Swoop

This article is about the bat enemy formerly called a Swooper. For the glider from Mario Kart 7, see Swooper (glider).

Swoop
In-game artwork from Dr. Mario World
First appearance	Super Mario World (1990)
Latest appearance	Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (Nintendo Switch) (2024)
Variants Bat (Super Mario Galaxy) Fang Monty Mole Swooper Paper Swoop Swampire Swoopula
Comparable Bakky Bat (ghost) Bat (Mario Kart 64) Dorakyū Keese Komorin
Notable members Sir Swoop Wings of Night

“Nyah, nyah, you can't fly!”

—Swoop, Paper Mario: Color Splash

Swoops, originally called Swoopers, are recurring bat enemies that first appear in Super Mario World. They typically hang idly on the ceiling, waiting for the player's character to come near, at which point they fall and fly towards the character, hurting them on contact.

Swoops almost always have squinting eyes and round noses, and they have appeared with numerous color schemes throughout their appearances, the most common of which consists of a blue body, purple wings, and yellow feet. Their debut game depicts them as green with red wings and feet, a color scheme later used in promotionalMedia:Mario Halloween Banner.jpg HalloweenMedia:Mario Halloween 2021 Artwork.jpg artworkMedia:PN Halloween 2022 Mario Swoop Artwork.png, where Swoops are specifically designated Green Swoopers.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario World

Sprites of a Swooper

In Super Mario World, Swoopers hang from the ceilings of caves upside down, waiting for Mario or Luigi to approach. When they come near, the Swoopers fly down and try to damage Mario or Luigi. They can easily be defeated with a stomp. They first appear in Donut Plains 2, though they are mainly found in Vanilla Dome.

This is one of two games in which Swoopers are green, the other being Mario Party 3. An unused variant exists that is the later blue color; it acts like the Boo Crew. However, the blue Swoopers have a glitchy animation, with one frame showing half of a square outline and half of a blue Spike Top.

Super Mario 64 / Super Mario 64 DS

Appearance in Super Mario 64 DS

Swoops (called as such for the first time) also appear in Super Mario 64 and its Nintendo DS remake. Found only in the Hazy Maze Cave, these Swoops are recolored from green with reddish-brown wings to entirely blue with a darker shade of blue on the top half of the wings. Like in Super Mario World, they hang still on the ceiling, waiting for Mario (or Yoshi, Luigi, or Wario in the remake) to come, then fall off the ceiling and attack. However, they now fly in horizontal loops above the ground. In the original, they had pointed mouse-like faces with large rhombus-shaped ears and a visible tooth, as well as no feet; the remake featured the modern design, based on the artwork for Super Mario World and the sprites for Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

New Super Mario Bros.

In New Super Mario Bros., Swoops hang on the ceiling waiting to attack, like in previous games. One appears in World 2-3, whereas the other twelve appear in World 5-2. They are blue and have purple wings. Swoops use their Super Mario 64 DS appearance, like many other elements between the two games.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Swoops attacking Fire Mario in New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Swoops appear in caves in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They look just like their New Super Mario Bros. counterparts and behave exactly the same. They appear in World 5-2, World 6-2 and World 6-6. In dark levels with lights, their eyes can be seen glowing when the Swoops are not in the light.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, Swoops appear in World 5-Ghost House and in the third level of the Coin Challenge Pack B, behaving exactly as they did in previous games.

New Super Mario Bros. U

Swoops reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U, behaving exactly as they did in the previous New Super Mario Bros. games. Their eyes also glow in the dark. They only appear in four levels: Perilous Pokey Cave, Light Blocks, Dark Tower, Thrilling Spine Coaster, and Shifting-Floor Cave.

Super Mario Run

Artwork of a Swoop from Super Mario Run

Swoops return in Super Mario Run, behaving exactly the same as in the previous titles. Their first appearance is in Treasure-Hoarding Swoops.

Nintendo Adventure Books

A trio of Swoopers appear in Dinosaur Dilemma, living in the upper floor of an abandoned mansion. Upon spotting Mario, they attack him by dropping Koopa Shells. Depending on which page the reader chooses to turn to, Mario either avoids the Swoops and hides until they grow bored and leave, or one of their shells connects and knocks him out for several hours, allowing Bowser to conquer Dinosaur Island.

