I know Sonic's not considered a 'weird' Mario enemy by any means–ever since his debut in Super Mario Land 4: Eight Golden Coins, he's stayed a staple enemy of the masked menace for quite a while, and even got to have his racing debut recently in Mario Kart World!
So, what's the point of covering him, you may ask? Well, something that is obscure about Sonic–or at least, something I never hear the Mario fandom talk about–is that he has his own spinoff series, centered around himself! And within that spinoff series is...
Name: Small Sonic
Debut: Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
We all know what happens when Mario takes damage, right? Yup–he scatters all the coins he's collected over the course of the level. It's iconic! It's memorable! It's been a staple since his debut! But Sonic is different. Sonic is weird. When Sonic gets hit, rather than scattering rings, he becomes a smaller version of himself!
In fact, rather than being the normal size that we all know and love–actually known as 'Super Sonic'' in the games with Small Sonic in them–Sonic starts out each level as Small Sonic, and needs to break open a Grow monitor to get any bigger!
When asked about this, series designer Yuji Naka said that it was a 'necessary feature' due to the 'hardware limitations of the Genesis software' (or the Mega Drive as it's known in the US). Indeed, once the Sonic series stopped making games for the Genesis and moved on to 3D platformers, Small Sonic was seemingly abandoned for good, with levels ALWAYS having 'Super Sonic' as the default.
This was how it went for decades, but it didn't last forever. After years of abandoning the 2D platformer formula, Sega decided to pander to the nostalgic crowd and start releasing 2D platforming games that played 'just like the good old days'; Small Sonic included!
While Small Sonic looked identical to Super Sonic back in the day, the only difference being their size, in modern years they've taken multiple measures to distinguish the two (as you see above!) since Small Sonic is no longer the 'default'.
Small Sonic is now lighter blue, has no soles on his shoes, has black eyes (just like the classic games, before they had enough cartridge space to add the 'color' 'green') and is even cute and chubby! Other Small versions of characters, such as Tails & Knuckles, follow in a similar formula, though Small Amy on the other hand looks way different...but that will be covered in our next post!
Till then, traw-dee-lah, and I want Lanolin the Sheep to spit into my mouth.
We've actually covered this enemy before, but that was a two-paragraph post written way back when it was still called "Spiny Hermit"–what's worse, not only was its name Spiny Hermit, but we at Weird Mario Enemies even took its name at face value and called it a hermit crab, when it is clearly a limpet! What is this, snamateur hour?!
It's time to finally say goodbye to Snail Week by covering someone who's been overdue for a proper snail introduction for a long, long time–in fact, let's list EVERYTHING about snails that make them completely, totally distinct from the supposed 'hermit crab' that Mario games of this era seemed to enjoy referring to snails as!
Although more highly organized than the Acephala, the snails are in some respects more primitive. The regions of the body—foot, visceral sac, head, and mantle—occur in all orders, although in each forms may occur in which one or another part is lost. As a rule, the foot is flattened ventrally to a creeping sole. In it may be distinguished anterior and posterior processes, the propodium and metapodium, a sharp lateral margin, the parapodium, and, above these, appendages or ridges, the epipodia. Inside the foot is usually a pedal gland.
The head bears the tentacles, a pair of muscular lobes or hollow retractile processes; a pair of primitive vesicular eyes, which usually lie at the basis of the tentacles, but may rise even to their tips. In many snails the eyes are on special stalks which (stylommatophorous Pulmonata) form a second pair of tentacles. The protrusion of the hollow tentacles is caused by an inflow of blood, their retraction by muscles attached to the tip which draw them in like a finger of a glove.
The mantle extends from the back forward over the body to near the beginning of the head. It covers the spacious mantle cavity, which in the water-breathing Prosobranchiata, etc., contains the gills (ctenidia) and opens outward by a large aperture under the margin of the mantle. The edge of the mantle may be produced into a long groove-like ciliated siphon, conveying water to and from the branchial chamber, and is of importance in determining the shape of the shell. In the terrestrial snails, branchiate respiration is replaced by pulmonate (Pulmonata, Cyclastoma), which is retained in many forms (Basommatophora) which have returned to an aquatic life. In place of the mantle cavity there is a sac filled with air, with a rich network of blood-vessels in its dorsal wall, and with only a small opening, the spiracle, on the right side. This lung was formerly thought to be the mantle cavity in which the ctenidium had degenerated, but development shows it to be an evagination arising in the mantle groove.
