The Mario World is full of characters that fans have loved to defeat for decades, however there is one enemy that stands out from the rest of them. The Goomba is an oddly shaped creature that many fans have come to dislike because of it’s annoying tendencies and its constant appearance in the series.
Although fans may think they’ve heard everything about these little guys, there are probably quite a few facts that they never learned. From the Goombas origin to their role in Mario Party, here are 10 things that most fans don’t know about the Goomba Enemy!
10 Opposite Of Toad
The Goomba enemy is a very strange looking creature and many players wouldn’t think that this enemy is actually the counterpart to Toad. They look very different so many players never realized that they are actually very similar.
Enemies like the Goomba are very original but they seem to take inspiration from other Mario characters, or vice versa. Goombas are very weak which is one similarity that Toads and this enemy share that is easy to notice.
9 Mushroom Kingdom Is Their Home
The Goomba creature actually originated within the Mushroom Kingdom, similar to other enemies and Mario himself. This isn’t especially shocking because they do appear a lot within this world space, however it’s still kind of weird that they’re at war with Mario in their shared home.
Goombas must be pretty mad at the Mario Bros to fight them like they’ve been doing for so long, and it’s really not nice that they’ve been wreaking havoc. Mario and the Goomba army definitely need a peace treaty of some kind.
8 Friendly Goombas
Many fans would be surprised to learn that there are actually a bunch of instances of the Goomba enemy being friendly towards Mario and the gang. One example of this is in a Paper Mario game where a few Goombas actually aid Mario on his journey.
Generally Goombas are regarded as mean little creatures, but occasionally they can be very helpful and even friendly to the player. Hopefully fans will see more of the nice Goombas in the future instead of the mean ones!
7 Mushroom Themed
These brown creatures have a general mushroom shape, but many players are unaware that they are actually mushroom creatures. Their head definitely helps prove this fact.
Although its evident just by looking at one that Goombas are similar in shape to mushrooms, it’s much less evident that they are straight-up based on them. Players that don’t like mushrooms are now going to fear Goombas all the more after they’ve learned about this one!
6 Name Origin
Some players may wonder where the bizarre name Goomba comes from. It originally was based around the word Gomba, which means mushroom in the Hungarian language.
This is a weird tidbit, because fans would expect it to be a more Nintendo-centric country, but it makes sense that Nintendo didn’t want to name it after a mushroom in a country where it would reach its peak popularity, because then their name would just be a slight variation of mushroom. The Goomba name is very weird, but fans will forever hold the peculiar word in their hearts!
5 Most Popular Enemy In The Franchise
There are few other enemies that have been in as many Super Mario games as the Goomba. Most Mario games feature the Goomba within them and the games that do have the angry brown mushroom usually regard it as one of the main enemies.
Players shouldn’t fear these little guys because they’re not very strong, however they should at least acknowledge that they may have to fight a bunch of them at once. Hopping on a Goomba will kill it, but that doesn’t stop them from being difficult when they appear in groups!
4 Goombas Can Swim
This fact is very peculiar, because Goombas have no arms or anything to paddle with. They do however have small feet, which is what they use to get around while underwater.
Goombas swimming underwater is very funny to watch, but it’s not so funny while players are actually in the game. Goombas are a force to be fought, even underwater, because they can rapidly move towards the players in an attempt to damage them, and this becomes even more annoying in the ocean!
3 Mario Party
Goombas actually do appear in the Mario Party series, and not in the way that players might think. These mushroom characters act as hosts and shopkeepers within the game world and help the player advance. Goombas are also occasionally enemies for the mini-games.
Interestingly, they can all put aside their differences for a fun game of Mario Party, and perhaps this means that they were never naturally aggressive, to begin with. What has Bowser done to provoke the Goombas?
2 The Legend Of Zelda
In Link’s Awakening Goombas appear as an enemy to fight. Goombas can either be crushed like in Mario or sliced by a sword for the player to defeat them and pass the level.
Seeing a Mario enemy in a Zelda game was a weird experience, and many players were confused as to why they made an appearance at all. Either way they do a great job at creating yet another obstacle for Link within the game, and maybe they’ll be featured in other Nintendo titles in the future.
1 Bowser Leads Them
Many players assume that Goombas might just be bloodthirsty and fight for themselves, however Goombas are in fact a minion of Bowser. Although most of them are allied with the evil turtle creature, many are not on his side.
Goombas are mean, and their rebellious behavior has caused Mario a lot of trouble throughout the history of the franchise. One day they’ll probably come crawling back to Mario but nobody knows when that will be. It would make a good spin-off game!
NEXT: Mario World: 10 Hilarious Memes Only True Fans Understand
