Hammer Bros.

Hammer Brother in New Super Mario Bros..
Hammer Brother
Type	Koopa
Debut	Super Mario Bros.

Hammer Brothers are a type of koopa that specialize in throwing hammers and have appeared in many Super Mario games as recurring enemies since Super Mario Bros..

Information

The Hammer Bros. are lean and tough-looking Koopas wearing black shells and helmets. As their name suggests, their primary weapon is the hammer. They are deadly long-distance attackers, hurling an endless stream of hammers non-stop at their enemies. However, they are also vulnerable to attacks from close range. Hammer Bros. also rarely attack solo and are usually backed up by a nearby "bro". It is certain if any of them are actually biologically related, or if it is just a title. They seem to have inspired similar-looking Koopas with "Bro" in their names, such as the Boomerang Bros. and the Fire Bros..

The Hammer Bros. are often portrayed as the elite fighters in Bowser's forces.

Variations

First, there are different variations on Hammer Bros. themselves:

• Amazing Flyin' Hammer Bros. - This is a type of Hammer Bro that rides on a connected set of winged blocks while throwing hammers. They appear to be smaller than normal Hammer Bros. They originally appear in place of the normal Hammer Bros. in New Super Mario Bros., and they reappear in Super Princess Peach with a Calm variant.
• Calm Hammer Bros. - An emotional variant of the Hammer Bro influenced by the Vibe Scepter's power in Super Princess Peach. They spend most of their time sleeping due to their state of calmness, but if Peach awakens one of them, they will begin attacking normally.
• Chariot Bros. - A type of Hammer Bro that rides a chariot pulled by a Chain Chomp and still attacks with hammers. Only one appears in Paper Mario: Color Splash, aiding Iggy Koopa and a Chariot Snifit in a battle at The Golden Coliseum. The chariot allows him to dodge all attacks, unless Mario uses a bone to stop the chariot.
• Dark Hammer Bros. - A stronger version of the Hammer Bros. with features obscured completely by darkness. They appear in Super Paper Mario in the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials.
• Juggler Bros. - These are Hammer Bros. who wear tophats with orange and yellow stripes, and they specifically juggle their hammers in battle. They appear as enemies in Paper Mario: Color Splash. They can be summoned by Lemmy Koopa's wand, and some of them also team up with Circus Bros. (a variant of Boomerang Bros.) as the Pentabros.
• Small Hammer Bros. - A small version of the Hammer Bros., with their size having been changed by Kamek's magic. They appear as enemies in the Sacred Forest in Paper Mario: Color Splash.

Then, there are the other types of "Bro" enemies:

• Boomerang Bros. - These are recurring enemies who throw boomerangs instead of hammers.
• Chomp Bros. - These types Bros. are large, green-skinned and muscular, with helmets that partially obscure their eyes. They spin around Chain Chomps and throw them at enemies, but they will sometimes cry and flee a battle if they are left without any Chomps. They only appear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
• Fire Bros. - They are recurring enemies who have the ability to shoot fireballs.
• Ice Bros. - They are similar to the Fire Bros., except that they shoot out balls of ice instead.
• Sledge Bros. - These are heftier versions of the Hammer Bros. who wield giant sledgehammers and create small tremors with their movements.
• Spiked Pirate - This enemy is a green Koopa wearing a spiked helmet. He appears as the first boss in Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and is battled at Rice Beach. He has to be rammed into by attacking his soft belly. He is connected to the Hammer Bros. by his Japanese name, which is Toge (Spike) Bros.
• Sumo Bros. - They are squat Koopas who look different from other Bro. variants and stomp on the ground to make fire rain down.
• Yo Bros. - They are green-skinned Koopas who were colorful clothing that seems to be inspired by hip hop fashion. They wield a yo-yo in each hand, one red and one green. Each yo-yo is used to target the Mario brother wearing the matching color. It can charge up its attacks to do more damage and will also feint attacks. They appear only in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Appearances

They originally appeared in Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. In Super Mario Bros. 3, Hammer Bros. are found wandering in the overworld map in each world. Whenever Mario or Luigi comes to one, he will engage one or two Hammer Bros. (or a different type of Bro, depending on the world) in a short quazi-boss battle. After the Hammer Bros. are defeated, the winner would get a new item. It was possible to skip the fights entirely by putting all the Bros. to sleep with a Music Box. The Hammer Bros. Suit appeared as an item in the same game.