The visceral sac, by the great development of the gonads and liver, becomes very large. Since growth downwards is prevented by the muscular foot, the organs press towards the back, carrying before them the dorsal wall at the origin of the mantle folds, the line of least resistance. Some organs, like hind gut, nephridia and heart, may be pressed into the roof of the mantle cavity. When the visceral sac, as often occurs, becomes enormous, it does not stand directly upwards, but coils, usually from left to right, in a spiral. The older the animal the more the spiral coils and the larger the last or body whorl.
From the foregoing the shape of the shell is easily understood. As a secretion of the mantle and the visceral sc it takes the form of the latter. With slight development of the visceral sac it forms a flattened cone, or is slightiy coiled at the apex, as in the abalone. When the visceral sac is greatly elongate the shell is correspondingly an elongate cone. It is rarely irregularly coiled. It is usually coiled like a watch spring in one plane, or like a spiral staircase; in the latter case the shell is more or less conical and one can speak of its apex and base. In the middle of the base is usually a depression, the umbilicus. Sometimes the coils do not touch in the axis connecting umbilicus and apes, but usually they fuse into a calcareous pillar, the columella, around which the whorls pass.
The shell increases by additions from the mantle edge; and since this determines the aperture, the shell is marked with parallel lines of growth. The pigment is produced on the edge of the mantle, and passes into the shell as formed, causing its color pattern. When the siphon is present the shell shows a corresponding process. Thus are distinguished holostome shells with entire mouths and siphonostome shells, in which the anterior margin is drawn out in a groove.
A simple conical shell without further evidence is not proof of primitive structure. It may arise from the spiral form by degeneration, if the visceral sac be reduced. Thus the shells of Fissurella and Patella are to be explained, for the viscera here show the results of an earlier spiral twist.
In most places the union between shell and soft parts is not very firm, but the connection at the aperture is more intimate, while a muscle is attached to the columella at about its middle, the other end being inserted in the foot. This retracts the animal within the shell, the head and anterior part of the foot going first and then the metapodium, with its dorsal surface towards the aperture. Hence in many species this surlace secretes a door, or operculum, which closes the aperture when the body retracts. Since the aperture increases in size with growth, the operculum enlarges in a spiral manner, sometimes forming a spiral line on the outside, or on both surfaces. Land snails are usually without opercula, but in hibernation they can close the shell by a calcareous plate, the epiphragm. In the spring this separates from the shell and is lost.
In most gastropods the shell is coiled to the right, but in some species the whorls are constantly turned to the left, while reversed specimens occasionally occur in many species which are normally dextral.
There are usually two layers in the shell, an inner lamellar layer (not always present), which sometimes is highly iridescent, and an outer opaque, porcellanous layer, contains the pigment and may be covered by a horny cuticle. In rare cases mantle and shell are lacking, or the mantle is present but the shell is rudimentary and not visible externally because the mantle folds have grown over it. In these cases the visceral sac is not prominent. Since the shell-less forms possess a mantle and shell in the young, the adult conditions are explained by degeneration.
Only a few gastropods are bilaterally symmetrical. Usually the spiral twist of the visceral sac has resulted in a torsion of other parts from left to right, in which alimentary tract, nephridia, gills, heart, and nervous system take part. The intestine is bent in this way, the anus opening into the mantle chamber on the right side or the twisting may be continued so far as to double the intestine on itself, the anus being in the middle line in front, near the head (C). Nephridia, gills (with them the osphradia) and heart wander in company, so that the organs primitively belonging on the left side may be transferred to the right and vice-versa. With this there is a tendency to asymmetry and the loss of the organs (usually of the primitively left side). When the nervous system takes part in the twisting a crossing of the cerebrovisceral commissures takes place, known as streptoneury or chiastoneury.
The alimentary canal begins with a muscular region which in some groups is developed into a large protrusible proboscis. The pharynx, which follows, contains the tongue, a ventral ridge supported by one or more cartilages and corered by the lingual ribbon or radula (odendophore). The upper surface of the radula is armed with sharp, backwardly directed teeth arranged in transverse and longitudinal rows: these vary so in number, form, size, and arrangement that they are of value in classification. The radula is formed in the radula sac, which lies behind the tongue. From this it grows forward like a nail over its bed as fast as it is worn out in front. It is opposed in eating by a single median or a pair of lateral jaws (lacking in carnivorous forms).
