Boom Boom (species)

Boom Booms (sometimes hyphenated as Boom-Boom) are a species of Koopa loyal to Bowser. In most appearances, the species is represented by a single character also known as Boom Boom, who first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 as the guardian of the Fortresses. In the Game Boy Advance remake, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, two Boom Booms are simultaneously battled in two of the extra World-e levels, and in New Super Mario Bros. U, multiple Boom Booms are seen on the world map, each one standing atop a different fortress. Super Mario 3D Land introduced a second, female Boom Boom named Pom Pom, and the official European website uses plural forms when discussing both enemies, while other sources use singular. This ambiguity is present in other games, as instruction booklets occasionally use language such as "a Boom-Boom" alongside the singular male pronouns, suggesting the use of words like "he" and "him" may just be a stylistic choice, as seen in numerous other enemy biographies.

Super Mario Bros. 3
The character Boom Boom debuted as the only representative of his species in this NES game, as well as in the version of Super Mario Bros. 3 included in SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars. The compilation itself was eventually ported to the Wii as Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition, but while the in-game material was not changed, the instruction manual was modified from saying "The Mini-Fortresses are guarded by Boom Boom, a tough servant of Bowser." to "Each [Mini-Fortress] is guarded by a Boom-Boom." This confirms that there is more than one Boom Boom, although the use of the singular "him" in the next line suggests that like the earlier releases of the game, only the one Boom Boom appears in this version of Super Mario Bros. 3 as well.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
While the main part of this port is exactly the same as the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 (including the text in the instruction manual), the Boom Boom character is joined by a second Boom Boom in his boss fights in the bonus World-e levels Swinging Bars of Doom and Ice Cubed, which are only accessible via e-Reader.

Super Mario 3D Land
The character Boom Boom returns in Super Mario 3D Land alongside the newcomer Pom Pom as recurring bosses. However, while the North American website suggests they are both singular characters, the European and Australian websites use the plurals "Boom Booms" and "Pom Poms" , implying that Pom Poms are separate from Boom Booms, and that both species are represented by multiple individuals in the game. However, only one Boom Boom and one Pom Pom are seen on screen at a time, and as well as the North American website and Prima guide, the Japanese website even implies that at least Pom Pom is an individual by describing her as 「クッパ軍 の紅一点. 」 meaning "The Koopa army's lone female." . Therefore, while it is ambiguous, the majority of the evidence suggests that only two Boom Booms are present in Super Mario 3D Land: Pom Pom and the character, Boom Boom himself. The two use airships to aid Bowser in his attempted takeover of the Mushroom Kingdom, and are battled separately most of the time, only teaming up for their final appearances in World 7 and Special 8-Crown.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Boom Booms return in New Super Mario Bros. U, where multiple individuals are shown on the world map. Unlike Boom Boom's design in Super Mario 3D Land, this game's Boom Booms once again possess spikes on their shells, as in Super Mario Bros. 3.

Just like the Koopalings in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Boom Booms stand on top of the fortress on the map and when the player enters, they'll cackle and then jump inside. They are the tower bosses for the majority of the worlds, with the exception of Screwtop Tower and Slide Lift Tower, where Boss Sumo Bro and Magikoopa respectively, will act as the bosses in Boom Boom's stead.

Before each battle after Acorn Plains, the Boom Boom is assisted by Magikoopa, who will use his magic on it the same way he did with bosses in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. Magikoopa will grant the Boom Booms these abilities: The Prima guide states that the Boom Booms are all just one character.
 * Layer-Cake Desert: Will grant the Boom Boom the ability to spin jump.
 * Frosted Glacier and Sparkling Waters: Will grant the Boom Boom the ability to jump, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3.
 * Soda Jungle: Will make the Boom Boom larger.
 * Rock-Candy Mines: Will transform the Boom Boom's arms into wings, similar to Super Mario Bros. 3.

Super Mario 3D World
The characters Boom Boom and Pom Pom reappear in Super Mario 3D World. Boom Boom is battled in Bowser's Bullet Bill Brigade, Bowser's Bob-omb Brigade, Boss Blitz and Mystery House Marathon. In the first and third battles, Boom Boom's strategy is similar to Super Mario 3D Land except he turns invisible after taking damage, and in the second battle he can create duplicates of his shell which ricochet off him. In the fourth battle, he turns invisible right away but will be defeated after one hit. Pom Pom is fought in The Bullet Bill Express, The Bowser Express and Boss Blitz, and in all battles she creates duplicates of herself who throw shurikens. The real one is identified from a red shuriken.

