Homing Chomp

Homing Chomps^[1] (generically known as Silver Chomps)^{[2] [3]} are enemies in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and its Nintendo Switch port. They are giant silver Chomps with yellow rings around their eyes, red irises, and pupils that are constantly rolling around out of sync with each other. Unlike other Chomps, Homing Chomps always roll towards Mario or Luigi and try to hit him. Homing Chomps can be defeated either by Rainbow Mario, by pushing them off a cliff while on a Star Ball, or from using a rubbery bulb.

Homing Chomps always appear as the final challenge of a mission. A single Homing Chomp first appears as the final obstacle of Rolling Masterpiece Galaxy, where it must be knocked off of its platform to complete the mission. Another appears as the last obstacle during Slipsand Galaxy's second mission, destroying the Sand Bird as it rolls. Four more serve as the final challenge of Battle Belt Galaxy, where they must be defeated using rubbery bulbs.

An extremely large Homing Chomp appears in the E3 2009 trailer of Super Mario Galaxy 2, though it never made it into the final game. In the trailer, it seems to be acting similarly to Sorbetti during the boss battle in the Freezy Flake Galaxy. Within the game's "ObjNameTable" file, there is a removed "WanwanSearchBig" entry,^[4] which is likely a remnant of this.

Gallery[edit ]

• Artwork of the Homing Chomp planet in the Battle Belt Galaxy

  Artwork of the Homing Chomp planet in the Battle Belt Galaxy

• A large Homing Chomp in the E3 2009 trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2

  A large Homing Chomp in the E3 2009 trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2

• Screenshot of Super Mario Galaxy 2

  Screenshot of Super Mario Galaxy 2

Naming[edit ]

Etymology[edit ]

The English name "Homing Chomp" refers to the enemy's targeting behavior. This name was first published on the English version of Mario Portal in 2022.^[1] Beforehand, the 2010 Prima Games guidebook for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and 2015 English localization of the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia referred to the enemy as the "Silver Chomp,"^[5] which is also incorporated into the title of the mission "Silver Chomp Grudge Match." In Japanese sources, the enemy is referred to as「サーチワンワン」(Sāchi Wanwan, "Search Chain Chomp"), a name comparable to that of other enemy variants that target the player character such as「サーチプクプク」(Sāchi Pukupuku, "Deep Cheep") and「サーチキラー」(Sāchi Kirā, "Bull's-Eye Bill"). This differs from the Japanese name for the for mission, which is「押し出せ!シルバーワンワン」(Oshidase! Shirubā Wanwan, "Push it Out! Silver Chain Chomp"). The distinction between this mission title and the enemy's name in Japanese paratext conveys「シルバー」(shirubā, "silver") is applied as a descriptive adjective, rather than as a part of the enemy's name. This discrepancy may be the reason why the enemy's English name was revised to "Homing Chomp" in 2022.

Not all localizations for Super Mario Galaxy 2 have the same discrepancy between mission title and enemy name, such as in European French. In lieu of greater clarification, uses of "silver Chain Chomp" in the mission titles across localizations are assumed to be the enemy's name within those respective languages. The only localization that follows the discrepancy present in Japanese and English is Italian, with the mission title describing the enemy as Categnaccio Argento ("Silver Chain Chomp")^[6] whereas the guidebook calls it Caccia Categnaccio ("Homing Chain Chomp"). The latter is comparable to the enemy's true name in English and Japanese.

Internal names[edit ]

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 with which they are associated in the "notes" column. Names exclusive to localizations of the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia are not prioritized due to concerns about circular reporting, and are only listed first for their respective languages if they are the only ones available.

References[edit ]

• Aliens
• Chain Chomps
• Silver variants
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 enemies