The rest of the alimentary canal is convoluted, the anus being usually on the right side in front, in or beside the mantle chamber. Rarely it empties in the middle line behind. Esophagus, stomach, and intestine are slightly marked off from each other. The convolutions of the intestine are enveloped by the liver, which forms the chief part of the visceral sac. A pair of salivary glands empty into the pharynx, these in the Doliidae secreting a saliva containing 5 per cent. of free sulphuric acid.
The nervous system usually differs from that of other molluscs in that the pleural and parietal ganglia are separate. If the commissures be short, the ganglia are collected near the pharynx and, thus freed from the body torsion, are symmetrical. If the cerebrovisceral commissures be longer, the result is almost always streptoneury. Pleural and visceral ganglia hold their place, but the right parietal ganglion crosses above the intestine to the left side (hence called supraintestinal), while the left passes under the intestine to the right side (subintestinal), the cerebrovisceral commissures being twisted like the figure 8. The strong development of the pharynx is accompanied by buccal ganglia.
Gills, heart, and nephridia are best treated together. Certain genera (Haliotis, Fissurella, etc.) recall the Acephala in having the heart traversed by the intestine, the paired ctenidia, nephridia and nephridial ducts, and two auricles to the heart. As a rule the asymmetry induced by the torsion of the body has resulted in the loss of the ctenidium, osphradium, and nephridium of the primitively left side, and with the loss of one gill there is usually a loss of the corresponding auricle. Prosobranchs and Opisthobranchs are recognized accordingly as the gills are on the anterior or posterior part of the body. In the Opisthobranchs the ctenidia have been lost and are replaced by secondary gills on the back. Here the heart is in front of the gills; it receives blood from behind and forces it forward to the head by an aorta. In the Prosobranchs the heart has been twisted so that the auricle and the ctenidium are in front, while the aorta leads backwards. The nephridium, which communicates with the pericardium by a nephrostome, is usually saccular, its duct empties beside the anus.
The always unpaired sexual organs in some forms (Cyclobranchs and many Zygobranchs) empty into the nephridia and possibly the others utilize the rudiments of the right kidney. The sexual opening is almost always on the right side, beside the anus or in front of it on the head. Its position may be recognized in males and in hermaphroditic species by the grooved dermal fold, the penis. Occasionally this is separated from the genital pore, but is connected with it by a ciliated groove. The sexual organs are very variable in structure.
They show two extremes. On the one hand are completely dioecious species, on the other there may be complete hermaphroditism (many Tectibranchs, Pteropoda), in which the male and female organs are united throughout their extent. Intermediate stages occur; that of the pulmonates is shown in fig. 339.
The terrestrial snails lay their large tough-shelled eggs in damp earth; in the aquatic forms the eggs are laid in masses, usually gelatinous, each egg with a layer of albumen and a firm shell. Occasionally there is a kind of nest, as is the case with Ianthina which carries the mass of eggs, attached to the foot, about with it. A few gastropods are viviparous.
In the development the great constancy with which the veliger stage appears is noticeable. Most marine larvae swim at the surface by their velum before creeping at the bottom. But in those cases where the snail leaves the egg in the adult form the velum is usually developed in embryonic life, sometimes so strongly that the embryo rotates in the surrounding fluid.
Now, what were we talking about?
...Oh! Right! This thing. Spinecone.
Spinecones are, um, conical-shelled snails. Which are spiny. That’s good enough for me! It’s a simple but effective design. They also have 👀 emoji eyes, and I think that’s great.
I can understand these things appearing in Starshine Beach, but they also appear in Boo’s Moon Galaxy, inside of a haunted tower! Do these ghosts have a strange affinity with snails or what?
Hey guys! Welcome to the (insert number here)nd Funky Friday of March! We hope you're getting into the Halloween spirit, because we in Perplexing Red Plumber Opponents sure are! One of us has even joined the spirit realm to commemorate the "Ghost" character. Goodbye!
But today's funny enemy isn't spooky at all! It's actually...
