Porcupuffer

Porcupuffer
A Porcu-Puffer as seen in New Super Mario Bros. U.
First appearance	Super Mario World (1990)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Species origin	Cheep-Cheep

Porcu-Puffers (also called Porcupuffers) are a species of Cheep-Cheeps that first debuted in Super Mario World. They resemble giant blue-purple Cheep-Cheeps with big red lips and blue spikes all over their back. Their name is a portmanteau of "porcupine" and "puffer fish".

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario World

Porcu-Puffers appear in Super Mario World, where they follow Mario and Luigi in the water. The Mario Bros. can perform the Spin Jump on them to "ride" them, or use Yoshi. They appear in three levels, the secret level on top of the Vanilla Dome, and a secret area in the Cookie Mountain level. They also appear in a hidden area from Chocolate Island 1.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

A Hungry Porcu-Puffer

After a long hiatus, Porcu-Puffers are featured again in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, they attack exactly the same as the Spike Bass in the predecessor, lying near the surface to pursue the plumber and his party or even leaping from the water to attack. Porcu-Puffers serve as obstacles for World 4, and they appear again in World 6 in level 6-5 and later in World 9 in level 9-2. They can only be defeated with a fireball, star or koopa shell. They can also be frozen, but they crack out almost instantly, much like a Spiny Cheep-Cheep. In most cases, and not in the obstacle course, Porcu-Puffers come infinitely, but still one by one, to the player. For example, if a Porcu-Puffers is defeated by the player, another one will come to take its place several seconds later.

Super Mario 3D Land

Porcu-Puffers later appear in Super Mario 3D Land, inhabiting underwater and beach levels. They retain their appearance from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In World 6-1, Porcu-Puffers jump out of waterfalls, attempting to hurt Mario, and may even break some portions of the bridge he uses to reach the end of the level.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

Porcu-Puffers reappear in New Super Mario Bros. 2 , acting the same as they did in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here they appear in World Flower-2 and World Star-2. They also appear in stage one of the Impossible Pack downloadable content.

New Super Mario Bros. U

Porcu-Puffers once again appear in New Super Mario Bros. U, behaving the same way as in its predecessors. They only appear in Porcupuffer Falls in Rock-Candy Mines.

In New Super Luigi U, they appear in Porcu-Puffer Cavern in Rock-Candy Mines.

Super Mario 3D World

Porcu-Puffers return in Super Mario 3D World with the same role as in Super Mario 3D Land however this time, they are also slightly faster.

Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

Porcu-Puffers also appear in Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the Dream Rafting event, the second task a team is required to do is defeat some Porcu-Puffers. To defeat these Porcu-Puffers, the participants must Ground Pound the raft at the same time when they're beneath it. They also appear during the Highway Tally game in London Party mode.

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

A similar species called Puffer-Cheeps appear in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Mario Kart Arcade GP

Main article: Needle Bomb

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	トゲプク togepuku	Toge means "thorn" and Puku comes from pukupuku, Japanese name for Cheep-Cheep)
French	Porc Kipic Pik Cheep (Super Mario Galaxy 2)	Distortion of the word Porc-épic meaning "Porcupine"
Italian	Pesce Spino	Spike Fish
Spanish (Europe)	Porcu-Puffer	Porcupuffer