Bombette

Bombette as seen in Paper Mario
Bombette
Species	Bob-omb
Hair color	Blonde
Debut	Paper Mario

Bombette is a Bob-omb who was featured as a playable partner character in Paper Mario.

Background

Bombette was a pink Bob-omb who originally worked in the Koopa Bros. Fortress. She had a bold and headstrong nature, although in some cases it could make her overlook the obvious. Bombette was initially content with her work in the fortress, until the Koopa Bros. started to unfairly work them harder, due to the influence of Bowser and Kammy Koopa. Bombette blew up next to one of them in protest, which resulted in her and most of the other bob-ombs being locked up in the fort's dungeon. She vented her frustration by continually exploding by one wall, without realizing that she was weakening.

In Chapter 1 of Paper Mario, Mario and his partners eventually were dropped into the same dungeon. They agreed to help each other to escape and get back at the Koopa Bros. It was then that she realized that she could have escaped at any time, as she was able to destroy the wall that she had weakened earlier. She helped Mario to defeat the Koopa Bros. and decided to remain as one of Mario's partners for the remainder of his adventure.

In Chapter 7 of the game, she dealt with Duplighosts attempting to impersonate her at the Crystal Palace. The first instance was an obvious case in which two Duplighosts imitated Mario and Bombette's reflections. Later on, a group of four Duplighosts took on her form in an attempt to confuse Mario. Mario correctly attacked the imposters, who all had different speaking quirks. Bombette thanked Mario for making the right choice and warned him that she would have bombed him while he was napping if he had hit her with his hammer. She also thanked him with a peck on the cheek.

After Bowser was defeated, the party went their separate ways. Bombette was seen near Kooper's house at the Koopa Village when Parakarry was delivering invitations for the celebration held at Princess Peach's Castle, although her exact living situation was not clarified. Bombette attended the festivity, and she also was known to have received a job offer breaking boulders for the Dry Dry Railroad.

Abilities

A rock crumbles under Bombette's Bomb attack.

Outside of battle, Bombette can be used to blow up various walls and rocks that bear cracks in them. Her explosive power can also be used for a preemptive first attack against enemies or for a delayed switch press.

In battle, Bombette has the following attacks:

• Body Slam - Bombette walks up to the front enemy on the ground, then rams into it.
• Bomb - For 3 FP, Bombette will explode next to the front enemy on the ground, causing significant damage.
• Power Bomb - For 6 FP, Bombette will cause an explosion that hits all ground-based enemies for significant damage.
• Mega Bomb - For 8 FP, Bombette will hit every enemy in battle with an explosion, causing significant damage.

Trivia

• Her name is a simple combination of "Bomb", with "-ette", which is a suffix that is often used for female names. Her Japanese name is simply "Pinky", in reference to her color.
• When exploding, Bombette seems to only trigger an explosion and jump out of the way instead of exploding herself, which explains why she always regenerates.
• Bombette's pink coloration is a reference to the Bob-omb Buddies that assisted Mario in Super Mario 64, who were also pink.
• Over the course of the game, Bombette receives two love letters from her admirer, a bob-omb named Bruce and a letter from a the Dry Dry Railroad.
• An updated sprite of Bombette was found in the data for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, indicating that she was intended to make a cameo appearance in the game at some point in its development, much like Parakarry and Bow ultimately did.
• In Super Paper Mario, Bombette is seen in a group picture of all the partners from Paper Mario that is on display in Mario's house, and she also has a Catch Card that is found on on the fortieth floor of the Flopside Pit of 100 Trials. It can be sold for 350 coins.
  • #243 "Bombette was Paper Mario's bombastic starlet. Who knew a pink Bob-omb could pack such a punch?"