Hermie III

"If you want to cauthe trouble... Then you're thtupid!"

- Hermie III

Hermie III is a giant, lisping hermit crab that lives in Gwarhar Lagoon during the events of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. When the Beanstar breaks into four pieces, Hermie claims one and places it at the top of his shell. With some help from fellow residents of Gwarhar Lagoon, Hermie manages to decorate his shell, making a Christmas tree. When Mario and Luigi arrive, Hermie refuses to give up the Beanstar; however, the real problem comes when Hermie's helpers start to pay more attention to the Mario Bros., who they recognize, than his prized decorations. Hermie loses his temper and starts a battle with Mario and Luigi.

Hermie has one main attack: pinching at the Mario Bros. with his claws. The only way to dodge this attack is to jump. If the claw starts to vibrate, it hits the brother it is closest to. If it doesn't, he switches. He also spits pink bubbles which can poison Mario or Luigi unless they are destroyed with the Hammer. After he has taken some damage, Hermie hides in his shell, where he begins to heal himself. To get him out, Mario must use his Firebrand or Fire Bros. attack on him. This makes him angrily pop out of his shell, yelling about how the brothers are ruining his decorations.

After being defeated, the Marios explain the situation to the hermit crab, who reluctantly gives up the Beanstar piece. Optionally, Mario and Luigi can later choose to make amends with Hermie III by giving him Spangle to place on his shell, and Hermie gratefully rewards them a Soulful Bros. badge.

Trivia

 * Although it is assumed that "Hermie III" is to be pronounced "Hermie the Third", the inclusion of the number three in Hermie's full name may be a pun on "tree", the object he highly resembled while his shell was decorated.
 * During the fight, Sidesteppers from the original Mario Bros. periodically run around in the background, presumably to distract the player.
 * Hermie III mistakes Mario for Santa Claus.
 * Hermie III is a likely reference to the Yadotsurī enemies in the Japan-only game Tomato Adventure; a game previously developed by AlphaDream for the Game Boy Advance which later served as the basis for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. The Yadotsurī enemies are also orange hermit crabs decorated like Christmas trees, although they are much smaller than Hermie III.