"Bein' rich an' famous is diggety-dang DYNAMITE!" — Grubba, Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
Grubba is a character from Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door who looks similar to Tubba Blubba.
Summary[]
He is in charge of the Glitz Pit, an arena for fighters. He built a machine, powered by a Crystal Star, to sap the energy from fighters and transfer it into his own body to make him stay strong, healthy and youthful. He used it to make the former Glitzville champion, Prince Mush, disappear when he finds out about Grubba's machine. He hires Mario to be a new fighter, naming him "The Great Gonzales." Jolene, Grubba's assistant, comes to Glitzville to find out what happened to her brother, Mush, and he hires her without suspecting she was spying on him. While working up the ranks, he sends hate mail to Mario as he gets closer to discovering his secret. Mario finds out about Grubba's use of the Crystal Star and faced him. Grubba uses the machine to become a supercharged hulking monster, calling himself "Macho Grubba" and fights Mario. Despite his supercharged strength, he is defeated and reverts back to his normal self. Jolene confronts the defeated Grubba, demanding to know what happened to Mush. He reveals how he made him disappear using the machine, and Mush is returned with the power of the Crystal Star. Jolene takes Grubba's place as a promoter. No one knows what happened to him afterwards.
Personality[]
Grubba creates a good-natured facade to mask and distract his concealed motivations that benefit himself at the expense of others. While in public and promoting the Glitz Pit, Grubba shows his public image: friendly and passionate about his life's work. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door hints that Grubba's obsession with his image developed as a result of his fame. Originally, he did not care about glitz and glamor, though later in life, Grubba feels nostalgic about what he once was and wants to relive those days, despite the costs. Despite this emotional transformation, Grubba retains an air of good sportsmanship throughout his life. Grubba encourages his fighters and did not mask his excitement for rising stars such as Mario. Even as he lay defeated, he commends Mario for a good fight. Due to the unethical use of the power-draining machine, this causes Grubba to keep the usage a secret and he uses the machine to his advantage to continue keeping it concealed. As Goombella realizes as soon as she met Grubba, he is a "super-greasy smooth talker" and not necessarily trustworthy, even while he maintains his facade. The text in the dialogue box hints at his possessing a heavy southern accent.
Grubba also has a tendency to gossip or possibly make trash talking comments that he attributes to other fighters even if they never actually said such a thing. However, he has at least some respect for strong fighters, congratulating Mario when he defeats him.
Trivia[]
- Grubba is the first main chapter villain in Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door to not have any association with either Grodus (such as Lord Crump, Magnus Von Grapple and its enhanced form) or the Shadow Queen (such as Hooktail, Dooplis and Smorg). He might not even know about the X-Nauts or their plan at all considering that he never so much as mentions them.
- As such, Grubba is the first villain to be a solo threat of a Chapter.
- Grubba is probably one of the darkest villains in the entire Paper Mario series, actually using a machine to drain the life force from his victims just for keep himself young.
- Grubba is the only chapter villain who uses the Crystal Star's special, the Power Lift. All other chapter villains either possess a Crystal Star, but never use it, or simply obstruct the path to it.
- It remains unknown as to what happend to Grubba after his defeat, as he is never seen again after Chapter 3. It's likely he was either arrested off-screen or he escaped.
 Glitz Pit Staff 
| |
| Promoter: | Jolene |
|---|---|
| Former Promoter: | Grubba |
| Minor Staff: | Glitz Pit Security |