Macho Grubba

Macho Grubba
Sprite from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)
Applies to	Grubba
Item needed	Power-draining machine and Gold Star
First appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)

“MAAAACHO! I'm a powerhouse now, you pesterin', li'l pieces of prairie piffle! So long's I have this here machine, my bod'll be rough, tough, an' ultrabuff!”

—Macho Grubba, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Macho Grubba is the powered-up form of Grubba, the true chapter boss of the Glitz Pit in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and the keeper of the real Gold Star. In this state, he has sixty HP and a very wide variety of attacks. After being defeated, Grubba's power-sucking machine goes off, returning energy to Bandy Andy and King K, freeing Prince Mush, and reverting Grubba back to his normal form.

Macho Grubba is one of three chapter bosses not affiliated with either Grodus or the Shadow Queen throughout the entire game (the others being Cortez and Smorg). He is also one of four chapter bosses the Yoshi Kid can swallow, the others being Doopliss, Grodus and the Shadow Queen (first phase, before and after transformation).

Powers and abilities

Macho Grubba powering himself up

Mario and Yoshi battling Macho Grubba

After being powered up by the Gold Star, Macho Grubba has the ability to tilt the scales in battle to his favor. At the beginning of the fight, Macho Grubba gains the ability to attack twice per turn. He then uses this ability to first use one of several buffs, increasing his attack power for a turn, or defense or evasiveness for two turns, then doing a running jump attack onto Mario or his partner.

Later in the fight, Macho Grubba may also choose to use a buff that charges up his next attack by 4 damage, and attacks with either a backflip, or a punch that hits both Mario and his partner.

Macho Grubba is the only chapter villain who uses the Crystal Star's Special Move, Power Lift. All other chapter villains either possess a Crystal Star, but never use it, or simply obstruct the path to it.

Profiles and statistics

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Macho Grubba
	Max HP	60	Attack	4	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit	Role	Boss	Level	71
	Sleep?	50%	Dizzy?	50%	Confuse?	50%
	Tiny?	75%	Stop?	40%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	30%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	Body Slam (4), Fast (attacks twice) Defense Boost (boosts defense by 3), Attack Boost (boosts attack power by 3), Punch (4 to Mario and Partner), Charge (charges attack by 4.), Dodgy (some attack will miss.), Backflip (4)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	N/A	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 103	Log	Macho Grubba has the confidence to match his muscles after being powered up by the Crystal Star
	Tattle	That's Macho Grubba. He's Grubba all souped-up on Crystal Star power. Max HP is 60, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. His attack pattern is simple: first he increases the number of times he can attack... Then he powers himself up with all sorts of crazy, power-uppy moves. So, it's pretty important to pay close attention to how he's powered himself up. The craziest thing about this musclehead is that he used to be that chubby Grubba. I guess the Crystal Stars really ARE powerful!

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch)

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Macho Grubba
	Max HP	60	Attack	4	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit	Role	Boss	Level	71
	Sleep?	50%	Dizzy?	50%	Confuse?	50%
	Tiny?	75%	Stop?	40%	Soft?	90%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	30%	Fright?	0%
	Gale Force?	0%	KO?	0%	Moves	Body Slam (4), Fast (attacks twice) Defense Boost (boosts defense by 3), Attack Boost (boosts attack power by 3), Punch (4 to Mario and Partner), Charge (charges attack by 4.), Dodgy (some attack will miss.), Backflip (4)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	100	Items	None
Tattle Log #: 106	Log	Macho Grubba has the confidence to match his muscles after being powered up by the Crystal Star
	Tattle	That's Macho Grubba. He's Grubba all souped-up on Crystal Star power. Max HP is 60, Attack is 4, and Defense is 0. His attack pattern is simple—first he increases the number of times he can attack... Then he powers himself up with all sorts of wild, power-uppy moves. So, it's pretty important to pay close attention to how he's powered himself up. The wildest thing about this musclehead is that he was just regular ol' Grubba a moment ago... I guess the Crystal Stars really ARE powerful!

Gallery

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  Macho Grubba in the Nintendo Switch remake

• 

  Macho Grubba in Super Mario-kun

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	マッチョガンス[?] Matcho Gansu	Macho Grubba
Chinese	肌肉加仕[?] Jīròu Jiāshì	Muscle Grubba
French	Stéro Gangs[?]	Stéro is a diminutive of "steroids", Gangs is Grubba's French name.
German	Mega-Clubbone[?]	Mega Grubba
Italian	Macho Ganz[?]	Macho Grubba
Korean	머슬건스[?] Meoseul-Geonseu	Muscle Grubba
Spanish (NOA)	Grubbachón[?]	Mix of his name with the word "fortachón" (strongman).
Spanish (NOE)	Leonardo Dantesco[?]	From Grubba's Spanish name and Leonardo Dantés, a famous TV celebrity in Spain. Dantesco means "horrific". It may be a pun on gigantesco ("gigantic").

Trivia

• Macho Grubba has a Danger animation when his HP is 15 or lower. Other enemies or bosses don't have these animations.