Whomp's Fortress is the stronghold home of the Whomp race and their leader, the Whomp King. It is the second course in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, it can be accessed via a painting on the first floor of Princess Peach's Castle. Only one Power Star is needed to unlock the door to the room containing the painting.
Geography[]
Whomp's Fortress is a large, tall stone fortress populated by Whomps, Thwomps, and Piranha Plants. The player starts off in a field area at the base of the fortress. The tree at the start of the level also contains Hoot during certain missions. At the top of the nearby ramp there are some moving bars that will try to shove the player off the ledge. After those, there's a couple of Thwomps guarding a set of stairs to the upper area. Near the Thwomps is a warp that will take the player further up the fortress. The path splits at the top of the stairs, with the ramp going downward, leading to a pool of water, a Bob-omb Buddy and a cannon, and a small area with some Goombas, and the right path leading to the top of the fortress and containing Piranha Plants, Whomps, and both a falling and turning bridge. At the top of the fortress is the Whomp King, though during only the first mission. Every other mission has a tall tower with receding steps at the top of the fortress. Above the course are several platforms that can be reached either by using Hoot to fly up there or by knocking over a board at the top of the fortress.
Missions[]
- CHIP OFF WHOMP'S BLOCK
- TO THE TOP OF THE FORTRESS
- SHOOT INTO THE WILD BLUE
- RED COINS ON THE FLOATING ISLE
- FALL ONTO THE CAGED ISLAND
- BLAST AWAY THE WALL
- 100 COIN STAR
- WHOMP KING'S REVENGE
- RIDE THE THWOMP TO THE STAR (rare mission, usually found in expanded versions of Whomp's Fortress)
Phenomena[]
Whomp's Fortress' 1-Up[]
The 1-up
Jefftastic about to enter the Flying Fortress tower. Screenshot from this video
On the tower that appears on every star aside from Chip Off Whomp's Block, a 1-up can be found hidden within the tower by breaking away at the wall. This 1-up went unnoticed by many players, leading many to believe this is an effect of the Personalization AI.
Inside Whomp's Fortress[]
Main Article: Whomp's Fortress Interior
Despite being called a fortress, strangely, there is no way to actually enter the fortress, as neither the fortress created after collecting the 'Chip Off Whomp's Block' star or the large structure on the stage itself can be entered. Despite this, some players claim that they can enter the fortress in certain personalized copies of the game.
It's also possible that entering Whomp's Fortress could be confused with the Flying Fortress course, as the player is able to enter a tower seen on the top of the course.
Bulls-Eye Bills[]
Bulls-Eye Bills are enemies in the Super Mario Bros. series, first appearing in Super Mario Bros. 3, that can reportedly appear in Whomp's Fortress in place of the regular Bullet Bills. They are red Bullet Bills that usually home in on the player in other games, though due to Bullet Bills doing this in Super Mario 64, this ability usually does not carry over. Some have claimed that Bulls-Eye Bills are reskins of Bullet Bills, or have another special ability, such as doing more damage upon exploding, having a larger exploding radius, or going much faster than a regular Bullet Bill.
Pattan[]
Pattans, also known as Whimps, are small Whomps seen in Super Mario Galaxy 2 during the boss fight against King Whomp in Throwback Galaxy. In some personalized copies, they have been reported to appear during the King Whomp boss fight, commonly using the beta Wallman textures, implying they were scrapped early on in development. It is believed that these enemies were unused in Super Mario 64 before being recycled into Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Mutations[]
Some report seeing Whomp's Fortress not being its own painting, instead being structured in Bob-omb Battlefield, Tall Tall Mountain, or even Jolly Roger Bay, replacing the pirate ship and possibly the cove.
The layout of Whomp's Fortress may be frequently merged with Tick Tock Clock, expanding the scope of the level tenfold and greatly increasing the climb to King Whomp.
Sunken Fortress[]
A flooded version of Whomp's Fortress may sometimes be found in Dire, Dire, Docks.