Sidestepper

Sidesteppers, also known as Crabs,  are irritable crabs that scuttle about. First appearing in Mario Bros., they typically appear in roles that call back to that game, and otherwise typically make simple cameos. They also occasionally appear in the Mario Kart series, taking the role that generic crabs have in Mario Kart 64.

Mario Bros.
The Sidestepper is the second enemy that the Mario Bros. encounter in the game Mario Bros.. Sidesteppers emerge from the pipes and walk towards the bottom of the screen. When hit from below, the Sidestepper becomes angry and speeds up. Mario or Luigi must hit the Sidestepper from below a second time to flip it over, then run into it to defeat it. If left alone, the Sidestepper will change its color to blue and flip over, making it move faster. If left alone a second time, the Sidestepper will be purple. If the last target in a phase is a Sidestepper, it will automatically turn purple. Sidesteppers also appear in all reissues of Mario Bros., where their colors vary from the original version.

Mario Bros. Special
In Mario Bros. Special, a Japan-only semi-sequel by Hudson Soft, Sidesteppers reappear but behave differently. The only way to stun them is for Mario and Luigi to bounce on a shared trampoline or conveyor belt. They do not change color or move faster after recovering. It is also possible to force them to respawn from the top pipes if a brother jumps next to or over them while hitting a platform above them.

Punch Ball Mario Bros.
In Hudson Soft's other semi-sequel, Punch Ball Mario Bros., the Sidesteppers can only be stunned by hitting the POW Block or throwing a Punch Ball at them. Unlike in Mario Bros. where the Sidesteppers have six forms, this game only has two. If they recover or become the last target enemy, they will turn green with an angry face and move faster.

Mario Clash
In Mario Clash, Sidesteppers come out of pipes and scuttle sideways. To defeat them, the player should hit them in the front or back with a Turtle Shell to turn it sideways, then hit them on the side with another shell.

Family BASIC
Sidesteppers are programmable sprites on the Family BASIC accessory to the Family Computer. They also make a cameo on the Message Board. In Family BASIC V3, they appear as an enemy in one of the mini-games.

Super Mario Bros. Special
Sidesteppers also appear in Hudson Soft's Super Mario Bros. Special. Here they are credited as Chokichoki, which translates to "Snip-Snip" in Japanese, referencing the sounds they make when they open and close their claws. They first appear in World 4-2 and function like a Spiny except they could be defeated by bumping the block under them.

Super Mario Bros. 3
Sidesteppers, referred to as Crabs, appear in the multiplayer Battle Mode of Super Mario Bros. 3, as well as the remake of the game in Super Mario All-Stars. Unlike other enemies, they have the same graphics as the NES release of Mario Bros. in the former version, due to already resembling their arcade sprites.

Super Mario Advance
In Super Mario Advance, when approaching Clawgrip, a short cutscene shows he is a Crab, transformed into Clawgrip by some of Wart's magic bubbles.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Sidesteppers appear in Luigi Bros.; an additional game featured in Super Mario 3D World and its Nintendo Switch port. Like the other enemies in Luigi Bros., Sidesteppers behave in the same way as Mario Bros., which this game is based on.

Smaller crabs that behave the same way also appear in some levels, releasing a coin if tapped on the GamePad.

Super Mario Maker
A Sidestepper appears as a costume in Super Mario Maker. It can be unlocked by clearing 100 Mario Challenge on Expert setting or harder. It changes color from red to purple while dashing, and holding will give it an angry expression.

Mario Kart series
In the Mario Kart series, Sidesteppers can be found on beach stages where they walk left and right, replacing the generic crabs from Mario Kart 64. They sometimes appear with yellow highlights on their claws. Driving into Sidestepper makes the player's kart spin around. If a Sidestepper is hit with a Bullet Bill, shell, star, or Bob-omb, it flips over and disappears.

In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Sidesteppers appear in Shy Guy Beach and Cheep-Cheep Island.

In Mario Kart DS, they appear in Cheep Cheep Beach and Palm Shore. There are missions where they are referred to simply as Crabs.

In Mario Kart Wii, they appear in. During August 2009's first Competition, the player actually had to take out a certain number of Sidesteppers with items.

In Mario Kart 7, Sidesteppers appear in Cheep Cheep Lagoon, Wario Shipyard,, and.

Sidesteppers return in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the course.

Sidesteppers return in Mario Kart Tour, on 3DS Cheep Cheep Lagoon, N64 Koopa Troopa Beach, Los Angeles Laps, 3DS Wario Shipyard, and the T variant of SNES Koopa Troopa Beach 2. In certain bonus challenges, there are bigger variants.

Mario Party-e
In Mario Party-e, a Sidestepper appears in Cast Away Mario! as one of the creatures that Mario can catch for Peach.

Super Mario Party
While Sidesteppers themselves do not physically appear in Super Mario Party, the robotic crab used by the team players in the 1-vs-3 minigame Smash and Crab heavily resembles a Sidestepper.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Crabs make a cameo appearance running in the background and foreground during the battle with Hermie III. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, they are replaced by Huckit Crabs. They also appear in the Mario Bros. game included in the original game. This time, if they are flipped while red and are left alone, they become green. Doing it again makes them blue. If one is the last enemy of a phase, it will turn blue.

Mario Power Tennis / New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis
The Mario Classic Court in Mario Power Tennis is based on Mario Bros., and the original game's sprites are used, including Sidestepper. During a Gimmick game, Sidestepper might walk across the court and trip a character. Three of them are also line umpires.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sidesteppers appear on the Mario Bros. stage. Sidesteppers walk out of the pipes at the top of the screen. Players can hit them from below to flip them over, and pick them up to throw at opponents. If a player is hit by a thrown Sidestepper, they fly sideways off the screen.

All three Sidestepper variations also appear as a trophy. There is also a Sidestepper sticker that, when used on a fighter in The Subspace Emissary, boosts the strength of leg-based attacks by eight points. Both the trophy and the sticker can be obtained when they show up at random in Vs. matches, Adventure Mode, or other modes of the game.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
A formation of differently-colored Sidesteppers appears as a trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. It can be obtained when it appears at random in various modes of the game.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
With the inclusion of the Mario Bros. stage in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sidesteppers return as hazards, acting the same way as in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A Sidestepper also appears as a Novice-class support spirit, which grants the user more speed in battle at the expense of initial 30% damage. In World of Light, the spirit is located in the retro maze on the east side of the Light Realm map. To obtain it, the player has to win a fight against a team of twelve Mr. Game & Watch on the Mario Bros. stage.

NES Remix
Sidesteppers, along with other enemies from Mario Bros., appear in some of the challenges and remixes based on Mario Bros. as enemies and stage objectives.

Paper Mario: The Origami King
Sidesteppers make their Paper Mario series debut in Paper Mario: The Origami King, where origami red and blue Sidesteppers appear as enemies. The blue Sidesteppers now have the same modern design as their regular red variants used from Mario Kart DS onwards. Sidesteppers are commonly found in the Water Vellumental Shrine, the Great Sea, the Ice Vellumental Mountain, the Sea Tower, and ? Island. One group is also fought on Crescent Moon Island after being fished out of the sea and releases an Earth Vellumental Magic Circle upon being defeated. In battle, the Sidestepper's claws act as spikes, preventing them from being jumped on without Iron Boots, but can be damaged with Fire Flowers, Ice Flowers, and Hurlhammers, as well as being flipped over by POW Blocks. On the ? Island, they can be stunned with a POW Block, but turn blue if left alone for a period of time, similar to Mario Bros.

Names in other languages
Mario Clash