Sledge Bro

Sledge Bro
	; Artwork from New Super Mario Bros. Wii
First appearance	Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Latest appearance	Super Mario Party Jamboree (2024)
Variant of	Hammer Bro
Variants
	Heavy Fire Bro; Shady Sledge Bro
Relatives
	Sumo Bro

“I'm feeling smashy!”

—Sledge Bro, Paper Mario: Color Splash

Sledge Bros. (or Sledge Brothers)^[1] are rotund versions of Hammer Bros. In addition to throwing hammers, they can create small earthquakes as well.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3

A Sledge Brother from Super Mario Bros. 3

The Sledge Brother's NES (left) and 16-bit (right) sprites

Sledge Brothers, also referred to as Sledge Hammer Bros.,^[2] first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3. In addition to throwing giant mallets at the player similar to Hammer Brothers, whenever a Sledge Brother jumps and lands on the ground, it creates a miniature earthquake which can paralyze Mario or Luigi if they are also on any solid ground (not just the same floor the Sledge Brother is standing on) at that time. As with every Hammer Brother variant, defeating them via stomping yields 1000 points, while defeating them with any other attack (hitting the block below them, thrown shells, fireballs, tail swipes from Raccoon or Tanooki Mario, hammers from Hammer Mario, and contact with players made invincible by a Starman) gives out only 100 points by default, unless the enemy was not one of the first to be defeated by the thrown shell.

A total of six Sledge Brothers appear in the game. Three of them roam the map of Giant Land, with one dropping a Lakitu's Cloud upon defeat, another yielding a Starman, and the third holding a P-Wing. Two Sledge Brothers also appear in the first section of World 4-3, just before the Warp Pipe that would take the player underground. The last Sledge Brother is found in the first Hand Trap, which features every type of Hammer Brother, being the final enemy encountered in the level.

Originally, their map icon was that of a Hammer Brother, but Super Mario All-Stars replaced their map icon with a green Hammer Brother icon, which was further changed to properly resemble a Sledge Brother in Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. In the artwork and sprites of Super Mario Bros. 3 and its re-releases, Sledge Brothers are depicted with mucus dripping out of their noses; however, this trait was not carried over into subsequent appearances (excluding Yoshi's Safari and their "classic" designs in Super Mario Maker).

Three Sledge Brothers also appear in World-e. In Bowser's Last Stand, the player can enter one of three doors, each leading to a tweaked version of the Hand Traps, with the first door leading to a room with all the Hammer Brother variants, with a single Sledge Brother being the penultimate foe of that section. Two Sledge Brothers are also found in the interior of Bowser's Airship 1, with the first encountered in the lower level of the ship, and the second stationed just after the ropes that the player climbed up to reach the upper level of the ship.

New Super Mario Bros.

Sledge Bros. reappear in New Super Mario Bros., where their hammers have been redesigned compared to the normal Hammer Bros.' hammers to resemble large sledge hammers. Also, unlike in Super Mario Bros. 3, they do not always cause earthquakes with their every jump; this only happens when they pound the ground. These two changes were carried over to their subsequent appearances. They are also capable of paralyzing the player in their Mega form. Sledge Bros., like the Fire Bros., appear only in World 8-7, with one on a bridge over the level's first Star Coin, and another on two rows of eight bricks over a pit, with the level's third Star Coin in the middle of the two rows. If the player is not in Super form or better to ground pound through the bricks and expose the Star Coin, they can wait for the Sledge Bro to do that for them, since their ground pound can also destroy bricks.

In the Nintendo Power and Prima Games guides, Sledge Bros. are misnamed Sumo Bros.,^[3]^[4] a name associated with a different enemy from Super Mario World.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Sledge Bros. were once again featured in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Unlike in the previous game, their ground pound is no longer able to break through bricks. If a Sledge Bro is frozen by an ice ball, the player must Ground Pound it to defeat it, as it is too heavy to pick up. When frozen, Sledge Bros. will always be standing, even if they were frozen when ground pounding. A total of five appear across two levels, outnumbering the four Hammer Bros. present in the game, which are all found in World 1-3. In World 6-2, a pair of Sledge Bros. stand atop two rows of blocks just over a rolling hill, guarding the pipe leading out of the cave. A POW Block just nearby can be used to take them out easily. Another pair of Sledge Bros. are found shortly after the checkpoint of World 7-Castle, with a third individual found just before the boss door of that same level.

