Super Mario Galaxy Enemies

Whether it's the lowly Goomba, or Bowser's powerful Magikoopa troops, Mario has always had to face a wide array of enemies willing to stand in his way. This guide can hopefully say all about the multitudes of faceless creatures that stand between Mario dying or saving Princess Peach and the universe from Bowser's Galaxy Reactor.

Bowser's Troops; Non Mechanical

Goomba

Appearance: It's pretty obvious what a goomba is like to anyone who played a Mario game before. But for those who have not, it's a brown mushroom type creature with teeth.

These Mushroom Kingdom traitors are a common foe in Bowser's army and have appeared in all sorts of locations under the control of numerous different villains. Just one stomp to the head will take care of them, as will spinning them and running into them or any other attack by you or a monster known to man.

Koopa Troopa

Appearance: It's a green turtle. It's also the same species which Bowser and Bowser Jr are of, and the common foot soldier.

A basic soldier in Bowser's Army, they are surprisingly tough this time round, only being taken out by a Bullet Bill or by throwing the shell at a wall or obstacle. However, they always come back in infinite supplies and don't directly attack Mario or Luigi. In other words, they are only ever really used as a weapon against various bosses.

Magikoopa

Appearance: It's a turtle wizard thing that teleports and fires magic spells. It is basically a blue robed smaller version of Kamek, Kammy Koopa or Kamella, who are bosses of the same species.

A higher up soldier for Bowser, these are used to personally guard many castles and airships. They are also used in battles against bosses to help the bosses when they are losing to Mario, and can be taken out with a stomp, a spin attack or an enemy attack. Of course, being magicians, they are plain annoying to face in levels.

Mechakoopa

Appearance: A robot turtle type thing with a key in it's back. Found in the Toy Time Galaxy.

A metal Koopa, these just walk around and breath fire. They can also climb platforms and jump, so be wary. These can be defeated by a shell (assuming) or by a good ground pound to the head. A spin attack will just make the lid flip up and not permanently damage the creature.

Dry Bones

Appearance: A skeletal koopa. You should know what these are like from Bowser's Reactors and the Dusty Dunes Galaxy.

A skeletal, undead koopa, these are some of the toughest enemies in the game to permanently destroy. If a jump or spin attack is used, they fall to pieces but can return in one piece in a few minutes. They can only really ever be destroyed by a Rainbow Star items and the invincibility effects of it (possibly also a Bullet Bill).

Rocky Wrench

Appearance: A mole which comes out from a manhole in the ground. It throws wrenches (metal tools) at Mario or Luigi when they approach.

Returning from their appearance in Super Mario Bros 3 and Airship Fortress in Mario Kart DS, these koopas are a minor threat in the Battlerock, Gusty Gardens and Dreadnought Galaxies. You can stun them with a star bit then attack, or just ground pound nearby and attack. Because if you go too near them, they'll just go down into the ground and the cover will close. They are generally not that much of a major threat.

Robotic Creatures

Mechakoopa

See information about it in Bowser's Army

Bullet Bill

Appearance: A large, black coloured missile fired out of cannons.

These living missiles home in on Mario and Luigi and constantly follow them until they either hit one of the brothers (and cause damage) or explode on hitting an obstacle or enemy (which is instant death to the enemy). They are often found in areas which have lots of cannons such as Airships, Reactors and Space Station type levels but are generally found all over the universe. They are often have to be tricked into destroying an obstacle like a glass cage around a Launch Star or into hitting the weak spot on a massive monster such as Megaleg. Very, very annoying.

Bob-omb

Appearance: A round, walking bomb.

These are the other explosives of the Mario universe, and are used as weapons in many spin off games such as Mario Kart DS. They come in two major kinds:

1. Stationary. Just as normal bombs which must be used as weapons.

2. Moving. As enemies which follow the main character and must be spin attacked to reduce them to normal bombs and then used as weapons/puzzle solving.

These will get really annoying later when you need to use them to win a game involving blowing up rubbish in the Battlerock and Dreadnought Galaxies.

