Bugaboom

Bugaboom is a minor antagonist and boss from Super Mario Galaxy as well as its sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2. He is the oppressive and tyrannical leader of the Mandibug clan: a race of large stag beetle-like insect aliens, as well as the archenemy of the Honey Queen.

Appearance

As fitting for his supreme ruler status, Bugaboom is an extraordinarily large Mandibug, about 15 to 20 times as Mario/Luigi ’s size, as seen when they meet in the opening cutscene. Although he’s presumably the pinnacle of physicality for his species, his general anatomical features differ very much from them. His design portrays him as a green stag beetle with longer legs and there are also wings on his back for flight. His belly has a slot that lets him drop bombs and is only used during his second and third phases.

Biography

Super Mario Galaxy

As Honey Queen suggests, Bugaboom and the Mandibug clan are neighbors of the Honeybees who love to cause trouble in the Honeyhive Galaxy. In the mission "Big Bad Bugaboom," Bugaboom and his minions invaded the Honeyhive Galaxy.

In Super Mario Galaxy, Bugaboom is fought on a terrain planet with two moons that Mario/Luigi starts on (they needs the Bee Mushroom to make their way to the planet itself.) several Banandelions (flowers that Mario/Luigi can use to swing into the air) and a tree with honeycombs that Bee Mario/Bee Luigi can climb on in the middle to plan his attack. There is also a pool of water which will deactivate Mario/Luigi's Bee Suit if they touch it. Under the planet is a black hole which will draw in and kill Mario/Luigi if they fall off the planet, causing them to lose a life. When Mario/Luigi lands on the planet using the Bee Mushroom, Bugaboom jumps from the tree and lands on the ground ready to attack. First, Mario/Luigi has to jump on his backside and ground-pound him, then he will jump in the air and start flying around, forcing Mario/Luigi to use either the Banandelions or the Bee Suit to hit him, and when Mario/Luigi ground pounds him again, the boss will turn red, get angry, and start twisting around in the middle of his flight, so Mario/Luigi will have to time their ground pounds to when the boss isn't sideways. Bugaboom will also drop bombs in the middle of his flight. Once Mario/Luigi deals one more ground pound to the boss's backside, Bugaboom will fall to the ground, scream, and explode, making a Power Star appear.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Bugaboom makes an appearance in the level "Bugaboom's Back", reprising his boss role. He is a secret boss in Puzzle Plank Galaxy.

In order to defeat him, Mario/Luigi need to use a Cloud Flower create clouds to get high enough into the air and ground pound him three times like in Super Mario Galaxy. He will use the same attacks, but the Banandelions on his planet have been replaced with springboards and the honeycombs on the tree are no longer present. Once defeated, the boss blows up for a second and last time and then a Power Star appears again.

Gallery

Trivia

Bugaboom's name is a pun on the words "Bug-a-boo", a term which refers to monsters (generally minor ones from children's books), and "boom", referencing the bombs he drops from his bottom after Mario/Luigi make him angry into turning into his red form.
In Japan, Bugaboom does not seem to have an actual name, instead being referred to with a title, クワカブトキング (Mandibug King).

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