????

It has been suggested that this page be split into the following: Sand Cheep, Sharkbone, ????. (discuss)

It has been requested that this article be rewritten. Reason: Organization of naming section now that firsthand source exists

This article is about the enemy in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. For other uses of name, see ???

???? is a type of enemy found in Gwarhar Lagoon in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. They can be a Sharkbone, which is a skeletal shark-like creature, or a Sand Cheep, which appears to be a Blurp with a shark fin attached to its back. These enemies always appear in groups that include both Sharkbones and Sand Cheeps, so it is impossible to tell which kind would attack until the very last moment of the creature's attack. These creatures are often fought with Beanerang Bros.

The name "Sharkbone" is actually based on unused enemy name text and appears as the undead shark's name in the Nintendo Power guide. This guide also refers to the Blurp-like fish as Puffer-Cheep or Puffer Cheep, which is actually a different Cheep Cheep form encountered underneath Oho Ocean in the Oho Ocean Seabed (which is, itself, erroneously referred to as Puffy Cheep). Additionally, the European version of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga contains "Sand-Cheep" replacing the equally-unused "Sharkbone" name in the German text. The easy mode hints in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions refer to the skeletons as Sharkbones and the Blurp-like fish as Sand Cheeps, without the hyphen.

Sand Cheeps also make a brief appearance in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - they are used as projectiles of Shrooba Divers and bounce over the players.

Attacks

The ???? has two attacks, depending on which type it is: Sharkbones burrow under and attack Mario or Luigi for large damage and possible Poison; Sand Cheeps will jump right over Mario or Luigi, but if they jump, they will get hurt. ???? shuffle places each time one of them attacks, making it quite difficult to tell whether an attacker will be above or below Mario or Luigi. Therefore, the Mario Bros. could get hurt by a Sand Cheep, expecting it to be a Sharkbone, and vice-versa.

The Sharkbones stick their head out of the sand before attacking, while the Sand Cheeps provide no warning. However, when the brothers perform a regular Thunder Bros. attack on ????'s, and if at least one of them turns out to be a Sharkbone, the affected Sharkbones will immediately attack Mario and/or Luigi, one at a time. In the remake, the tops of any Sand Cheeps are visible for a few seconds at the start of a battle, thus providing more of a hint as to what to expect.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga statistics

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga enemy
???? (Sand Cheep)
	HP	50	POW	72	Defense	40
	Speed	80	Experience	80 (50)	Coins	10
	Location	Gwarhar Lagoon	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal
	Hand	Normal	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal
	Stat down?	100%	Stun?	30%	Burn?	60%
	Level	28 (26)	Role	Common	Item drop	Supersyrup Jar – 12.9% (Super Mushroom - 19.35%) None – 0% (Green Pepper - 38.71%)
Notice Stats in parentheses are from the Japanese version (if they differ from the original American and European stats). Stats in gray are only found in the game's coding and are not available during "normal" gameplay.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga enemy
???? (Sharkbone)
	HP	25	POW	72	Defense	40
	Speed	80	Experience	120 (80)	Coins	14 (10)
	Location	Gwarhar Lagoon	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal
	Hand	Normal	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal
	Stat down?	100%	Stun?	30%	Burn?	0%
	Level	29 (27)	Role	Common	Item drop	Ultrasyrup Jar (Supersyrup Jar) – 16.13% None – 0% (Red Pepper - 35.48%)
Notice Stats in parentheses are from the Japanese version (if they differ from the original American and European stats). Stats in gray are only found in the game's coding and are not available during "normal" gameplay.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions enemy
???? (Sand Cheep)
	HP	89	POW	88	DEF	82	SPEED	70	Experience	70
	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Coins	12
	Stat down	100%	Dizzy	60%	Burn	0%	Speed down	60%	Item drop	Super Syrup (20%) Ultra Mushroom (12%) Ultra Mushroom (40%)
Level           24	Location(s)	Gwarhar Lagoon

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions enemy
???? (Sharkbone)
	HP	60	POW	121	DEF	88	SPEED	72	Experience	80
	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Coins	15
	Stat down	0%	Dizzy	100%	Burn	60%	Speed down	0%	Item drop	Red Pepper (20%) Beast Badge (11%) Beast Badge (20%)
Level           25	Location(s)	Gwarhar Lagoon

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	???? スナプク (Blurp variant, guide) Sunapuku スナジロー (Shark variant) Sunajirō[?]	???? Sand Cheep From Suna, sand, and 「ホオジロザメ」 Hōjirozame, great white shark
German	????[?]	????
Italian	????[?]	????
Spanish	¿¿¿¿????[?]	????

Trivia

• Despite some ???? being the "Sharkbone" variety, sharks do not have bones in reality - their skeletons are made of cartilage.
• In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, the Sharkbones are level 25, but Sand Cheeps are level 24, which visibly distinguishes the two of them.