Recurring Enemies in The Mario Series - Goomba

Goomba

Goombas, known in Japan as Kuribo (クリボー, Kuribō?, "Chestnut People"), are fictional species from Nintendo's series of Mario video games, resembling mushrooms. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside of video games, including in film, television, and other media. They are usually brown and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle, in video games. They were included late in the development of Super Mario Bros. in order to create a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy.

The species is considered one of the most iconic elements of the Mario series, appearing in nearly every game in the series, and is often ranked amongst the most famous enemies in video games. Crave Online described it as the series' "everyman". It has been compared to other generic enemies in video games, such as the "Met" enemy from the Mega Man series and the creatures from Braid. In Super Mario 3D Land, there are four types of Goombas: regular Goombas, Tail Goombas, Giant Goombas and Goomba towers (Goombas stacked on top of each other).