Not to be confused withKoopa Troopa.

Shellcreeper
Artwork fromMario Bros.
First appearance	Mario Bros. (1983)
Latest appearance	WarioWare: Move It! (2023)
Variants Koopa
Relatives Koopa Troopa
Comparable Spiny

Shellcreepers, sometimes referred to as simplyturtles, are green-shelled turtles that first appeared in theMario Bros. arcade game. They are the first turtle enemies to appear in aSuper Mario game, making them the conceptual ancestors of theKoopas, which appeared two years later inSuper Mario Bros. It is also shown that Shellcreeperswear undershirts and shorts when outside of their shells. Several sources such as the trophy descriptions inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U indicate thatKoopa Troopas evolved from Shellcreepers. Early artwork tended to depict them with cyan or blue bodies and beaks the same color as their shells, though artwork after the original arcade game and its home ports typically depict Shellcreepers as visually indistinguishable from crawling Koopa Troopas.

Creation[edit]

Gunpei Yokoi stated he came up with the Shellcreeper after being inspired from watching a cartoon turtle remove its shell. He wanted to create an entire game that focused on removing shells from turtles. That concept eventually developed into theMario Bros. arcade game.^[1] However,Shigeru Miyamoto later stated that he came up with the idea of using turtles himself, and thatMario Bros. sound designerHirokazu Tanaka suggested making them pop out of their shells when hit.^[2] According to Miyamoto, the idea emerged when the developers needed to create an enemy that could survive a hit from below and eventually recover.^[3]

History[edit]

Mario Bros. series[edit]

Mario Bros.[edit]

Shellcreepers as they appear in the original game, NES version, and Atari 2600, 5200, and 7800 versions

Shellcreeper introduction screen in the arcade version

The Shellcreeper is the first enemy to appear inMario Bros. They are the only enemies to appear before the first bonus round. They walk out of thepipes at the top of the screen and walk towards the pipes at the bottom of the screen. The player must hit it from below through thefloor to flip it over and then run into it to defeat it. If the player does not run into it, the Shellcreeper jumps out of its shell (revealing that it wears a white shirt and shorts), flips its shell over, changes color from green to purple and continues moving faster than before. If it flips its shell again, it will turn red, its fastest state. If a Shellcreeper is the last target for the phase, it will automatically turn red. Unlike the similarKoopa Troopa, jumping on Shellcreeper will causeMario orLuigi to lose alife. Also, Shellcreepers can attack by biting Mario or Luigi with their teeth.

In the NES version, Shellcreepers lack an animation for changing shell colors, and the colors now go from green to red to pink, the last of which also has blue skin. Additionally, in the initial NES release they are smaller than in the original arcade version, though this is no longer the case in later editions.

Mario Bros. Special[edit]

InHudson Soft's 1984 sequel of sorts toMario Bros.,Mario Bros. Special, Shellcreepers make a return appearance as enemies, though this time they cannot be stunned by hitting them from below; instead, they can be stunned by jumping on a trampoline that they are on (second stage), jumping on a conveyor belt that they are on (third stage), or defeated instantly by jumping over or next to them and hitting a platform, though they will respawn if defeated this way. They do not change color or move faster after recovering from a stun.

Punch Ball Mario Bros.[edit]

Shellcreepers appear as an enemy yet again in Hudson Soft's semi sequel toMario Bros.,Punch Ball Mario Bros. The game is much closer to theMario Bros., and thus Shellcreepers play a much more similar role as they did in that game. The only differences are that they cannot be stunned from below and are instead stunned byPunch Balls or thePOW Block. If they get back up after being stunned or are the last enemy on screen, they turn red and speed up.

OtherMario Bros. games[edit]

Starting with theMario Bros.-style battle mode inSuper Mario Bros. 3, Shellcreepers have been replaced bySpinies in all subsequent versions, so they would not be mistaken for Koopa Troopas, which can be jumped on; notably, theBattle Game inSuper Mario All-Stars features both Spinies and Koopa Troopas, with the latter beingstompable. Despite this, a lone Shellcreeper still makes a cameo alongside aSidestepper andFighter Fly on the title screen of theGame Boy Advance remakes ofMario Bros. TheNES version ofMario's Time Machine featuresSuper Mario World-styled Koopa Troopas acting the same as Shellcreepers in theMario Bros. minigame in the time machine room. InMario Clash, Koopa Troopas are given a similar sprite design to Shellcreepers, and even do the same tooth-baring pose, but are safe to jump on.