Cannons

Appearance: What does a cannon look like normally? It's also the other kind of cannon that does not fire Bullet Bills.

Found to the point of insanity in certain later levels and in two different styles, these are just stationary cannons that either fire cannon balls or what seems like a quick blast of gun powder. You will have to always avoid these, and they will almost always be placed in the most annoying areas in the levels. Tough luck (but destroying the cannon balls with star bits gets you coins).

Torpedo Ted

Appearance: A torpedo. Looks almost exactly like a more rounded Bullet Bill missile.

Only ever found underwater and in Buoy Base, these are exactly like Bullet Bills. Heck, they are simply the underwater equivalent, and must be used to destroy some weights in order to raise the tower. Very rare, not much of a threat (both times they appear are in secret galaxies) and they explode when they reach the surface.

Laser Robot

Appearance: A roundish thing with evil eyes.

These invincible enemies fire lasers at the main characters. You cannot kill them for obvious reasons, so they are just a threat to be avoided.

Shockwave Robot

Appearance: It can either be a pink rounded spring like robot with yellow eyes or a spiky metalic column.

The former kind of these is a living spring which fires shockwaves. This can be used as a spring to reach higher areas and is found earlier in the game. The other kind is a metallic spiky thing found only in the Dreadnought Galaxy. It attacks the same as the other kind except cannot be used to any advantage.

Insect Species

Mandibug

Appearance: A purple beetle type thing which charges at you.

A very common enemy in the two levels with Bees, and an obvious minion of Bugaboom. These just charge at your characters and can be destroyed simply by ground pounding the top of them or with a star. Nothing else works, so don't try it.

Insect

Appearance: A winged insect which tries to run away

This insect type is a little strange, if only because whether it attacks depends on what form Mario is in. If he is wearing a Bee suit, these start chasing him and attempt to attack. If Mario or Luigi is in any other form, they desperately try to escape, often falling over the edge in the process. You can destroy them either by jumping on them or if you are normal Mario, by running into them and doing this again when they fall to the floor. Of cause, if you are in normal form, they'll probably fly right off a cliff anyway.

Wiggler

Appearance: A caterpillar

A giant caterpillar, you must defeat this enemy by pounding nearby and then jumping on it once it flips over (or by ground pounding or a star). However, you must never jump on it as an attack method when it is still standing. Otherwise, the creature will become extremely angry, turn red and charge around at a faster speed (with the corresponding train type sound effects). These are mainly found in the Gold Leaf and Honeyhive Galaxy, but also appear in Bowser Jr's Airship Armada, Beach Bowl Galaxy and Gusty Gardens.

Plants

Piranha Plant

Appearance: It's a venus fly trap type plant in a small area of flowers or a pipe. You'll recognise one instantly if you've played any other Mario game to date.

A common foe right from the original Super Mario Bros, these have appeared in just about any other Mario game ever released and are the same thing every time; a Mario eating plant. Attempting to lunge at the player when approached, these can be defeated by using a jump to the head or by spin attacking one from right nearby.

Giant Piranha Plant

Appearance: A massive piranha plant which is purple

A kind of mini boss in a way, this is an enormous piranha plant on a spiky stem. It can only be defeated however by waiting until it tries to attack and the head falls down and then by jumping on the head of the thing to destroy it. A vine will always appear once one of these is defeated.

Pokey

Appearance: A tall cactus with many segements

Another classical enemy, these come in a few different forms. The main type is as a giant cactus which comes out of the ground and tries to slam into Mario. You must defeat these by kicking a coconut at it and then attacking the head. Another type is the moving one where you must destroy each piece and then the head when it appears above sand. Finally, there is a moving small one which is just a head. Any attack defeats this version just about instantly, and it's main advantage is it's speed.

Ghostly Creatures

Boo

Appearance: A white, near circular ghost. If you've played Luigi's Mansion or a past Mario game, you'll know exactly what these look like.

