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 Mushroom World, 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.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Chain Chomps first appeared in World 2-5 of Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System/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.

There are two ways to defeat Chain Chomps in this game: using a Starman or a Koopa Shell.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
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. Chomp Rocks also made an appearance and were powerful objects or obstacles. They look just like smaller, rocky Chomp Heads. A single, "normal" chomp also appear in a room in the exact beginning of Sluggy The Unshaven's Fort. This specific Chain-Chomp could be only defeated by using a POW Block. Defeating him would allow the acces to a room with an Hint Block in it.

Most of the Chain Chomps in this game are used as a special obstacle. They will fall into the ground on certain levels and make a bottomless pit. If one falls on Yoshi, Baby Mario will not fall off Yoshi's back, instead, Yoshi will be pushed into the newly created pit.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, 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. Kinklinks are Chain Chomps used to hold chandeliers in Bowser's Keep.

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

Super Mario 64
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, like most of the other characters in the game, made no distinctive sound.

Paper Mario
A single Chain Chomp, nicknamed Chompy, appeared in Paper Mario in the Dry Dry Ruins. He was in fact a pet of the ghost Tutankoopa and was fought alongside him as the boss of Chapter 2. Stone Chomps also appeared at several places inside the Dry Dry Ruins.

Super Mario Sunshine
Small puppy-like Chain Chomps called Chain Chomplets as well as a large Red Chomp appear in Pianta Village in Super Mario Sunshine. The large Chomp 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.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
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 Bros., a variation of the Hammer Bros. that swing small Chomps as weapons, appear in Bowser's Castle.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
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.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
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 brothers across the screen, forcing them to Jump on any enemy in their wake. There are also Shroobified versions of regular Chomps called Chain Shromps.

Super Princess Peach
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.

Super Paper Mario
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).

Mario Kart series
In Mario Kart 64, Chain Chomps 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. If touched, the driver will be sent flying up.

In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, a Chain Chomp is a usable item for Baby Mario and Baby Luigi, as well as Petey Piranha and King Boo, who have the ability to receive any other character's special item. It 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. Bigger Chain Chomps also appear as obstacles on the Mario Circuit and Luigi Circuit tracks.

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.

Mario Party series
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. In Mario Party 8, there is a minigame in the Extra Zone where the player has to feed Chain Chomps the correct food or they will chase him.

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

Mario Power Tennis
In Mario Power Tennis there is a mini-game that takes place in the Wario Factory Court 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.

Mario Superstar Baseball
Three Chain Chomps 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.

Super Mario Strikers
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.

Mario Strikers Charged
Mario Strikers Charged is similar to Super Mario Strikers version of Chain Chomp where the Chain Chomp goes over the whole field attacking anyone who had the ball and stun them for an amount of time.

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 Mushroom World.

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. Even in the Pokémon World, nobody knows where the tail for serves.

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 fireball chain.
 * Incoming Chomp – Giant, jumping Chomps that crush the ground.
 * Kinklink – Chomps used to hold up chandeliers.
 * Mecha Chomp – Robotic, dog-like Chomps.
 * Nibbles – A fish-like Chain Chomp that can be found in water everywhere in Paper Mario:The Thousand-Year Door.
 * Red Chomp – A red-colored 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.
 * 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 someone (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.

And Baby Bowser's line of dialogue? "Who raised ya?! Chain Chomps?!?!?"
 * 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.They did have a fair appearance, though.