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Swooper (Galaxy)

A Swooper from Super Mario Galaxy.

Swoopers, (also called Swoops for short), are vampire bats that first appeared in Super Mario World and since then, Swoopers have become recurring enemies, appearing in several other games, including main-stream and spin-off ones. They typically hang idly on the ceiling, waiting for the player's character to come near, at which point they fall and fly towards the player, hurting Mario and friends on contact.

History[]

Super Mario series[]

Super Mario World[]

In Super Mario World, Swoopers hang from the ceilings of caves upside down, waiting for Mario or Luigi to approach. When they come near, the Swoopers fly down and try to hurt Mario or Luigi. They can easily be defeated by with a stomp. They first appear in Donut Plains 2, though they are mainly found in Vanilla Dome.

This is the only game in which Swoopers are green. An unused variant exists that is the traditional blue color; it acts like the Boo clouds found in some Ghost Houses. However, the blue Swoopers have a glitchy animation.

Super Mario 64/Super Mario 64 DS[]

Swoopers also appear in Super Mario 64 and its DS remake. Found only in Hazy Maze Cave, these Swoopers are recolored from green with reddish-brown wings to entirely blue with a darker shade of blue on the top half of the wings. Like in Super Mario World, they hang still on the ceiling waiting for Mario to come, then fall off the ceiling and flutter in place briefly before dashing towards its victim. In the original, they had pointed mouse-like faces with large rhombus-shaped ears and a visible tooth, as well as no feet; the remake featured the modern design, based off of the artwork for Super Mario World and the sprites for Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.

New Super Mario Bros.[]

Like in Super Mario 64, they hang on the ceiling waiting to attack. One appears in World 2-3, whereas the other twelve appear in World 5-2. They are blue and have purple wings. Their design in this game is extremely similar to their design in Paper Mario.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii[]

Swoopers appear in caves in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. They look just like their New Super Mario Bros. counterparts, and behave exactly the same. They appear in World 5-2, World 6-2 and World 6-6.

New Super Mario Bros. 2[]

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, Swoopers appear in World 5-Ghost House and in the third level of the Coin Challenge Pack B, behaving exactly as they did in the previous games.

New Super Mario Bros. U[]

Swoopers reappear in New Super Mario Bros. U, behaving exactly as they did in the previous New Super Mario Bros. games. Their eyes also glow in the dark. They only appear in three levels: Perilous Pokey Cave, Light Blocks, Dark Tower, and Shifting Floor Cave.

Super Mario Run[]

Swoopers return in Super Mario Run, behaving exactly the same as in the previous titles. Their first appearance is in Treasure-Hoarding Swoops.

Nintendo Adventure Books[]

A trio of Swoopers appear in Dinosaur Dilemma, living in the upper floor of an abandoned mansion. Upon spotting Mario, they attack him by dropping Koopa Shells. Depending on which page the reader chooses to turn to, Mario either avoids the Swoopers and hides until they grow bored and leave, or one of their shells connects and knocks him out for several hours, allowing Bowser to conquer Dinosaur Island.

Paper Mario series[]

Paper Mario[]

Swoopers made their first appearance in the Paper Mario series in Paper Mario. They are found inside the Dry Dry Ruins, where they are either constantly flying or hanging on the ceiling. When they are hanging from the ceiling, Mario cannot reach them using a regular jump attack, and must instead use the Quake Hammer, Skolar's attack, an item, or one of his partners (such as Parakarry) to knock them off from the ceiling. They attack by simply swooping down and physically ramming their opponent. A stronger version of Swoopers exists, called Swoopulas.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door[]

Swoopers also appeared uncommonly in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Four Swoopers led by Sir Swoop make up the Glitz Pit team Wings of Night who appear during Chapter 3 to serve as a brief replacement for the KP Koopas after King K. "retires".

Later on, in Chapter 4, Swoopers can be found in outside areas of Creepy Steeple. They attack like they did in Paper Mario. Additionally, Swoopulas return, and the Swampires also debut, which are even stronger than a Swoopula.

