Goomba

Goombas (), known in Japan as Kuribō, and originally Little Goomba, are a fictional species and enemy from Nintendo's Mario franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game Super Mario Bros. as the first enemy players encounter, part of Bowser's army. There are multiple variants of Goombas, including Paragoombas and Cat Goombas, as well as offshoots like Galoombas and Goombrats. There have also been non-antagonistic Goombas in the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series. They have appeared outside video games, including in film and television. Goombas are brown shiitake-like creatures with long black eyebrows, a sharp underbite, a tan stem, dark brown feet, no limbs, and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle. They were included late in the development of Super Mario Bros. as a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy after playtesters found the Koopa Troopa enemy too difficult, creating a sprite and flipping it to convey walking. The species is considered one of the most iconic elements of the Super Mario series, appearing in nearly every game in the series, and is often ranked amongst the most famous enemies in video games. In 2009, CraveOnline described it as the series' "everyman". The video game incarnation has been made into several plush toys.