Super Mario Bros. – The Playful Origins of Enemies’ Japanese Names
The Super Mario Series has one of the most unique words created in fantasy. In this world there are many, many memorable and interesting characters and enemies to encounter. As gamers and Mario enthusiasts, we’ve all grown up battling Koopa Troopas, dodging Cheep Cheeps, and facing off against a whole cast of adversaries in the Mushroom Kingdom. But have you ever wondered about the stories behind their names or why we are fighting turtles? Well you are in the right place. We will shed light on the Japanese names and how the technical limitations of the 80s brought these characters to life!
INDEX
ノコノコ – Koopa Troopa: Why Turtles?
These soldiers or troops of the turtle empire, have been after Mario from the beginning. Let’s take a look at their origin and how they got their name.
カメさん – The Shell Creepers Origin Story
The precursors to Koopa Troopas in the Mario Franchise are the Shell Creepers. In Japanese Nintendo called them, カメさん (kame-san). This means turtle with the Japanese honorific san attached. In the original Mario Bros. arcade game they are Kame-san, but after that they call them Koopa Troopa or Noko-Noko in Japanese
Shell Creepers to Koopa Troopa
The concept of Koopa Troopa, originally turtles, intertwines with the hardware limitations, gameplay, and Mario’s jumping in the original Mario Brothers’ arcade game.
After Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, the creators of the original Mario Brothers Arcade game, decided to make Mario remain unharmed after falling, they also decided to increase his jumping height. That eventually lead to being able to defeat enemies by jumping up and hitting the blocks below them.
During the development process, they originally attempted to have the player defeat the enemies by hitting the blocks below them with one blow. But, that made the game too easy and no fun. So, the two decided to require Mario to jump up a level to physically jump on the enemy to give the final blow to defeat it.
Great! But now that they had the concept, they thought what sort of enemy would fit this profile? An enemy that Mario incapacitates temporarily but recovers if Mario waits too long. The turtle fit the role perfectly.
Turtles have a shell which they can hide in. Miyamoto also wanted a fun visual way for people to see how much time before the Turtle would recover. So, In the original Mario Bros. arcade game ONLY, when Mario hits the turtle, it shoots out of its shell. Then the amount of time to walk back to the shell tells the player when it will recover.
Noko-Noko: The Nonchalant Turtles
The name for Koopa Troopa in Japanese is Noko-Noko (ノコノコ). This word translates to something close to nonchalantly. Supposedly, the name Noko-Noko comes from the exposed turtles after shooting out of their shells. Oblivious and uncaring of their surroundings as they nonchalantly walked back to their shells.
Types of Koopa Troopa: From Green to Red and Beyond
The Koopa Troopa have been around from the beginning of the series. Since then there have been many different versions of them. But, from the first arcade version of Mario Bros. there were the normal green, and then red turtles. The difference was that the red was the faster, more angry running turtle. Since then whether it was other games or Mario Kart these shells have had different properties.
- 緑ノコノコ (midori noko-noko) – Green Koopa Troopa
- 赤ノコノコ (aka noko-noko) – Red Koopa Troopa
During the original Nintendo Entertainment System or Famicon days, the colors were limited that could be used. But the colors and types of Koopa Troopa or Noko Noko increased after Super Mario Brothers.
クリボー – The Mystery of Gumba: The Origins of the Kuribō
Our next enemy are those bad mushrooms that betrayed the mushroom kingdom. The Gumbas are one of the most essential defining characters in the Mario series. Also known as the kuribō (クリボー) in Japanese.
What does Kuribō mean? The Linguistics behind the Gumbas
This character’s name is shrouded in mystery. I’ll do my best to explain what it could mean. Let’s break it down.
- クリ ← 栗、くりくり
- ボー ← 坊
The first part, クリ could just be used for it’s sound. But, if it does come from a word there are two options. It could come from the Japanese sound symbolism word, kuri-kuri (くりくり) which is used to describe something small, round and cute. For example, くりくりとした目 which means small round eyes.
The other possibility would be 栗 pronounced also kuri. This word means chestnut which are also round, small cute and kind of resemble gumbas. So since that is the case the source of the name could kind of be both, right? This has not been confirmed but either way the sound of kuribō fits what a kuribō or gumba looks like. Either way, in an interview Takashi Tezuka, one of the original Mario creators and previous Nintendo of Japan president, Satoru Iwata, Tezuka-san confirmed jokingly that gumbas were actually Shiitake!
