- For other uses, see White Bomberman (disambiguation) and Bomberman (disambiguation).
Bomberman, sometimes referred to as White Bomberman, is the main protagonist of the Bomberman series. He is the primary representative of the Bomberman people, who became the dominant inhabitants of Planet Bomber. Like every other Bomberman, he has the ability to generate bombs. There are many incarnations of him represented in the different games of the series, which do not usually keep a consistent description of the character. He is often saving his home planet, the galaxy, or even the universe from disaster.
He is also nicknamed Shiro Bom, which has been translated as "White Bomber" starting with the GameCube games and localized as "Cheerful White" in the English releases of the Bomberman Land series. Occasionally, this is further shortened to simply "Shiro" in the Japanese versions.
Biography
In the home computer game Bomber Man (1983) and its second edition 3-D Bomberman (1984), "Bomber Man" who was localised as Eric was depicted as a human archelogist with overalls, a visible mouth, hair, and a white hat with a red feather.
In the Famicom/NES Bomber Man (1985), he was completely redesigned and the hat was swapped with a helmet and antenna, and he was given a blue suit with white and pink limbs. He also had a white horizontal stripe on his back, which was replaced with a black belt in subsequent appearances. This is actually a palette swap of the enemies seen in the 1984 Hudson Soft port of Lode Runner, but this appearance has more or less remained constant in the series.
The background given in the console game begins with the eponymous character having grown tired of making bombs in an unnamed underground empire and deciding to escape after hearing a rumor that a robot can become human. The ending features the miraculous transformation into his "Runner" identity which serves as a prequel to the 1983 Lode Runner, also suggesting that the story involved the recurring Bungeling Empire from early Brøderbund products. As Lode Runner, he is a famous Galactic Commando tasked with evading the empire's guards and reclaiming stolen gold, and in the 1985 direct sequel Lode Runner's Rescue, his daughter Alexandra has to save him after his capture. Both franchises have since mostly moved in separate directions, but loose references remain in later titles.
In the TurboGrafx-16 game, Dr. Mitsumori uses Bomberman as the model for subsequent lifelike Bomberman robots, and the time period is stated to be sometime in the future (specified to be the late 21st century in the arcade game). In Bomberman '93, he is shown to be a "Bomber Cop" detective who upholds the peace of the galaxy, and Bomberman '94 establishes the main setting as Planet Bomber rather than Earth. Saturn Bomberman introduces a benevolent human scientist named Dr. Ein, who takes an advisory role in certain missions. Bomberman Hero introduces Bomber Base, a headquarters on Planet Bomber where he trains diligently.
Bomberman's arch-nemeses are Bagura and Mujoe, and his rivals include his friend Max and foe Regulus. His original enemy was Black Bomberman, but he reformed after the two allied in Super Bomberman.
Saturn Bomberman Fight!!
Story Mode
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Personality
White Bomberman is usually portrayed as the heroic, upbeat, yet cheerful and jolly type, but sometimes goofy, all too willing to make friends with people he had once considered enemies. His bright, kind spirit and courage are greatly appreciated by others. He never holds back while fighting and focuses a lot on training to be the strongest warrior ever.
He has featured in three anime series: Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden, Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden Victory (based on the marble shooting game B-Daman) and Bomberman Jetters. Each of these introduced their own characters, and contain mostly different takes on the series.
Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden IV & V
- Main article: White Bomber (B-Daman)
White Bomber (Shiro Bom) is the main protagonist in Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden and Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden Victory.
Bomberman Jetters
- Main article: White Bomber (Jetters)
In Bomberman Jetters, White Bomber (or Shiro Bom) is the ten-year old brother of the hero, Mighty. However, unlike what people thought from the brave, gentle Mighty, his brother was actually childish, immature, and inexperienced, with only a single Bomb Star. Through the course of the series, he begins to mature and becomes more experienced.
Comics
White Bomberman appeared in three of the German Club Nintendo comics. They were published only in Germany, though fan translations have appeared since then.
