Never Poke a Podoboo (original) (raw)

If you were the kind of person who immediately threw away your video game instruction booklets, I would say you missed out. Then again, maybe you only did if you’re someone like me who finds researching games a lot less stressful than actually playing them. It was in an instruction booklet, for instance, that I think most of us learned that Birdo was a transsexual. Not quite so odd but somewhat puzzling to me the first time I saw it was the description of a Podoboo in the manual for the original Super Mario Bros. As duplicated here, the description was “Protector of the great sorcerer Koopa king, he comes flying out of the lake of fire inside the Koopa king’s castle.” Makes a Podoboo sound pretty impressive for what it really is, which is a magma bubble that pops out of pits. This game doesn’t even really give any reason why a Podoboo should be alive, so even though I suppose they DO guard the great sorcerer Koopa king, it isn’t out of any kind of loyalty but simply heat. Also, the name “Podoboo,” which sounds like a Pokémon or something? The Japanese name is “Baburu,” which apparently just means “bubble.” So that weird name is basically just a poor transliteration of a pretty bare-bones description (although, of course, Podoboos don’t have any bones). In fact, some games just call them “Lava Bubbles.” In Super Mario World, however, they were given eyes, suggesting that they are indeed living beings. Granted, they still don’t have much of a range of movement, but neither do Thwomps. Or Red Koopa Troopas, for that matter. They resemble some other fiery enemies, like Li’l Sparkies and Hot Feet, but are presumably made of magma rather than pure flame. I couldn’t tell you how magma came to life, but then, this is a world with smiling clouds and an angry sun that comes out of the sky. I don’t think it’s necessary to be made of organic material to have life in the Mushroom World.

Picture by Pyro-Sith

This entry was posted in Mario, Video Games and tagged baburu, birdo, hot feet, lava bubbles, li'l sparkies, magma, monsters, podoboos, super mario bros., super mario world, thwomps. Bookmark the permalink.