Foreman Spike

"Get this through your tiny brain, Mario. You're a joke, and you always will be."

- Foreman Spike

Foreman Spike, occasionally referred to simply as Spike, is the foreman of the demolition site where Mario and Luigi work in Wrecking Crew. He continuously tries to hinder the brothers' progress. He is usually depicted as a bearded man who wears sunglasses, although in Wrecking Crew '98, he does not have a beard.

Foreman Spike was designed by Hiroji Kiyotake, who is also the original designer of Wario.

Wrecking Crew
Foreman Spike made his debut in the first bonus stage of Wrecking Crew, where he competes against Mario in finding a coin. While Mario moves in the foreground, Spike runs around in the background, smashing walls with his hammer to find the coin before Mario.

In regular phases, Foreman Spike follows Mario while remaining in the background. Whenever an object comes between the two, he hits it with his hammer to knock Mario all the way to the bottom of the stage. However, Mario can do the same back to him. With a Golden Hammer, Foreman Spike can be knocked down without having to hit an object between them. Like the rest of the enemies in the game, Foreman Spike can only be permanently defeated by trapping him, such as dropping a drum on him or knocking him into an isolated floor.

Foreman Spike's in-game appearance showed the same build as Mario and Luigi, a hooked nose, sunglasses, yellowish brown clothing, a beard, and a mouth full of crooked teeth when struck.

Foreman Spike did not appear in the first game of the series, VS. Wrecking Crew. In that game's single player mode, the CPU Luigi fulfills a similar role and can not be damaged by the enemies just like Foreman Spike.

Wrecking Crew '98
Foreman Spike returns in the Japan-only title Wrecking Crew '98. He is the fourth challenger in the puzzle mode game. In this game, Foreman Spike is working for Bowser, helping him build a series of new hideouts. Foreman Spike was redesigned to have a mustache, no beard, a cleft chin, straight teeth, more defined arm muscles, and a red nose, resembling Wario.

Super Smash Bros. series
The Japanese Super Smash Bros. Dojo website stated that Mario's brown 3P costume in the Super Smash Bros. series is based on Foreman Spike's outfit in the original Wrecking Crew for the Famicom. This color choice for Mario would reappear in Super Smash Bros. Melee and subsequent installments in the Super Smash Bros. series, but becoming more black and white than brown and yellow.

Foreman Spike was a requested character for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Mobile Golf
In the Japan-only Game Boy Color golf title Mobile Golf, Foreman Spike is an unlockable character through the Mobile Adapter GB. He has reverted to his original Wrecking Crew design and is now overweight.

Waluigi's Gold Mantis kart in Mario Kart DS resembles the excavator Foreman Spike uses in Mobile Golf.

NES Remix
Two of the Wrecking Crew related challenges in NES Remix involve competing against Foreman Spike.

Super Mario Maker
In Super Mario Maker, one of the Mario costumes the player can get from a Mystery Mushroom is Foreman Spike. Besides a slight color difference, the sprite is identical to the original NES Wrecking Crew title.

WarioWare Gold
Foreman Spike appears in the WarioWare Gold microgame Wrecking Crew, where he sometimes appears behind the blocks after the player destroys them.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Spike appears in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, marking his first physical appearance in over 21 years since Mobile Golf. He is voiced by Sebastian Maniscalco in the film's English version, according to whom Spike serves as the former boss of Mario and Luigi in the movie. Despite the fact that the emblem used to represent Spike depicts his original sprite's design, Spike has a noticeably different appearance in the film itself. His outfit has the logo "Wrecking Crew" on his hat and left sleeve. Spike first appears in the film at Punch-Out Pizzeria, where he mocks the brothers after the airing of their first commercial, scoffing at the idea that the Mario Bros. will succeed on their own and telling them that their plumbing business will fail; when Mario stands up to him, Spike threatens him physically before leaving. When Mario gets flung back into Brooklyn due to the Bomber Bill exploding, Spike nearly runs over Mario and is shocked to see him land right in front of his van before he starts to yell at him for nearly damaging his vehicle, only to run away when other objects from the Mushroom Kingdom begin appearing. He is later seen among the panicking civilians when Bowser's army invades New York and is saved by Luigi while being attacked by Bowser’s minions, much to his shock. After the final battle between the brothers and Bowser in Brooklyn, Spike is seen cheering for Mario and Luigi.

A fictional testimonial on the SMBPlumbing.com website is attributed to Spike, who goes by the username SpikeIsCool. Spike does not directly address the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing company itself, to which the website pertains, instead directing the testimonial towards the Mario brothers, who operate the company; in it, he is bitter and critical, stating, with many spelling and grammatical errors, that the brothers used to work for him until they left to start up their own business. He ends the testimonial by threatening them.

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten
''' ブラッキー 出身 アメリカ 性格 いじ悪 登場ゲーム クルー ''' オレが元祖ライバルだ 「オレの生きがいはマリオの仕事の邪魔をすること. ハシゴを壊して登れないようにしてやるのさ. 」

' Foreman Spike Place of origin: America Disposition: Ill-tempered Game appearances: Crew ' I'm the original competitor. "My job is to get in the way of Mario's work. I break ladders so he can't climb them."

Other appearances and legacy
Other than minor and non-playable video game cameo appearances, like in the Super Smash Bros. series, Spike appears in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie of 2023, voiced here by Sebastian Maniscalco. In this film, he is portrayed as the former boss of Mario and Luigi before these two started their own plumbing business, and it is shown in a flashback that all the three of them were rivals since they were toddlers. The name was standardized as Spike in all regions. While there have been speculations, particularly in the West, on what could be the reason of this, first of all a theory that it could be due to controversial Western political correctness with accusations of imperialistic influence, the real reason could most likey be attributed to the relative popularity of the character all around the world, as he was known before in practically every country in the world as "Spike", and also to the fact that "Blackie/Blacky" was the name he was given to him when he debuted with his black beard (in other appearances, the beard was of different colours or even absent) and that "Princess Toadstool" is now well-known with the current international name "Princess Peach" also in Japan. Plus, Pokémon Umbreon is still known in Japan as "Blacky".

Trivia

 * Foreman Spike holds the record for the longest time between his first appearance and his first voiced appearance, with nearly 38 years between Wrecking Crew and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.