Goomba
Goombas are enemies from the Super Mario series.
Appearance
Goombas are brown mushroom-like enemies. Unlike Toads, their face lies on their cap. These faces have wide eyes, large eyebrows and scowling mouths with fanged teeth. They have short beige bodies without any arms, and dark brown feet with light soles.
History
Goombas were introduced in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Koopa Troopas were originally used to fill the role of the most basic enemy, but their shell mechanic made it hard for a lot of new players to kill them without dying as well. With the lack of storage space on the cartridge, Goombas were designed with this in mind. Their sprite was a variation on the Super Mushroom with a few edits, and could easily be flipped to replicate the appearance of the enemy walking. They are the easiest enemy in the game to beat, not putting up a fight and being easily defeated with a single stomp.
Goombas reprised their role in Super Mario Bros. 3 alongside new variants Paragoombas, Micro-Goombas and Shoe Goombas before being replaced by Galoombas in Super Mario World.
In Super Mario 64 and all subsequent 3D games, Goombas had a change in their behavior, this time running straight at Mario upon spotting him to account for the 3D space.
Goombas returned in the New Super Mario Bros. series, reprising their role in 2D games. They have also made appearances in Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario 3D World, the latter two introducing variants based on the Tanooki and Cat Suit power-ups, as well as Goomba Towers made out of multiple stacked Goombas.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Goombas can be captured and controlled by Mario. Mario is able to use Goombas to traverse ice, as they are immune to slipping on ice. They can also stack on top of other Goombas to form controllable Goomba Towers.
Goombas have appeared in numerous spinoffs, being playable in Super Mario Sluggers and Super Mario Party. Goombario and Goombella from the Paper Mario series are notable Goombas, especially due to being on Mario's side unlike most others.
Legacy
Goombas have been a trope namer numerous other "basic" enemies that require little effort to beat, such as Waddle Dees from Kirby, Slimes from Dragon Quest and Metools from Mega Man.
The archetype has been the subject of lots of parodies, one of them being the character of Jethro from the Cartoon Network series OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, a simply designed robot incapable of any attacks besides basic movement.