Porcupuffer

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This article is about the spiked fish from Super Mario World. For the boss in Mario Pinball Land, see Porcupuffer (boss).
Porcupuffer
NSMBU Porcupuffer Artwork.png
A Porcupuffer as seen in New Super Mario Bros. U
First appearance Super Mario World (1990)
Latest appearance Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Variant of Big Cheep Cheep
Relatives
Comparable

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 "pufferfish;" this combined with the Japanese name also suggests an intentional reference to Porcupo.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario World

Artwork of a Porcu-Puffer
Porcu-Puffer.PNG

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

NSMBW Porcupuffer Render.png

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

SM3DLlevel4.png

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 World Flower-2 and World Star-4. 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

Porcupuffer in Pipeline Lagoon
Porcupuffer in Super Mario 3D World

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 series

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

Porcupuffer from 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.

Profiles and statistics

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

  • 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."

Card Number: 38 (Normal), F20 (Silver)

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."

Gallery

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese フグマンネン
Fugumannen
From「河豚」(fugu, pufferfish) written in katakana, thus resembling「プク」(puku), short for「プクプク」(Pukupuku, Cheep Cheep), and「万年」(man'nen, ten thousand years); also possibly a play of「ハリマンネン」(Harimannen, Porcupo)

Chinese (simplified) 刺河豚[1]
Cì Hétún
尖刺河豚
Jiāncì Hétún

Spiky Puffer

Sharp Spike Puffer (since New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe)

Chinese (traditional) 尖刺河豚
Jiāncì Hétún
Sharp Spike Puffer

Dutch Porcupuffer
Porcu-Puffer
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German Stachelfisch
Spike Fish
Italian Pescespino
Spike Fish
Korean 불뚝복어
Bulttukbogeo
From 불뚝 (Bulttuk), a mimetic word for something soaring up and 복어 (Bogeo), meaning Pufferfish.

Portuguese Balão Cheep
From Cheep Cheep and "peixe-balão" (puffer fish)
Russian Иглорыба-толстяк
Igloryba-tolstyak
Fatso needle fish

Spanish (NOA) Cheep globo
Balloon Cheep
Spanish (NOE) Porcupuffer
Porcu-Puffer
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Trivia

References

  1. ^ 无敌阿尔宙斯 (August 28, 2013). 神游 超级马力欧世界 敌人官译. Baidu Tieba. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  2. ^ Bueno, Fernando. New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Pages 82 and 176.
  3. ^ Bueno, Fernando. New Super Mario Bros. Wii PRIMA Official Game Guide. Page 14.
  4. ^ Browne, Catherine. Super Mario Galaxy 2 PRIMA Official Game Guide. Pages 28 and 90.