Super Mario-kun

This section is under construction. Therefore, please excuse its informal appearance while it is being worked on. We hope to have it completed as soon as possible.

Swoopers appear in several volumes of Super Mario-kun. In volume 5, they fuse with Monty Moles to become Monty Mole Swoopers.

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario

In Paper Mario, Swoopers are found inside the Dry Dry Ruins, where they are either constantly flying or hanging on the ceiling. When they are hanging from the ceiling, Mario cannot reach them using a regular jump attack, and must instead use the Quake Hammer, Skolar's attack, an item, or one of his partners (such as Parakarry) to knock them off from the ceiling. They attack by simply swooping down and physically ramming their opponent. A stronger version of Swoopers exists, called Swoopulas.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

A Swoop in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Swoopers are uncommon enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and its Nintendo Switch remake. Four Swoopers led by Sir Swoop make up the Glitz Pit team Wings of Night who appear during Chapter 3 to serve as a brief replacement for The KP Koopas after King K. "retires".

Later on, in Chapter 4, Swoopers can be found in outside areas of Creepy Steeple. They attack as they did in Paper Mario. Additionally, Swoopulas return, and the Swampires also debut, which are even stronger than a Swoopula.

Super Paper Mario

Swoopers also re-appeared in Super Paper Mario. They are only found in Chapter 2 (Gloam Valley and Merlee's Mansion). Swoopers can be found in Gloam Valley in a secret area via using the Flip and falling into a 3D-accessible hole near the Star Block. Their Catch Card can be found here, along with the Shlurps' Catch Card. Swoopers are also found in the line-of-coins trap in Merlee's Mansion as well as a room in Merlee's basement. They always appear in groups of two, making up a total of six that appear in the game.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Swoops reappear in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, for the Nintendo 3DS. They appear in the first section of Drybake Desert, inside the Yoshi Sphinx, and during Sandshifter Ruins. Despite how many enemies were redesigned in this game to look like their mainstream appearances, Swoops were kept purple for unknown reasons. In battle, they are always in mid-air and never hang from the ceiling. They are uncommon, with only four of them appearing on the overworld. They attack by swooping down at Mario. Swoops can also make an appearance in the final battle, where they are among the enemies that can be summoned by Bowser in the first phase. Swoops also assist Paragoombas, Paratroopas, and Spikes.

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Swoops return in Paper Mario: Color Splash, keeping their appearance and attack from the previous game, though their sprites lack the color gradients and the shading, the latter now being rather applied to the 3D models. In Indigo Underground, a member of the green Rescue Squad is being attacked by Swoops, and Mario saves him. Swoops are also in the caves of Vortex Island. They can also assist the Big Spiny in Kiwano Temple in battle.

Paper Mario: The Origami King

Swoops return in Paper Mario: The Origami King, where origami Swoops appear as enemies. The origami Swoops use their blue coloration, rather than the purple coloration from other Paper Mario games (though their concept art in the game shows they were originally going to have their purple coloration). They can be found in Graffiti Underground with Scaredy Rats, in the Water Vellumental Shrine at the bottom of the first room, and the Earth Vellumental Temple, surrounding the temple's curator.

Also, King Olly has a model of him disguised as a Swoop, which goes unused in the final game.

