Grubba

“Bein' rich an' famous is diggety-dang DYNAMITE!”

—Grubba, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Grubba is a major character in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door who, in his younger years, was a champion wrestler and martial artist. Though initially impartial to fame and riches, after becoming rich and famous he fell in love with the good life. After retiring as a fighter, he became the promoter of the Glitz Pit in Glitzville. When he introduced himself to Mario, he claimed to be past his prime, unable to fight in the ring anymore. Bandy Andy claimed that Grubba was over sixty years old during the events of the video game. While initially presented as an uninvolved third party to Mario's fight against the X-Nauts for the Crystal Stars, when Mario discovered his unethical use of the Gold Star, Grubba became an antagonist, wishing to keep his secrets safe. Behind his benevolent, boisterous façade he is dangerously self-centered, viewing situations in terms of benefits and dangers to himself and his lifestyle rather than the moral implications of his actions.

History

Background

According to Grubba, in youth he was poor, but even so he did not care for "fancy, big-city ways." His worldview changed when he became a martial arts fighter. Though some of his moves were made illegal as he progressed, he became recognized as a champion fighter and earned enough money to survive off of for the rest of his life.

At some point in his life, Grubba attained the Gold Star, a Crystal Star with the ability to increase one's power by enabling its possessor to use Power Lift. The details behind Grubba's ownership of the Star are never explained, so whether the Star was the secret to Grubba's rise to fame is debatable.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

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Grubba's power-draining machine allowed him to transfer the energy of others to himself, as he did here later in life.

Despite his fighting prowess, age eventually took a toll on Grubba and, unable to fight in the ring anymore, he was forced to retire from fighting. However, Grubba opened his own fighting ring, the Glitz Pit, and became its promoter. The Champ's Belt, the reward for the champion of the Glitz Pit, featured an imitation of Grubba's Gold Star. At some point following, desiring to regain his fit, youthful body, he developed or obtained blueprints for a power-draining machine that would use the Gold Star as a power source. Utilizing the Gold Star, the machine could suck the power out of one person and bestow it onto another individual. Through the use of the machine, Grubba could power himself up with much more dramatic results than those achievable through Power Lift alone. He referred to himself as Macho Grubba when powered up. Additionally, the machine made him appear younger even when not transformed. The relation between these events and the Dubious Paper, a research paper about the powers of the Crystal Stars hidden in the the minor-league Glitz Pit locker room at the time of Mario's adventure, are never made clear.

To support his poor family, Prince Mush entered the Glitz Pit as a fighter and became its first champion. Although he became a huge fan favorite, in the words of Grubba "Good fighters ain't nothin' to mess with." When Mush discovered Grubba's secret, the promoter sucked the power out of him. Whether or not Mush was the first victim of the machine is unknown, but he is the earliest known victim. To the public, including Mush's family, Grubba gave no explanation of Mush's disappearance. Afterward, Grubba hired a manager, Jolene, who secretly took the job to discover what really happened to Prince Mush, her little brother. Despite Mush discovering his secret, Grubba continued to use the machine. On one occasion, the snooping Jolene witnessed his transformation into Macho Grubba. Seeing what she was against, she lost nearly all hope that she would avenge her brother.

With Prince Mush gone, his rival Rawk Hawk was free to step in as the next champion of the Glitz Pit. Although he proved less popular with fans, Rawk Hawk did not pry into Grubba's business. However, a minor-league fighter, Bandy Andy, had begun investigating the secrets of the Glitz Pit.

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Grubba and his manager, Jolene, meet Mario.

Mario and his partners, on a quest to save Princess Peach from the X-Nauts, were seeking out the Crystal Stars one by one. After obtaining two of them, the Magical Map next detected Grubba's Crystal Star and pointed them to Glitzville. Seeing the fake Gold Star on the Champ's Belt, Mario, with the intention of winning the star fairly, met with Grubba to become a Glitz Pit Fighter. Grubba appeared excited about the prospect, and signed on Mario, giving him the ring name, "The Great Gonzales."

KP Pete, a minor-league fighter, planned to retire. Unfortunately for him, he discovered Grubba's secret, and the promoter quickly drained his power and hid the incapacitated fighter beneath a large block.

