Bob-Ombs

[SMBBQ]

At first, Bob-ombs were simple. Ever since their first appearance in SMB2, they were simply explosions waiting to happen.

However, Along came SM64 with The Big Bob-omb and the Bob-omb Buddies. This game presented them as sentient, but how could this be?

Then the Paper Mario series complicated it even further by having party members such as Bombette explode without destroying themselves in the process. In addition to all this, PM:TTYD revealed them all to be Soviets.

And yet SMS and SMG seemed to show them as just simple machines.

And while MK:DD!! may not be canon, it featured Bob-ombs as enemies.

So, what are they? Machine, or biological being?

[Artemendo]

Well, given how different they look (especially the SMS/SMG ones) I'd say there are sentient models and more machine-like models.

However, they could also be biological... Scarlette, Bobbery's wife, fell ill and died. Machines wouldn't get ill, they would malfunction. (Maybe it's an euphemism? Podley says "fell ill and died" instead of "a gear jammed and she rusted"?)

[Koopalmier]

I think there are machine Bob-Ombs and living Bob-Ombs. A bit like with Chain Chomps: some are sentinent while some are mechanical (see SMG and SMG2).

I also think that when a sentinent Bob-Omb's body explodes, it remakes itself near the explosion.

[Artemendo]

How does the remaking work, though? Is it magnetic? Magic? Nanobots? Also, where do they get the energy to explode so many times? Given the damage the explosions do, however, they seem to be very weak compared to real-world explosions.

[Koopalmier]

If they are monsters, they have some magic power. Maybe that they're invincible (see: if their body is completely destroyed, it'll remake itself, if a part of them was taken out, it'll appear back again) but can still die of natural death and ill.

[PDoogan]

Well if they can get ill, I guess that means that they're biological. But they do seem to need to have that key turning to survive. So maybe, they're machines brought to life by magic? Kind of lie Pinocchio, only with more explosions.

[SMBBQ]

Explosions were the one thing Pinnochio was missing.

On topic, I tend to follow that there are two types. Machine and living.

[Artemendo]

"When you wish upon a BOOM!
Makes no difference who you BLAM!"

Additionally, maybe there's a continuum of Bob-Ombs from machine to living, different degrees of cyborginess.

[EpicGyllynn]

I'd say the the Sentient ones are Biological, can Age, get Sick, eat, Reproduce and even Die. I'd say the Black Bob-Ombs from SM64, SMS and SMG were Manufactured by King Bob-Omb for Bowsers' Army. Also, the Biological Ones Explosions probably work similarly to a Pokemon using Self-Destruct, which, I think, they aren't really Exploding, just releasing a Wave of Heat Energy. This is further Evidenced by the lack of Shrapnel in their Explosions. As for the Mechanical Ones, there spear to be different Varieties, like the more Traditional, Drone Bob-Ombs that chase Mario, and the ones that are just Bombs(As seen in Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Golf:Toadstool Tour) that make Colered Explosions. That's my Theory!

[kingkoopa]

In Paper Mario games the enemy Bob-ombs seem to die after they explode, but I think they really just regenerate or ran off after the explosion. I think that sentinent Bob-ombs don't actually explode. When their fuse reaches the inside of their body, it lights a smaller bomb which they then dispose of onto the floor where they are standing. It makes sense because when Bombette would use her bomb power in Paper Mario she would fly up into the air and then land next to Mario. I guess Bob-ombs are immune to explosions. (If they did die when they exploded, then how does Bowser keep using Bob-omb Blitz in BIS when he only rescued 12 bombs.)

[Artemendo]

The sentient Bob-Ombs certainly don't die when they explode, they seem to have an advanced mechanism, maybe similar to what you described. The mechanical ones in SMS or SMG, though, are actual bombs and are gone forever after they explode. Or else there wouldn't be "dispensers".

[kingkoopa]

So then we can say that Bowser's bob-omb army are made up of living bob-ombs and mechanical ones.

[Le Mario Bro]

Artemendo: Need a dispenser here!

*is shot*

kingkoopa: What if Bob-ombs just burped out lit gunpowder?

It'd be a lot less conspicuous than a bomb, which would explain why you'd think that they actually were the ones exploding.

[Artemendo]

The problem with gunpowder is that it does not detonate by itself, it just burns up really quickly. It's used as a "propellant", i.e. to make OTHER things explode by being inside them. Just putting it on top of something and lighting it would not break walls.

[Meta Black Yoshi]

Maybe some bomb-oms have C4 or something stored inside of them, or perhaps some special type of Mushroom world gunpowder?