...a rock?
Name: Sandopolis rock (from Sandopolis Zone)
Debut: Sonic & Knuckles
Har-dee-har. It's 239 days until Halloween, so I get a rock for a laugh. I see how it is!
Sigh. There's not much to say about the infamous Sandopolis Rock, as pretty as it is. It is a rock from Sandopolis, to be certain! Unlike the rocks in Angel Island Zone, it cannot be pushed or Spin Dashed into; you break it apart by jumping on it, as I will demonstrate...
…say, no matter how much I jump on this rock, it doesn't break! That means...i-it's not a rock at all! YIPE!
Name: Rock'n
Debut: Sonic & Knuckles
AHHHHHH!
Looks like we were in for a Spooky Shock, after all! Rock'n is a Badnik that mimics the rocks spread throughout Sandopolis Zone, making it perhaps one of Eggman's most devilishly igneous inventions yet. But while the real rocks (and even most other Badniks) are perfectly content to going to ruins once struck from above, Rock'n doesn't share that same sediment, it prefers to roll its own way. When Sonic jumps on it, the rock metamorphoses into its true form: a funny looking guy with googly eyes and two legs.
Sonic 3 & Knuckles loves its funny-eyed Badniks. So many of them have eyes like this. Mod Hooligon compared these eyes to that of Noo-Noo, which I can definitely get behind.
(Could Noo-Noo have been created by Dr. Eggman, the hidden tale of a redeemed Badnik?)
Far from stone-cold, Rock'n can't actually hurt Sonic in any way; once it awakens, it just walks back and forth, satisfied with its trickery, and walking into it again just pushes Sonic around, while jumping on its top lets you casually ride atop it. That may make you wonder why destroy it at all if it is so harmless, but sadly, the wily Eggman unethically powers ALL of his autonomous robots in the game with Animals, making destroying Rock'n–which can be done by rolling into it–the only ethical choice.
Strangely, unlike the other Badniks in Sandopolis Zone and even unlike the rocks it mimics, Rock'n only appears in Act 1–even using Debug Mode in the Sonic Origins port of S3&K will offer you nothing but disappointment on the Rock'n front. Perhaps it ended up not synergizing well with the level, or perhaps they didn't want it quite so adjacent to the similar enemy in the next stage...
Name: Iwamodoki
Debut: Sonic & Knuckles
The second and more obvious of the two rock mimics is Iwamodoki (whose name literally means 'pseudo-rock'). It's a hermit crab Badnik that just so happens to use a rock as its hard shell, predating the likes of Dwebble by several years–clearly TPCi was jealous of Iwamodoki's global success. Say, is Dwebble's category the "Rock Inn" Pokémon, too?! Looks like someone's jonesing to be slapped by legal...!
Like Rock'n, Iwamodoki stays hidden in its rocky casing until the player approaches, and cannot directly harm the player—UNLIKE Rock'n, it cannot directly be harmed by the player in ANY way; this is because it explodes so that it can damage the player with its resulting shrapnel, instead. Yeowch!
Iwamodoki is probably the more famous of the two, comparatively...neither of them got artwork (and Rock'n only barely got a localized name), but Iwamudoki appears more in their home game, reappears with the rest of Lava Reef Zone in Sonic Mania, and then reappeared independently of Lava Reef Zone in its latest appearance, Sonic Rumble. And even I have to admit...even I am a bit more fond of Iwamodoki's design over Rock'n's.
But I could never forget Rock'n...I will never forget Rock'n. Please keep Rock'n forever in your hearts...please keep Rock'n on...
I know we've talked about Purupuru. I know we've said almost everything we could about Purupuru. But I can't stop thinking about Purupuru. It has invaded my mind like a virus, a divine muse. We HAVE to talk about Purupuru.
Look at this thing. This...creature that goes beyond definition. Not quite bird, not quite walrus...or is it?
Let me pull the curtain back a bit. See, this illustration comes from the Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijten, NOT any material directly linked to Donkey Kong (Game Boy). On the subject of characters that didn't HAVE artwork before the encyclopedia, Mariowiki has this to say:
"for characters and enemies for whom no existing artwork was available, original artwork was created based off sprites."
And let's look at the sprites for Purupuru from this game, shall we?
