Chain Chomp

"Ruff! Ruff! (I'm gonna steal coins or stars just for you!)"

- Chain Chomp

A Chain Chomp (or Chomp or Bow-Wow in the Legend of Zelda series) is a common enemy in the Mushroom kingdom, first appearing in Super Mario Bros. 3. They resemble ball and chains, and behave in a very dog like manner, to the point where they even bark. They are a strong, but unintelligent species on the Mushroom Planet, and are commonly used as guard dogs in most games; in fact, as proven by the ancient statues of them in the Dry Dry Ruins, they have been used for centuries. Many chomps in the Mario series have been part of the Koopa Troop, though a couple of chomps have been shown to be independent.

Appearances
Chain Chomps first appeared in level 2-5 of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES/Famicom as Chain Chomps, along with their relatives, the fire-spitting flying Fire Chomps. When the timer hits 160 seconds, all Chain Chomps come loose and aren't bound by chains. It has returned in the remake, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3.

Chomp Heads appear in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island for the Super Nintendo, devoid of their chains and having increased to the massive size they retained in many future games. There also was one regular specimen, which remained chained and small, like in previous games. Chomp Rocks also made an appearance and were powerful objects or obstacles. They look just like smaller, rocky Chomp Heads.

In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo, Bowser uses a small Chain Chomp as a weapon. There are also Chomp Chomps which are about as powerful as the game's first Smithy Gang boss, Mack.

Chain Chomps appear as invincible enemies in Yoshi's Story, resembling the Chomp Shark. These are the first to actually be called Chomps. They only appeared in one of the huts on Stage 4-1: Jungle Hut.

In Super Mario 64, there is a Chain Chomp located near the jail in Bob-omb Battlefield. It also reappeared in the remake, Super Mario 64 DS. In this game the Chomp acquired its famous bark, which was used in later games, save Paper Mario, where Chain Chomps (as well as the Stone Chomp variant) were unleashed by Tutankoopa and, like most of the other characters in the game, made no distinctive sound.

In Mario Kart 64, a relative of the Chain Chomps, the Rainbow Chomp, appear on the Rainbow Road track where they travel at road level in the opposite direction of the racers in a regular zig-zag pattern.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, a Chain Chomp is a usable item for Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Petey Piranha, and King Boo that pulls the racers forward for a few seconds and bowls over other racers in its path. After a certain amount of time, it abandons the vehicle and goes of on its own in a straight line until it runs into a vehicle or off the course. Chain Chomps also appear as obstacles on the Mario Circuit and Luigi Circuit tracks.

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour features a couple holes where a Chain Chomp devours any ball that enters the hole, wasting two turns.

In Mario Power Tennis there is a mini-game that takes place in Wario's Factory featuring a Chomp. If pelted with water, it would go to sleep or calm down, but if struck with a Bob-omb, it would wake up, get really mad, or chase the player. When a tennis ball is shot at it, the player gets a point.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door features two types of Chain Chomps: Red Chomps, which appear in Glitzville, and traditional Chain Chomps, appearing in the Palace of Shadow. Both types are found in the Pit of 100 Trials. There are also a new fish-like sub-species that attack Mario whenever he falls in water, which are called Nibblers.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, two Chain Chomp enemies appear. In one area at Woohoo Hooniversity, Mecha-Chomps, dog-like mechanical Chomps, appear. The Chomp Bro., a variation of the Hammer Bros. that swing small Chomps as weapons, appear in Bowser's Castle. In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, the "Pocket Chomp" is a Bros. Item. It first appears to be a small chomp in a can, but when released it more than triples in size and chases the Bros. across the screen, forcing them to Jump on any enemy in their wake. There are also Shroobified versions called Chain Shromps.

More recently, Super Mario Strikers featured a Chain Chomp as an item with which the player could attack. If used, the Chomp attacked all opposing players on the field, leaving them on the ground for a few seconds.

Small puppy-like Chain Chomps called Chain Chomplets as well as a large Red Chomp appear in Pianta Village in Super Mario Sunshine. A giant Chain Chomp also appeared in Pianta Village in this game. It was overheated and very angry, so Mario had to spray it with FLUDD to cool it off. This was only temporary, however, as the Chain Chomp would soon get angry and flare up again. Mario had to drag it by its chain to the Pianta Spring where it cooled off completely and awarded Mario a Shine Sprite.

In Mario Kart DS, Chain Chomps appear in the original Luigi Circuit racetrack from Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and the new course Peach Gardens. The latter level has a lot of stray Chain Chomps, some with item boxes instead of chains!

Chain Chomps have also made appearances in the Mario Party series. In Mario Party 4 an item called a Chomp Call was introduced in which a Chain Chomp was called to move the location of the Star. Later in the series, they take the role of Boos and steal Stars or coins with their own Orb.

Three of them also appeared in Mario Superstar Baseball as a obstacle in the foul line in the Wario Palace field. One also appeared in the "Chain-Chomp Sprint" minigame, that sleeps in the center of the bases, and if anyone is still running around the bases it will ram into them, causing them to be out for a few seconds.

In Super Princess Peach a variation of Chain Chomp, known as Calm Chain Chomp could be found. These Chain Chomps would sleep unless Princess Peach woke them up. They would then act like normal Chain Chomps.

