Grubba
- “Bein' rich an' famous is diggety-dang DYNAMITE!”
- —Grubba, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Grubba is a major fictional character in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door who, in his younger years, was a famous martial arts fighter. Though initially impartial to fame and riches, after becoming rich and famous he fell in love with the good life. After retiring as a fighter, he became the promoter of the Glitz Pit in Glitzville. When he introduced himself to Mario, he claimed to be past his prime, unable to fight in the ring anymore. During the events of the video game, Grubba is over sixty years old according to Bandy Andy.
Initially presented as an uninvolved third party to Mario fight against the X-Nauts for the Crystal Stars, when Mario discovered his unethical use of the Gold Star, Grubba became an antagonist, wishing to keep his secrets safe. Behind his benevolent, boisterous façade he is dangerously self-centered, viewing situations in terms of benefits and dangers to himself and his lifestyle rather than the moral implications of his actions.
History
Background
According to Grubba, in youth he was poor, but even so he did not care for "fancy, big-city ways." His worldview changed when he became a martial arts fighter. Though some of his moves were made illegal as he progressed, he became quite famous and earned enough money for the rest of his life.
At some point in his life, Grubba attained the Gold Star, a Crystal Star with the ability to increase one's attack and defense power by enabling its possessor to use Power Lift. The details behind Gubba's ownership of the star are never explained, so whether the star was the secret to Grubba's rise to fame is debatable.
Paper Mario series
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Despite his fighting prowess, age eventually took a toll on Grubba and, unable to fight in the ring anymore, he was forced to retire from fighting. However, Grubba opened his own fighting ring, the Glitz Pit, and became its promoter. The Champ's Belt, the reward for the champion of the Glitz Pit, featured an imitation of Grubba's Gold Star. At some point following, desiring to regain his fit, youthful body, he developed or obtained blueprints for a power-draining machine that would use the Gold Star as a power source. Utilizing the Gold Star, the machine could suck the power out of one people and bestow it onto another individual. Through the use of the machine, Grubba could power himself up with much more dramatic results than those achievable through Power Lift alone. He referred to himself as Macho Grubba when powered up. Additionally, the machine made him appear younger even when not transformed. The relation between these events and the Dubious Paper, a research paper about the powers of the Crystal Stars hidden in the the minor-league Glitz Pit locker room at the time of Mario's adventure, are never made clear.
To support his poor family, Prince Mush entered the Glitz Pit as a fighter and became its first champion. Although he became a huge fan favorite, in the words of Grubba "Good fighters ain't nothin' to mess with." When Mush discovered Grubba's secret, the promoter sucked the power out of him. Whether or not Mush was the first victim of the machine is unknown, but he is the earliest known victim. To the public, including Mush's family, Grubba gave no explanation of Mush's disappearance. Afterward, Grubba hired a manager, Jolene, who secretly took the job to discover what really happened to Prince Mush, her little brother. Despite Mush discovering his secret, Grubba continued to use the machine. On one occasion, the snooping Jolene witnessed his transformation into Macho Grubba. Seeing what she was against, she lost nearly all hope that she would avenge her brother.
With Prince Mush gone, his rival Rawk Hawk was free to step in as the next champion of the Glitz Pit. Although he proved less popular with fans, Grubba appreciated the fact that he did not pry into his business. However, a minor-league fighter, Bandy Andy, had begun investigating the secrets of the Glitz Pit.
Mario and his partners, on a quest to save Princess Peach from the X-Nauts, were seeking out the Crystal Stars one by one. After obtaining two of them, the Magical Map next detected Grubba's Crystal Star and pointed them to Glitzville. Seeing the fake Gold Star on the Champ's Belt, Mario, with the intention of winning the star fairly, met with Grubba to become a Glitz Pit Fighter. Grubba appeared excited about the prospect, and signed on Mario, giving him the ring name, "The Great Gonzales."
KP Pete, a minor-league fighter, planned to retire. Unfortunately for him, he discovered Grubba's secret, and the promoter quickly drained his power and hid the incapacitated fighter beneath a large block.
Mario quickly advanced through the minor-league and into the major-league. As he did so, Jolene began to regain hope, believing that he might be able to defeat Grubba. Pleased with Mario's performance, Grubba invited him back into his office to give him a thirty coin bonus and welcome him to the major-league. When Jolene, escorting Mario and his party, entered, Grubba was looking at something and quickly hid it in his drawer, berating Jolene for not knocking. Jolene then took Mario and his party to the major-league locker room, where they met Rawk Hawk and determined that the star on the Champ's Belt was a fake. Allegedly hearing their discussion, Jolene, under the pseudonym "X," sent Mario an e-mail promising to lead him to the real Crystal Star.
Jolene first sent Mario a Super Hammer, then lead him to the Dubious Paper hidden in the minor-league locker room. Suspicious of Mario's intentions, Grubba sent him a threatening, anonymous e-mail. Disregarding Grubba's e-mail, Mario continued to pry and Grubba grew increasingly suspicious. Around this time, Bandy Andy went into the arena when no one seemed to be around and witnessed Grubba transform. Grubba also drained his energy and hid him alongside KP Pete.
When Ms. Mowz broke into the storeroom where KP Pete and Bandy Andy were hidden, a security guard heard a noise which Ms. Mowz would later claim could not have been her. Rather than investigate further into the noise, Jolene threatened to fire the guard should he speak of the intrusion again. She reported that to Grubba that the room was secure, but Grubba remained suspicious. He asked her where she went when she disappeared for long periods of time and whether or not she had ever heard of a Crystal Star, but she gave him satisfactory answers. However, Grubba quickly sent an e-mail to Mario warning him not to pry into matters concerning the Crystal Star lest he meet the same fate as the other missing fighters. Shortly after, Mario discovered KP Pete and Bandy Andy in the storeroom.