Mario Kart series

Swoops in Mario Kart Wii

Swoop sound effect in Mario Kart Wii

Swoops are obstacles in various games of the Mario Kart series. They fly in large flocks in the opposite direction of the racers, slowing anyone who drives into them. In Mario Kart DS, Swoops were newly added to N64 Banshee Boardwalk, replacing the bats from the original Mario Kart 64 iteration, but unlike the bats in the original, Swoops appear in the course's time trial mode. In Mario Kart Wii, Swoops appear in two courses: Wario's Gold Mine and Dry Dry Ruins. They behave identically as in Mario Kart DS, but now use calls and agitated screeching from a cockatiel for their sound effects. Swoops can now be defeated from using certain items, such as Green Shells or Red Shells, or while under the effects of a Star. In Mario Kart 7, Swoops appear only in Rock Rock Mountain. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Swoops are obstacles in several courses, including Mount Wario (during the cave and tunnel portions), N64 Yoshi Valley, Wii Wario's Gold Mine, N64 Choco Mountain, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain, Tour Athens Dash, and Tour Vancouver Velocity. Swoops also appear in the GCN Luigi's Mansion battle course on the spiral staircase leading outside. Additionally, Hyrule Circuit features Keese, which function identically to Swoops. In Mario Kart Tour, Swoops are obstacles in N64 Choco Mountain, N64 Yoshi Valley, GBA Sunset Wilds at nighttime, 3DS Rock Rock Mountain, Tokyo Blur R/T, and Vancouver Velocity.

In Mario Kart 7 and Mario Kart Tour, there is a glider designed to resemble a Swoop, although it is named Swooper, like their old name.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Swoops only appear in the boss fight against Donkey Kong in Boss Game 7. Two of them hang inactively from the girder dividing the screens, and periodically fly left and right in a flight pattern similar to Dorakyū from the Game Boy Donkey Kong. When a Mini Mario is underneath them while flying, they will wrap themselves in their wings and drill downwards to try to attack it. The Swoops' artwork can be seen during the credits.

Mario Party series

A Swoop in Super Mario Party

In their first few appearances in the Mario Party series, Swoopers only make a few background appearances. In Mario Party 3, their debut in the series, Swoopers are seen hanging in the upper-right of the background of Creepy Cavern, appearing in a variety of colors including green, blue, purple and plum. In Mario Party 8, Swoopers only appears on the wrapper of the Vampire Candy. In Mario Party 9, Swoopers make a few minor appearances: flying around Boo's Horror Castle; observing characters as they slide down chains in the minigame Chain Event; as a constellation in the Museum.

In Mario Party: Island Tour, a Swoop gives out two Mini Stars on the first and third stages of the Star-Crossed Skyway board, and one also appears in Match Faker and Tap Dash. In Mario Party 10, Swoops appear in Haunted Trail, where if someone lands on an Unlucky Space, Swoops arrive to steal five Mini Stars from them. They also appear in multiple minigames, such as Pipe Sniper, where Swoops grant five points if hit. In Mario Party: Star Rush, Swoops appear during the High Attacks in Samurai Smackdown, alongside Goombrats and Bullet Bills. In Super Mario Party, Swoops are the only obstacle of Fireplace Race, where they must be avoided while players are lighting candles, and if a Swoop catches a character, it sends them back to the fireplace. One also makes an appearance in Absent Minded. In Mario Party Superstars, Swoops appear in Mario Party 2's Horror Land, where they come out of a well during the night when players pass it.

Mario & Luigi series

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

While regular Swoops are not present in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Paper Swoops appear as enemies in the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

Although they are absent from the original game, Swoops appear in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode as enemies and allies, thus marking the first appearance of regular Swoops in the Mario & Luigi series. They are flying troopers, and attack by charging into enemies. They are strong against Shroobs and Fawfulcopters. Their special skill is Discord which can lower enemy DEF.

Minecraft

In the Super Mario Mash-up in Minecraft, Bats are replaced by Swoops.

Dr. Mario World

Swoops debut in the Dr. Mario series as assistants in Dr. Mario World. Their stage mode skill is increasing the player's score by a percentage of the base score for up to 10% at the maximum level (rounded down), which is only increased after the stages are cleared. In versus mode, they have a chance of eliminating all capsules if an object reaches the third from bottom line.

Profiles and statistics

Super Mario series

Super Mario World

• Mario Mania: If Mario treads in its territory, this cranky cave-dweller dive-bombs from above, hoping to silence the noisy intruder. Thump it on the head.

