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Character fact sheetName: Boom Boom (ブンブン, Bunbun in Japanese) First Appearance: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1988) Home: Bowser’s Mushroom Kingdom airships / mid-castles Voiced by: Toru Asakawa (Japanese, 2011–present), wordless grunts in earlier appearances Associates: Pom Pom (female counterpart / partner), Bowser, the Koopa Troop airship crew, Boom Boom Brigade |
General profile
Boom Boom, known in Japan as Bunbun (ブンブン), is one of the most recognisable recurring mini-bosses in the Mario series. Introduced in 1988’s Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Boom Boom is a stocky, orange-skinned Koopa creature with a distinctive spiny shell on his back, comically long arms, white-gloved hands, and a habit of spinning around in furious circles when attacked. His visual silhouette — chubby body, oversized fists, spinning attack animation — has remained essentially unchanged across his entire 35-year career and makes him one of the most immediately recognisable mid-level antagonists in the franchise.
Boom Boom’s defining role across his career is as the recurring mid-fortress mini-boss in Mario series platformers. In Super Mario Bros. 3 he is fought at the end of mid-world fortresses, where Mario must defeat him to access the world’s star coin. After a long absence from mainline games — he did not appear in Super Mario World, Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, or Super Mario Galaxy — Boom Boom was revived for the modern Mario era in Super Mario 3D Land (2011) and has since become a permanent fixture of the modern 2D and 3D Mario platformer roster.
Boom Boom’s most significant character development came in Super Mario 3D Land (3DS, 2011) with the introduction of Pom Pom — a female counterpart character given to him as a partner / sister figure. The two characters are typically depicted as a working duo in subsequent games, with Pom Pom serving as Boom Boom’s "female partner" in the Boom Boom Brigade. In some games they are explicitly siblings; in others (notably Super Mario 3D World) their relationship is portrayed as more romantic. Nintendo has not formally canonised the exact nature of their relationship.
Quotes
Enemies
Boom Boom’s primary enemies are Mario and Luigi, against whom he has fought in nearly every major Mario series platformer since 1988. He serves Bowser’s broader villainous coalition and operates as a recurring mid-fortress / mid-airship antagonist. He has had memorable boss fights in Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 3D Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Super Mario 3D World, and Super Mario Maker 2. He also opposes Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Toad, and the wider Mushroom Kingdom heroic cast.
Friends
Boom Boom’s closest companion is Pom Pom, his female counterpart introduced in Super Mario 3D Land (2011). The two characters are typically depicted as the Boom Boom Brigade duo, working together as Bowser’s mid-fortress lieutenants. He is allied to Bowser’s broader Koopa Troop coalition, working alongside the Koopalings, Bowser Jr., King Boo, Petey Piranha, and the wider villain cast. His relationship with Pom Pom has been characterised by Nintendo across multiple games as "partner," with the precise nature — sibling, romantic, professional — deliberately left ambiguous.
Appearances
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1988)
Boom Boom debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (October 1988, Japan; February 1990, Western markets). He serves as the recurring mid-world fortress boss — fought at the end of the middle fortress level of each of the game’s eight worlds. The character was designed by Nintendo R&D4 as a more substantial replacement for the simpler "mini-boss" entities of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2. His distinctive spiny shell and oversized arms made him immediately recognisable. Super Mario Bros. 3 sold approximately 17.3 million copies and is one of the best-selling NES games of all time.
Long absence from mainline Mario games (1990–2011)
Boom Boom did not appear in any mainline Mario platformer from Super Mario World (1990) through the launch of Super Mario 3D Land in 2011 — a 21-year gap. The character’s absence was the longest of any major Super Mario Bros. 3 antagonist. He did, however, appear in the 1989–1990 animated series The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and in the 1993 Japanese-only release Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic-adjacent supplementary material.
Super Mario 3D Land (3DS, 2011)
Boom Boom returned to the Mario series in Super Mario 3D Land for Nintendo 3DS (November 2011), ending his 21-year absence from mainline games. He serves as one of the game’s recurring sub-bosses across multiple worlds. 3D Land also introduced Pom Pom — Boom Boom’s female counterpart character — as a separate but visually-similar antagonist. The two characters have been a paired duo in subsequent Mario series entries.
New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U, 2012)
Boom Boom features in New Super Mario Bros. U for Wii U (November 2012) as one of the game’s recurring mid-fortress bosses. He is fought at the end of mid-world fortresses across the game’s 9-world campaign. The Switch port New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (January 2019) retains his role unchanged.
