Junker

Junker, or the "Super Ultra Great Mega Trashy Monster Junker Bot" as Midbus calls it, is a trash can-like robot boss fought near the end of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. It is aided by several smaller cronies called Junker Cans, which can be called on at any time during battle.

Story


Near the end of the game, Mario and Luigi infiltrate Peach's Castle, looking for a way inside. Upon reaching the back area of the garden where the secret entrance was supposed to be, Starlow comments that there is nothing but trash. Soon after, Midbus appears, holding a remote control. Once it is activated, Junker springs to life from piles of garbage nearby. After Midbus's attempts to control it fail (possibly being the reason why he was in the trash in the first place), he becomes enraged, smashes the remote and allows it to fight the Mario Bros. on its own.

After being defeated, Junker begins to malfunction again and rampages through the trash, freeing and destroying the safe Bowser was captured in. It then destroys itself by running through a pile of trash, accessing a pipe connected to Pipe Yard, allowing the brothers to enter Bowser's body and progress further through the game.

Battle
In battle, Junker has a variety of attacks. One attack consists of throwing a bucket over either Mario's or Luigi's head. The brother then stumbles around blindly while Junker throws Thwomps above him; players must time their jumps to avoid the attack. If Mario or Luigi are hit by the Thwomp, they lose a great amount of HP and may get dizzy.

Another attack involves throwing two balls of metal scrap at one of the Mario Bros., then attempting to ram him. The brother must jump onto the balls, then jump over or on top of Junker as it attempts the ramming portion of the attack to avoid massive damage.

A third attack consists of emptying the garbage from one of the Junker Cans that follow it. Often, this garbage consists of random enemies that go after the Mario Bros, which include:


 * Cheep Cheeps (Poison Mushrooms in the remake), who jump over the Mario Bros. and hurt them if they jump.
 * Bob-ombs, who light their fuses before charging, causing significant damage if not avoided.
 * Scutlets, which immediately charge after coming out.
 * Useless objects, including wads of paper and briefs.

Once several enemies have attacked, the Junker Can is discarded. In the remake, it will be thrown at a bro instead.

If Mario or Luigi defeats a Junker Can, an enemy will appear and attempt an attack on Mario or Luigi, which must be countered with the hammer in order to defeat it. Enemies that may appear are:


 * A Fish Bone, which circles either Mario and Luigi and must be hammered before it rams into them. In the remake, a Scutlet appears instead, and must be countered likewise.
 * A Chain Chomp, which charges directly at one of the brothers and must be hit with the hammer. If not avoided, it can inflict poison.
 * A Nooz, which hovers above one of the brothers and eventually drops down, needing to be hit with the hammer to prevent damage.

The Junker can also choose to hinder the Mario Bros. and incapacitate Luigi by tossing him into a Junker Can. In the original version, this attack cannot be avoided; thus, Mario is forced to defeat the Junker Can to rescue his brother. Occasionally, Luigi will hit the rim after being thrown and escapes on his own. On other occasions, Luigi will briefly wave to Mario while in one of the Junker Cans, signifying which one he is trapped in.

If Mario is defeated while Luigi is still trapped in the Junker Can, Luigi will be instantly defeated as well, resulting in a Game Over if the player does not have any Retry Clocks (or chooses not to use one).

In the remake, the player can now mash so Luigi can escape Junker's suction that puts him in a Junker Can.

A stronger version of Junker, known as Junker X, can be fought in The Gauntlet.

Trivia

 * The attack in which it throws Thwomps at the brothers is a reference to the Super Famicom game Mario & Wario.

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