Goldbob

Goldbob
Species	Bob-omb
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“Good day to you, Gonzales. What can I do for you today? What's that you say? You must use the cannon in Fahr Outpost to save the world? Hmmm... Well, that IS rather a pickle, isn't it?”

—Goldbob, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Goldbob is a Bob-omb who appears in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door; his name refers to his gold coloring, apparently a rare coloration for Bob-ombs. He is the president of Goldbobbington's, husband of Sylvia, and father of Bub.

History

Mario and his party first meet Goldbob in Glitzville outside the Glitz Pit while he and his family are vacationing there. Goldbob and Bub soon becomes a fan of "The Great Gonzales" (Mario's adopted fighting name) after his position in the ranks of the Glitz Pit moves up. Goldbob continues to call Mario "Gonzales" until the end of the game, even after Mario "retires" from fighting.

Goldbob and his family appear again aboard the Excess Express on their ride home to Poshley Heights. He and Sylvia argue over what to get Bub for his birthday, with Goldbob wanting a house or a car to flaunt the family's wealth and Sylvia wanting to get him study materials to prepare him for the future. Their arguing seems of little concern to Bub, who actually just wants an autograph of the Excess Express engineer. The argument is so loud that the Excess Express conductor can hear them from outside their room. The following day, Goldbob apologizes to Mario for seeing him and his wife when they "weren't at their best". Upon learning about Bub's fascination with trains, Goldbob asks Mario if he knows where he can purchase a train, staying true to his desire to find a gift that will flaunt wealth but also incorporating Bub's own desires. Goldbob and Bub admire the Express outside as it is stopped at Riverside Station. Sylvia apparently convinces Goldbob to tone down the gift as later that night Bub is excited that his parents are getting him a train set rather than an actual train, though Goldbob is adamant that the train set must be solid gold.

At the start of the third day, Goldbob, along with his family and the other passengers and staff, goes missing, being absorbed into a hoard of Smorgs that attacks the train. Mario eventually defeats the Smorgs, causing them to blow away in the wind. After the incident, Goldbob and his family safely arrive in Poshley Heights. When Bowser and Kammy Koopa arrive in Poshely Heights, Bowser can optionally talk to Goldbob and Sylvia, who are only interested in discussing the fountain outside of Poshley Sanctum. Bewildered by their interest in the fountain, Bowser says they scare him and moves on.

Later, Goldbob posts a trouble in Rogueport's Trouble Center in which he asks for a package to be sent to General White. After Mario delivers the package to General White, Goldbob rewards him with 64 coins, a reference to the Nintendo 64.

Goldbob joins others in Poshley Heights to lend support to Mario in the remake

Goldbob, possibly by extension of his role at Goldbobbington's, also may have had some involvement in the creation of Fahr Outpost's Big Bob due to the fact that one of the requirements to use the cannon is to both gain Goldbob's permission to use the cannon and his guide on how to use it. Mario must revisit Goldbob in Poshley Heights for his permission to use the cannon. Mario must give up all his coins to Goldbob in exchange for the permission, though Goldbob returns him the coins soon thereafter.

During Mario's battle against the Shadow Queen, Goldbob, his family, residents of Poshley Heights, and, in the remake, staff from the Excess Express gather outside of Poshley Sanctum to shout support into the Garnet Star to empower Mario and his partners.

Gallery

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  Concept art of the Excess Express passengers and staff, including Goldbob and his family

Tattle information

• "That's Goldbob the Bob-omb. He's head of a wealthy business, Goldbobbington's. He's got buckets of ducats, they say. I guess some folks are just good with money!"

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	ゴールドマン Gōrudoman	Goldman
Chinese	金色曼 Jīnsè Màn	Golden Man
French	Orboom	Goldboom
German	Goldfried	"Gold" + "-fried", a common suffix for male German names
Italian	Bomb-Oro	From "Bob-omb" and oro ("gold")
Korean	골드맨 Goldeumaen	Goldman
Spanish	Bombotín	Pun on bomba ("bomb") and botín ("booty" or "loot"). Alternatively, his name might come from Emilio Botín, a Spanish millionaire banker, as his wife is also named after two Spanish millionaire sisters.

Trivia

• In Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door's end credits parade, Goldbob's silhouette can be seen with the Poshley Heights characters.
  • In the remake, Bub runs across the stage gleefully holding the autograph while Goldbob and Sylvia walk behind him, followed by the Bob-ombs from Fahr Outpost.