Hammer Bros. appeared as mini-bosses in Yoshi's Safari. They have gone on to appear in various adventure titles such as Super Princess Peach, New Super Mario Bros., New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 (their first 3-D adventure appearance), Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. 2, New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Odyssey. In Super Princess Peach, there was a miniboss named Army Hammer Bro who was involved in the capture of Mario and Luigi, and he was powered up by the emotion of Anger when battling Peach. In Odyssey, it was possible to use Cappy to possess a Hammer Bro, making them temporarily playable. They also appeared as opponents guarding the entrance to Mushroom Park in Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, where they had to be defeated through dance.

They have also made various appearances in the RPG titles. In Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars a pair of Hammer Bros. showed up as the game's first real boss. They were known for talking to their hammers as if they were alive, and battled Mario on Mushroom Way. After they were defeated, they left behind a Hammer and a Flower Jar. Later in the game a green Hammer Brother, named Dr. Topper, engaged Mario in mind-bending puzzles at Bowser's Keep.

The Hammer Bros. also appear as somewhat powerful enemies in the Paper Mario games and Mario & Luigi games. In Superstar Saga, a pair of NPCs called the Border Bros. appeared and played the Border Jump minigame with the Mario Bros., which was essentially a version of jump rope. Two mind-controlled Hammer Bros. also appear as early bosses in the past storyline of Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time. While under the control of the Shroobs, the Hammer Bros. only talk in 1337 speak and act as a boss for the Baby Mario Brothers, guarding the Vim Factory. After the Hammer Bros. are defeated and freed from the mind control, they reward the Baby Mario Bros. with a hammer and teach them how to use it.

Sports

• Tennis: They appear as enemies in Mario Tennis Aces.
• Baseball: The Hammer Bros. appear as playable teammate characters in Mario Superstar Baseball (where they are unlocked by beating Adventure Mode with Bowser) and Super Mario Sluggers. They are shown to use their hammers for batting. Mario Superstar Baseball is notable as their first playable appearance.
• Soccer: The Hammer Bro is also available as a sidekick character in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged.
• Other Sports: They appear as sidekick characters in Mario Sports Superstars (for soccer and baseball).

They also make background/non-playable appearances in Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Kart Wii (in which they were planned to be playable at some point in development), Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Golf: World Tour.

In the Mario Party games, the Hammer Bros. make small appearances in most minigames. They also appear as capsule items in Mario Party 5 and Mario Party 7, with the effect of taking away coins from other players. The Hammer Bro has also been available as a playable character in Mario Party 8 (unlocked by beating the Hammer Bro at the Star Battle Arcade) and Super Mario Party. In Mario Party DS, a Hammer Bro appeared as a boss in Toadette's Music Room. A Hammer Bro and Fire Bro also co-hosted Battle minigames in Mario Party 9 and Mario Party 10, which involved them taking away several Mini Stars from each player prior to the minigame and then redistributing them afterwards based on the results of the minigame.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Hammer Bros. have appeared as an Assist Trophy from Super Smash Bros. Brawl onwards. They have also appeared as enemies in "The Subspace Emissary" of Brawl and the Smash Run mode of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS. Their appearances have been accompanied by normal trophies in Brawl and the 3DS Smash Bros., and Brawl also had a sticker of a Hammer Bro using art from New Super Mario Bros..
• In The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, the player could obtain a Hammer Bros. costume that was referred to as Hammerwear. Wearing this outfit would make the Magic Hammer item more powerful.

Other Media

• In the anime movie based on Super Mario Bros., a singular Hammer Bro appeared guarding a cave that Mario and the others were trapped in, and his attempt to foil the group's escape by throwing hammers at them resulted in him accidentally burying himself under rubble. Several Hammer Bros. also appeared helping out with Bowser and Peach's wedding, with some of them acting as singers.
• In an anime special based on the Japanese fairy tale of Momotaro, an elderly Hammer Bro couple appeared as the grandparents of Princess Peach and the adoptive parents of Mario.
• Hammer Bros. made several minor appearances as enemies in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. In the latter series, the Sledge Bros. appeared more frequently.
• They made minor appearances in two of the Mario comics published as part of the Nintendo Comics System.

Trivia

• The many varieties of Hammer Bros. was briefly parodied in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, where Hamma Jamma mentioned his aspirations to become a "Business Bro" rather than a traditional Hammer Bro.
• In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door a Hammer Bro named Hamma claims his grandfather was one of the original Hammer Bros. in Level 8-1 of Super Mario Bros. (although he probably means 7-1 or is a liar, as there are no Hammer Bros. in level 8-1).