Other appearances
- White Bomberman made certain crossover appearances, such as DreamMix TV World Fighters, a fighting game with characters from Hudson Soft, Konami and Takara. He also makes a playable appearance in a giant mecha crafted after himself in Star Parodier, a spoof of the Star Soldier series which is also developed by Hudson Soft.
- He also appears in DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Doki Doki Adventure also produced by Hudson.
- White Bomberman also appears in Tetris: Axis, also developed by Hudson, along with Black Bomberman and some other Bombers.
- Bomberman makes a brief cameo in the anime Virus Buster Serge (anime adaptation of the game Virus produced by Hudson Soft). In chapter 6, he appears on a screen, putting a bomb and the screen explodes.
- Bomberman appears as a playable character in Konami's strategy mobile game, Kingdom Dragonion.
- Bomberman appears in World Soccer Collection S as part of the "Attack The Bomberman" event.
- Bomberman is an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch, as well as a collectible spirit whose bomb ability is utilized on the map in the World of Light mode. As of October 4th 2020, he's been added as a fully modeled Mii Brawler costume and depending on what the color you choose for the Mii will also change the color of the costume. The white color is the original where's the other colors resembles the other colored Bombermen.
- Bomberman appear as a nonogram picture in Pixel Puzzle Collection.
- In Neo Bomberman, there are unused battle icons for a potentially "Bomber Knight" character, his appearance is very similar to the Bomberman in his medieval outfit from Pocket Bomberman, it is possible this could have been a scrapped character which would have later gave birth to the "Medieval Bomberman".
- White Bomberman was added as a playable Power Pro in Pawapuro Appli, on January 22, 2024.
- White makes a cameo appearance in Duel Dream.
- White was featured as a playable character in Hill Climb Racing 2, available through a collaboration event with Super Bomberman R 2.
Trivia
- Traditionally, White Bomberman starts each Battle Mode round in the upper left corner of the stage.
- Bomberman was first voiced by Kazuko Sugiyama in Bomberman: Panic Bomber. After Bomberman 64, he almost always gets a different voice actor outside Japan for each successive game, save for Bomberman Generation and Bomberman Jetters, in which he is voiced by Sheryl Stanley. His English voice actor is Peter von Gomm in Super Bomberman R, who also voice acted X and Flame Hyenard in Mega Man X7.
- In Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, Bomberman apparently used the Fire Stone's power as a source of his standard explosives. This is not shown in other games, so this may be because he was weakened and needed it to augment his abilities.
- Bomberman's implied love interests include Pretty Bomber (whenever she is an ally), Cutie Bomber, Princess Millian, and (at first) Lilith. He also has a daughter by the events of the early title Lode Runner's Rescue (as well as a son according to the North American storyline of Bomber Boy).
- In Bomberman (iOS) Bomberman appears with with blue eyes, like the other characters, but this was changed back in Taisen! Bomberman.
- In the Sound Test of Bomberman Hero, Bomberman plays the guitar while Pibot plays the drums, and Princess Millian the keyboard.
Gallery
Theme
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Title | Music | Description | Composer | Game |
---|---|---|---|---|
BGM1 | The theme is used on The Wall, River and Lava Cave. | Atsushi Chikuma | Bomberman (PCE) | |
Area Theme 1 | The theme is used on Jail, Mountain and Cave. | Bomberman II | ||
Peace Town | The theme is used on Peace Town. | Atsushi Chikuma | Super Bomberman | |
Tomoyuki Hamada | ||||
Stage 1 | The theme is used on challenge against Ballom. | Jun Chikuma | Bomberman: Panic Bomber | |
England | The theme is used on England. | Kenichi Koyano | Panic Bomber W | |
Hitoshi Sakimoto | ||||
Swamp Attack | The theme is used on Swamp Attack. | Jun Chikuma | Super Bomberman 3 | |
Zone 1 | The theme is used on Zone 1. | Jun Chikuma | Super Bomberman 5 | |
Yasuhiko Fukuda |
References
Marukatsu Famicom - Super Bomberman 1 Comic and Guide