Shroobs

The Shroobs are a race of poision mushroom-like aliens that attacked the Mushroom Kingdom when Mario and Luigi were babies. These events take place in the game Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. They are a purple, mushroom-like species ruled by Princess Shroob and her older sister. They are from the Shroob Planet and most Shroobs carry ray guns with them. Unlike the similar yet much more benevolent Toads, who are seemingly more human than mushroom, Shroobs seem to have retained most of their fungus ancestry.

They possess very advanced technology, such as ray guns and a massive fleet of flying saucers, which are powered by the vim of Toads. The saucers are capable of shooting energy bolts that turn people into Shroob Mushrooms, as well as causing devastating damage to houses and buildings. The Shroob military is very complex in their processes. They come in different colors and have different attacks. Unlike the Koopa Troop, the Shroobs have everything laid out in advance so that they could both protect vital operations and invade enemy regions at the same time, suggesting they are very intelligent.

Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time
They first started their invasion by destroying Toad Town and capturing many Toads. These Toads were taken to Toadwood Forest, where their vim was drained by the forest's genetically-altered trees. The vim was then collected at the Vim Factory, where Dr. Shroobs gave the vim to Swiggler, a terrifying, bio-engineered Wiggler. While guarding a Cobalt Star shard, Swiggler also drinks the vim and powers the Shroob UFOs.

Soon after, they started the creation of the mechanical Yoob and attacked Yoshi's Island. Yoob would eat any Yoshi it could find. These Yoshis would then most likely be converted into more monstrous Yoobs and be used to attack the Mushroom Kingdom, preventing the Yoshis from helping the kingdom in the process. During the invasion, the second-in-command Princess Shroob disguised herself as Peach to take over the Mushroom Kingdom of the future and thus make sure her plan would succeed.

The Shroobs were apparently melted away when the brothers and Princess Peach discovered the Shroobs' weakness (babies' tears), although it was possible that they simply left the Mushroom Kingdom to look for another place to call home.

Language
The Shroob language as it appears in the text bubbles in the game is just a bunch of nonsensical small picture text. Only one phrase, signalling attack, is repeated throughout the game. When the Shroobs talk in the game, they make gibberish sounds. However, they do sometimes use the Latin alphabet, as seen in the battle against Shrooboid Brat. When the Shrooboid Brat was about to attack, the Shroob crowd raised up signs that said either "M" or "L", signifying who to attack. The Elder Shroob Princess can also speak English. Later on, the language is shown to players using subtitles in parentheses. Whether or not this means that Mario and Luigi begin to understand the language or is just for purposes of clarification is unknown.

List of Shroobs
The most common shroob, simply known as Shroob, are purple spotted mushrooms with large red eyes, round mouths, claw-like hands, and use powerful ray guns. Like the Toads and Koopas in The Mushroom World the shroobs co-exsist with several sub-species.

Shrooblet
A Shrooblet is a small, purple, Goomba-like Shroob with green spots, found near Hollijolli Village. They attack by spinning into Mario or Luigi; an attack that can be easily countered with a simple jump. If a Shrooblet lifts its right foot before attacking, it will twirl into Mario; if a Shrooblet lifts its left foot before attacking, it will spin into Luigi. Shrooblets are among the weakest creatures in the Shroob military, and due to their small size and color, are apparently baby Shroobs.

Dr. Shroob
Dr. Shroobs are yellow Shroobs that wear thick, swirly glasses. During the Shroob invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom, Dr. Shroobs were stationed in the Vim Factory, allowing them to monitor the factory's vim transformation process.

RC Shroober
An RC Shroober is a light blue Shroob with purple spots that has a pair of radio antennae attached to its head. Using its antennae, an RC Shroober can control electronic devices that use radio waves. RC Shroobers were placed in command of the egg factory inside Yoob's stomach. As such, RC Shroobers were presumably in charge of converting normal Yoshi's into additional Yoobs. RC Shroobers also took pleasure in terrorizing the captured Yoshis inside Yoob's stomach.

Shrooba Diver
Shrooba Divers are green Shroobs with white spots that wear scuba masks and oxygen tanks. These Shroobs have the unique ability to "swim" in sand; their name is even a pun on "Shroob" and "scuba diver". Shrooba Divers were stationed in the Gritzy Desert during the Shroob conquest of the Mushroom Kingdom, where they would patrol the sands, looking for intruders who would spoil the invasion effort.

Guardian Shroob
A Guardian Shroob is a white Shroob with blue spots. Guardian Shroobs were assigned to protect the halls of the Shroob Mother Ship. Guardian Shroobs generally aid other Guardian Shroobs in battle.

Blazing Shroob
A Blazing Shroob is a red Shroob with yellow spots whose head is on fire. They worked inside Thwomp Caverns during the Shroob invasion of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Intern Shroob
An Intern Shroob is a smaller, light-colored Shroob that rides on the back of its elderly counterpart, a Shroobsworth. Intern Shroobs ride piggyback style, similar to how the Baby Mario Bros. hold on to their older counterparts. Intern Shroobs, along with Shroobsworths, were assigned to protect the halls of Shroob Castle, the Shroob's base of operations on Mushroom World. The two Shroobs would work together in combat to defeat intruders.

Support Shroob
Support Shroobs are normal-looking Shroobs that aided Commander Shroob in his battle against the Mario Bros. of past and present. During the confrontation, the Support Shroobs wielded gigantic Shroob-ombs, attempting to defeat the Mario Bros. with the bombs massive explosions.

Shroid
Shroids are gray Shroob robots with yellow spots and green photoreceptors; the name 'Shroid' is actually a portmanteau of the words 'Shroob' and 'droid'. These powerful robots were stationed in Toad Town during the Shroobs' occupation of the Mushroom Kingdom. Shroids patrolled the ruins of the damaged capital city, attacking any intruders. The four Mario Bros. of past and present encountered many Shroids during the heroes' attempt to assemble the Cobalt Star and liberate Toad Town.

Shroobsworth
A Shroobsworth is an elderly lighter-colored Shroob. Shroobsworths are designed to resemble Toadsworth, Princess Peach's longtime steward. As such, a Shroobsworth has a white mustache and a cane. These elderly Shroobs carry the younger Intern Shroobs on their backs, piggyback style (like Mario and Baby Mario or Luigi and Bab Luigi). Shroobsworths, along with their younger counterparts, were assigned to protect the halls of Shroob Castle, the Shroobified version of Princess Peach's Castle, during the Shroob occupation of the Mushroom Kingdom. As such, the four Mario Bros. of past and present battled many Shroobsworth's and Intern Shroobs during the heroes' efforts to rescue Peach, defeat Princess Shroob, and destroy the Shroob menace.