The Boo. These white ghosts are some of the most common haunted house dwelling creatures in the entire Mushroom Kingdom, and are even the basis of the Boo Mario form and power up! If you look at them, they'll turn invisible (as will they if you fire a star bit at one) while looking away will make them chase after you! So to destroy them you need to do one of two things:

1. Lure them into the light

2. Use a star and run right through them like any other enemy.

Oddly enough, they'll fall in love with Boo Mario, however strange that is...

Bomb Boo

Appearance: A black coloured Boo.

These Boos are kind of like living dynamite. Or undead dynamite anyway. Never the less, they only appear in two missions in the game as far as I can tell (Beware of Bouldergeist and Bouldergeist Daredevil Run) and are used to blow up Bowser statues blocking the way and also to attack Bouldergeist with.

You spin into them to start swinging them by their tongues. Oh, and in case you ever end up in this sad situation, they can slightly float upwards, unlike normal Boos.

Scuttle Bug

Appearance: A ground moving spider

A common enemy before Tarantox in the Space Junk Galaxy and in a few places elsewhere, these spiders will leap into the air as their only attack. To defeat them requires a jump to the head (with them stunned first or very good timing) or a spin attack.

Pider/Arantula/Spider

Appearance: A dark coloured spider hanging from a thread

While the last type of spider was a ground moving type, these are the more traditional types that swing from threads. They also usually found as obstacles in the path needed to get through the level (Airship Armada and Ghostly Galaxy) and remarkably do not appear anywhere near Tarantox, despite being pretty similar. They can be defeated by a jump to the head or by spinning them out the way (which just stuns them but makes them harmless for a bit).

Pumpkin Goombas

Appearance: A moving pumpkin. If you pound it, it becomes a normal Goomba.

An enemy which seems to have made a return from New Super Mario Bros, these are just tougher Goomba variants found in the haunted house. Be very wary of them though as they do sometimes drop flames on the floor which can hurt the character.

If you want to defeat these, you must ground pound or spin off the pumpkin and attack the Goomba as usual. Jumping on them has little effect.

Terrors of the Deep

Gringrills

Appearance: Eels. These come out of holes or just swim around in the later water worlds.

Now, if you didn't like eels in Mario 64, be warned that there are far more of these than there were in that game. But never the less, they are actually relatively weak enemies compared to the eel from Super Mario 64, and can be eliminated by a quick shell to the face for a ton of star bits or a 1 up mushroom. They are found in the Beach Bowl, Drip Drop (where they are the enemies which must be destroyed), Bigmouth, Sea Slide and Deep Dark Galaxy to name a few places.

Urchins

Appearance: A spiky ball type thing with eyes.

Another common foe found in most water levels, these are almost always found at the far bottom of the ocean and will be a major pest. Immune to many things, they can be destroyed by a shell but usually are there just to be avoided. Oddly enough, they also seem to capable of living on land as well, since Freezeflame Galaxy has land based variants which move around on the stone platforms above the lava and come in infinite hoardes out of generator machines.

Blooper

Appearance: A white squid. You should know what this looks like though, it has been in most Mario games and is in the forum default avatar.

Yet another old foe which has made a comeback since Super Mario Sunshine, these squid based creatures appear in surprisingly few places this time round. Seriously though, they are only found in Buoy Base and Deep Dark Galaxy as far as I know. However, to destroy one you can either spin attack it when very close, throw a shell at it or possibly use the invincibility powers of the other power ups.

Torpedo Ted

See under mechanical creatures

Jelly fish

Appearance: It's hard to describe, but those things which are found near the levers in Deep Dark Galaxy. Also comes in a much larger variant.

Another minor threat, these barely move and are mainly just obstacles. You can take them out with a shell. There is also a much larger version which might move slightly after Mario or Luigi but is also to be avoided; although three shells will eventually take it out and give you one measly coin (for more effort than killing many bosses takes).

Puffer Fish

Appearance: A spiky round fish that charges

You find these in only one place in the game, and they are incredibly useless enemies. That place is in most chests at the bottom of the sea in the Drip Drop Galaxy (a hungry luma accessed one). Just avoid them really, they'll probably die before they hit you.

