Goomba

A Goomba is the best enemy in the Mario series. They debuted in Super Mario Bros. and are depicted as brown mushroom-like creatures with dark brown legs (whose name in Japanese is Kuribo, meaning chestnut people, which is one of the reasons the Goombas have a slightly different appearance). Goombas have bushy, black eyebrows and a pair of fangs sprouting from their lower jaw. They never use their fangs, though. They generally tackle or bite an enemy. The Goombas once lived in peace in the Mushroom Kingdom, but they later joined the Koopa Troop. The Goombas are also probably the most common enemy in the entire Mario series, and they are also the weakest.

History
During the last stages of development for Super Mario Bros., play testers were complaining about the Koopa Troopa being a difficult basic enemy. So the development created a symmetrical Goomba sprite, except one shoe was out, so they could make an easy trotting animation by flipping the sprite over and over to save the scarce amount of space left on the cartridge. The sprite was a redesigned mushroom sprite. Now, the Goomba has become a staple Mario enemy since.

Super Mario Bros.
This is the game where Goombas first appear in. They appear in about any level (excluding underwater levels). Goombas are the easiest to kill, because all you have to do is just stomp them. If the player completes the game, the Goombas are replaced by the Buzzy Beetle.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Goombas reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2 and act how they have in previous installments. If a gold ring is passed by, it turns into a Gold Goomba.

Paper Mario
In the Paper Mario games, Goombas reappear as the most basic enemies in the game. They first appear when Mario, with Goompa, leave the area they fell down to after Mario has obtained the Hammer. Goombas are seen on this path to the village as well as Goomba Road, a long road leading to the City of Toad Town. In the second game, Goombas are seen all over and are first seen in Rougeport Sewers; as a group of Goomba Thugs attack Mario and Goombella on their way to the thousand-year door with professor Frankly.

Super Mario Bros. (film)
The Goombas were featured in the Super Mario bros film. They were shown as nine foot tall dinosaur humanoids dressed in red robes and were loyal to King Koopa. Although dangerous, they were simple-minded and easily gullible.

Variants
Throughout the game, Mario sees new Goombas with Spikey hats or Goombas that have obtained wings. Later on in the game, new types of Goombas are seen. These new Goombas include Gloombas and Hyper Goombas. Gloombas appear in the large Toad Town Sewers in Paper Mario, and they appear in the Pit of 100 Trials in Super Paper Mario. Hyper Goombas have more health and possess the uncanny ability to power themselves up to 8 attack power. Hyper Goombas reappear in the second Paper Mario game during Chapter 4 and retain the same abilities. Mario has also an ally to a Goomba, called Goombella.

Mario Party series
Goomba plays a big role in the Mario Party series as a supporting character. Along with Koopa and Shy Guy, Goomba typically appears as a shop or event attendant on different board maps. Goombas also appear as both common enemies and background characters in mini-games. They also have appeared as hosts of mini-games, and a single Goomba even appears as a host in its own board map in Mario Party 4.

Mario Party 1-3
Goombas first appeared in the original Mario Party as a side-character in Peach's Birthday Cake, and also as an enemy in certain mini-games. In Peach's Birthday Cake, Goomba is in charge of the Piranha Plant event that the player can participate in when they land on a happening space. When a player lands on the ? space, Goomba will ask the player if they would like to plant a Piranha Plant for a thirty coin fee. If they accept the offer, a Piranha Plant will be grown, which would steal a star from a player that lands on that happening. One mini-game that Goomba appeared in was Crazy Cutter, where the player had a chance to cut out an image of Goomba with their jackhammer. When the mini-game was completed successfully, a Goomba would pop out of the ground to signify that the player won.

Goomba later appears as a host for the Battle mini-game and Duel Mini-games in Mario Party 2. In this game, he is in charge of taking coins from the players and explaining the battle mini-games. When a player lands on a battle mini-game space, Goomba will appear flying with the character's head via a parachute. He will then pick a random amount of coins that the players must donate. After that, he will initiate the battle mini-game. At the end of the mini-game, Goomba will reward the players with coins based on their rankings from the mini-game. He will award additional coins to a random player, depending if there is an odd amount of coins in circulation. Goomba also appears as a host for the Duel Mini-games in Mario Party 2. He would explain the rules of the mini-game for the player, and appear to officiate in the actual duel to officiate the two competitors. The winner of the event will be rewarded by Goomba depending on the amount of coins that were bet.

Goomba returns again in Mario Party 3 to reprise his role as the host of the battle mini-games. In this game, the space for the battle mini-game was changed to a Goomba face. Goomba also appears as a partner for Luigi in Duel Mode. Goomba acts as a standard partner in Duel Mode, with a normal punch, low health, and a low salary. Goomba also appears in numerous mini-games like in the previous Mario Party installments. In the mini-game Curtain Call, a Goomba appears as one of the three dancers that dances across the stage. Goomba also appears in the team mini-game Slot Synch, where landing two identical Goomba rewards the players one point. Numerous Goombas can also be seen in the background cheering for the players. Goomba also appears in Game Guy's Roulette, where if a player picks Goomba's slot and successfully land on his sliver, then they will be have their coins multiplied by 8.

Mario Party 4-6
Goomba expands his role in the Mario Party series as a host of his own board map, Goomba's Greedy Gala, in Mario Party 4. Goomba Greedy Gala is modeled after a casino and contains many different casino-type games that are hosted by different Goombas. The main feature of the board is the giant roulette in the middle, which determines the path a player is taking by throwing a small ball into a part of the roulette. The color that the player lands on will determine the path that they must take.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Goombas appeared again in Super Mario RPG, as the first normal enemy Mario encounters.

Variants
Many variants of the Goomba have appeared throughout the years including Paragoombas and Microgoombas. Paragoombas are distinguished by their winged appearance, thus making them more versatile and mobile than typical Goombas. Microgoombas are miniature, parasitic Goombas which latch themselves onto Mario, reducing his jumping ability. Many other types of Goombas have appeared throughout the Mario series, Including short Goombas that appear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, although these largely vary from game to game. Both Goomba and Paragoomba are playable in Mario Superstar Baseball.

Friends
Some Goombas act as friendly characters in the Paper Mario series, two (Goombario and Goombella) even joining Mario on his journey. In Mario Kart series sometimes Goombas carry mushrooms, in Mario Kart: Double Dash!! when a Goomba is "flattened", a Super Mushroom is given out.

Royalty
In the video game, Paper Mario, there is a king of the Goombas called the Goomba King who is the first boss of the game. He has two direct underlings named Blue Goomba and Red Goomba and these two are bros. sometimes called the Goomba Bros. After they are defeated they are rocketed hundreds of miles and don't reappear until the ending credits in which the king is stuck in a tree, the Goomba Bros. are running around the tree, hoping he'll fall. The King falls and walks away, angered.

In the 1989 television cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, Goombas are loyal soldiers in King Koopa's army. They often appear in costumes related to the episode's theme such as zombies or pirates. They were featured in the subsequent spin-offs The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

They also appear in the Super Mario Bros. live-action film, where they were originally inhabitants of Dinohattan who opposed King Koopa's rule, and were de-evolved into large, reptilian monsters as punishment for their disloyalty. Despite having the same name, Goombas in the movie look nothing like the ones in the games. They were portrayed as nine foot tall humanoid dinosaurs with red trench coats and spikes on their shoulders. Although dangerous, they were simple minded and could easily be fooled.

Trivia

 * The word "goomba" comes from "gomba", the Hungarian word for "mushroom".
 * Goombas were once mistaken for chestnuts.

Sprites
クリボー Goomba Goomba Goomba Gumba