Spike

Spike
Type	Koopa
Debut	Super Mario Bros. 3

This article is about the recurring Mario enemy. For other uses, see Spike (disambiguation).

The Spike is a recurring enemy that has appeared in several games of the Super Mario series. It is typically shown as a small green enemy that specializes in throwing spiked balls at enemies.

Information

Spikes are typically depicted as small green-skinned Koopa enemies that typically appear to be chubby, with blue hair and large lips. They also have a black shell on their backs, similar to the shell of a Buzzy Beetle, but the shell is too small for them to fit their bodies into. Thus, their shells never serve any purpose. They typically attack enemies by lifting spiked balls out from their mouths and throwing them forward while standing in place.

Although a Spike can be defeated with one simple jump to the head, one must maneuver around their spiked balls in order to do so. A Spike will hold a ball above their head before throwing it, which temporarily lets it defend their heads from harm.

Variations

• Clubba - These are larger versions of Spikes that act as guards and wield weapons. They appear in some of the Paper Mario games.
• Mad Spike - An emotional variant from Super Princess Peach that is perpetually angry. They act similarly to normal Spikes, complete with throwing spiked balls, but the difference is that they will also jump up and down out of anger. They can be defeated with the Rage vibe or by a Perry attack.
• Snow Spike - This is a version of the Spike that has blue skin with a white stomach and typically wears winter gear. They are found in snowy habitats and throw large snowballs instead of spiked balls. They have only appeared in New Super Mario Bros. and Paper Mario: Sticker Star.
• Stone Spike - This version bears colors that are inverted from the normal Spike, with blue skin and green hair. They are different from normal Spikes in that their spiked balls are specifically made out of stone, and they drop them downwards from high areas. They originally appeared in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U. They were also featured in a minigame in Mario Party: Island Tour as playable teammate characters in the soccer and baseball games of Mario Sports Superstars.

Appearances

Within the Mario games, Spikes made their debut appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3. They were mostly found in stages of the Iced Land as well as one stage of Sea Side. In the original version of the game, the king of Sea Side was also transformed into a creature that resembles a Spike. They also appeared in one stage of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (as well as one of the extra stages added in the [[Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3|GBA version) and the Jungle Hut stage of Yoshi's Story. The latter game also had a boss named Don Bongo, who resembled a giant version of a Spike without a shell. Spikes and Mad Spike variants also appeared in Super Princess Peach.

They eventually started to return to appearing in Mario platforming adventures with New Super Mario Bros., where a variation called the Snow Spike appeared. The normal Spikes made their reappearance in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and continued to appear in New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World (their first 3D appearance) and Super Mario Run. Each of those games had a stage named after Spike: Spike's Spouting Sands, Spike's Lost City and Land of Spikes, respectively. In Super Mario 3D World, they threw spiked rollers instead of spiked balls. Spikes also appeared in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, where they were the same as in 3D World. Spikes were also added to Super Mario Maker 2 in a December 2019 update, being available in all four of the game's styles (including the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario World styes, of games in which they did not originally appear).

Within the RPG games, variations of Spikes called Clubbas made appearances as enemies in the early Paper Mario games. The normal versions of Spikes later appeared in Paper Mario: Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Color Splash. There, they used their spiked balls as shields during battle. Spikes also appeared as recruitable minions in the extra modes added to the remakes of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. They were ranged troopers who threw their spiked balls to attack.

In Dr. Mario World, Spike appeared as an assistant character. It could grant bonus points for the elimination of green viruses in Stage Mode or increase the chance of faster attacks in Versus Mode. They were also shown as the natural inhabitants of the second world, which was a desert environment.

Sports

Spikes made non-playable cameo appearances as parts of crowds in Mario Golf: World Tour and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. They made their first playable sports appearance as teammate characters in the soccer and baseball modes of Mario Sports Superstars, alongside the Stone Spike variant. They were classified as power-type players. They also appeared as enemies in the game's Road to Superstar mode.

In Mario Tennis Aces, Spike appeared as a playable character, and Stone Spikes appeared as spectators.

Within the Mario Party games, a giant Spike initially appeared in Mario Party 9, as the miniboss of the Magma Mine. Spike was also featured as a playable character in Mario Party 10, where it could be unlocked with 600 Mario Party Points. This marked Spike's first playable appearance, predating its sports appearances. Stone Spikes and Spikes also acted as enemies in individual minigames in Mario Party: Island Tour and Mario Party: Star Rush, respectively. Spikes also made background appearances in Super Mario Party.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Spike did not make a direct appearance, but its weapons (the spiked balls and rollers) made background appearances. Additionally, one of Luigi's Precision weapons is called the Spike Strike and has a design based on a Spike with a spiked bar.

Other Media

• In the Anime Amada OVA for the Super Mario Bros. games that was based on the tale of Momotaro, Spike appeared as the last of the allies recruited by Mario in his quest to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. The Spike was apparently motivated by wanting to avenge his home world, which had been destroyed by Bowser, and he defeated Ludwig during the final battle with a spiked ball. His role in this anime was based on the monkey from the original fairy tale.
• In the Super Mario Bros. movie, Spike is the name of one of Koopa's two dim-witted cousins who act as his minions for most of the movie, but ultimately turn good. Beyond the name and his association with the counterpart of Bowser, this character has no similarities to the Spike from the games.

Trivia

• Its Japanese name is "Gabon". This name was erroneously used instead of Spike in Yoshi's Story.
• Clubbas are known as Gabon Hei (Soldier) in Japanese, which essentially emphasizes that they are soldier versions of Spikes.
• In Super Mario Bros. 3, the player can jump on Spike while it is holding the spiked ball without receiving damage. This is changed in Spike's later appearances so that it will actually hurt the player and defend Spike.
• Their sprites in Super Mario Bros. 3 (and its remakes) and the Yoshi games depict them without any hair.