Pokey

Pokey is a cactus monster that is composed of four to five spherical body segments. To defeat a Pokey, typically each body section must be destroyed.

History
Pokeys first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 2. In this game, Pokeys were green and could be defeated by throwing objects at their body segments.

Pokeys reappeared in Super Mario World. This time, Pokeys were yellow and could not be defeated by tossing objects at their body segments (as there were no items to toss). Thus Pokeys could only be defeated by Yoshi, who could eat their body segments one at a time. Additionally, the number of body segments present depends on if Mario has Yoshi or not. If he does, Pokeys have five body segments. Without Yoshi, Pokeys only have three segments so that Mario can Jump over them.

A few Pokeys appear in Shifting Sand Land in the game Super Mario 64. Again, Mario must destroy each body segment one at a time, unless he attacks the head, in which case the whole body will fall apart.

In the Paper Mario series, Pokeys gained a few new abilities. Pokeys could now use their body segments as projectiles, launching them to attack opponents. Additionally, Pokeys gained the ability to summon other Pokeys, which would rise from the ground when called for. Also a new variety of Pokey was introduced, the Poison Pokey, also known as the Pokey Mummy.

A smaller variety of of Pokey called Pokey Sprouts appear Super Mario Sunshine as well as Pokeys themselves. To defeat a regular Pokey, Mario must come close to the tall cactus, causing the Pokey to attempt to crush him. However, Pokey's spikes will get stuck in the ground and Mario can jump on his head to defeat him.

In Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Pokeys live in the Gritzy Desert. They start out as simple Pokey Sprouts with pink flowers but when engaged in battle, a Pokey will grow additional body segments. The four Mario Bros. of past and present encountered many Pokeys during their travels in the Shroob-occupied Gritzy Desert. In battle, a Pokey will ram into a Mario brother to attack. Thus, to dodge this attack, the Pokey's body segments most be knocked away with Hammer strikes. This makes the Pokey shorter (allowing the Mario Bros. to jump over the cactus ghoul). The Pokey may also launch its body segments at the Mario Bros., culminating in a jump attack from the head itself. To counter this attack, the Baby Bros. should hit the body segments with their Hammers. A Pokey can also spin its body and shoot spines at the Mario Bros. Jump to dodge these projectiles. Additionally, in this game, only attacks to the head can damage a Pokey. The Skellokey, a new variety of Pokey, also appears in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

Pokeys also appear in the desert world (World 2) of New Super Mario Bros. In this game, a Pokey can only be defeated by shooting fireballs at its body segments or by crushing the cactus monster as Mega Mario. Without these power-ups, Mario must attempt to jump over the Pokeys. Incredibly, some Pokeys have over ten body segments, requiring Mario to use special platforms to jump over these tall creatures. Additionally, in New Super Mario Bros., the Mummipokey, an undead Pokey, appeared as the World 2 boss.

By the looks of it, Pokeys will appear in Super Mario Galaxy and spring out of the ground like in Super Mario Sunshine. It also looks like at least some Pokeys will have Boost Stars in them to get to the next planet.

Regular Pokey

 * HP: 4
 * Attack: 2
 * Defense: 0
 * Locations: Dry Dry Desert
 * Tattle: This is Pokey, an evil cactus. Pokeys attack by throwing parts of their bodies or by coming close and falling on you. Be careful fighting them! It'll hurt if you jump on their spiky heads! They also have an annoying habit of calling in reinforcements. Let's beat 'em quickly!

Pokey Mummy

 * HP: 4
 * Attack: 2
 * Defense: 0
 * Locations: Dry Dry Ruins
 * Tattle:This is a Pokey Mummy. Pokey Mummies are Pokeys that dried out and became mummies then went to live in the ruins. Careful! They have spikes on their heads! Trust me--it'll hurt if you jump on 'em. The mummification also made 'em poisonous. If you get poisoned when they attack you, you'll take damage for a while. What do you say we beat 'em before they can poison us?

Regular Pokey

 * Stats: HP: 4, Attack: 3, Defense: 0
 * Locations: Riverside Station, Pit of 100 Trials (Levels 11-19)
 * Tattle: That's a Pokey. It's a cactus ghoul that's got nasty spines all over its body. Max HP is 4, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Look at those spines... Those would TOTALLY hurt.  If you stomp on it, you'll regret it. Pokeys attack by lobbing parts of their bodies and by charging at you... They can even call friends in for help, so be quick about taking them out.
 * Tattle Number: 54
 * Tattle Log: A cactus ghoul covered from head to base in nasty spines. It attacks by lobbing sections of itself at you, and can even call other Pokeys to fight alongside it.

Poison Pokey

 * Stats: HP: 8, Attack: 4, Defense: 0
 * Locations: Riverside Station, Pit of 100 Trials (Levels 41-49)
 * Tattle: That's a Poison Pokey. As you probably guessed, it's a poisonous Pokey. Max HP is 8, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. If you get poisoned, your HP will slowly drain, so you may want to avoid that. I'm sure you can see this, but they have spines all over, so DON'T touch them. They may be smiling, but that doesn't mean they're happy to see you!
 * Tattle Number: 55
 * Tattle Log: A poisonous Pokey that attacks with poison and sometimes calls in friends. Take it out quickly.