Pipegunk

Pipegunk
First appearance	Mario & Luigi: Brothership (2024)

“You're gonna learn about power from THIS thing... It's taken in plenty of Spite Bulbs! Go, Pipegunk!”

—Shun, Mario & Luigi: Brothership

Pipegunk is a boss who appears in Mario & Luigi: Brothership. It is a glob of toxic goo who is unleashed by Shun to prevent Mario and Luigi from stopping the Zok Troops' plans to take over Concordia with Glohm. Pipegunk has four pipes in its body: two on top of the creature's head (which it can use as cannons in its powered-up forms) and two at its sides. The creature's name is compounded from "pipe" and "gunk".

Battle

At the start of the battle, Pipegunk attacks by charging into one of the Mario Bros., which the targeted Bro. must counter with a hammer. Pipegunk can also fire bouncy poison balls at the Bros., so the targeted Bro. must jump on them with good timing to pop them. Pipegunk will then transform into a large poison ball, which the Bros. must counterattack with a jump.

When its HP gets dropped in a quarter, Shun will use the remote control to rotate the stage into the Magma Area, which changes Pipegunk's appearance to resemble magma and gives it a significant defense boost, then jumps off-screen for a number of turns. While in the Magma Area, Pipegunk can restore a little HP each turn and attacks the Bros. with an array of different fireball attacks. It can shoot balls of hot lava at the Bros, who must jump to avoid getting damage or burned. The lava creates a molten puddle under each Bro., so Mario and Luigi must continuously jump to avoid taking damage. Pipegunk can also shoot volleys of fireballs at the Bros., which Mario and Luigi must avoid by jumping over them. Pipegunk may also move behind the Bros. for an attack that launches several fireballs into the air, which the Bros. must counter with hammer strikes as they fall down; Pipegunk may occasionally shoot a Mushroom in place of a fireball. When Shun reappears in the backdrop of the stage, Luigi can engage in a tug of war with him through Luigi Logic to steal the remote; if successful, he throws Shun into the lava and incapacitates him. At this point, Shun may exclaim not to make sudden temperature changes as Pipegunk is "delicate". If Luigi chooses to move from the Magma Area immediately into the Ice Area, Pipegunk takes 300 HP of damage (600 HP for Glohm Pipegunk) and becomes stunned, vulnerable to critical attacks. If Luigi chooses to move the stage from the Magma Area into the Normal Area, Pipegunk returns to its regular form and its defense returns to normal; when Shun gets back up, he shouts angrily and immediately switches the stage into the Ice Arena, buffing Pipegunk before he jumps off-screen again. Shun will continue to alternate the stage between the two areas (while pausing in the Normal Area to allow Pipegunk to acclimate) until Pipegunk is defeated.

When exposed to the Ice Area, Pipegunk's body freezes over and becomes a large, spiky block of ice. Pipegunk can restore a little HP each turn similarly as before and has a slightly different attack pattern. In this form, Pipegunk can cover the screen in frost that obscures it, requiring the Bros. to counterattack it in careful timing as it slowly moves towards one of them. Pipegunk can also launch volleys of fast thin icicles and slow spiky chunks of ice, which the Bros. must jump to avoid. Like before, Pipegunk can move behind the Bros. and shoot large chunks of ice at them which they must counter with hammer strikes; the ice falls down more slowly than the fireballs do and may also occasionally be replaced by a Mushroom. Luigi can use Luigi Logic again to obtain the remote from Shun. Similarly as before, moving the arena directly from the Ice Area to the Magma Area will deal damage it for 300 HP (600 HP for Glohm Pipegunk) and make it prone to critical attacks. If the arena moves from the Ice Area to the Normal Area, Pipegunk returns to normal. Defeating Pipegunk rewards the Pipegunk Boots for the Bros. and Sprite Bulbs for Snoutlet to collect.

Eventually, a stronger and Glohm-infused form of Pipegunk, Glohm Pipegunk, can be fought.

Statistics

Mario & Luigi: Brothership enemy
Pipegunk
	HP	4500	POW	129	Defense	83
	Experience	6600	Coins	900	Speed	285
	Location(s)	Brrrning Sea, Great Lighthouse Island	Role	Boss	Item drop(s)	Pipegunk Boots (100%)
	Level	27	Type	Spiked
Notes: This enemy is not spiked in the normal area nor when stunned. This enemy becomes temporarily dizzy after switching to the opposite temperature area during Luigi Logic.

Gallery

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  Pipegunk in its ice form

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  Pipegunk in its fire form

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	デロンゲル[?] Derongeru	Compound of「デロン」(deron), a synonym for ideophone「ぐにゃ」(gunya, "mushy"), and「ゲル」(geru, "gel")
Chinese	黏糊浓稠胶[?] Niánhu-nóngchóu Jiāo	Sticky Thick Gel
Dutch	Smeerpeip[?]	From smeerpijp ("dirty person") and pun on pijp ("pipe")
French	Détriphar	From détritus ("trash") and phare ("lighthouse")
German	Shmodotor[?]	From Schmodder (colloquial for "mud") and "Motor" (engine)
Italian	Liquidor	From liquido ("liquid") and the monster name suffix "-or"
Korean	질퍼케르[?] Jilpeokereu	Portmanteau of "질퍽하다" (jilpeokhada, "to be mushy") and "겔" (gel, "gel")
Portuguese	Geltúlio	A portmanteau of gel ("gel") and given name "Getúlio"
Spanish	Mugrente	Portmanteau of mugre ("filth") and ente ("entity")