Boom Boom

Boom Boom (sometimes stylized as BOOM-BOOM) is a henchman of Bowser. He is an antagonist in the Mario series. Boom Boom first debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3. He is a boss that Mario or Luigi fights in fortresses, before the player fights a Koopaling in an airship. Boom Boom then later made his appearance in Super Mario 3D Land, as one of the game's main antagonists again who often appears in airships, sometime with his partner Pom Pom.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
Boom Boom makes his first appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, where he helps Bowser and the Koopalings invade the Mushroom World's seven kingdoms. He appears in the fortresses of each kingdom, fighting Mario and Luigi to prevent them from going any closer to the Koopalings. However, the Mario Bros. prevail, and his fortresses get destroyed thanks to the ? Balls he dropped. After he fails to protect the Koopalings, Boom Boom also appears in many levels in Dark Land; specifically in all the battleships, airships, and tanks - except for the first tank set, which is instead manned by a Boomerang Bro.

In battle, Boom Boom begins by simply walking left and right towards Mario, occasionally crouching down and showing his large spikes, then leaping. After being hit, he either starts to charge and jump very high or flys with his winged arms; the latter strategy first appeared in Desert Hill's first fortress). After a second hit, Boom Boom walks left and right again, but very quickly, possibly as a desperation tactic. After the third hit, he releases a ? Ball, which destroys the fortress Boom Boom is in when Mario or Luigi touch it, and opens a lock or makes a bridge appear elsewhere on the map.

To defeat Boom Boom, Mario has to jump on his head three times to eliminate him, hit him with five fireballs from a Fire Flower, or score five hits with hammers from the Hammer Suit (which he can do with as little as one hammer if his aim was precise enough).

Whether Boom Boom is a true species or just a recurring single character is unclear, but there are at least two Boom Booms in existence, as a few extra levels in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 will pit two Boom Booms against Mario simultaneously. However, in this game it seems that Boom Boom is only one character, with clones of himself. This is possible because the manual refers to Boom Boom as singular in the description: "Boom Boom, the faithful servant of Bowser."

''Super Mario 3D Land
After a long absence, Boom Boom makes his return in Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS. The game also introduces a pink, female counterpart of Boom Boom named Pom Pom, who wields a Boomerang. She is the partner of Boom Boom.

Boom Boom, Pom Pom, Bowser and the Koopa Troop have invaded the Mushroom Kingdom to kidnap Princess Peach and took most of the Super Leaves during a storm. Mario received a letter from Bowser, and went after them. After the defeat of the first False Bowser, Boom Boom appears in some airships, where he could encounter and fight his old rival Mario. Like most bosses, Boom Boom can return after each defeat. After he was defeated in World 3, Pom Pom replaced him. Boom Boom was absent throughout the next few worlds.

Princess Peach attempts to escape from Bowser, but Boom Boom and the Koopa Troop chase her down, recapture her, and lock her within a cage. He returns in World 7 and battles Mario in his airship, along with his partner, Pom Pom. Both are defeated, however.

Boom Boom here is much larger (especially his arms) than he was in his previous encounter with Mario and Luigi (where he was roughly the same height as Mario). He no longer has spikes on his shell, which is now red, and has new attacks.

Boom Boom spins wildly with his arms and fists to hurt Mario, but if he does this too long, he becomes dizzy and vulnerable. When hit, Boom Boom can also attack by retreating into his large shell and then spinning fast in random directions, in a similar fashion to the Koopalings when they are hit by the player in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. After taking three hits from Mario's stomps, Boom Boom is defeated and will vanish while releasing many coins.

He also appears in the Special Worlds of the game. In S8-Crown, Mario fights both Boom Boom and Pom Pom at the same time; however, Boom Boom's spins create flames. Also, when Pom Pom is defeated, the red floor will lower to the ground temporarily.