Super Mario Run
Boom Booms reappear in Super Mario Run as the bosses of all three airship levels. They retain their appearances from New Super Mario Bros. U, but their only attack is running towards Mario. The fight in World 2 has no hazards, World 4 has Burners, two on each side, and World 6 has the Boom Boom jump every time it touches the ground. Boom Booms may also be found in airship stages at the end of certain areas in Remix 10. Two Boom Booms are fought at the same time in Airship Plunder, the ninth level of World Star. One of these Boom Booms appears golden and shining, and it leaves a trail of coins behind it whenever it runs across the boss stage. Both Boom Booms must be defeated individually with three hits each.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
Boom Booms appear in four episodes of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where their roles are limited to attacking Mario and Luigi in various locales and producing only roars as sounds. Unlike the games, their teeth are yellow, not white, and they are depicted with similar shells to Bowser's species, due to the carapaces and plastrons being disconnected. The episodes featuring them are Misadventures in Babysitting, Do the Koopa, Crimes R Us, and The Venice Menace.

Super Mario Bros. film
In the Super Mario Bros. film, the Boom Boom Bar was a reference to the Super Mario Bros. 3 enemy.

Super Paper Mario
In Super Paper Mario, one of the Sammer Guys is named Flailing Boom Boom, a reference to how Boom Booms attack by flailing their arms.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition
Boom Booms serve as the bosses of most of the tower courses in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. They're Light attribute characters, and their skill changes all Orbs into a random attribute. Their Awoken Skill increases the amount of time that the player has to move Orbs around.

Each Boom Boom that is encountered can have different battle strategies, which can include delivering first strike blows, raising their own ATK, raising their defense against certain attributes, and even refresh the player's Orbs.

Interestingly, after Bowser joins the player's party, a Boom Boom replaces him as the boss of. Likewise, after Bowser Jr. joins the player's party, a Boom Boom replaces him as the boss of, , and.

Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Boom Booms appear as teammates for Mario or Sonic's team in the Rugby event in the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. They have spiked shells and wear rugby helmets, which are either red, blue, or green, depending on the color of Mario or Sonic's team.

Mario Sports Superstars
Boom Boom and Pom Pom appear as supporting playable characters in Mario Sports Superstars, their Mario sports game playable debut. In soccer, they serve as the two selectable goalies. They additionally appear as team players in baseball, where they are classified as power type characters.

Physical description
Boom Booms are Koopas that bear some resemblance to the Koopalings, in that they too have rounded snouts with protruding teeth, padded feet and thick limbs. However, they differ in that their lower shell covers their entire body, like Koopa Troopas, Lakitus and other species, unlike Bowser and the Koopalings, whose ribbed bellies are separated from their carapaces by bare scales. Boom Booms usually have spikes on their shells, however Boom Booms have smooth, Koopa Troopa-like shells in Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, matching Pom Pom's spotted, ladybug-like shell.

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Boom Booms had slightly darker coloration than the Koopalings, with yellow, tan and brown scales, and the Desert Land Boom Boom was grey in the NES version. Super Mario 3D Land brightened the coloration to be more like the Koopalings' original orange hue, and changed the shell color from brown to red, and also made Boom Boom slightly taller and big-headed. Additionally, Pom Pom had pink skin, rather than orange like her male counterpart, as well as pink spots on her shell and a blonde ponytail. New Super Mario Bros. U only had male Boom Booms, and made their hands larger and with visible claws; it also dimmed the colors to slightly darker shades of yellow and orange, but retained the red shell coloration.

Abilities
Boom Booms are agile enemies that flail their arms around to attack, sometimes crouching periodically to expose the spikes on their shell. In Super Mario Bros. 3, the Boom Boom could also leap at his foes or transform his arms into wings to fly after getting stomped once; however, in New Super Mario Bros. U, they require Kamek's magic to jump and fly, though they do so from the fight's outset. In Super Mario 3D Land, Boom Boom could spin, both with his arms extended (which leaves him dizzy and vulnerable afterwards; in later fights, this move causes a trail of flames to appear after him) and while in his shell, with Pom Pom instead levitating in her shell to ground pound her foes and using boomerangs to attack. In Super Mario 3D World, Boom Boom turns invisible while spinning with his arms extended in his first fight, and makes copies of his shell while doing so in his second fight, while Pom Pom uses shurikens and fake clones to fight.

Super Mario Run

 * Notebook bio: "This enemy defends the airship with all its might. It likes to fight by trying to ram you while whirling its arms."

Super Mario Maker 2

 * North American website bio: "Watch out for Boom Boom! The mad lad will chase after you, swinging his arms and legs!"