The next part is ボー (bō) which is from the Japanese word or character 坊, pronounced the same. This word or characters have a few different meanings and usages to it. That would be beyond the scope of this article but it is important to know that it is a suffix added to words to express different types of people. Words that end in this are used to show a level of affection or to jokingly make fun of someone.
- 暴れん坊 (abarenbō) – wild or rowdy person, hooligan
- 朝寝坊 (asanebō) – late riser, someone who sleeps in
- けちん坊 (kechinbō) – cheapskate
- 甘えん坊 (amaenbō) – pampered person (I explain more about this word in 甘えん坊 – I am not spoiled, I am an amaembo)
So, putting that together Kuribō has the sense of a small, cute round creature.
The Birth of Gumba: Last-Minute Creations and Sideways Strolls
Continuing on with that interview, the origins of the Gumba or kuribō are also an interesting one. After creating the Koopa Troopa and all the other game assets for Super Mario Brothers, Nintendo created the Kuribō last! The reason was, because Miyamoto-san and team wanted a character that players could defeat in one hit. This would help players get accustom to the game. They thought it would be easier than requiring new players to deal with the Koopa Troopas without any experience since they required two hits. At this point, they had limited memory left to create much more because they were at the end of the game. So they just created one symmetrical image and flipped it back and forth to make it look like it was walking. Hence comes the sideway walk we all know and love today.
クリボー vs クリボン
If you remember back during the Super Mario World there were also Gumbas. However, these are not the same enemy as the ones in Super Mario Bros. or Super Mario Bros. 3! In Japanese you call them クリボン (kuribon). Later on in the series however Nintendo changed their name to Galoombas in English. This now allows you to distinguish them from the real Gumbas.
パックンフラワー – Biting and Munching Piranha Plants
パックンフラワー (pakkun furawā) is the Japanese name for the Piranha Plant in the Mario series. These people eating plants lurk in the depths of the pipes waiting to pop out and eat Mario.
In Japanese, フラワー is the equivalent of the English word flower. パックン, on the other hand, belongs to a category of onomatopoeic words in Japanese that represent various sounds and actions. パックン, in particular, signifies the act of biting or taking something into the mouth and holding onto it.
Pac-man has his name in the same roots
Another version of the word パックン is ぱくぱく (paku-paku). Paku-paku means opening and closing one’s mouth over and over again, or be eating non-stop. You may have noticed, but the game character Pac-man or パックマン(pakkuman) also derives his name from ぱくぱくalso. Because of course, Pac-man does nothing but eat and eat in his game.
パタパタ – Tech Limits create Koopa Paratroopas
The Koopa Paratroopa’s in the Japanese Super Mario series go by the name Pata-Pata (パタパタ). So the creation of these enemies and their names are closely related to the limitations of the technology at the time. During the creation of the first Super Mario Bros., the developers had a limitation of 256 8×8 pixel images for game assets. As Super Mario Bros. was to be a game where you can travel underwater, underground, land and the sky, they wanted a flying enemy. However, they simply did not have all that much space left to create a new enemy. So, instead they slapped some wings on a Koopa Troopa and called it pata-pata.
Flapping and Fluttering: What does パタパタ mean?
The name Pata-Pata like most of the other Mario enemies comes from the Japanese languages inexhaustible supply of onomatopoeia. Pata pata describes the sound of objects hitting lightly against each other in succession. The word represents soft, flat things like shoes or in Mario’s case, wings. This is the sound also to explain birds excessively flapping their wings.
カロン – Click-Clack of Dry Bones
Dry Bones are the skeleton versions of the Koopa Troopa. They stroll all over the mushroom kingdom. Their defining feature is how they fall apart when stepped on into well, a pile of dry bones. As the Dry Bones fall apart into a pile you can also hear that distinct sound they make. In Japanese these enemies are Karon (カロン). The name is from this sound that they make as their bones fall or when walking.
カランコロン – Sounds of the Geta or Dry Bones
The Mario developers shortened the onomatopoeia カランコロン (karan-karon) to get the name カロン. In Japanese this is a very specific word. It is the sound Geta or traditional Japanese slippers make. You can say this for other things but it is mostly synonymous with geta so rare. The Dry Bone’s make this sound though also when walking, hence the name.
プクプク – The Bubbling World of Cheep Cheep
Next we have Cheep Cheep. This fish somewhat resembles a blown up blowfish or pufferfish. They swim around in underwater levels or jump out of the water in the Mario series. プクプク(puku-puku) is their Japanese name. Their name derives from the Japanese onomatopoeia ぷくぷく (puku-puku). This means something to be bubbling or giving off bubbles.