...it looks like a standard cartoon walrus, doesn't it? Sure, the diagonal sprite looks silly, but it IS trying to fit a bunch of detail in a small 16x16 space...could it be, then, that Purupuru's true form is a walrus and, based on the weirdness of the diagonal sprite, was simply misinterpreted as a tusked bird, with one of its flippers seen as feet and the other a tail?
That was likely the original intent, sure. But now Purupuru is something Else. A shiny, strange blob-like bird with tusks, who walks on walls and lives in icy caves. This is Purupuru's true form, its defining face, as is the fate of many video game creatures whose sprites were made before their artwork. When people think of Purupuru, she is what comes to mind:
And that's beautiful. And that's wonderful.
Please think about Purupuru. When you're out on a walk, preferably on a snowy day. When you're at a meeting. When you're rearing your kids. When you're lost in a deserted island and need to find a way to survive. Purupuru will be there, as she always has, as she always will be. Purupuru is here for you. Purupuru has it for you. Purupuru has it for you.
It sure has been a while since we've talked about this game, huh? So much so that you've think the game has been milked dry! But don't worry! This game is still in its prime, just dripping, no, BURSTING with Weird milk that's waiting to be drank! Won't you sip?
In a game full of weird and bizarre entities, Hippo's existence is perhaps the weirdest of all. If not, it's at least Up There. Its existence almost feels like a non-sequitur, more than anything.
Hippos are the center focus of a level, lovingly called...uh, Hippo, where they can be found sitting in place and blowing bubbles from their noses. Mario, ever the bright child, can enter the snot bubbles and ride them up into the sky! Uncharacteristically for bubbles, they're hardly as fragile, only breaking if you get hit by an enemy. That's some tough mucus!
And where do these bubbles take you? Why, to space, of course! Riding them is the only way to get into the interstellar Space Zone which is mandatory for beating the game, so Mario has to ride these snot bubbles. Have fun!
Er...I jest, but I don't actually know if it's even snot at all! I always thought of the Hippos as statues, which would make them more evocative of snot bubbles than anything (unless Mario's a freak and has these things pumped to a stream of mucus.) But! The artwork seems to present Hippos as being alive, and even the Mario Wiki calls Hippos both statues and statue-like animals within the first two paragraphs on its own page.
I think I prefer the thought of them being statues, but I must admit, Mario having a garden full of Inexplicable Hippo Statues That Blow Bubbles or one full of Actual Hippos That Do Absolutely Nothing But Blow Snot Bubbles both seem equally hilarious to me, so I'm open to both interpretations! Which side are you on? Make your voice heard in the next Splatfest!
In celebration of Super Mario Land 2, they finally added hippos to Real Life, and they can even blow snot bubbles! Fanservice can be a wonderful thing sometimes.
The embargo on Brothership enemies that-I'm-not-sure-if-we-actually-had-or-not is OVER! Which MOD TWEETER is happy about, because she finally gets to talk about her favorite creature from the whole game: GOBBLICK!
From the success of fictional pitcher plants like Victreebel and...er...Victreebel, it's no secret that they've captured the hearts of millions worldwide! And yet, finding a decent video game pitcher plant in this day and age is hard. And that's sad! Especially since Wet-Dry World has arbitrarily decided my rent should be paid for in articles about video game pitcher plants!
Gobblick is SUCH a good pitcher plant design though, definitely worth the wait!! Look at that gut! Those spots! That big, long licker! The ridges on its leaf and lower jaw, seamlessly combining pitcher plant and bear trap aesthetics!
But, of course, the BIG show-stopper: EYES IN A VOID, BABY!!!! I love it!! It works PERFECT with the pitcher plant design! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they added them to REAL pitcher plants in a future update! They even remind me of that one talking pot in Winnie-the-Pooh that stuck onto my mind since I watched it as a child!
Since they're on the INSIDE of what is definitively its mouth, though, that raises the question...are these Gobblick's eyes at all? What if they're the eyes of something else? But...what would that something else be? A spider? A Lickitung? Perhaps it's the eyes of a treeshrew, and it's attacking out of embarrassment of us catching it using the bathroom? I'm sorry, hypothetical treeshrew! But you probably shouldn't stay in there, if that's the case, even if you're shy!
