Tanoomba

Not to be confused with Tail Goomba.

Tanoombas are Goombas based on the Tanooki Suit that are located in both the Mushroom Kingdom and the Beanbean Kingdom. They resemble regular Goombas, except that the Tanoomba has raccoon ears, a raccoon tail, and a leaf on its forehead. Tanoombas are also slightly larger than most other Goombas. Tanoombas have powerful mimicry abilities and are able to shapeshift into different objects and different creatures. However, Tanoombas can always be given away by the raccoon-like features or leaves that appear on their transformations.

History

Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga / Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Tanoombas are found in Beanbean Outskirts in an area north of Beanbean Castle Town. To attack, a Tanoomba will transform into a copy of Mario or Luigi. After transforming, the Tanoomba will attack the brother who the shape-shifting Goomba didn't transform into (i.e. if a Tanoomba transforms into a Luigi clone, the Tanoomba will attack the real Mario). This attack can be countered with a hammer strike. Additionally, a Tanoomba can attack by spinning its tail at a Mario brother. The brothers can jump to dodge this attack, but should be prepared to dodge multiple tail strikes. This attack may give a Mario Bro. the trip status effect. If the Game Boy Horror SP is used, Tanoombas will drop a Green Pepper when defeated in the original game.

Tanoombas sometimes assist Bob-ombs in battle, and are themselves sometimes joined by Paratroopeas.

In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions, Tanoombas' feet are colored darker brown and they have the bushy eyebrows that most Goombas have, but they keep the 'conjoined' eyes they had in the original game. Tanoombas also appear in Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser, where they are enemies. They are melee troopers, and attack by running into enemies. Their special attack is Spin Cycle, allowing them to attack by spinning their tails. In Popple's Partner, Part 2, a Tanoomba appears as a candidate to be Popple's new partner.

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

Tanoombas can be found on Thwomp Volcano in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. They use a variety of disguises. A Tanoomba can turn into a Toad (with a raccoon tail), a 100-Coin (with the Tanoomba's face on it), a ? Block (with a leaf on top), or even a Thwack (with the Tanoomba's face on it). Once approached, the Tanoomba reveals itself and attacks.

In battle, the Tanoomba uses a variety of shape-shifting attacks (like their Beanbean counterparts, albeit different transformations). First, a Tanoomba can jump high and either turn into a Thwomp (with a raccoon tail) or an orange bubble (with a raccoon tail). If the Tanoomba turns into a Thwomp, it quickly falls and crushes a Mario Bro. If the Tanoomba turns into a bubble, it falls slowly, causing damage when it hits a Mario Bro. Both of these attacks can be countered with a hammer. Additionally, if a Tanoomba flips when it jumps, it attacks Luigi. If it jumps without flipping, the Tanoomba attacks Mario, also if it goes all the way to the top of the screen, it turns into a Thwomp. However if it goes near the top, it turns into a Bubble.

A Tanoomba can also turn into a Spiny shell (again, with a raccoon tail). When it transforms into the shell, the Tanoomba slides into the Mario Bros., circling around and attempting to damage the brothers multiple times. This technique may even poison a brother. To dodge this attack, Mario and Luigi have to jump as the Spiny shell approaches. Again, if the Tanoomba does a twirl jump before attacking, Luigi is the first brother to be attacked. If it hops normally, Mario is attacked first.

In this game, Tanoombas take critical damage from fire-based attacks such as the Bro Flower and Mix Flower Bros. Items.

A stronger and Shroob-like version of the Tanoomba, the Tashrooba, is found later in the game at Shroob Castle.

Super Mario-Kun

The Tanoomba's appearance in the Super Mario-Kun.

A single Tanoomba appears in volume 36 of the Super Mario-Kun, which is based off Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. It has a nose in this appearance, and provokes the four brothers into attacking each other. First, it turns into Luigi, eating the Bros.' cake. It then turns into Mario and hits Luigi, then into Baby Mario, who sticks his fingers up Baby Luigi's nose, causing them to battle. When it decides to defeat them by attempting to smash them in Thwomp form, after they are worn out, the four brothers realize they have been tricked and team up against the Tanoomba. After the attack, the Tanoomba cries for forgiveness. It first transforms into a Shroob, which the Mario Bros. disapprove of. It then turns into a tree, where the Mario Bros. approve, but Luigi has an allergic reaction to it and sneezes the leaves off the tree.

Profiles and statistics

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga enemy
Tanoomba
	HP	30 (70)	POW	38-42 (58-68)	Defense	40 (80)
	Speed	10 (70)	Experience	20 (14)	Coins	0 (20)
	Location	Beanbean Outskirts	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal
	Hand	Normal	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal
	Stat down?	100%	Stun?	0%	Burn?	60%
	Level	20 (35)	Role	Common	Item drop	Woo Bean – 64.52% (Nut - 25.81%) Green Pepper – 32.26% (100%)
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: Partners in Time

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time enemy
Tanoomba
	HP	92 (98)	POW	95	Defense	70
	Experience	82	Coins	9	Speed	63
	Location(s)	Thwomp Volcano	Role	Common	Item drop	Pocket Chomp – 12.75% Green Pepper – 2.25%
	Level	18	Battled by	Anyone
Notice: Stats in parentheses are from the Japanese and European versions (if they differ from the original American release).

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions enemy
Tanoomba
	HP	101	POW	82	DEF	83	SPEED	67	Experience	33
	Fire	Normal	Thunder	Normal	Jump	Normal	Hammer	Normal	Coins	20
	Stat down	60%	Dizzy	0%	Burn	60%	Speed down	30%	Item drop	Super Syrup (14%) Ultra Syrup (10%) Ultra Syrup (25%)
Level           26	Location(s)	Beanbean Fields

• Minion Quest: The Search for Bowser profile: They're proud of their POW, despite their small size. Quite speedy, so try to take them down quickly.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	たぬボー[?] Tanubō	From tanuki and Kuribō (Goomba).
Chinese	狸猫小子[?] Límāo Xiǎozi	Tanooki Guy
German	Gumbachs[?]	From "Gumba" and "Dachs" (badger)
Italian	Canotto[?]	Dinghy
Korean	너굴바[?] Neogulba	Portmanteau of 너구리(Neoguri, raccoon) and Goomba
Spanish	Goompache[?]	Pun on Goomba and mapache (raccoon)

Trivia

• The leaf on the Tanoomba's forehead is a reference to the Super Leaf of Super Mario Bros. 3, which transforms Mario into Raccoon Mario. Additionally, the Tanooki Suit is another power-up available in the same game. It could also be a reference to how transforming raccoon dogs (tanuki) in Japanese folklore are often depicted with leaves.
• Tanooki-tailed Goombas that resemble Tanoombas, known as Tail Goombas, appear in the Nintendo 3DS game, Super Mario 3D Land, though they are incapable of shapeshifting.