Punchinello

Punchinello in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
Punchinello
Species	Unknown
Eye color	Black
Debut	Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Punchinello is a boss character who appeared in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and its Switch remake. He specializes in working with bombs which are different varieties of Bob-ombs, but he is not associated with the Smithy Gang. He is the boss faced to earn the third Star Piece.

Background

Punchinello originated from an unspecified hometown and worked as a maker of bombs. Although others apparently called him a hothead, he was motivated by a strong desire to become famous. He ended up in the Mole Mines of Moleville, where he dispatched his Bob-ombs around the area. When Mario arrived in the area, he would be knocked back if approaching Punchinello from the front and had to make contact from behind in order to initiate the fight. Once Punchinello saw that he was dealing with the renowned Mario, he saw defeating him as his ticket to fame. In battle, Punchinello sent out Bob-ombs of varying sizes to battle Mario, Mallow and Geno. At the end of the exhaustive battle, he tried summoning a King Bomb, but it landed on him before exploding.

There was no sign of Punchinello in the aftermath of the explosion, so that seemed to be the end of him, but he did resurface later on in the remake. In the aftermath of his defeat, he refined his technique and made new Bob-ombs that were even stronger in addition to forming a shield that protected him from most attacks. A new wish showed up for him on Star Hill where he wished that this would be his big break. Punchinello returned to the Mole Mines, where Mario's group met him for a rematch. Punchinello was taken by surprise when he saw that they were now accompanied by the famous Bowser, he ultimately saw this as another chance to increase his fame. Punchinello battled Mario's group, and this time he was beaten by having his own bombs turned against him. Once again, he summoned King Bomb at the end, which ended up exploding on him. This time, Punchinello remained behind in the aftermath. Feeling that he was doomed to obscurity, he offered to upgrade Bowser's Chain Chomp so that he could be remembered for something and modified it into a golden Wonder Chomp. Bowser was impressed with Punchinello's handiwork and invited him to help fix his keep once it was prepared. This excited Punchinello, as he felt that his dream had been fulfilled and that some of Bowser's fame would rub off on him. His wish on Star Hill changed to wanting to be part of Bowser's Minions.

After completing the rematch, Punchinello would appear in the game's ending, where he was helping with the repairs at Bowser's Keep, and he would also show up in the ending's curtain call.

Abilities

• HP: 1200, Attack: 60, Defense: 42, Magic Attack: 22. Magic Defense: 40
  • Thought Peek: "Yeeha! I see we're already famous!" / "So chic! Everyone is so chic!"
  • "Everyone is even more chic now! You've really leveled up your game!"

In battle, Punchinello would attack with his claws and summon various bombs to do his bidding, each bomb of increasing size. Starting with the Micro-bombs, Punchinello proceeded with Bob-ombs, Mezzo-bombs and finally the giant King Bomb. He also knew the special attack Sand Storm and had special defenses against Sleep, Fear, Poison, Silence and Fire attacks. During the rematch in the Switch version, Punchinello was resistant to all attacks by Mario and the other party members, and he could only receive substantial damage from attacks by his own Stronger Bob-ombs. Certain attacks could turn the Bob-ombs around so that they faced Punchinello and would unwittingly attack him during their turn. In some cases, a Bob-omb would accidentally be facing backwards from the moment it was thrown by Punchinello. For this fight, Punchinello still used Sand Storm, in addition to Flame Wall, Flame Stone and Grinder.

Trivia

• Punchinello is named after a classic comedical character originally known as Pulcinella. His Japanese name is Pepatto, as a play on 'puppet'.
• Ted Woolsey originally wanted to name him James Bomb as part of the English localization, but that name was denied by management. His introduction still contains a James Bond reference in the Super NES version, as he introduced himself as "Nello. ...Punchinello."
• Punchinello's original Star Hill wish is "I wanna be famous!".
• In his Monster List entry in the remake, it is said that he did not want to return to his hometown without becoming famous, but he was already well-known in his hometown as "the goofball Mario beat twice".