Topman Tribe Members

Green Topman

Appearance: A green spinning top type thing. If you jump on it, it turns out the head hides a spring.

This is a typical topman. Very weak in terms of attack (it cannot damage you) and is almost always used as an aid rather than an obstacle to be avoided. You cannot really damage it, but spinning against it knocks it backwards. However, the main use of this 'enemy' is to jump on so Mario or Luigi is catapulted high into the air (in the same way as the shockwave devices and Cataquacks).

Red Topman

Appearance: A red spinning top thing with a spike on it's head.

The common attack type of Topman, these are often used in semi mini boss battles in the Battlerock and Dreadnought Galaxies. To defeat them, you just knock them backwards into an electric fence located conveniantly nearby, often then opening a door or freeing a trapped Luma. They also get sent out by Topmaniac in the second battle.

Yellow Topman

Appearance: A tiny yellow spinning top

A really weak foe, you can just defeat this for one star bit each by spinning into them. However, they almost always come in infinite amounts due to a nearby vortex, so your best bet is to ignore them, since they cannot actually damage the player.

Topman Generator

Appearance: A sturdy green and yellow... thing that resembles the shockwave generators.

This rare, Buoy Base only creature is found right at the top, and it's only purposes are to send out tiny yellow topmen and as a spring to reach the planet floating just above.

Topmaniac

See bosses page.

Thwomps and Tox Boxes; Stone Fiends

Thwomps

Appearance: A gigantic square with an angry face that smashes into the floor.

Ah, the usual Thwomp from Mario games past and present, these are not enemies to mess with! Seriously, being caught under one when it smashes down is instant death to Mario and Luigi, however much harsher than the past Mario games that is. Of course, you often need to climb on one to reach hidden mushrooms and areas. But then don't get squashed against the ceiling either!

Tox Box

Appearance: A giant stone cube with multiple angry faces and a hollow side.

Back from Mario 64, these versions look more like natural creatures than Koopa made metallic creations. They only move along a set path, but you must always be in the right place for the hollow side to fall over your character and THEN move when it passes to avoid them, as getting caught under any side which isn't hollow is just as bad as being caught under a Thwomp; instant death.

Oh, and as far as I know, any enemy which wanders under one of those creatures is crushed flat and pretty much killed instantly.

Elemental creatures

Burn Bits

Appearance: A tiny blue flame

Sent out during the later stages of your battles vs King Kaliente, these small creatures hop around trying to burn the player. However, they also disappear automatically after a time and can also be taken out with a single star bit for a coin.

Podoboos?

Appearance: A larger, orb which is on fire

A very common and annoying foe during the Freezeflame and Melty Molten Galaxies, these things are always found near lava. Desparately trying to set alight or destroy anything in the near vicinity, they come in large numbers and must be destroyed by a spin nearby then an attack. A star bit also stuns them.

You must not get hit though, because this burns like lava! Oh, and at least one point in the game requires the use of one to set alight a torch.

Ice Podoboos

Appearance: Blue versions of the previous enemy

An icy foe somehow alight with blue fire, these are found in extremely cold temperatures such as Freezeflame and must be killed the same way as the last enemy for a coin. Except that if you get hit, Mario is instead frozen solid for a few seconds.

Other

Chain Chomps

Appearance: Giant black orbs with teeth and eyes. They roll down surfaces, and they bark like dogs.

Based on a guard dog, these rolling enemies are found guarding various areas in Super Mario Galaxy, and generally being a nuisance. They can only be killed by a Bob-omb being thrown at them, or a rainbow star using invincible Mario. Found in the Dreadnought, Battlerock, Good Egg galaxies.

Kingfin Robo Piranha

Appearance: A robotic piranha fish.

A robot torpedo like fish, these guard Kingfin in the Bonefin Galaxy. They can be killed by a shell, but are best avoided and left to hit obstacles and explode.