In Super Paper Mario, Francis had a pet Chain Chomp in his basement. Also, the guardian of the Underwhere was a "three-headed" Chain Chomp called Underchomp (it was actually three Chain Chomps, each of a different color).

Characteristics and Traits
Chomps resemble a ball with chains. They have big circular eyes, large gaping mouths, and razor-sharp teeth. Most also have a restraining tail-like chain, which are commonly tied to some sort of post to restrict their movement. These creatures are usually pure black (though they have appeared in other colors, such as like red, blue, and yellow), with bright white eyes and teeth. Unlike most enemies from the Mario games, Chomps are incapable of human speech; rather they communicate through dog like barks (hence their japanese name). Behavior-wise, they act similar to guard dogs, and will attack without thinking; Chomps and when they are not asleep they are rarely seen calm and many have a ferocious, angry personality. Chomps also have a tendency to sleep, as shown in some games (most likely because they use up a lot of energy). Chomps also seem to have varying sizes, some growing to huge proportions while others are as big as Mario.

Chomps are some of the tougher enemies in the Mario series. In a couple of games, they are invincible, and they usually have an above-average defense in RPGs. Many games seem to even hint that they are made of a hard, metallic substance. Their main method of attack is lunging at the enemy and biting them, though they are usually pulled back by their chains. Chainless Chomps, therefore, make for more difficult enemies, especially due to them generally being larger than their other brethren. With a few exceptions (such as in Paper Mario), most Chomps that aren't tied down will charge at their enemy instead of lunge.

Chomps seem to lack human-like intelligence, and are more animal-like than other enemies such as Goombas and Shy Guys. However, a few Chomps seem to have some more capabilities of thinking than others. Lack of technology is evident in their usage as guards. Some items, such as the Chomp Whistle and Pocket Chomp, can be used to summon Chomps, which further proves that they have some traits of loyalty and obedience, similar to a dog. In short, Chomps may be considered the Mario-equivalent to the Real World guard dog.

Appearances In Other Media


Chain Chomps made several appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, appearing in such episodes as "Reptiles in the Rose Garden" and "The Venice Menace".

In a Japanese Mario manga, Princess Peach keeps a Chain Chomp as a pet.

The Chain Chomps make many cameo appearances in The Legend of Zelda games. Link's Awakening featured a domesticated chomp while The Four Swords Adventures and A Link to the Past had Chain Chomp-like enemies that had to be avoided by Link. These may in fact be the same Chain Chomps with means they may exist outside of the Mushroom Planet.

The end of a giraffe/okapi-like Pokémon called Girafarig's tail highly resembles a Chain Chomp's head (though it lacks the chain, the rest of the tail may considered a substitute), and acts similarly. This makes Girafarig the only Pokémon to have a reference to the Mario games in its design.

Sub Species

 * Big Chain Chomp – A giant chain chomp
 * Calm Chain Chomp – A species of sleeping Chain Chomp found on vibe island
 * Chain Chomplet – A young Chomp only seen in Super Mario Sunshine
 * Chomp Chomp – A golden chain chomp
 * Chomp-Muncher – A fusion of a Muncher and a Chomp
 * Chomp Shark – Enormous flying chomps
 * Dark Chomp – An enemy found in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials
 * Fire Chomp – A Chomp with a fire ball chain
 * Incoming Chomp – giant jumping Chomps that crush the ground
 * Kinklink – chomps used to hold up chandeliers
 * Mecha Chomp – Robotic, dog like chomps
 * Red Chomp – A red chomp
 * Shroob Chomp – A purple chomp that has been Shroobified
 * Stompin' Chomp – Large chomps that jump up and down
 * Stone Chomp – A variety of chomp, made out of stone
 * Rainbow Chomp – a silver Chomp found on Rainbow Road
 * Underchomp – three headed chomps found in The Underwhere

Trivia

 * The Chain Chomp got its name because it has a chain or it's chained to something (explaining Chain Chomp), and it chomps at you (explaining Chain Chomp).


 * The Chain Chomp was inspired by a childhood experience of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, where a dog tried to attack him. The dog lunged at him, but was jerked back by its leash just as the canine snapped at Miyamoto inches in front of his face.


 * In the Japanese version of Mario's games, the Chomp is named Wanwan, the rough equivalent of "Woof Woof." This explains its dog-like personality, and also why it was called Bow Wow in the North American version of Link's Awakening.


 * All known female Chain Chomps wear a pink bow on their head. Otherwise, they look exactly like any other Chain Chomp. Female Chain Chomps have first appeared in Link's Awakening. Another appearance was in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time seen randomly instead of normal Chain Chomps after using Pocket Chomps. Female Chain Chomps are slower than normal Chain Chomps and don't get as fast or angry when being pounded on by a baby's Hammer.


 * Wario seems to have some relationship with Chain Chomps, because in most of the newer Gamecube sports games, he hosts Chomp-related minigames on his turf.


 * In the Paper Mario series, a Japanese mistranslation caused its name to be "Chain-Chomp" instead of "Chain Chomp". "Chain-Chomp" was also used in a line of dialogue by Baby Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time; quite interestingly, this was the only time Chain Chomps were named in that game.