The Prima Games guide^[5] and the respective trading card both mislabel them as Sumo Bros.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Sledge Bros. reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2, acting just like they did in past games. However, only one exists in the main game, appearing in World 2-2, in a section between the level's third Star Coin and Goal Pole. They also appear as common enemies in the third course of the Coin Challenge Pack A in Coin Rush. Several later appear in the first course for the Mystery Adventures Pack. While the effects of a Gold Ring are active, Sledge Bros. are unaffected physically, but still give coins when defeated.

Sledge Bros. are once again mistakenly referred to as Sumo Bros. in the Prima guide.^[6]

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

A Sledge Bro in New Super Mario Bros. U

Sledge Bros. make a return in New Super Mario Bros. U, with only three of them in the entire game, all found in Ludwig's Clockwork Castle, the final level of Meringue Clouds. As the actual Sumo Bros. appear in this game, the Prima guide no longer mistakes them for the other.^[7] Sledge Bros. also appear in the New Super Luigi U course All Aboard! (which features all types of Hammer Brothers), with two of them found under a set of nuts, with the second one even standing right where the level's second Star Coin is.

Super Mario Maker subseries

Sledge Bros. in every style of Super Mario Maker

Sledge Bros. return in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS as enemies. They can be created by dragging a Super Mushroom on top of a Hammer Bro. They function the same as previous games, except like in Super Mario Bros. 3, they use the same hammers as Hammer Bros. Because they did not originally appear in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World, brand new sprites in their respective art styles have been drawn based on the respective Hammer Bros' designs. They can be given wings, which will make them float in the air briefly before they Ground Pound. They can be placed in Blocks, Bill Blasters, Warp Pipes, and placed on tracks. Unlike most enemies, they cannot be increased in size by a Super Mushroom because Hammer Bros. need one to become a Sledge Bro. This also works as making it impossible to make Hammer Bros. bigger without them becoming Sledge Bros. All of the "classic" versions have the dripping nose present in old artwork.

They also return in Super Mario Maker 2. During the Wednesday, May 15th Nintendo Direct for Super Mario Maker 2, Fire Bro-like Sledge Bros. known as Heavy Fire Bros. were revealed to appear in the game. Sledge Bros. appear in the Super Mario 3D World style, using voice clips for the first time, in addition to appearing in the previous four styles, while their fiery relatives are exclusive to said style, as with regular Fire Bros.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

Two Sledge Brothers from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode, "Never Koop a Koopa".

Sledge Brothers make several appearances in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, where they are among the elite of King Koopa and the Koopalings' military forces. They are generally portrayed as fairly tough soldiers, and manage to pose as major enemies to Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad in many episodes. Much like in the game, Sledge Brothers are able to cause tremors by jumping. One exception is in the episode "Never Koop a Koopa". Much like in the game, they are green but have a lighter skin color, a yellow beak, and a green shell rim.

Sledge Brothers are featured in the following episodes:

Nintendo Adventure Books

A team of six Sledge Brothers, called the Hammers, appear as competitors in the International Mushroom Games in Leaping Lizards. The only member to have his name mentioned, Angus Boomer, appears to be their leader. They compete in all the events except the Super Triple Jump, since their stubby legs are only good for leaping vertically, not horizontally.

A pair of Sledge Brothers appear in Koopa Capers as members of Wendy O. Koopa's secret rebellion. When Luigi discovers the rebellion's camp in the Magma Pits, Wendy orders the Sledge Brothers to throw him into a boiling pool of water, but if Luigi whistles the correct tune, he makes them drowsy, and tricks one into leaving by asking for a pencil to leave a note for Mario as his last request. Luigi distracts the remaining Sledge Brother by pointing out how poorly a group of Koopa Troopas are doing a marching formation, and defeats him and his returning brother by knocking out some of the Koopa Troopas and kicking their shells at the two burly soldiers.