Paper Mario series

Paper Mario

Paper Mario enemy
Swooper
		Max HP	4	Attack	2	Defense	0
		Role	Common	Type	Ceiling or Flying	Level	10
		Strong	None	Weak	None	Moves	Flutter Bump (2)
		Sleep?	80%, 0	Dizzy?	100%, 1	Shock?	90%, 1
		Shrink?	90%, 0	Stop?	90%, 0	Fright?	90%
		Air Lift?	100%	Hurricane?	95%	Coins	1
		Items	N/A	Run	32	Location(s)	Dry Dry Ruins
Tattle	This is a Swooper, a ghost bat. Swoopers got their name because they swoop down out of the shadows. Max HP: 4, Attack Power: 2, Defense Power: 0 Even Jump attacks can't reach 'em when they're hanging on the ceiling, but earth tremors will knock 'em loose. Parakarry can also knock 'em loose with one of his moves. You can attack 'em however you choose once they're hovering in the air.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

GameCube

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Swooper
	Max HP	6	Attack	3	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit, Creepy Steeple	Role	Common	Level	17
	Sleep?	80%	Dizzy?	105%	Confuse?	80%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	85%	Soft?	95%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	80%	Fright?	80%
	Gale Force?	95%	KO?	95%	Moves	Swoop (3)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	0 - 2	Items	Boo's Sheet, Fire Flower, Honey Syrup (drop only), Mushroom
Tattle Log #: 64	Log	A roosting creature that will hang from the ceiling until damaged.
	Tattle	That's a Swooper. I bet they call it that 'cause of the way it swoops around. Wow! That's some AWESOME naming work. Seriously! It's pure naming genius!!! So, anyway... Max HP is 6, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Says here it hangs from the ceiling. If you can just damage it, it oughta drop off the ceiling. And then you can whack it!

Nintendo Switch

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door enemy
Swooper
	Max HP	6	Attack	3	Defense	0
	Location(s)	Glitz Pit, Creepy Steeple	Role	Common	Level	17
	Sleep?	80%	Dizzy?	105%	Confuse?	80%
	Tiny?	90%	Stop?	85%	Soft?	95%
	Burn?	100%	Freeze?	80%	Fright?	80%
	Gale Force?	95%	KO?	95%	Moves	Swoop (3)
	Exp. points	0	Coins	0 - 2	Items	Boo's Sheet, Fire Flower, Honey Syrup (drop only), Mushroom
Tattle Log #: 67	Log	A roosting creature that will hang from the ceiling until damaged.
	Tattle	That's a Swooper. I bet they call it that 'cause of the way it swoops around. Wow! That's some AWESOME naming work. Seriously! It's pure naming genius! So, anyway... Max HP is 6, Attack is 3, and Defense is 0. Says here it hangs from the ceiling. If you can just damage it, it oughta drop off the ceiling. And then you can whack it!

Super Paper Mario

Super Paper Mario enemy
Swooper
	Max HP	3	Role	Common	Location(s)	Gloam Valley (2-1), Merlee's Mansion (2-2), Merlee's Basement (2-4)
	Attack	1	Card type	Common
	Defense	0	Items		Card location(s)	Card Shop; Catch Card/SP; Chapter 2-1: Found in an underground area under the Star Block via a 3D-accessible hole.
	Score	200
	Card description	Swoopers aren't so bad, they're just lonely. Strangely, they greet visitors by snacking on their heads. ...This could explain why they have no friends.
List of Catch Cards     86      87      88	Tattle	That beast is a Swooper. It likes to dangle from the ceiling in dark, dank places... Max HP is 3 and Attack is 1. Watch your head; it will swoop down on you... It will swoop back up after it swoops down, so jump on it when you can...

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Paper Mario: Sticker Star enemy
Swoop
	Max HP	9	Role	Common	Location(s)	Drybake Desert, Yoshi Sphinx, Sandshifter Ruins, Bowser's Sky Castle
	Attack	4	Stickers	N/A
	Defense	0	Moves	Swoop (4)

