One of my greatest wishes for Mario games is the ability to befriend more enemies. They all have such charming designs and wonderful personalities! I understand why they’re treated in universe as enemies, and that’s fair! But sometimes I just wish this world had a Mario ‘mons game…
While Super Mario 64 is NOT a Mario ‘mons game, it is a step in the right direction, as at the dang start of the game you already have Bob-omb BUDDIES! That’s right! These Bob-ombs aren’t here to hurt you! They don’t even have a fuse! Or they have a short fuse, but not in the way that makes them angry, because they’ll help you operate cannons all around the Bob-omb Battlefield!
Wait a second… Bob-omb Battlefield? That’s right! The thing about Bob-omb Buddies is that they are actually AT WAR with the regular Bob-ombs! And then you just show up to assassinate the king of the regular Bob-ombs! No Mario, that’s not how you resolve political tensions in these dangerous times! You’re only going to make things worse!
Speaking of “making things worse,” there’s the fact that Bob-omb Buddies are predominantly identified by their reddish-pink coloration, which inclines some to believe this is a Bob-omb RACE war with even more unfortunate implications, but I think there’s a better explanation here, because Mario would never be friends with a racist. That is canon! Mario’s character bios say he’s accepting of everyone, and heck, there’s an episode of one of the cartoons where he calls racists dumber than mushrooms!
I think this whole war probably started over an entirely unrelated issue, such as “does King Bob-omb deserve all the pudding,” and the Bob-ombs that think he DOESN’T deserve all the pudding painted themselves red to show their allegiance to their side. And the Bob-ombs that DO think he deserves all the pudding didn’t paint themselves at all, because that makes them look like the king (who they think deserves all the pudding). That’s why the Bob-omb Buddies identify you as their ally! You’re wearing a red hat! Clearly you are here to overthrow King Bob-omb and redistribute the pudding to the people!
Bob-omb Buddies appear in other places in the game, including Whomp’s Fortress, which returned in Super Mario Galaxy 2 as the Throwback Galaxy, bringing the Bob-omb Buddies with it! And even better, if you beat the Whomp King in the Throwback Galaxy, you get to bring a Bob-omb Buddy onto Starship Mario, so you never have to leave your buddies behind! Hooray!
And then there’s a Bob-omb Buddy in Mario Party Advanced named Bob-omba! She enjoys gardening, and will ask you to bring a Piranha Plant to her. She doesn’t look any different from the other Bob-omb Buddies, but that’s okay. She’s a TREMENDOUS example of non-standard female character design, after all!
There are some other appearances of Bob-ombs Buddies, but most of them are pretty minor, such as appearances in DS-era minigames, and various cameos in Mario Party games (one of which considers them extraterrestrial!) However, if there’s anything else I have to say about these wonderful friends, it’s the even more wonderful noise they make whenever you talk to them. If you haven’t already, go on! Give it a listen!
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