In this game, Boom Boom has now an audible voice for the first time; here, he is potrayed by Lani Minella, who gives him a quite deep voice. On the official European site of Super Mario 3D Land, the profile of Boom Boom and Pom Pom refers to them as Boom Booms and Pom Poms, so this supports Boom Boom being a species.

Also, a Boom Boom that requires only one hit to be defeated can appear in the Special Worlds' Mystery Boxes.

''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Boom Boom also appeared in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where he was nothing more than a silent powerhouse. Much like in the game, whenever he attacked the Mario Bros., he was the only one seen at any given time. He has yellow teeth here. He made four appearances: Misadventures in Babysitting, Do the Koopa, Crimes R Us, and The Venice Menace.

Super Mario Bros. film
In the Super Mario Bros. film, Boom Boom didn't make a physical appearance, but he is referenced: there was a place called the "Boom Boom Bar", which appeared somewhat prominently.

''Nintendo Adventure Books
Again, Boom Boom didn't physically appear in the Nintendo Adventure Books, but he was referenced: in Koopa Capers, there was an item called Boom Boom's Socks.

Physical Appearance
Boom Boom is a Koopa who has yellow and tan skin and head. He has long flailing arms, large legs and padded feet. He has shaped cheeks, a high nose, a low jaw, and deeply curved lips, similar to that of the Koopalings, and has two large teeth. Although Boom Boom's height is about the same of the Koopalings, he is tall as Mario. Unlike most of them, he is bald. He also has large black eyebrows and black eyes.

Boom Boom's shell was originally green with large spikes. However, in his most recent appearance in Super Mario 3D Land, it is now a larger, red shell without spikes, similar to that of a red Koopa Troopa. Boom Boom is also taller, his limbs and head are also larger, and his skin is brighter, making him look more like a Koopaling; his build is especially similar to that of Roy or Morton. Boom Boom can now shake the ground due to his larger size.

Personality and Traits
Boom Boom is often shown as a bit of a pushover in the games, as he is often defeated with three hits. The manual of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 describes Boom Boom as "the faithful servant of Bowser", as he refuses to give up his goal of defeating Mario/Luigi, proving him to be quite stubborn and persistent.

Powers and Abilities
Boom Boom has unique powers and abilities different from other Koopas. He is capable of jumping higher, running fast and transforming his arms into wings to fly. He could also enlarge his spikes on his shell. Boom Boom would flail his arms in an attempt to hurt Mario. In Super Mario 3D Land, Boom Boom displays a mostly new set of abilities. He can now spin with his arms extended, which can create flames; however, the attack will leave him dizzy after a while. He also spins in his shell to attack Mario, similar to the Koopalings. Boom Boom can shake his airship just by stomping the floor or hitting the wall with his spinning shell. As with many bosses in the series, Boom Boom can somehow come back from his defeats at anytime.

''Super Mario 3D Land

 * Site Bio:
 * Flag of USA.png "Cruising for a bruising in Bowser's airships, Boom Boom and Pom Pom wait for you in the lower chamber. They may look tough, but they're both of a pushover--three quick stomps to the head will take them out."
 * Flag of Europe.png "Boom Booms lie in wait for Mario on the battleship. They'll spin themselves into a frenzy as they try to attack our hero!"

Trivia

 * In Super Paper Mario, one of the Sammer Guys that can be fought is named Flailing Boom Boom, which is an apparent reference to Boom Boom and how he would flail his arms around in battle.
 * In the original NES version of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Boom Boom in Desert Hill's fortress was colored gray.
 * The manual of Super Mario All-Stars - 25th Anniversary Edition refers to Boom Boom in the plural sense. The same happens in the official European website of Super Mario 3D Land. However, the American site refers to him in the singular sense.
 * In an interview for the creation of Super Mario 3D Land, Koichi Hayashida explained how Boom Boom made the cut. He said "when Tanooki Mario appeared, some members of the team wanted to include Boom Boom and the Koopalings. Then we created a type of gameplay where the enemy follows as you run around the room, and we thought this would be interesting, so we used Boom Boom to put it into the game."