Pom Pom
| |
| Boom Boom and Pom Pom in Super Mario 3D Land. | |
| Pom Pom | |
| Species | Koopa |
| Hair color | Blonde |
| Eye color | Red |
| Voiced by | Lani Minella |
| Debut | Super Mario 3D Land |
Pom Pom is a recurring Koopa miniboss from the Super Mario and the female counterpart of Boom Boom who was introduced in Super Mario 3D Land.
Background
Little is known about Pom Pom, although like Boom Boom, it is uncertain whether she is one individual or another subspecies of Koopa, and she can be assumed to be a loyal servant of Bowser. Pom Pom is nearly completely pink and has a smooth, spotted shell, as well as a blonde ponytail. She attacks by throwing boomerangs (which are adorned with ribbons) and will usually jump to another part of the room after releasing three or so boomerangs. Like Boom Boom, she is vulnerable to being jumped on, and after being hit, she will temporarily withdraw into her shell to attack. While in her shell, Pom Pom jumps into the air and tries to pound down on Mario or Luigi. There are no variations in her attacks, and the only change between battles consist of different hazards in the room.
Within Super Mario 3D Land, she was the boss of several airship levels. Her airships were usually pink in color. She was the boss of the airships in the fourth and sixth worlds. In the seventh world, Pom Pom appeared with Boom Boom as the airship's dual boss. In the Special Worlds, Pom Pom made a surprise appearance near the end of the fourth world's airship. She was found outside the airship following a battle with Boom Boom and was battled on a series of small wooden platforms connected by donut platforms. Boom Boom and Pom Pom also appeared together as a dual boss partway into S8-Crown.
Pom Pom reappeared in Super Mario 3D World, where she was faced as the boss of World 3, and she was also battled in World Bowser's The Bowser Express and World Flower's Boss Blitz. In this game, she was shown to be smaller than Boom Boom and wielded shuriken instead of boomerangs. She also showed the ability to produce clones of herself to aid her in battle, but otherwise she was battled in a similar manner as the previous game. During the game's end credits, Pom Pom was seen comforting Boom Boom.
She also appeared in Super Mario Maker 2 as one of the enemies that could be placed in levels. She was only available in the game's Super Mario 3D World style, which was a 2-D version of the game's style. Despite the style's shift, she still attacked by throwing shuriken and produced clones of herself in battle. In Dr. Mario World, Pom Pom was one of the assistant characters who could be unlocked at random through the Staffing feature. In Stage Mode, her ability was a 40% chance of clearing one virus at the start of a stage, while her Versus Mode ability had the same chance of clearing a virus when the player was about to lose.
Sports
In the 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Pom Pom was briefly playable as a goalie for the football event, marking her first playable appearance. Pom Pom and Boom Boom were also playable in Mario Sports Superstars, within the soccer (as a goalie) and baseball parts of the game.
Pom Pom also appeared as a playable character in Super Mario Party, where she was unlocked by completing Salty Sea, the fifth world of Challenge Road. This marked her first playable appearance without Boom Boom (who only made a cameo appearance in a minigame) and her first speaking appearance.
Other Appearances
Video Games
- in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pom Pom and Boom Boom appear together as a singular Primary Spirit that is an enhanced form of Boom Boom's original Spirit. In addition to enhancing the player character's strength, the Spirit also enables Hyper Smash Attacks.
Trivia
- She is possibly named after the pom poms that cheerleaders use as accessories; however, her name is spelled "Punpun" in Japanese, which is a word used to describe a state of being furious as well as an intense smell.