Or, most likely, these ARE the eyes of the noble Gobblick, and it uses them to watch its food go down! When you're a pitcher plant, is there honestly anything better to do?
Yes! And that thing is: attacking plumbers! Gobblick is such a fan of battling Mario & Luigi that he has not one, but TWO battles against them! That may not seem like a lot, but that's more than most Mario bosses in most single mainline games!
"Well, that's fine and all, but I bet none of its attacks include the coveted Root Attack," you might scoff. And you'd be wrong! Although real pitcher plant roots are, frankly, not really something to write home about, the root arms of Gobblick are able to dig through ground as they approach the brothers, in a way similar to Whispy Woods! Kirby's Dream Land 2 fans rejoice!
But, this isn't even Gobblick's only form! In fact, the first time I saw and fell in love with Gobblick was in its SECONDARY form! Warning, however, that this form is built off of integral spoilers for the game, so if you click below, do so wisely...!
Name: Glohm Gobblick
Debut: Mario & Luigi: Brothership
WOW! If you loved Gobblick already, then I hope Glohm Gobblick was worth the wait–it certainly was, for me!
Wine-red is just a perfect yet underrated color, especially for pitcher plants! I couldn't believe I had never thought about making a reddish pitcher plant prior, myself, but that just goes to show how ingrained plant color stereotypes are! I saw a picture of a pitcher eating a rat once, and it never escaped my mind, and THAT was red!
But Glohm Gobblick isn't just this beautiful shade of red for no reason! It's under the effect of being Glohmed, which makes anyone other than Mario & Luigi more powerful while amplifying their desire to be isolated and lonely! And unlike some other characters, there's nobody around that's worried for our poor friend Gobblick...it exists only as an optional boss you can come across on your own. Don't worry, Gobblick, we love you...!
Gobblick is never truly alone, however. Thankfully, the game specifies that this is not the Gobblick, but a Gobblick! It's one of MANY! Please expect Gobblick to make its way alongside Toads and Piantas as one of the main recurring Mario People, being charming background fodder for decades to come.
Or not, since it's canonically from another world. Too bad.
This should cover my Wet-Dry Rent for the next few weeks! Join me next time when I finally cover the last in the top three most popular video game pitcher plants: Weepinbell. Bye.
And now, to round out our trilogy of Donkey Kong fireball posts, we have–what's that? Fireball and Fire's posts weren't meant to be part of a trilogy? Faiachū is technically from a different game anyway? Also Fire and Fireball's posts were years ago, well before I ever became a mod, so you don't know how I could make that mistake? Well! You know what they say!
They say that Faiachū's a very funny enemy! And by "they," in this instance I mean "me." Donkey Kong for the Game Boy, for those who didn't know, acts as an expansion of the original game, which already had two separate fireball enemies as its only bestiary! "But what's one more?," they decided to ask ("they" in this instance being "the game developers"), and so, Faiachū was born!
So, what's the big deal? How does Faiachū innovate over the previous pyroclast cast, to the point it appeared in more levels than even Fire itself? (Which means it appears in two or more levels). A question that no doubt plagued the minds of every child that anxiously waited in anticipation after the game was announced! And playing the game finally answered that burning question: it walks on walls and ceilings .
You might not think that sounds like much, but its pyrotechnic precursors can only walk on floors and climb up ladders! Being able to walk the entire screen, including on floors the player makes themselves, gives Faiachū the potential to be a much bigger threat than either of its counterparts, which is probably why it appears more than either of them, honestly...
So why does Faiachū walk around so much, and so quickly? According to the Perfect Ban Mario Encyclopedia, which is basically the Weird Mario Enemies bible at this point, it's because it's a hard worker, toiling away at its job! "It's hard work, but somebody has to do it," our local Faiachū says, who then walked away when asked what is the hard work and why does it have to be done. A true working-class hero...
That makes me wonder, actually. Where ARE all these enemies coming from? Are they Donkey Kong's...minions? His friends? Was his kidnapping of Pauline more strategically premeditated than previously assumed? Are they allowed on Kongo Bongo? Or are they guys Donkey Kong happened to find and paid on the spot? Or are they just...there, and are only in Mario's way by coincidence? When you hit Bowbow with a hammer, is that Mario just killing a random stray dog. Hm. Much to consider.