Mario Power Tennis /New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis[edit]

Shellcreepers inMario Power Tennis

Unused 3D model of a Shellcreeper

Shellcreepers, along with the otherMario Bros. enemies, appear in the background of theMario Classic Court inMario Power Tennis, where they use their NES sprites. The game's data includes an unused3D depiction of a Shellcreeper, showing it as a small, quadrupedal Koopa Troopa with clawed flat feet.

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

SmashWiki article:Shellcreeper

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, Shellcreepers appear on theMario Bros. stage. They walk out from the pipes at the top of the stage. If knocked over by hitting them from below or from an attack, they can be picked up and thrown at opponents, making them fly sideways off the screen. The Shellcreepers also have their own trophy inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario 3D World /Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury[edit]

Shellcreepers appear inLuigi Bros., a remake ofMario Bros. featured inSuper Mario 3D World andits Nintendo Switch port. No changes were made to them.

Super Mario Maker[edit]

A Shellcreeper (left) and aKoopa Troopa (right) inSuper Mario Maker

InSuper Mario Maker, one of the unlockable playablecostumes is a Shellcreeper, using a modified version of its sprite inMario Bros. Returns. It can be unlocked at random after clearing the 100 Mario Challenge on Expert setting or harder. If the player holds on theGamePad while wearing the costume, the Shellcreeper grimaces. While the player runs as the Shellcreeper, its shell turns red.

Other appearances[edit]

In theFamily BASIC accessory to theFamily Computer, Shellcreepers are programmable sprites. They also make a cameo in the Message Board.

Shellcreepers appear inNES Remix in the challenges and remixes based onMario Bros.

Profiles and statistics[edit]

Perfect Ban Mario Character Daijiten[edit]

カメさん (JP) / Shellcreeper (EN)
	Original text (Japanese)		Translation
	種族しゅぞく	カメ族ぞく	Tribe	Turtle clan
	性格せいかく	さびしがりや	Disposition	Lonely person
	登場とうじょうゲーム	ブラザー	Game appearances	Bros.
	カメ族ぞくのルーツはこのキャラ すべてのカメ族ぞくの元祖がんそ。ノコノコなどと違ちがい、踏んでもやっつけられない。床下ゆかしたからひっくり返かえし、キックでやっつけよう。最後さいごの一匹ぴきは、スピードアップするので注意ちゅうい。[4]		The Turtle Tribe's roots are in this character! It's the originator of the whole Turtle Tribe. Unlike Koopa Troopa, it can't be beaten even if stepped on. Turn it over from under the floor, then kick to beat it. Careful, the last one will speed up.

Super Smash Bros. series[edit]

Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Trophy Shellcreepers
	Appears in: NESMario Bros. GBASuper Mario Advance
	How to unlock: Random
	Shelled enemies Mario and Luigi faced back when they were plumbers. They had to be bumped from below to flip them over and then kicked off the stage. The last one on a stage changed colors and raced really fast. If one got flipped but not sent off, it would eventually right itself and move at high speed. They were simply called "turtles" in Japan.

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]

Trophy Shellcreepers

Category: Series Related

()Appears in: ARCADE Mario Bros. GBA Super Mario Advance

()Trophy Box: 6: Mario Bros.

How to unlock: Random

With a name that implies silently sneaking up on its prey, the Shellcreeper might be considered cooler than your average turtle. The Koopa is apparently an evolved form of this veteran of Mario Bros. We'd recommend not jumping on this one like you would a Koopa, though...(American English)

With a name that implies silently sneaking up on its prey, the Shellcreeper might be considered cooler than your average turtle. A true veteran from way back in Mario Bros., this guy even predates Koopas, which apparently it evolved into. We wouldn't recommend jumping on this one like you'd jump on a Koopa, though...(British English)

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Shellcreeper.

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  Mario Bros.

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  Mario Bros.

List of appearances[edit]

Naming[edit]

The name "Shellcreeper" is displayed inLatin script on screen in the arcade version ofMario Bros. regardless of territory or the language employed on other parts of the cabinet. This includes the original Japanese release, on which other parts of the cabinet refer to the enemy simply as「カメ」(kame, "turtle"). "Shellcreeper" has been transliterated into other languages in subsequent appearances of the enemies, most notably in theSuper Smash Bros. series.

Names in other languages[edit]

The contemporaneous name for each language is listed first. Subsequent names are listed in chronological order for each language, from oldest to newest, and have the media they are associated with in the "notes" column.

References[edit]

Shellcreeper coverage on otherNIWA wikis:

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SmashWiki

• Koopas
• Mario Bros. enemies
• Mario Power Tennis enemies
• Super Mario Maker costumes
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophies
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U trophies
• Super Smash Bros. series enemies