Goomba King

The Goomba King in Paper Mario
Goomba King
Species	Goomba
Affiliation	Koopa Troop
Eye color	Brown
Debut	Paper Mario

The Goomba King (also known as the Goomboss in later appearances) is a boss character who has appeared in several different Super Mario games, after initially appearing as an early boss in Paper Mario.

Background

The Goomba King was a giant Goomba with a white mustache. He wore pants and a crown. Apparently, he was empowered as a king by Bowser with the Star Rod, and Bowser claimed that the Goomba had begged him for it. In the prologue of Paper Mario, Goomboss recruited Red and Blue Goomba (the Goomba Bros.) to help him stop Mario, and also built himself a fort to conceal the bridge from Goomba Road to Toad Town. Despite all this, Mario defeated him and found the switch to restore the bridge, which sent them flying away. In the ending parade, the Goomba King was seen stuck in a tree. He then fell from the tree and walked off with the Goomba Bros.

Goomboss also appeared in Super Mario 64 DS, having kidnapped Mario as punishment for his constant torment of the Goomba race. Yoshi came to Mario's rescue and defeats Goomboss by turning his Goomba followers into eggs and throwing them at him.

In Mario Kart DS, Goomboss challenged Toad to a three-lap race in Baby Park during the Mission 3 Boss Stage. During the race, Goomboss tossed Goombas and the occasional Mushroom at Toad to slow him down. After each lap, Goomboss grew bigger and dropped more Goombas, and he would even jump a corner during the third lap. But as he grew, he also stopped more frequently, making it fairly easy to slip past him at the last moment.

Trivia

• The Goomba King is one of few characters created for the Paper Mario games to appear in other Mario games outside of that subseries (the others being Tutankoopa and the Star Spirits).
• It is uncertain if Bowser's Star Rod empowerment is also what made the Goomba King giant. If it is, then that causes further confusion regarding his Super Mario 64 DS appearance.
• His presence in Super Mario 64 DS, which appears to be a retcon of Super Mario 64, has caused confusion as Paper Mario is considered to take place after Super Mario 64 due to having been released after it. The confusion is rooted in the fact that Bowser made Goomboss a king during Paper Mario, and he appears to have already been a giant king during Super Mario 64 DS.
• In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, when Luigi recounts his own adventures, one of the characters involved is someone known as the Chestnut King, who has the same Japanese name as the Goomba King. The shared Japanese name implies that they are the same character, but their stories are very different: Chestnut King kidnaps Princess Eclair and is revealed to be her lover who was cursed to become a monster by Minister Crepe of the Waffle Kingdom.