Bomb

An illustration of a Bomb from Super Mario Bros. 2.

“Yeah, that's a bomb!”

—Mouser, Super Mario Advance

A Bomb is an item used in the Mario series. Generic bombs are not to be confused with Bob-ombs, kamikaze enemies with a mind of their own.

In Super Mario Bros. 2, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad could pluck bombs from the ground and throw them. This is referenced in Super Smash Bros. Melee; if Peach tries to pull a vegetable from the ground, she may occasionally grab a Bob-omb. In Super Mario Bros. 2, the four heroes would have to use the bombs to clear obstacles such as in caved in areas. It could also be used to defeat enemies (but it could also hurt the heroes as well). Enemies such as Mouser, Monty Mole, and General Guy have thrown bombs at Mario and his friends as a source of attack.

In Wario's Woods, the use of bombs were Toad's main attack when fighting the various monsters that were sent by Wario. Toad would receive these multi-colored bombs from his fairy helper, Wanda. In order to defeat Wario's minions (as well as the bosses in the game), Toad would have to stack the bombs according to their colors and if the color matched with a monster, it would get destroyed. In the SNES vesion of the game, Toad can be seen throwing a bomb at Wario's castle in the ending of the game, causing his castle to get destroyed.

In the Club Nintendo comic "Sag niemals Holerö!", Bomberman used bombs to defeat some evil aliens.

Bombs later appeared in Wario World. They were purple and had faces on them, and usually were shot out by Ankirons. A larger explosive called a Smiley Bomb also appeared in the game. They also made an appearance in Mario Hoops 3 on 3. The defending team could sometimes receive one out of the ? Panels on the court. When thrown, they would explode, knocking everyone within the blast radius down and spilling some of their collected Coins.

Despite appearing in the recent game Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Bombs seem to be slowly fading out of the Mario series, being replaced by the aforementioned Bob-ombs.

Bombs also appeared in DK Jungle Climber where they can be thrown in order to destroy obstacles such as Steel Barrels. In later levels, Bombs serve as a semi-common weapon used by Kritters to attack.

Bombs appeared in Wario Land: Shake It! in Boogie Mansion and thrown by Peek-a-booms. There is also a bomb block that can be a platform before it explodes. Both can be triggered when touched or when Wario does an Earthshake Punch.

Bombs appeared in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games. They are an item in Dream Events that can be used by anyone. In Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, the player places it on the ground in Dream Race. Anyone who touches it will be slowed down. In Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, when used, it goes near the other players, and if they don't have a star, then the bomb blows up and slows down the player. There is a kind of bomb called a bomb puck that is used in Ice Hockey.

In Super Paper Mario, there is a Pixl named Boomer, which is a Pixl in the shape of a bomb. Mario can use Boomer to blow up switches, blow up cracks in the wall, and defeat enemies. Bombs also appear occasionally when a player stomps on a Ninjoe, a Ninjohn, or a Ninjerry. These bombs can hurt the player, unlike Boomer. On a side note, the bombs that the Ninja family drops look exactly like Boomer. Lastly, the bomb appears in Chapter 6-2, when Mimi disguises herself as King Sammer, and tells the player to open a chest in front of them. It turns out there is a bomb inside of the chest, but comes out as a dud.

Generally speaking, bombs as depicted in the Mario series are not entirely unique, and are based on a widely-used cartoon gag that stylizes bombs as sometimes being less dangerous than a real-world one and often depicts them simply as dark, round orbs with fuses atop them. Bob-ombs are living enemies based on this stylization, as well.