Super Mario 3D World (Wii U, 2013) / Bowser’s Fury (Switch, 2021)
Boom Boom returns in Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (November 2013) as a recurring sub-boss alongside Pom Pom. The Switch port Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury (February 2021) added the Bowser’s Fury expansion in which Boom Boom appears as a Cat-themed variant — "Cat Boom Boom" — with a feline-styled redesign. The Cat Boom Boom variant gives him a tail and cat-eared hair tufts.
Super Mario Maker 2 (Switch, 2019)
Boom Boom appears as a placeable enemy in Super Mario Maker 2 for Nintendo Switch (June 2019), available in all four of the game’s level-design themes (Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and New Super Mario Bros. U styles). His inclusion makes him one of the few Mario series enemies to be placeable across all four level themes.
Mario & Sonic / Mario Kart Tour and other Cameos
Boom Boom features in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Switch, 2019) as a hidden character available through completion of the game’s Story Mode. He has appeared in Mario Kart Tour (2019–2025) as a recurring driver in the game’s Boom Boom Tour event. He cameos in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS, 2015) and Paper Mario: The Origami King (Switch, 2020) in supporting roles.
Trivia & Official Sources
- Boom Boom was designed by Nintendo R&D4 for Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) as a recurring mid-world fortress boss. His name was given by the same team and refers to his explosive, percussion-like spinning attack animation.
- The Japanese name Bunbun (ブンブン) is an onomatopoeic representation of a spinning sound — the "buzz-buzz" of his rotating attack. The Western name "Boom Boom" preserves the percussion-based naming convention.
- Boom Boom holds the record for the longest absence between mainline Mario series appearances of any major character: 21 years between Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and Super Mario 3D Land (2011). His revival was widely celebrated by fans.
- Pom Pom — Boom Boom’s female counterpart — was introduced in Super Mario 3D Land (2011) and has been a recurring partner character ever since. Nintendo has never formally canonised the exact nature of their relationship (sibling vs. romantic vs. professional), leaving fans to interpret the partnership.
- The Pix’n Love Encyclopedia Super Mario Bros. (2018) describes Boom Boom as "a recurring mid-fortress mini-boss of the Koopa Troop, distinguished by his spiny shell and oversized arms."
- Toru Asakawa has voiced Boom Boom in Japanese since 2011’s Super Mario 3D Land. The character has no English voice actor of record; his English vocalizations are wordless grunts and roars provided by various Nintendo studio staff.
- Boom Boom’s defining attack animation — spinning rapidly in a circle while moving toward Mario — has been preserved with minor variations across every appearance since 1988. The animation has become his signature visual identifier.
- The character was originally an unnamed mid-boss in Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988); the "Boom Boom" name was canonised in Nintendo of America promotional materials for the game and later adopted in Japanese material as well.
- Boom Boom features as a default playable character in Mario Kart Tour (2019–2025), where he was added in the Boom Boom Tour event in 2021. He is classified as a Medium-class racer with strong off-road traction.
- The Cat Boom Boom variant from Bowser’s Fury (2021) gives Boom Boom a feline-styled redesign with tail, cat ears, and Cat Suit-themed colouration. This is the only redesign in Boom Boom’s entire 35-year career to substantially alter his standard appearance.
- Boom Boom amiibo figures have not been released as a standalone product. He has been included in promotional artwork for Mario series amiibo waves but has not received his own figure as of late 2025.
- In the The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 animated series (1989–1990), Boom Boom appears as a recurring Koopa Troop antagonist alongside the Koopalings. The animated series gave him significantly more dialogue and character development than the 1988 game.
- The character’s spiny shell is officially classified by Nintendo as a Koopa-species shell rather than a separate species feature. He is broadly considered a member of the Koopa species, though his specific subspecies designation has never been canonically established.
- Boom Boom has appeared in over 15 Mario series games across his 35-year career. His revival from a 21-year mainline absence has made him a notable example of Nintendo’s "deep-cut character revival" strategy in the modern era.
- The character has been confirmed by Illumination to appear in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 2026) as part of the Koopa Troop’s mid-tier villain roster. His film vocalizations were performed by Nintendo studio sound designers based on the 1988 NES game’s audio templates.
- Boom Boom’s in-game defeat sequence — collapsing forward with his arms spinning helplessly — has been preserved across every appearance since 1988 as a deliberate visual signature.