Super Paper Mario[]

Swoopers also re-appeared in Super Paper Mario. They are only found in Chapter 2 (Gloam Valley and Merlee's Mansion). Swoopers can be found in Gloam Valley in a secret area via using the flip and falling into a 3D-accessible hole near the Star Block. Their Catch Card can be found here, along with the Shlurps' Catch Card. Swoopers are also found in the line-of-coins trap in Merlee's Mansion as well as a room in Merlee's basement. They always appear in groups of two, making up a total of six that appear in the game.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star[]

Swoopers re-appear in Paper Mario: Sticker Star, for the Nintendo 3DS. They appear in the first section of Drybake Desert, inside the Yoshi Sphinx, and during Sandshifter Ruins. Despite how many enemies were redesigned in this game to look like their mainstream appearances, Swoopers were kept purple for unknown reasons. In battle, they are always in mid-air and never hang from the ceiling but they are not common in fact they are a little rare and four of them only appear outside battle. They attack by swooping down at Mario. Swoopers also make an appearance in the final battle, where they are summoned by Bowser. Swoopers also assist Paragoombas, Paratroopas, and Spikes. They are called Swoops in the European version of this game.

Paper Mario: Color Splash[]

Swoopers return in Paper Mario: Color Splash, keeping their appearance and attack from the previous game, though their sprites lack the color gradients and the shading, the latter now being rather applied at the 3D models. They are found in Indigo Underground and Vortex Island. They can also assist the Big Spiny in the Kiwano Temple in battle.

Mario Kart series[]

Mario Kart DS[]

Swoopers appear first in Mario Kart DS, in the track Banshee Boardwalk, a retro course that first appeared in Mario Kart 64. Swoopers, appearing in place of the original course's bats, fly in large flocks in the opposite direction of the racers. Though they are not a real hazard, Swoopers can get in the way of any incoming karts, slowing them down. Unlike the bats in the original, Swoopers appear in the course's time trial mode.

Mario Kart Wii[]

Swoopers also appear in Mario Kart Wii and act in the same way as in Mario Kart DS. They only appear in the courses Wario's Gold Mine and Dry Dry Ruins. Additionally, players can wipe out these bats by using certain items such as Shells, or under the power of a Star.

Mario Kart 7[]

Swoopers reappear in Mario Kart 7 in the course Rock Rock Mountain. They behave the same way as in previous titles slowing down racers. There is also a glider that looks like a Swooper and is also named after it.

Mario Kart 8/Mario Kart 8 Deluxe[]

Swoopers appear as obstacles in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe during the cave portion of Mount Wario, N64 Yoshi Valley, and Wii Wario's Gold Mine. In Hyrule Circuit, Swoopers are replaced with Keese to fit with the theme of the course.

Mario Kart Tour[]

Swoopers appear once again in Mario Kart Tour as obstacles in 3DS Rock Rock Mountain and Tokyo Blur R/T, behaving the same way as they did in previous titles.

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis[]

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, Swoopers do not appear on the ceiling, but instead flying around. They only appear in a boss fight against Donkey Kong, trying to attack the Mini Marios. The Swoopers' artwork can be seen during the credits.

Mario Party series[]

Mario Party 8[]

Swoopers make their first appearance in the Mario Party series as a cameo in Mario Party 8: they appear on the wrapper of the Vampire Candy. The Swoopers appearing on the wrapper are blue, making them look like the Super Mario 64 and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2 versions of Swoopers.

Mario Party 9[]

Swoopers also have a minor appearance in Mario Party 9, flying around Boo's Horror Castle board. In the minigame Chain Event, several Swoopers can be seen in the background as the player slides down the chain. It also appears as a constellation in the Museum.

Mario Party: Island Tour[]

Swoopers appear in Mario Party: Island Tour on the Star-Crossed Skyway board. In the first and third stages, it gives out two Mini Stars. They also appear in the minigames Match Faker and Tap Dash.

Mario Party 10[]

Swoopers appear again in Mario Party 10 in multiple minigames. They appear in the minigame Pipe Sniper, and grant five points if hit.

Mario & Luigi series[]

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam[]

While regular Swoopers are not present in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Paper Swoopers appear as enemies in the Twinsy Tropics Dungeon.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey[]

Although they are absent from the original game, Swoopers appear in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode as enemies and allies, thus marking the first appearence of regular Swoopers in the Mario & Luigi series. They are flying troopers, and attack by charging into enemies. They are strong against Shroobs and Fawfulcopters. Their special skill is Discord which can lower enemy DEF.


Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • In some appearances Swooper bears a resemblance to Zubat, a species of Pokémon.
  • In the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack in Minecraft, Bats are replaced by Swoopers.
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