Gobblegut

"Ohhhhh, Gobblegut... Dinner's on!"

- Bowser Jr.

Gobblegut is a boss in Super Mario Galaxy 2. It is an insane dragon who encircles and burrows through a small planet in Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla.

Appearance
Gobblegut resembles a giant serpentine dragon with a row of numerous Bellyache Bulges growing from its body. Its scales have beautiful swirl designs, and its underside lacks scales, thus exposing its pink skin. Gobblegut has a few jagged rocks protruding from its head, and it has a large bulbous chin that has numerous scars on it (most likely due to the numerous times it slams his chin into solid rock). It also has orange eyes with a demented look to them.

Strategy
The giant dragon circles the planet and eventually swoops down and crunches down on the surface of the planet in an attempt to injure Mario. When it blows steam out of its nose (making a noise akin to a train whistle), it dives down and tunnels right through the middle of the planet thus exposing its six Bellyache Bulges to attack. The six bulges surrounding Gobblegut's body can be burst when Mario uses a spinning attack on them when they get temporarily stuck in the planet's surface while tunneling, or by doing a somersault and spin attacking a bulge. After three hits, Gobblegut becomes angrier and starts moving faster. After the last Bellyache Bulge bursts, Gobblegut slows down, burps, and completely explodes, releasing a Grand Star.

The player faces Gobblegut twice, with the second fight being under the Speedy Comet conditions. However, the player does face a fiery version of Gobblegut later on in the game.

Bellyache Bulges
"Don't forget to protect your bellyache bulges!"

- Bowser Jr.

Bellyache Bulges are found at various intervals along the serpentine body of Gobblegut when it is fought in Bowser Jr.'s Fiery Flotilla. They appear to be large pink enflamed ulcers, six of which appear along Gobblegut's body. Just before Mario encounters Gobblegut for the first time, Bowser Jr. warns Gobblegut to protect them from attack. When Gobblegut burrows into the ground, the Bellyache Bulges will become stuck in the ground momentarily, at which point the player must attempt to spin each of the six Bellyache Bulges, popping them and forcibly removing them from his body. Mario can also perform a backflip and then spin to hit the Bellyache Bulges when they are above him. Each time one is destroyed, multiple Star Bits will be released, and Gobblegut will take more damage. In effect, these Bellyache Bulges act as Gobblegut's only weakness, as it cannot be damaged by any other means. When all six of Gobblegut's Bellyache Bulges have been destroyed, it will explode, and the player will win the battle.

Trivia

 * The Wiggler boss in Super Mario Sunshine acts similarly to Gobblegut, getting angrier and making train whistle noises every time it gets hit.
 * Gobblegut is similar to Dino Piranha from Super Mario Galaxy, due to the fact that they are fought in World 1 of their respective games, and their fire versions are fought later on in World 6.
 * Gobblegut has been said to bear a slight resemblance to Fracktail, the legendary guardian of a Pure Heart and boss in the game Super Paper Mario.
 * Gobblegut resembles dragons depicted in East Asian culture, such as China and Japan. Thus is propably more than a coincidence due to the fact that Nintendo began in Japan and continues to have most of their game concepts and ideas inspired there by their staff.
 * Gobblegut and its fiery version resemble the dragons from Yoshi's Story. Coincidentally, their colors are the same as well.