Yoshi's Safari

In Yoshi's Safari, Sledge Brothers appear as mini-bosses who attack Mario and Yoshi by throwing hammers at them; a Sledge Brother can also immobilize Mario and Yoshi by stomping the ground. A Sledge Brother must be hit multiple times with Mario's Super Scope to defeat it in Yoshi's Safari. To avoid being hit, Mario can shoot the hammers that the Sledge Brother throws, destroying them.

Mario Kart Wii

In Mario Kart Wii, some Sledge Bros. can briefly be seen in some sections of the Daisy Circuit and on a ship in N64 DK's Jungle Parkway, along with other spectators.

Mario Party 10

Sledge Bro as it appears in Mario Party 10

Sledge Bros. make their Mario Party debut in Mario Party 10, where one (known as Mega Sledge Bro in the American English version) appears as a boss. Its minigame, Sledge Bro's Card Chaos, involves cards and Bullet Bills. The players must remember the number of Bullet Bills on the cards because the Sledge Bro hides them after a moment. After that, the players have to choose a card to launch a bullet on the Sledge Bro. The number of bullets is from one to three. Some cards can have hammers on them. The Sledge Bro will throw a hammer on the player who chooses one of these cards, which will deduct that many points.

A Sledge Bro also occasionally appears as one of the selectable enemies at the second Gate Space of any given board in Bowser Party mode.

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition

Sledge Bros. appear as enemies in Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition. However, they are only really seen as the boss of World 7-11, along with ★World 7-11. Sledge Bros. are Dark attribute characters, and their skill changes all Light Orbs into Dark Orbs, while their Awoken Skill increases the amount of HP that gets restored whenever Heart Orbs are cleared.

When fought as enemies, a Sledge Bro will often start a battle by using Dark Protection to defend itself against Dark attribute attacks. It also takes longer to attack than the other members of the Hammer Brother species, attacking every 3 turns.

A player can get a Sledge Bro by using five Super Mushrooms to transform a Hammer Bro.

Minecraft

A Sledge Bro in Minecraft

In Minecraft's Super Mario Mash-up, Husks are retextured as Sledge Bros. Unlike most depictions, they have visible sclera and wear shoes in this game.

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Sledge Bros. make their Paper Mario series debut in Paper Mario: Color Splash, where they appear as enemies in Green Energy Plant and Black Bowser's Castle. They attack by either throwing their hammer at Mario for 30 damage, or Ground Pounding to cause a quake that deals 20 damage to both Mario and any grounded allies. Both attacks can be jumped over with the Frog Suit. Allied Sledge Bros. use their Ground Pound attack to deal 80 damage to all enemies, but it misses against those who fly or levitate.

A new variant of Sledge Bros. called Shady Sledge Bros. are also introduced. Only two of them appear in the game. The first one is encountered in Dark Bloo Inn, and the second one is encountered in Vortex Island.

Paper Mario: The Origami King

An origami Sledge Bro

In the Scorching Sandpaper Desert in Paper Mario: The Origami King, a Sledge Bro operates a café. Additionally, origami Sledge Bros. are found as enemies in the Ice Vellumental Mountain, the Sea Tower, and Origami Castle.

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Mario Tennis Aces

Sledge Bros. appear as spectators in the Marina Stadium in Mario Tennis Aces, among Hammer Bros., Koopa Troopas, Penguins, Shy Guys and other species.

Dr. Mario World

Sledge Bros. appear in Dr. Mario World as Assistants. Their stage mode effect grants a chance the skill meter is fully filled at the start of a stage, where the chance is greater at higher levels, up to 20% at the maximum level. Their versus mode effect is to grant a chance that the attack meter will fill extra if a virus is eliminated. Contrary to the game's description which indicated that it can occur repeatedly, it only activates at the start of the match and the effect will last throughout the match if it does, and has a higher chance to do so at higher levels. When this effect activates, any elimination made either through a capsule match, elimination through skill, or elimination through other objects like shells will fill the attack meter by an extra point for each elimination made. Contrary to the game's description, viruses are not required to be eliminated to gain extra attack points. This effect stacks with Monty Mole's effect, meaning that if both activate, two points will be filled in the attack meter for every elimination made.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

