Monty Mole

A Monty Mole as depicted in Mario Super Sluggers.
Montymole
Type	Mole
Debut	Super Mario World

The Monty Mole is a recurring mole enemy from the Mario series.

Information

Monty Mole is a short and runty creature with brown fur. Their eyes are usually only shown as slits, although in some games they resemble sunglasses. A Monty Mole's primary method of attack is to hide underground or in walls and to pop out when an enemy (usually Mario) comes near in an attempt at a surprise attack. Some Monty Moles remain in the ground and attack by tossing debris. On occasion, they have also operated machines such as cannons, implying some level of technological expertise. One occasion has also shown a much larger and more powerful version known as the Mega Mole, although this species only seems to live in deep caves.

Appearances

The Monty Moles were initially shown as enemies in various areas of Super Mario World. Mega Moles appeared in underground levels later in the game and could only be defeated with the cape attack, although Mario could actually stand on their heads to get a ride from them. They were also included as enemies in Yoshi's Safari. They then appeared in Super Mario 64 at the Hazy Maze Cave and Tall Tall Mountain areas, where they attacked Mario by tossing rocks from a distance. In Super Mario Sunshine, two Monty Moles appeared operating cannons by Pinna Park and Noki Bay. These cannons shot out Bullet Bills, and the moles also tossed Bob-ombs at Mario when he got near. They were ultimately beaten by throwing the Bob-ombs back at them.

Only one Monty Mole appeared in New Super Mario Bros. as a boss operating a tank, known as the Monty Tank. The species has since made return appearances in Yoshi Touch & Go, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U, where they reprise their traditional behavior of jumping out of the ground and walls to attack opponents. Monty Moles also very scarcely appear in several levels of Super Mario 3D Land, where they are found in network of caves. A larger version called Morty Mole also appeared, which takes two stomps to defeat, with the first stomp simply making one shorter. The classic versions of Monty Mole were included as enemies in Yoshi's Woolly World and Yoshi's Crafted World, with the former game including a Monty Mole boss named Big Montgomery and the latter including Big Monty Moles as occasional background enemies. Monty Moles and their larger counterparts also appeared in Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2 as enemies that could be added to courses. In the first game, a Rocky Wrench had to be shaken to make it into a Monty Mole, but they were then present as separate entities in the second game.

They have also appeared in several of the RPG games. In Paper Mario, they appeared as enemies in Mt. Rugged, and a stronger green version was present at Flower Fields. They attacked primarily by throwing rocks. Several friendly Monty Moles appeared in hidden areas of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and gave the brothers items when discovered. Monty Moles were shown to live in the Gritzy Desert in the past in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, where some of them subjected the brothers to minigame challenges while others ran an item shop.

Four Monty Moles known as the Monty Bros. also appeared in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and claimed to be using a drill to build a tunnel for Bowser. It later turned out that they had defected to Fawful and were actually building the tunnel for the Fawful Express. They tried to attack Bowser with the train, but this caused Bowser to transform into a giant and battle the Fawful Express in a boss battle. Bowser was ultimately able to destroy the train, defeating the moles. In Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Monty Moles appeared as enemies during the Battle Ring battle with Bowser Jr., where they appeared to repair his Junior Clown Car whenever it exploded. They also appeared as normal enemies in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

In Dr. Mario World, Monty Mole appeared as an assistant character that could be unlocked at random through the game's Staffing feature.

Sports Appearances

Monty Moles have made occasional appearances in sports games, but they have not often participated in the sport. Monty Moles have sometimes appeared as obstacles, such as at the Moo Moo Farm course of Mario Kart 64. One was also the subject of a challenge in Mario Golf: Advance Tour.

• Kart Racing: Monty Mole appeared as a playable racer in Mario Kart Tour, where it could be unlocked through the game's gacha system. It was only available during certain tours, starting with the Flower Tour in May 2020.
• Baseball: Monty Mole appears as an unlockable character in Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Super Sluggers.
• Soccer: They appeared as sidekick characters in Mario Strikers Charged.

Monty Moles have also made appearances in several of the Mario Party games, primarily in minigames in Mario Party 7 and Mario Party 8. A Monty Mole character also appeared in Mario Party DS where he sought help breaking his losing streak at the Scratch 'Em minigame. Monty Moles were also shown as shopkeepers in Mario Party DS. Mega Monty Mole has also appeared as a boss in Mario Party 10 and Mario Party: Star Rush. Monty Mole was later included in Super Mario Party as a playable character.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• They were included as enemies in Hotel Mario. In this game, they became dizzy if they ran into walls.

Other Media

• Monty Moles were featured in one episode of the Super Mario World cartoon series, where they were known as Gophers and worked for Cheatsy Koopa in a scheme to steal all of Dome City's crops, until Mario and his friends defeated them.
• They appeared among Bowser's forces in the Super Mario Adventures comic.

Canceled Appearances

• Enemy data for Monty Mole was found within both Super Paper Mario and Paper Mario: Sticker Star, indicating that they were cut from the final versions of both games. An early screenshot for the latter game also showed what appeared to be a Monty Mole-like boss, who was large, purple and wore a crown.

Trivia

• Its Japanese name, Choropuu, is derived from the "chorochoro" (a Japanese onomatopoeia for darting around) combined with "Puu" (the Japanese name for Rocky Wrench, which refers to a tooting or honking sound).
• A creature resembling Monty Mole is pictured on the cover of NES Open Tournament Golf, although it is absent from the actual game.
• In the Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Advance remakes of Super Mario Bros. 3, the king of Ice Land was turned into a Monty Mole.
• They are not the only mole creatures in the Mario games, as they are preceded by Rocky Wrenches, with their Japanese names and the first Super Mario Maker implying that the two species are related. Super Mario RPG also featured a friendly Mole species.