Little Mouser

"There's been an incident. Holly Koopa's Candy was stolen. ...Our only suspect is...Mowz!"

- Shy Guy

Little Mousers are a species of small, blue, black or purple mice-like creatures who wear bandanas that obscure their faces. Their English name refers to another mouse-like foe, Mouser, who was introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island / Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Little Mousers first appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, where they attempt to steal Yoshi's eggs and scurry away with them into their burrows. Ordinarily, they appear blue with yellow ears and red-orange feet. However, in a secret area of KEEP MOVING!!!! they appear black with teal ears and dark teal feet. Like many blue enemies in the game, their artwork instead depicts them as purple with red feet. Little Skull Mousers also appear, and are just like normal Little Mousers, except they wear skulls on their heads, move solely by jumping, and will not steal eggs until the skull is removed from the Little Mouser.

Yoshi's New Island
Little Mousers, along with Little Skull Mousers, both under their original name, also appear in Yoshi's New Island. They act the same as in their first appearance.

Yoshi's Woolly World / Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
Little Mousers reappear in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, this time with a yarn-like appearance, buttons for ears, an indigo color, and orange feet. They only appear several times and try to steal yarn balls off Yoshi.

Yoshi's Crafted World
Little Mousers reappear in Yoshi's Crafted World. Here, they hold onto magnets, and throw Coins to each other. One also steals the Blue Dream Gem, before the Tin-Can Condor boss fight.

Mario Kart: Super Circuit
Little Mousers later appear under the name Mice in Mario Kart: Super Circuit as obstacles in the Cheese Land course. However, they are replaced by two Chain Chomps in the course's reappearance in the Animal Crossing × Mario Kart 8 DLC pack and the base game of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for unknown reasons.

Paper Mario
Little Mousers appear in Paper Mario as friendly NPCs called Nomadimice, where they are found in Dry Dry Outpost, which they have inhabited since ancient times. One of them named Moustafa gives Mario the Pulse Stone, which is necessary to open the secret path to Dry Dry Ruins. A purple one, itself called Little Mouser, runs Little Mouser's Shop and is one of Moustafa's close confidents. A wandering Nomadimouse is found along the path in Dry Dry Desert and is part of the game's letter sidequest.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Little Mousers were renamed Squeeks and were shown to be one of the primary inhabitants of Rogueport and Rogueport Sewers; a white Squeek, known as Ms. Mowz also appears in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door as an optional partner of Mario.

Mario Party Advance
In Mario Party Advance, a Little Mouser named Mouser appears as the boss and owner of the Duel Tower. He challenges the player to the game Chicken!. If the player wins, he receives the minigame. The ending said that he was bummed that Whomp left the Duel Tower.

Mario Party 8
In Mario Party 8, Little Mouser (called Mowz) is a recurring character. It first appears in King Boo's Haunted Hideaway. If a ? Space is landed on inside the mansion, Mowz will let the player spin a wheel with a pinball inside. Depending on which one of three holes on the wheel the ball lands in (Coins, Star, or Candy), it will steal an item from a random opponent for the player.

Another appearance of Mowz is in Shy Guy's Perplex Express. If a player lands on one of the ? Spaces above the train, a Shy Guy comes and tells the character that Holly Koopa's candy was stolen. A suspect during the event can be either Mowz or Bandit. If the player correctly remembers which car Mowz was on, they are rewarded with 20 coins if played in a 4-player Party Tent or 10 coins in Duel Mode and Star Battle Arena.

It can also be seen in the Star Carnival in the menu screen. Other characters walking in the Star Carnival are Koopas, Shy Guys, and Chain Chomps.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
A Little Mouser appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Spirit. It gives the fighter increased jump and movement speed.

Yoshi's Crafted World

 * North American website bio: "Want to hold onto your coins? Keep your distance from these rascally enemies, who love to play keep away."