Swipin' Stu

Swipin' Stus^[1][2][3] are aerial Strollin' Stu enemies with fluttering blue wings from Super Mario Sunshine. They lack the stubby legs of their grounded counterpart, and unlike the common winged enemies in other games like Koopa Paratroopas or Paragoombas, Swipin' Stus are immediately defeated when stomped. In most encounters, Swipin' Stus idly flutter through the air, out of reach, but they pursue Mario when he gets close. Once positioned immediately above him, Swipin' Stus quickly slam their bodies to the ground, causing damage on contact. To avoid being in their vicinity, Mario can spray them from a distance with the Squirt Nozzle, which incapacitates them.

There are two types of Swipin' Stus: a small Blue Swipin' Stu that bobs up and down in the air, and a larger Green Swipin' Stu that steals Mario's cap when he gets too close. The blue ones are the speedier of the two but also the weakest. Spraying them knocks them out of the air completely and defeats them. The Green Swipin' Stus are slower but tougher. Striking them forces them to slowly descend, but they must be stomped to be defeated, and they will slowly fly back up to their position in the air if not persistently sprayed.

Multiple Swipin' Stus first appear during the third episode of Pinna Park, "Red Coins of the Pirate Ships," in which the blue ones occur on the beach outside the park. The larger green ones appear in their place in all subsequent Pinna Park episodes. Blue Swipin' Stus also appear inside the secret course of Sirena Beach, where they fly back and forth in a set pattern instead of targeting Mario. They are also unfazed by sprays of water.

Swipin' Stus are one of many enemies and characters from Super Mario Sunshine to make a cameo appearance on the leaderboards of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.^[1]

Naming[edit]

Etymology[edit]

The English name "Swipin' Stu" is first narrowly applied to the green ones in the Prima Games guidebook for Super Mario Sunshine,^[4] likely because they are the ones that can steal Mario's cap. The blue ones, by contrast, are called "Winged Strollin' Stus,"^[4] a name that in isolation could equally be as applicable to the green ones. It is possible the blue ones were intended to be called "Swoopin' Stus," a name ascribed to Goobles within said book,^[4] in reference to their bobbing flight patterns. "Swipin' Stu" is broadly applied to the enemy in Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and this is followed suit on the English page for Super Mario Sunshine on Mario Portal, on which the colored variants are referred to as "Green Swipin' Stu" and "Blue Swipin' Stu," respectively.^[3]

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. 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]