Porcupuffer

Porcupuffers (alternatively Porcu-Puffers) are a species of large, garishly colored Cheep Cheeps that debuted in Super Mario World. They resemble gigantic indigo Cheep Cheeps, with magenta lips and indigo, cyan, and yellow spikes all over their back. Their faces are nearly identical to those of Boss Basses and Cheep Chomps, but did not try to eat Mario until Super Mario Maker 2. Porcupuffers sometimes serve as the giant counterpart to regular Cheep Cheeps, such as in Super Mario World and Super Mario 3D Land. Their name is a portmanteau of "porcupine" and ";" this combined with the Japanese name also suggests an intentional reference to Porcupo.

Super Mario World
Porcu-Puffers appear in Super Mario World, where they follow Mario and Luigi in the water. The Mario Bros. can perform the Spin Jump on them to "ride" them, or use Yoshi. They appear in three levels: the third secret level on top of the Vanilla Dome, a secret area in the Cookie Mountain level, and a hidden area within Chocolate Island 1. Unlike the Floating Mines, they are vulnerable to fireballs and Cape swipes. The in-game sprite depicts them with magenta lips, while the artwork depicts them with yellow lips.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Porcupuffers appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii where they attack exactly the same as the Spike Bass in the predecessor, swimming near the surface to pursue the plumber and his party or even leaping from the water to attack. Porcupuffers serve as obstacles for World 4, and they appear again in World 6-5 and later in World 9-2. They can only be defeated with a fireball, Star or Koopa Shell; another one will come to take its place several seconds later. This also occurs in the Enemy Courses, although the replacement occurs much quicker. They can also be frozen, but they crack out almost instantly, much like a Spiny Cheep Cheep.

Super Mario 3D Land
Porcupuffers later appear in Super Mario 3D Land, inhabiting underwater and beach levels. They retain their appearance from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In this game, Porcupuffers swim back and forth while underwater, while in World 6-1, they jump out of the water in specific locations attempting to hurt Mario, and may even break some portions of the bridge he uses to reach the end of the level. Aside from the bridge-breaking, these behaviors are shared by this game's Cheep Cheeps, making them functionally similar to a Big Cheep Cheep in this game, albeit with spikes.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Porcupuffers reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, acting the same as they did in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, they appear in and. They also appear in stage one of the Impossible Pack downloadable content. This game shows that Porcupuffers can survive swimming in poison.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
Porcupuffers once again appear in New Super Mario Bros. U and its Nintendo Switch port, behaving the same way as in its predecessors. They only appear in Porcupuffer Falls in Rock-Candy Mines. Their artwork for this game depicts them with slightly transparent fins.

In New Super Luigi U, they appear in Porcupuffer Cavern in Rock-Candy Mines.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Porcupuffers return in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch port. They behave the same way they do in Super Mario 3D Land. They only appear in Pipeline Lagoon.

Super Mario Maker 2
Porcupuffers appear as enemies that can be placed in Super Mario Maker 2 stages. Despite debuting in Super Mario World, they are exclusive to the Super Mario 3D World style. Unlike in the original game, Porcupuffers will actively pursue Mario and attempt to eat him, like a Cheep Chomp. In non-underwater themes, they will act like a slow Boss Bass, briefly hovering at their jumps' peaks if they are given wings. It takes four consecutive fireballs from Fire Mario to defeat Porcupuffers. After one fireball, it will darken, puff up slightly, and no longer try to eat Mario, though it will still pursue him. Each fireball afterwards makes it more red and swollen until it pops. Once one pops, it will not be replaced by another, unlike most appearances. When it pops, it will destroy any nearby Brick Blocks. Akin to regular Cheep Cheeps, a Porcupuffer will catch fire if submerged in lava, therefore becoming immune to fireballs. They cannot be placed in pipes.

Mario Kart Arcade GP
In Mario Kart Arcade GP, an item known as a Needle Bomb appears, which resembles a Porcupuffer.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
In Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, they appear as an item that can be placed behind the player, popping the tires of any racer that touches them. They can come singularly, or in a group of three as an item dubbed Triple Porcupuffers.

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
Porcupuffers also appear in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the Dream Rafting event, the second task a team is required to do is defeat some Porcupuffers. To defeat these Porcupuffers, the participants must Ground Pound the raft at the same time when they are beneath it. They also appear during the Highway Tally game in London Party mode.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, four Porcupuffers make cameo appearances as fountain statues in Gallery mode.

Super Mario Party
Porcupuffers appear in Super Mario Party as non-playable characters. A Porcupuffer can appear along with a Blooper and a Cheep Cheep in the minigame Rattle and Hmmm. A Porcupuffer also makes a cameo appearance in the Mushroom Beach world of the Challenge Road mode.

Dr. Mario World
Porcupuffers debut in the Dr. Mario series in Dr. Mario World, as assistants. In stage mode, their effect can only be activated in timed stages, as it increases the timer by 3 seconds, where the chance of it happening is 50% at the first level and 100% at the maximum level (10% and 50% respectively prior to version 2.3.0). In versus mode, their effect has a chance to change the color of the viruses to be of the same color after the opponent attack each time, which excludes attacks caused by clearing all viruses on their side.

Other appearances
In Minecraft, the Super Mario Mash-up replaces the skins of the Elder Guardians to skins of Porcupuffers, as well as replacing Pufferfish.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Card Number: 38 (Normal), F20 (Silver)
 * Trading Card description: "These spiky guys mean business and are killer enemies! They usually hover near the surface ready to pursue you, but they have also been known to leap up high for a surprise attack. A freeze attack will stun them, but beware—they don't stay frozen for long."

Dr. Mario World

 * Stage mode: "Grants 50%/60%/70%/80%/100% chance of extra seconds (3) in timed stages."
 * Stage mode (Prior to version 2.3.0): "Grants 10%/20%/30%/40%/50% chance of extra seconds (3) in timed stages."
 * Versus mode: "If opponent attacks, grants 30%/35%/40%/45%/50% chance received virus will be matching-color."

Trivia

 * Cheep Chomp is incorrectly referred to as a Porcupuffer in the New Super Mario Bros. Wii Prima guide, despite being named correctly when describing Cheep Cheeps.
 * The lone Spiny Cheep Cheep of Super Mario Galaxy 2 is mislabeled as a Porcupuffer by the game's Prima guide.