Sherm

Sherm
Artwork from Super Mario Odyssey
First appearance	Super Mario Odyssey (2017)

Sherms are tank enemies that appear in Super Mario Odyssey. They are green with a white Bowser's emblem printed on them, fire pearlescent blue explosives, and can be found in the Wooded Kingdom, the Metro Kingdom at nighttime, and the Underground Moon Caverns in the Moon Kingdom. They can be beaten with a ground pound or a shot fired by a Sherm. Sherms do not normally wear hats. When they do, ones in the Metro Kingdom wear large red top hats with stars and a stripe, ones in the Wooded Kingdom wear an explorers hat, and ones in the Moon Kingdom wear white top hats. These hats block an initial Cap Throw, but are knocked off when they are stomped. Sherm can either stay still or move left and right. If they see Mario, which they can do over a long distance, they will shoot at him. Their projectiles ignore gravity. They are extremely destructive, able not just to break crates, blocks, and dirt, but also able to defeat other enemies. If a Sherm is hit with a Cap Throw while not wearing a hat, Mario can capture it and use its abilities.

When a Sherm is captured, the camera switches to a "behind the back" view. The player can aim its cannon with the right Control Stick (as well as by tilting the Joy-Con/Pro Controller), and fire explosives with or . The camera moves alongside the cannon. The explosives can also be used to collect items, and unearth glowing spots. Sherms cannot jump, and plummet off the edges of platforms without the ability to adjust the trajectory. After firing three or more explosives in a row, then concluding fire, a Sherm will briefly stop to reload, then allow the player to continue moving.

A Sherm prominently appears in the boss battle against Mechawiggler in the Metro Kingdom. Cannon fire is the only means of damaging it. As such, a Sherm also appears in the Mechawiggler rematch in the Mushroom Kingdom.

The name "Sherm" is a reference to the famous American M4 Sherman tank, which was one of the most common tanks in World War II - the hat they wear in the Metro Kingdom even resembles the Ascot top hat worn in depictions of Uncle Sam. Despite this, their shape seems to be based on the World War II-era tanks used by the Imperial Japanese Army (particularly the Type 95 Ha-Go light tank) - ironically with the chassis and turret being dark green in color alongside the white Bowser emblem, akin to its American namesake.

Profiles

Website bios

• Japanese: 弾切れの心配？ありません。思う存分砲を弾を発射！ (Worried about running out of bullets? No worries. Fire the cannon as much as you want!)
• English: You'll never have to worry about running out of ammo in this tremendous tank!

Gallery

• 

  A Sherm while under the control of Mario

• 

  A photo in Nintendo E3 2017 from Nintendo's Instagram account

Additional names

Internal names

Game	File	Name	Meaning
Super Mario Odyssey	ObjectData/Tank.szs	Tank	-

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	タンクロー Tankurō	Portmanteau of "tank" and「~九郎」(-kurō, an old-fashioned male given name suffix), such as「宮藤 官九郎」(Kudō Kankurō); generally, the kanji that precedes「九郎」is a number up to ten.
Chinese	坦克仔[?] Tǎnkè Zǎi	Tank Guy
Dutch	Sherm[?]	-
French	Charlu[?]	From "char" (chariot or tank)
German	Shermützler[?]	Pun on "Sherm" (transliteration of the English name) "mütze" (cap), and "scharmützel" (skirmish); with agentive suffix "-er"
Italian	Carlo Armato	Pun on "Carlo" and "carro armato" (tank)
Korean	탱크로[?] Taengkeuro	From the Japanese name
Russian	Шерм Sherm	Sherm
Spanish	Sherm[?]	-