Swooper

Swoopers are bat enemies that made their first appearance in Super Mario World and since then, Swoopers have appeared in several other games, including main-stream and spin-off ones.

In Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros., and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, they would hang on the ceiling and when Mario or Luigi came near, they fall and fly, hurting the heroes on contact. They do the same thing in Super Mario 64 and Super Paper Mario.

''Super Mario World
In the game Swoopers would hang from the ceiling upside down waiting for Mario or Luigi to come. When they come near the Swoopers would fly down and try to hurt Mario or Luigi. They could easily be defeated by stomping on them. They were found in Vanilla Dome.

Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS
Swoopers also appear in Super Mario 64 and its DS remake. Found only in Hazy Maze Cave, these Swoopers are called Swoops and are recolored and made purple, not green, in which blue would go on to be their color scheme in future appearances. Like in Super Mario World, they hang still on the ceiling waiting for Mario to come, falling off the ceiling and flutter in a spot shortly to dash towards its victim.

''New Super Mario Bros.
Like in Super Mario 64, they would be on the ceiling waiting to attack. They were only found in underground stages. They are blue and have purple wings. Their design was extremely similar to their design in Super Mario 64.

Super Mario Galaxy
Swoopers, referred simply as Bats in game guides, appear in Super Mario Galaxy. They are brown in this game, and cling on ceiling or appear flying. If Mario approaches, they will lock-on and swoop at him. They could be defeated by a jump or a spin, and give a Coin or three Star Bits depending how they are defeated. There is also a cyan ice variation called Ice Bats that will freeze Mario on contact for a few seconds. The only way to defeat them is to use fireballs as Fire Mario (or Fire Luigi). Ice Bats only appear in Freezeflame Galaxy.

''New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Swoopers appear in caves in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They look just like their New Super Mario Bros. counterparts, and behave exactly the same.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
The Swoopers from Super Mario Galaxy re-appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, and they behave the same way as they did in the first game. They appeared in galaxies such as the Slimy Spring Galaxy and the Fleet Glide Galaxy. The Ice Bats do not re-appear.

''Paper Mario
Swoopers made their first appearance in the Paper Mario series in Paper Mario. They are found inside the Dry Dry Ruins, where they are either constantly flying or hanging on the ceiling. When they are hanging from the ceiling, Mario cannot reach them using a regular jump attack, and must instead use the Quake Hammer, Skolar's attack, an item, or one of his partners (such as Parakarry) to knock them lose from the ceiling. They attack by simply swooping down and physically ramming their opponent. A stronger version of Swoopers exists, called Swoopulas.

''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Swoopers also appeared in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

''Super Paper Mario
Swoopers also re-appeared in Super Paper Mario. They are mainly found in Chapter 2 (Gloam Valley and Merlee's Mansion). Swoopers can be found in Gloam Valley in a secret area via using the Dimension Flip and falling into a 3D-accessible hole near the Star Block. Their Catch Card can be found here, along with the Shlurps' Catch Card. Swoopers are also found in the line-of-coins trap in Merlee's Mansion.

''Mario Party 8
In their first appearance in the Mario Party series, Swooper is actually just cameo in the game. They appear on the wrapper of the Vampire Candy. The Swoopers appearing on the wrapper are blue, making them look like the Super Mario 64 and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 versions of Swoopers.

Mario Kart series
Swoopers appear first in Mario Kart DS, in the track Banshee Boardwalk, a racecourse once appearing in Mario Kart 64. In the game, Swoopers appear in large flocks that fly in the opposite direction that all racers go. Though they are not a real hazard, Swoopers can knock apart the karts that touches them, slowing them down.

Swoopers also appear in Mario Kart Wii and act in the same way as seen in DS. They only appear in the courses Wario's Gold Mine and Dry Dry Ruins. Additionally, players can wipe out these bats by using certain items such as Shells, or under the power of a star.

''Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
This time the Swoopers were not on the roof, but flying around. They only appeared in a boss fight against Donkey Kong trying to attack the Mini-Marios. The Swoopers' artwork can be seen during the credits.

''Hotel Mario
In this game, Swoopers are called Pat-the-Bats. They swoop down from ceilings and attack Mario and Luigi, impeding their progress. They can also open doors upon contact.

Trivia

 * In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Swoopers' eyes are open instead of being closed like in most other games.

Names in Other Languages
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