Paper Mario: Color Splash

Paper Mario: Color Splash enemy
Swoop
	HP	11	Type	Flying	Role	Common	Card
	Strong	None	Weak	None	Card drop rate	3
	Moves	Low Attack (4), High Attack (8), Group Attack (6), Blowback Attack (12)
	Location(s)	Indigo Underground, Kiwano Temple, Vortex Island
Quotes	While flying low: "Swoop?" ~ "Swoop!" ~ "Swoooop..." ~ "Woops!" While flying high: "Try the hammer—I dare ya!" ~ "Nyah, nyah, you can't fly!" ~ "The higher I fly, the safer I am..." ~ "Fly hiiiiigh..."
Enemy class
ENEMY_ZAKO_LV1
Dropped items
Hammer Scraps 5 Red paint 6 Yellow paint 0 Blue paint 6 Orange paint 0 Green paint 0 Purple paint 9

Paper Mario: The Origami King

Paper Mario: The Origami King enemy
Swoop
	HP			7			Moves	Location(s)
	Type			Flying			Battering Ram (3), Big Battering Ram (4), Assault & Battery (base 2, range starts at 0 and increases by 1 for each additional two Swoops, multiple hits), Bombs Away (drops enemy, varying damage)	Graffiti Underground, Earth Vellumental Temple, Water Vellumental Shrine
	Role			Common
	Item drops			Mushroom
							They love dark ceilings and swooping in on their foes. Low attacks won't cut it, so don't even bother with a hammer.

• Shogakukan guide:普段は天井にぶら下がっていて、近づくと襲ってくる。飛行しているのでハンマー攻撃などが効かない。(They usually hang from the ceiling and attack when approached. Since they are flying, hammer attacks and other such attacks are ineffective.)

Mario Party series

Mario Party: Star Rush

Image	Name	Bio
	Swoop Flying foes with noisy, flapping wings.	True to their namesake, these batty baddies swoop down from on high to cause mischief.

Mario Party Superstars

• Encyclopedia Bio: A creature that lurks in the shadows, waiting for a chance to cause trouble.

Super Mario Run

• Notebook bio: This foe will swoop down from above. Stomping it can send you flying waaay up high!

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

• Bowser Jr.'s Journey profile: They charge straight at enemies, even in the dark. The sound of their wings can weaken mechanical enemies, as well as certain other types.

Dr. Mario World

• Stage mode: Increases score by 2%/4%/6%/8%/10%.
• Stage mode (Prior to version 2.3.0): Increases score by 1%/2%/3%/4%/5%.
• Versus mode: If an object has reached the 3rd row from the bottom line, grants 60%/70%/80%/90%/100% chance all capsules will be eliminated. (Once only.)

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Swoop.

• 

  Super Mario World

• 

  Super Mario 64

• 

  Mario Kart 8

• 

  Paper Mario: Color Splash

• 

  Paper Mario: The Origami King

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	バサバサ[?] Basabasa	Japanese onomatopoeia for rustling or flapping sound; officially romanized as "Basa Basa"
Chinese (simplified)	啪萨啪萨 Pāsàpāsà	Onomatopoeia for rustling
	啪沙啪沙蝙蝠[?] Pāshāpāshā Biānfú	Rustling Bat	since Super Mario Party
Chinese (traditional)	啪沙啪沙蝙蝠[?] Pāshāpāshā Biānfú	Rustling Bat
	啪沙啪沙[?] Pāshāpāshā	Onomatopoeia for rustling	Super Mario Run
Dutch	Swoop[?]	-
	Swooper[?]		Super Mario World
French (NOA)	Swoopa[?]	Swooper
French (NOE)	Swooper[?]	-
German	Flappflapp[?]	Flutterflutter
	Swooper	-	Super Mario World, Paper Mario, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Super Paper Mario
	Flap-Flap	Flutter-Flutter	Super Mario 64
Italian	Swooper[?]	-
Korean	스우프[?] Seuupeu	Swoop
Portuguese (NOA)	Súbito[?]	Sudden
Portuguese (NOE)	Morcego[?]	Bat
Russian	Пикировщик[?] Pikirovshchik	Diver
Spanish (NOA)	Vampílago[?]	Portmanteau of vampiro ("vampire") and murciélago ("bat")
Spanish (NOE)	Swooper[?]	-	recent games
	Swoop[?]

Trivia

• The internal filename for the bat enemy in Super Mario Galaxy is "BasaBasa", a romanization of the Japanese name for Swoop.