After becoming the champion, Mario gained access to the champion's room and used its location to spy on Grubba at Jolene's anonymous advice, who was at that moment talking to himself regarding his secret machine, the missing fighters, and whether or not he should make Mario "disappear." Hiding the machine's blueprints in his desk, Grubba left his office for a minute and returned to find Mario and his partner inspecting the secret blueprints for the machine.
Hastily, Grubba fled to his machine in the arena, closely followed by Mario and his party. In response, Grubba quickly activated his machine and transformed into Macho Grubba, confident that he would be able to defeat his champion. The ex-martial artist gave his all to the fight, but ultimately he fell at the hands of Mario and transformed back into his normal form. Lying facedown on the floor, Grubba complimented Mario on the fight. Jolene rushed to the ring, thanking Mario for his efforts and explaining her actions and motivations to him. Grubba's manager demanded that he tell her what happened to Prince Mush. Defeated, Grubba admitted to his crime.
The Gold Star used its power to restore Jolene's brother before it was removed from the machine. Grubba's machine deactivated and Jolene gave Mario the Gold Star so that nothing like what had transpired would ever happen again. Grubba's final fate is currently unknown; he was last seen lying on the Glitz Pit floor at Jolene, Mario, and Prince Mush's feet. Jolene took over Grubba's position as the promoter of the Glitz Pit. Both Bandy Andy and KP Pete recovered. KP Pete would go on to claim that four fighters had disappeared before him that year alone. However, the total number of fighters drained by Grubba is unknown.
Powers and Abilities
- Main article: Macho Grubba
When he was younger, Grubba claims to have had many powerful moves, some of which were made illegal after he used them. However, by the time he encountered Mario, Grubba had lost his ability to fight without the aid of his machine. To fight his enemies, Grubba was forced to use the machine to transform into Macho Grubba. In that form, he had many attacks.
Physical Appearance
Though he is a Clubba, Grubba does not have all of the normal physical features of one; rather, he bears a slight resemblance to Tubba Blubba from the original Paper Mario. Unlike most Clubbas, whose skin is green, Grubba has a pale blue shade of skin. His shell is orchid in color, with a yellow rim; this feature is also unlike a standard Clubba's. His hair is a fiery orange color; this too is unlike the normal Clubba, which bares whitish-colored hair. Grubba's lips are very large and orange in color. Perhaps most notable is the fact that Grubba does not carry a mace around with him.
He is also the only Clubba ever seen to wear clothes. He wears a tight, one-buttoned green shirt across his chest, above which is a small red bow tie. He also wears a black blazer that covers some of his arms and torso. He wears a large black hat atop his head, which bears a lone white stripe along the base of the rim. He also wears very tiny sunglasses that are only large enough to cover his eyes.
Personality
When Mario was first introduced to Grubba, he seemed to have quite a friendly personality. Grubba talked about his job and wrestling quite passionately and enthusiastically, indicating that he enjoyed the line of work he was in, even back during his days of wrestling. Even though his success in the wrestling field had been cheated, he showed high admiration for those who had come far, and extreme encouragement for those who were new. Mario got a first-hand experience with how Grubba could react to both a rising star, as well as someone who had reached the top of the ranks.
However, Grubba was also a very vain character. In his youth, Grubba was a famous martial artist, receiving a lot of attention. He had fame, fortune, and everything that went along with it. Though, as he aged, things came to an abrupt stop. Grubba could no longer participate. He searched for a less stressful job, soon becoming the manager of the Glitz Pit. Even though he was able to control the Pit and tell its wrestlers how to fight, he hated the despised being of old age. He did anything he could to retrieve his youth, eventually relying on his secret power-sucking machine. Originally intended for power boosts in his wrestling days, Grubba's power-sucking machine also provided him with a youthful surge of energy each time he used it. He would become powerful, swift, and energetic once more after being charged up by the Gold Star's power and the wrestlers who fell victim to it. Even in his powered-up state, Grubba's old age eventually ate through the barriers of false youth. When battling Mario while all souped-up on energy, he eventually became extremely tired and weak. Even the power of the Gold Star couldn't take away Grubba's old age — it could only mask it.
Due to his secret that he had to keep undercover, Grubba was in a constant state of paranoia. He always had the feeling that those surrounding him were going to find out his secret, and that those whom he had shown even the slightest bit of affection towards already knew about his secret. After Mario had become champion, he had eavesdropped on Grubba at one point, hearing him say that he couldn't get rid of the feeling that Mario and Jolene already knew about his secret. He feared that he would have to make them disappear before long by luring them into his power-sucking machine. The effects of keeping this secret were not only taking a toll on him physically, but mentally as well. His paranoia would occasionally leak out in a threatening manner. Mario witnessed this first-hand with an e-mail he had received from Grubba, claiming that Mario would be "D-E-A-D M-E-A-T" if he were to continue his search for the Gold Star.
Even though the effects of vanity, paranoia, and greed had made Grubba villainous by nature, deep down he was a good sport. Though his minor-leaguers didn't have the greatest living quarters, he enthusiastically supported them in battle. He treated his major-leaguers just as enthusiastically, and even gave them cleaner living quarters for all their hard work. His feelings towards the champion were a little stronger; not only did he supply the champion with a luxurious room, he felt enthusiastic over each victory the champion made, and even at points idolized him. Grubba also showed how good his sportsmanship was in battle. While battling Mario, he would make comments such as "Keep it spicy." After his defeat, Grubba gave one last enthusiastic comment to Mario, saying "Great fight there, son."
Quotes
- Please see here for a full list of quotes.