Mario quickly advanced through the minor-league and into the major-league. As he did so, Jolene began to regain hope, believing that he might be able to defeat Grubba. Pleased with Mario's performance, Grubba invited him back into his office to give him a thirty coin bonus and welcome him to the major-league. When Jolene, escorting Mario and his party, entered, Grubba was looking at something and quickly hid it in his drawer, berating Jolene for not knocking. Jolene then took Mario and his party to the major-league locker room, where they met Rawk Hawk and determined that the star on the Champ's Belt was a fake. Allegedly hearing their discussion, Jolene, under the pseudonym "X," sent Mario an e-mail promising to lead him to the real Crystal Star.

Jolene first sent Mario a Super Hammer, then led him to the Dubious Paper hidden in the minor-league locker room. Suspicious of Mario's intentions, Grubba sent him a threatening, anonymous e-mail. Disregarding Grubba's e-mail, Mario continued to pry and Grubba grew increasingly suspicious. Around this time, Bandy Andy went into the arena when no one seemed to be around and witnessed Grubba transform. Grubba also drained his energy and hid him alongside KP Pete.

When Ms. Mowz broke into the storeroom where KP Pete and Bandy Andy were hidden, a security guard heard a noise which Ms. Mowz would later claim could not have been her. Rather than investigate further into the noise, Jolene threatened to fire the guard should he speak of the intrusion again. She reported that to Grubba that the room was secure, but Grubba remained suspicious. He asked her where she went when she disappeared for long periods of time and whether or not she had ever heard of a Crystal Star, but she gave him satisfactory answers. However, Grubba quickly sent an e-mail to Mario warning him not to pry into matters concerning the Crystal Star lest he meet the same fate as the other missing fighters. Shortly after, Mario discovered KP Pete and Bandy Andy in the storeroom.

After becoming the champion, Mario gained access to the champion's room and used its location to spy on Grubba at Jolene's anonymous advice, who was at that moment talking to himself regarding his secret machine, the missing fighters, and whether or not he should make Mario "disappear." Hiding the machine's blueprints in his desk, Grubba left his office for a minute and returned to find Mario and his partner inspecting the secret blueprints for the machine.

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Grubba, in Macho Grubba form, charges himself up to fight Mario.

Hastily, Grubba fled to his machine in the arena, closely followed by Mario and his party. In response, Grubba quickly activated his machine and transformed into Macho Grubba, confident that he would be able to defeat his champion. The ex-martial artist gave his all to the fight, but ultimately he fell at the hands of Mario and transformed back into his normal form. Lying facedown on the floor of his machine, Grubba complimented Mario on the fight. Jolene rushed to the ring, thanking Mario for his efforts and explaining her actions and motivations to him. Grubba's manager demanded that he tell her what happened to Prince Mush. Defeated, Grubba admitted to his crime.

The Gold Star used its power to restore Jolene's brother before it was removed from the machine. Grubba's machine deactivated and Jolene gave Mario the Gold Star so that nothing like what had transpired would ever happen again. Grubba's final fate is currently unknown; he was last seen lying on the Glitz Pit floor at Jolene, Mario, his current partner, and Prince Mush's feet. Jolene took over Grubba's position as the promoter of the Glitz Pit. Both Bandy Andy and KP Pete recovered. KP Pete would go on to claim that four fighters had disappeared before him that year alone. However, the total number of fighters drained by Grubba is unknown.

Duties as Owner of the Glitz Pit

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Grubba interviews the Goomba Bros. prior to their fight with Mario.

As owner of the Glitz Pit, Grubba had a few duties to fulfill. Because he would need help taking care of such a large and popular business, Grubba hired a manager, Jolene. Grubba also hired ten guards to protect and keep watch over the Glitz Pit, each stationed at a door behind the publicly accessible areas of the Glitz Pit. Grubba spent much of his time in his office, taking care of the Glitz Pit's business — as well as his own in secrecy. When an upcoming wrestler was ready to enter the ring, Grubba acted as the promoter for the Glitz Pit, convincing willing wrestlers to sign up. In addition to promoting fighters to join the Glitz Pit, he also had to tell them what to do when they would fight in order to impress the crowd. Each locker room — including the Champ's Room — had an intercom that Grubba would communicate to his fighters through before a fight. On this intercom, he would give them various orders as to what to do in a fight. For example, Grubba instructed the fighter Sir Swoop to "do a triple flip and meow" during one of his matches. Should the fighters ignore or disobey these orders, they would be forced to fight the same opponents again, even if the fighters had won the battle; if the fighters lost a match, or if they failed to obey Grubba's orders, they would be forced to fight the opponents below them. Grubba would also appear on the Glitz Pit stage at every fight, announcing who was battling in the current match to the audience. At times, Grubba would conduct pre-fight interviews with battlers in the Glitz Pit, especially when new competitors were fighting for the first time. Additionally, Grubba was responsible for officially starting every match, as well as declaring the winners of each brawl. Overall, Grubba's role on stage was to get the crowd excited, as well as to narrate the various matches before and after each fight.