テレサ – Boo the Bashful Ghost
In the Mario series, this mischievous ghost hides its face when you’re looking at it. But just when you turn away it chases after you. The Japanese name for Boo, which is テレサ (Teresa), cleverly alludes to this behavior.
テレサ (Teresa) originates from the Japanese term 照れ屋さん (tereya-san), signifying someone who is bashful or shy.
ボムへい – Bomb-omb the Bomb Soldier
ボムへい (bomuhei) is the Japanese name for the Bomb-omb. Let’s break this word down.
- ボム – Bomb
- 兵– Soldier, Troop
ボム is how you would pronounce and write the English word for Bomb in Japanese. It is not the common word for bomb in Japanese though. That would be 爆弾 (bakudan).
兵 is a word or symbol for soldiers or troops. So ボムへい would translate to Bomb Soldier.
ヘイホー – Shy-Guys the Shy Foot-Soldiers
These next characters are so shy that they need to wear masks. In English we call them Shy-guys and in Japanese ヘイホー (heihō). There is no explanation of the meaning of the name but likely the へい (hei) is from the Japanese word or character 兵 meaning troops or solders. So it could be a play off the Japanese word 歩兵 (hohei) or foot-soldier.
Origins of Shy-guys: From Doki Doki Panic to Super Mario USA
These enemies actually did not start as Mario character’s exactly. It’s a bit complicated, but let me explain. What other countries know as Super Mario 2 is actually Super Mario USA in Japan!
Why? Well originally there was a game called 夢工場ドキドキパニック (yume kōjō doki-doki panikku), which translates to something like Dream Factory Doki Doki Panic in English made in Japan. When this game came to the US all the character’s were changed to Mario characters turning it into Mario 2! Afterwards the game was again released in Japan as Super Mario USA.
After the release of Mario 2 or Mario USA we don’t see them again until Yoshi’s Island. Since then they have been a staple in Yoshi games.
メット – Buzzy Beetles Wearing Helmets
Buzzy Beetles are pesky little creatures, resembling either beetles or turtles.I assumed beetles due to their name, but they look like turtles. They cannot be defeated with fireballs. In Japanese, they are called メット (metto). This is an abbreviation for the word ヘルメット (herumetto) meaning helmet. Most likely since they look like helmets with legs.
ジュゲム – The Rakugo Origin of Lakitu and Spiny Eggs in Mario
Lakitu’s name is Jugemu (ジュゲム) in Japanese. He is names after the Japanese Rakugo story of the same name, 寿限無 (jugemu).
This is a humorous tale about parents naming their child an incredibly long name for good luck. The story often involves consulting a temple priest for auspicious words to include in the name. The child gets into a fight and develops a bump on their head. When someone repeatedly says the long name during a conversation, the bump magically disappears, creating a comical twist. Sometimes, aspiring comedians in traditional Japanese storytelling use this story as a tongue-twister and a common training exercise.
パイポ and トゲゾー – Spiney Eggs to Spiney
As Jugemu flys around he drops these spikey balls, known as Spiney eggs, which when they fall turn into Spiney.
Paipo (パイポ) are the Japanese name for these eggs. This word also comes from the Jugemu rakugo story. Paipo is the name for the imaginary country in the story. So, it does not mean anything but just sounds funny.
Next, we call the Spiney, トゲゾー (togezō) in Japanese. The toge part of the name is from the Japanese word for spikes, 棘(toge). As for the zō part of the word, that is not clear. It could be 僧 or 蔵 or some other character but Nintendo has not said. It could be a play off the word 小僧 (kozō) which is a somewhat derogatory term for a child. But your guess is as good as mine.
ワンワン – The Barking Chain Chomps
One of my personal favorite Mario enemies is the Chain Chomp. This character was so popular since Mario 3 when it first came out that not one series could contain it. Chain Chomp also showed up in Zelda, Links awakening and helped Link fight for a bit.
In Japanese Chain Chomp is ワンワン(wan wan). Wan wan is the sound that dogs make when barking! So, Wan wan in the Mario (and Zelda) series must be some sort of dog, or just thinks it is a dog!
キラー – Bull’s Eye Bill’s Deadly Secret
The next weapon is the Bull’s Eye Bill. This bullet, bomb, cannon or whatever it is exactly is goes by the name キラー (kirā) in Japanese. キラー is how you would write the English word killer in Japanese.
ゲッソー – Blooper’s Squid Leg Origins
Finally we have Blooper. These squids get in your way, spray ink in your eyes so you can’t see. In Japanese they are ゲッソー (gessō).
This word has an interesting origin. In Japanese squid legs in restaurants are known as 下足 (geso). The name ゲッソー comes from げそ.
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