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 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 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, 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. They are unusually large and merely walk back and forth. They will take two stomps to defeat, with the first stomp simply making one shorter.

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.

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.

• 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.

Other Appearances

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.

Trivia

• 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. Super Mario RPG also featured a friendly Mole species.