King Bob-omb

Artwork of King Bob-omb for Mario Party Star Rush

**King Bob-omb** (formerly known as the **Big Bob-omb**) is the king of the Bob-ombs who debuted in *Super Mario 64*, being the first boss fought in that game and its remake. Guarding the Power Star, which Bowser entrusted him with, he does not give it up without fighting the player. After his debut, King Bob-omb became a recurring boss in later games, specifically spinoff games such as *Mario Party 9* and *Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam*. King Bob-omb, like other certain bosses, takes pride in his royal status.

## History

### Super Mario 64/ Super Mario 64 DS/Super Mario 3D All Stars

(Note: Only Super Mario 64, not the DS remake appears in Super Mario 3D All Stars)

Big Bob-omb first appears in *Super Mario 64*, specifically at the top of the mountain in Bob-omb Battlefield. In the game, Mario merely has to run around to the back of him, pick him up, and toss him three times. If Mario runs into the Big Bob-omb after tossing him, but before he gets back up, the former will take damage, likely to prevent the player from picking the king back up immediately. After the third throw, the Big Bob-omb will give up the Power Star. If he is thrown off the mountain or baited into walking off, he accuses Mario of cheating and the battle starts over. After defeating him, the Bob-omb Buddy at the beginning of the level will express gratitude and note that the Big Bob-omb is now "just a big dud," in other words, defeated.

In the remake, *Super Mario 64 DS*, Big Bob-omb is fought twice. The first time, he is encountered while playing as Yoshi. Instead of picking him up, Yoshi has to grab the Bob-ombs thrown at him with his tongue and spit them back at him before they explode in Yoshi's mouth. Yoshi can also lead a Bob-omb to explode next to him; if playing as one of the other three characters or wearing their caps, the original method from *Super Mario 64* can also be used. After being hit by three Bob-ombs, the Big Bob-omb is defeated. The second time, he can only be defeated by one of the three unlocked heroes using the same strategy as in *Super Mario 64*. If the first mission is played as Mario, Luigi, or Wario, he says something different for each of them at the start and the end of the battle, relating to their mustaches; in the second mission, he uses identical dialogue for all characters. He also received a slight redesign, being given large white gloves and pointed shoes aside from the yellow spheres he had in earlier iterations. He retains this look in every subsequent appearance aside from *Mario Party Advance*, which ignores *Super Mario 64 DS*'s redesigns in general.

## *Mario Kart* series

### *Mario Kart DS*

In *Mario Kart DS*, Big Bob-omb is a boss in Mission Mode. Similar to *Super Mario 64 DS*, the player has to pick up Bob-ombs and throw them at him three times to defeat him. However, his move set is altered to fit *Mario Kart DS*. He is battled in Mission 5, and Wario is the playable character.

### *Mario Kart Arcade GP DX*

In *Mario Kart Arcade GP DX*, King Bob-omb is a non-playable character and appears in Bowser's Factory course.

### *Mario Kart Tour*

King Bob-omb appears in *Mario Kart Tour* as the opponent in the **Vs. Mega** challenge of the Dry Bones Cup in the Wild West Tour, in a similar vein to Hammer Bro and Nabbit's debuts in the Baby Rosalina Tour and the Exploration Tour, respectively. He uses a brand new item called the Giga Bob-omb as his special item throughout the race. He became playable in the Pirate Tour, marking his playable debut in the *Mario Kart* series and the *Mario* series in general. Starting with the Rosalina Tour, King Bob-omb became a regular High-End driver.

## General information

### Physical description

King Bob-omb has a large, circular, explosive body. The color of his body is black just like in the first games, but is sometimes shown in a dark purple tint like in *Mario Party Advance*. His large eyes and body shape are identical to a Bob-omb's, although he has no visible wind-up keys or fuses (as he wears a large bejeweled crown), and he has a large white mustache. Originally, he was depicted with yellow spheres as hands and smooth shoes, but this was changed to white gloves and pointed shoes and he has retained this appearance from *Super Mario 64 DS* onward. His method of attack, which involves throwing his opponents, is like that of Chuckya, an enemy similar in appearance; he is also defeated in a very similar way. In his artwork for *Mario Party: Star Rush*, King Bob-omb has visible scratches on his body.

### Personality

King Bob-omb is an antagonist, but acts in a regal, gentleman-like manner and is not afraid to admit defeat and compliment the player in *Super Mario 64*. He even briefly gives tips on how to defeat Bowser and reselect completed missions, and *Mario Party Advance* implies that he actually leads the society of the Bob-omb Mafia to protect Shroom City. In *Super Mario 64 DS* only, he is very critical and patronizing towards everyone he believes is of lower class. He, along with Chief Chilly, is proud of his mustache, leading him to act condescending to those without a mustache or to criticize mustaches he sees as inferior. He even seems to equate mustaches with strength, claiming that the bare-faced Yoshi has no chance against him. When he returns in Big Bob-omb's Revenge, he mentions that he has restyled his mustache, as though this could assist him. Also, despite insulting Mario and Luigi for having inferior mustaches, he seems to view Wario's mustache as dignified.

In *Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam*, King Bob-omb retains the regal aspect of his personality, but is now more stolid, using as few words as possible. He acts like a perfectionist, going as far as to initiate his own self-destruction to protect the secrets of his operation. He still believes in mustaches as signs of power, with his incredulity upon defeat only sated when he realizes that the Bros. also sport fine mustaches of their own.

## Profiles and statistics

### *Mario Kart Tour*

* ***Mario Kart Tour* Twitter:** "*King Bob-omb is here, sporting a magnificent mustache and glittering crown in #MarioKartTour. Speaking of which, the Silver Bullet Blaster is shiny enough to see your reflection in. If you spot a glint in your rear-view mirror, it may just be the king himself!*"