After Grubba was defeated, Jolene took over all of Grubba's managerial duties.

Fighting Orders

Below is a list of the various orders Grubba would give Mario during his time at the Glitz Pit.

• Use a special move at least once.
• Don't use any special moves.
• Don't jump.
• Don't use the hammer.
• Don't use items.
• Appeal to the crowd at least five times.
• Mario's partner(s) must not attack.
• Only Mario's partner(s) can attack.
• Take damage at least five times.
• Wait three turns before attacking.
• Don't swap partners.
• Appeal to the crowd at least once.
• Defeat Your Foe In 5 Turns Or Less
• Win Before Taking 20 HP Of Damage
• Don't Use Flower Points

Character Description

Powers and Abilities

Main article: Macho Grubba

When he was younger, Grubba claims to have had many powerful moves, some of which were made illegal after he used them. However, by the time he encountered Mario, Grubba had lost his ability to fight without the aid of his machine. To fight his enemies, Grubba was forced to use the machine to transform into Macho Grubba. In that form, he had many attacks.

Physical Appearance

Though he is a Clubba, Grubba does not have all of the normal physical features of one; rather, he bears a slight resemblance to Tubba Blubba from the original Paper Mario. Unlike most Clubbas, whose skin is green, Grubba has a pale blue shade of skin. His shell is orchid in color, with a yellow rim; this feature is also unlike a standard Clubba's. His hair is a fiery orange color; this too is unlike the normal Clubba, which bares whitish-colored hair. Grubba's lips are very large and orange in color. Perhaps most notable is the fact that Grubba does not carry a mace around with him. He is also the only Clubba ever seen to wear clothes.

Personality

As revealed as the plot progressed, Grubba was self-obsessed to the point of violence. Though he created a good natured facade to mask this, his actions ultimately were rooted in self-advancement. When Mario first met Grubba, the promoter showed his public image: friendly and passionate about his life's work. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door hints that Grubba's obsession with his image developed as a result of his fame. Originally, he had not cared about glitz and glamor, but later in life he used duplicitous methods to relive his old days. Despite this emotional transformation, Grubba retained an air of good sportsmanship throughout his life. The promoter encouraged his fighters and did not mask his excitement for rising stars such as Mario. Even as he lay defeated at the feet of Mario, he commended him for a good fight. The burden of keeping his power-draining machine a secret weighed on Grubba, making him suspicious of those around him. He exhibited no remorse in draining the power from those who knew his secret in an effort to keep it hidden. Talking to himself on one occasion, Grubba considered sucking the power from Mario and Jolene, who, to his knowledge, had not discovered his secret, but were getting closer to doing so.

Grubba attempted to exude an air of compassion and enthusiasm towards his fighters and staff. As evidenced in his relationship with Mario, Grubba was capable of developing friendships with those who did not know his secrets, but ultimately his intentions come into question. As Goombella realized as soon as she met Grubba, he was a "super-greasy smooth talker" and not necessarily trustworthy, even while he maintained his facade.

Quotes

Please see here for a full list of quotes.

Trivia

• Whenever Grubba or Jolene sent Mario an e-mail, the Ice Land map theme from Super Mario Bros. 3 plays.
• There is a similarity between Tubba Blubba and Grubba. Both of them look similar to each other, both have blue skin color, and both are Chapter 3 bosses. Also, Blubba and Grubba sound similar to each other and they both belong to the Clubba family. Both have Spikes on their Shell, although regular Clubbas don't have spikes.

Names in Other Languages

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