bro. The Bro. who is not approached must swat the shell away in order to avoid it. Additionally, the approached Bro. may smash the Hermite Crab to deal easy counter-attack damage.

Hermite Crabs can also pick up their shell, approach a bro, and chuck it in the direction they plan to move. If the Bro. is caught in its planned movement path, he must jump after the shell flies over his head and before it rushes into him.

Mario and Luigi can fight Hermite Crabs as early as visiting Mushrise Park for the first time, if they visit the pathways that connect to Wakeport to the west. As such, the Bros. can gather many more experience points from defeating Hermite Crabs at this point in the game than the enemies in Mushrise Park and Dozing Sands, and can prematurely acquire Expert Challenges points.

A larger Hermite Crab creature appears in the boss battle against Big Massif.

A stronger version of these called Hermite Crab Rs appear later on in the game.

Names in other languages
Kankris