Shroob

The Shroobs are a race of Poison Mushroom-like aliens that attacked the Mushroom Kingdom when Mario and Luigi were babies. These events take place in the game Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. They are a purple, mushroom-like species ruled by Princess Shroob and her older sister. They are from the Shroob Planet and most Shroobs carry ray guns with them. Unlike the similar yet much more benevolent Toads, who are seemingly more human than mushroom, Shroobs seem to have retained most of their fungus ancestry.

They possess very advanced technology, such as ray guns and a massive fleet of flying saucers, which are powered by the vim of Toads. The saucers are capable of shooting energy bolts that turn people into Shroob Mushrooms, as well as causing devastating damage to houses and buildings. The Shroob military is very complex in their processes. They come in different colors and have different attacks. Unlike the Koopa Troop, the Shroobs have everything laid out in advance so that they could both protect vital operations and invade enemy regions at the same time, suggesting they are very intelligent.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
They first started their invasion by destroying Toad Town and capturing many Toads. These Toads were taken to Toadwood Forest, where their vim was drained by the forest's genetically-altered trees. The vim was then collected at the Vim Factory, where Dr. Shroobs gave the vim to Swiggler, a terrifying, bio-engineered Wiggler. While guarding a Cobalt Star shard, Swiggler also drinks the vim and powers the Shroob UFOs.

Soon after, they started the creation of the mechanical Yoob and attacked Yoshi's Island. Yoob would eat any Yoshi it could find. These Yoshis would then most likely be converted into more monstrous Yoobs and be used to attack the Mushroom Kingdom, preventing the Yoshis from helping the kingdom in the process. During the invasion, the second-in-command Princess Shroob disguised herself as Peach to take over the Mushroom Kingdom of the future and thus make sure her plan would succeed.

The Shroobs were apparently melted away when the brothers and Princess Peach discovered the Shroobs' weakness (babies' tears), although it was possible that they simply left the Mushroom Kingdom to look for another place to call home.

''Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story


In the lobby of Bowser's Castle, as a hidden Easter Egg, just before Bowser fights Midbus, a Shroob can be seen in the seat on the lower right-hand corner. If Bowser tries to speak to it, it stares blankly and says "...".

Much later in the game, a group of three Shroobs appears as an optional boss in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. They are found in the cold room in Bowser's Castle which needs to have the password of it. The password of the cold room is □, □, ○, △, △, △.

They have two attacks that were very identical to the ones (especially the Guardian Shroobs) they used in Partners in Time. For the first, the attacker will flag down a companion, and they will each shoot a laser at a Mario brother. The other attack is a simple laser blast, delivered to only one brother. Before executing this attack, the attacker will always pirouette, unlike in Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, in which they would pirouette only before attacking Luigi, and spark before attacking Mario. So instead, the player must see the way it's spinning. It spins counter-clockwise to attack Mario, and clockwise to attack Luigi.

After defeating them, Mario and Luigi receive all ten Attack Parts for Magic Window. They may also receive the Shroob Boots, which cause jumped-on enemies to suffer a 50% reduction in attack. It is interesting to note that various other Shroobs are visible in the background of the battle, including broken Shroids, Junior Shrooboids, Shrooba Divers, Commander Shroobs and even Elder Princess Shroob. Also, if one uses the Jump Helmet attack and Mario and Luigi walk back in order for the attack to take effect, a single RC Shroober is seen.

The secret battle with the Shroobs is accompanied by several recaps from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time as Mario and Luigi explain their history to Starlow. After hearing that it was Luigi who ultimately trumped the Shroobs, Starlow sarcastically remarks that he did so by "ferociously crying," referencing the baby tears that were ultimately the aliens' downfall.

Also, the Shroob that's found in the theater area before the Midbus battle might be a Shroob (if not the only one) to have escaped from the freezer.

Mario Hoops 3 on 3
A reference to Shroobs was made in the Mario Hoops 3 on 3 website where one of the player's baller names (determined by a five-question quiz) could be "Shroob Showstopper".

''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl one appears as a sticker that raises launch power by seven.

Language
The Shroob language as it appears in the text bubbles in the game is just a bunch of nonsensical small picture text. Only one phrase, which translates to "Destroy!", is repeated throughout the game. When the Shroobs talk in the game, they make gibberish sounds. However, they do sometimes use the Latin alphabet, as seen in the battle against Shrooboid Brat. When the Shrooboid Brat was about to attack, the Shroob crowd raised up signs that said either "M" or "L", signifying who to attack. Also, whenever a Shroid uses it's iron ball attack, it has the letter M on it for Mario, or L on it for Luigi, although it is vice versa when the Shroid has sparks flying out from it's body. A similar thing goes for Elder Shrooboid, when he uses the crystal attack. The Elder Shroob Princess can also speak English. Later on, the language is shown to players using subtitles in parentheses. Whether or not this means that Mario and Luigi begin to understand the language or is just for purposes of clarification is unknown.

Shroob Leadership

 * Elder Princess Shroob - Supreme Ruler
 * Princess Shroob - Second in command
 * Commander Shroob - Leads an army of Shroobs

Shroob Monsters

 * Swiggler
 * Yoob
 * Sunnycide

Shrooboids

 * Junior Shrooboid
 * Shrooboid Brat
 * Elder Shrooboid

Shroobs

 * Shrooblet
 * Dr. Shroob
 * RC Shroober
 * Shrooba Diver
 * Guardian Shroob
 * Blazing Shroob
 * Support Shroob
 * Shroobsworth
 * Intern Shroob
 * Shroid

Shroob Creatures

 * Spiny Shroopa
 * Lakitufo
 * Shroob-omb
 * Tashrooba
 * Shroob Rex

Technology

 * Shroob UFO
 * Shroob Missile

Colonies, Settlements, and Structures

 * Vim Factory
 * Shroob Mother Ship
 * Shroob Castle
 * Shroob Planet

Villainous Plans

 * The Shroobs wanted to take over the Mushroom Kingdom of the past and present and claim it as their new home.

Trivia

 * It is possible the Shroobs are based off the aliens from the movie Independence Day, wich, similar to the Shroobs, attempt to take over a planet for it's resources and habitat.