A Sledge Bro in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Sledge Bros. appear in The Super Mario Bros. Movie as part of Bowser's army. They attend the wedding between Bowser and Princess Peach, and join in the fight once Princess Peach takes the Ice Flower power-up and begins using it against Bowser and his army. Sledge Bros. partake in the final showdown between Mario and Luigi against Bowser in Brooklyn, where one attempts to hit Invincible Mario with his hammer, only for it to be destroyed. Mario then grabs the Sledge Bro, spins him around and then flings him, where he rolls into several of Bowser's minions, sending them flying. Additionally, their eyes have visible sclera with actual irises similar to their appearance in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 in the Super Mario Bros. game style, and their hammers are two-handed.

Unused appearances

Preliminary sprite sheets for Super Mario World, in which tiles of Sledge Brothers can be seen.

Even though they are not featured in the final game, Sledge Brothers were initially supposed to appear in Super Mario World, as initial placeholder sprites were made for them, having been drawn over their Super Mario Bros. 3 sprites, but with shading and orange skin instead of green skin. However, they are not present in the final whatsoever, not even in unused graphics, meaning theirs had been overwritten during development. They may have been replaced with Sumo Brothers, another heavyweight Koopa that attacks by causing tremors, though the effects are different.

General information

Physical description

Sledge Bros. are large, overweight Hammer Bros. with yellow skin and belly plates, green shells and helmets, and big feet with three toes each. Unlike their smaller relatives, Sledge Bros. do not wear shoes (an artifact of the Hammer Bro family as a whole lacking shoes in Super Mario Bros. 3, with Sledge Bro not getting a redesign like the others), and their eyes are also smaller, beady, and surrounded by a light patch shaped like a domino mask; additionally, they usually carry around large sledge hammers instead of small, clawed hammers. Sledge Bros. have more pronounced beaks than Hammer Bros. In Super Mario Bros. 3, Sledge Bros. had light green skin, white belly plates, and wore black shells and helmets, though this was likely due to the NES' technical limitations. The Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 gives Sledge Bros. a darker green skin tone, as well as cream-colored belly plates. Sledge Bros. were also portrayed with mucus dripping from their nose, a detail later revisited in the Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World styles in Super Mario Maker. The Super Mario Bros. style also gives Sledge Bros. white sclera to their eyes.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is mostly faithful to the game depiction of Sledge Bros., though there are several differences: Sledge Bros. are slightly less overweight and bulky, they have yellow beaks rather than green, they lack the dripping mucus from their noses, and they wear dark green shells and helmets instead of black. Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King are mostly faithful to the modern depiction of Sledge Bros., though they also have a paper outline in these games.

Abilities

Unlike Hammer Bros., Sledge Bros. specialize in physical strength, as shown by their ability to carry and throw hammers with ease. Sledge Bros. still have the ability to jump, though they jump considerably lower than their smaller relatives. Unlike them, however, Sledge Bros. can Ground Pound to unleash small earthquakes or shockwaves to stun their adversaries; merely jumping has this effect in their debut and the Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario World styles of Super Mario Maker. Sledge Bros. are portrayed as Dark-attribute enemies in Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, since they can change all field orbs into Dark Orbs. Although Sledge Bros. can be easily defeated by a jump, the aforementioned game makes them more resilient, due to having high HP; this also goes for Paper Mario: Color Splash and Paper Mario: The Origami King.

Speech

Sledge Bros. are generally silent in Super Mario games, both old and new; this is unlike its relatives, Hammer Bro, and by extension Fire Bro, Boomerang Bro and Ice Bro who have received voice acting starting from Mario Superstar Baseball. Paper Mario: Color Splash is the first game to break Sledge Bros' traditional silence by giving them battle quotes albeit as in-game text dialogue; their variants, the Shady Sledge Bros., have more dialogue than them, however. Super Mario Maker 2's Super Mario 3D World style gives Sledge Bros. (and by extension, Heavy Fire Bros.) low-pitched grunts and yells while attacking or being defeated.

Profiles and statistics