Bah
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The title of this article is conjectural; an official name for the article's subject has not been found, so it has been given a fitting title by the editors. If an official name is found that is not from the English Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia or the English Mario Portal, the article should be moved to the correct name.
Many musical tracks in the New Super Mario Bros. series incorporate a form of diegetic audio, mostly in the form of "bah" vocals. Interspersed within a level's music track, these sounds, when heard, cause objects and enemies on-screen to perform a brief action simultaneously.
History
Main appearances
New Super Mario Bros.
New Super Mario Bros. is the first game to have a function for the "bah" sound. In the main theme, underground theme, athletic theme, and underground theme, a "bah" sound plays which some enemies and objects will react to in their respective levels. A table summarizing entities' responses across different New Super Mario Bros. games can be found below.
In certain level types, "bah" vocals are superseded by other sounds with the same function: in New Super Mario Bros., the underwater music uses a brief tinkling effect for the same purpose.
 Overworld Theme - The overworld music. | File info 0:30 |
| Underground Theme - The underground music. | File info 0:30 |
| Athletic Theme - The athletic music. | File info 0:30 |
| Underwater Theme - The underwater music. | File info 0:30 |
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
While New Super Mario Bros. Wii uses new overworld, underground, and athletic themes, the "bah" sound reappears in these new versions, serving the same purpose. It also appears in the brand-new desert, beach, forest, snow, and lava overworld music, as well as the lava underground music. This game marks the start of enemies in tower levels reacting to the music, as the tower theme uses a percussive sound to the same effect as the "bah".
| Overworld theme | File info 0:30 |
| Underground Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Tower Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Underwater Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Athletic Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Desert Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Snow Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Beach Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Jungle Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Lava Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Lava Underground Theme | File info 0:30 |
New Super Mario Bros. 2
In New Super Mario Bros. 2, the "bah" sound reappears in the new ground theme and athletic theme, as well as the desert, beach, forest, snow, lava overworld, and lava underground music reused from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The tinkling sound also reappears in the underwater theme. Additionally, this game is the only game in the series to incorporate "bah" vocals in the music of Ghost House, tower and castle levels.
Accompanying the ground and athletic themes are additional "yah" sounds, which play alongside the melody in the overworld theme and instead of it in the athletic theme. As these songs are otherwise the same as their New Super Mario Bros. Wii counterparts, enemies and objects only react to the "bah"'s present in their original versions.
| Ground Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Underground Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Athletic Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Underwater Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Ghost House Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Tower Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Castle Theme | File info 0:30 |
New Super Mario Bros. U
In New Super Mario Bros. U and its port, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, the "bah" sounds reappear in the underground, desert, forest and snow overworld music from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Additionally, they are present in the new overworld and athletic themes. The tinkling sound appears again in the underwater theme. New Super Luigi U, an expansion to this game, simply reuses the music from New Super Mario Bros. U, so the same actions occur when the "bah" sound is played.
| Overworld Theme | File info 0:30 |
| Athletic Theme | File info 0:30 |
Super Mario Maker series
The Super Mario Maker games reuse the underground, underwater, desert, forest and snow overworld music from New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the overworld and athletic music from New Super Mario Bros. U. However, enemies in these games do not react to the music, so the "bah" sounds serve no functional purpose.
Other appearances
Some games feature "bah" sounds either less prominently or they are not directly grouped with the "bah" sounds in the New Super Mario Bros. series.
Super Mario 64
The "bah" sounds technically first appear in Super Mario 64 and then in Super Mario 64 DS. The song that plays immediately after entering a painting uses the "bah" sample to play the first six notes of the Ground Theme from Super Mario Bros. However, no entities react to these sounds, so their appearance has no effect on gameplay.
| Game Start | File info 0:03 |
Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
In Super Mario 3D World and its campaign in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury, a sound similar to the "bah" can be found interspersed within the track played in Sprawling Savanna and Sprawling Savanna Rabbit Run. However, it has no gameplay effect.
Table of reactions
The table below lists the reactions of various elements in the New Super Mario Bros. games to these sounds. Many of these reactions are aesthetic, but a few of them can have a small effect on gameplay.
| Enemy/character/object | Reaction | Game(s) where this applies |
|---|---|---|
| Blockhopper | Hops in the direction of Mario or Luigi if they are nearby. | New Super Mario Bros. |
| Blooper | Twirls. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Bob-omb | Performs a short hop. | New Super Mario Bros. 2 |
| Bone Goomba | Performs a short hop. | New Super Mario Bros. 2 |
| Bramball | Turns its head into an orange-like fruit. When hit from underneath in this state, Bramball will drop several coins instead of just one. | New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Buzzy Beetle | Performs a short hop. | New Super Mario Bros. New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Big Buzzy Beetle | New Super Mario Bros. U | |
| Cheep Cheepa | Twirls. | New Super Mario Bros. New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Big Cheep Cheep | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U | |
| Deep Cheep | Twirls (only when passive). | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Luigi U |
| Big Deep Cheep | ||
| Dry Bones | Rotates its head. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Big Dry Bones | ||
| Eep Cheep | Twirls. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Big Eep Cheep | New Super Luigi U | |
| Fish Bone | Twirls. | New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Flower | Swells up. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Goomba | Performs a short hop. | New Super Mario Bros. New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Jellybeam | Glows a little brighter. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii |
| Koopa Paratroopa | Does a short dance. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Koopa Troopa | Turns towards the camera. | New Super Mario Bros. |
| Stops and does a short dance. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U | |
| Lakitu's Cloud | Swells up. | New Super Mario Bros. 2 |
| Mouths to the "bah" vocals. | New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U | |
| Pokey | Turns its segments into orange-like fruit, enabling Yoshi or a Baby Yoshi to eat the Pokey in its entirety, with the former laying an egg with items inside after doing so. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Spiny | Hops and changes direction. | New Super Mario Bros. |
| Performs a short hop. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. 2 New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U | |
| Spiny Cheep Cheep | Twirls (only when passive). | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Urchin | Blows bubbles out of its mouth. | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
| Big Urchin | ||
| Yoshi | Turns his head towards the camera (only when unmounted). | New Super Mario Bros. Wii New Super Mario Bros. U New Super Luigi U |
Notes
a - Excluding the jumping variety
