Chain Chomp

Chain Chomps are enemies in the Mario series that first appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES. They're enemies that are chained up, though nevertheless are capable of attacking you if you happen to be within a certain range of them. This can easily be avoidable, though can also be a challenge in later games such as Super Mario 64 where they've dramatically grown.

In Super Mario 64, they'd, like in previous games, be chained up, though could be released if you're able to ground pound the pole that they're attached to. Once this is done, it'll turn around and crash through the jail, thus giving you access to a star.

They also appeared in Super Mario Sunshine, where they'd be covered with steaming goop. In this mission, Mario and FLUDD would have to clean all of this junk off of them, which in turn would cool the beasts down.

In Super Mario Galaxy, they're not attached to any chain, and will roll around selected planets attempting to squash Mario.

In a way they resemble dogs, and are, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, inspired by an event that occured in his life when he was a child. Apparently a large dog chased after him, though was yanked back by his chain.

The German translation of Chain Chomp is "Kettenhund" which means "Chain-Dog".

Chain Chomp variants

 * Chomp: A loose chain chomp.
 * Shromp: The shroob's version of a chomp.
 * Big Chain Chomp: A giant invincible chomp.
 * Chomp Pup: Tiny versions of Chomps. They can be found rolling around in places like the first planet in Sky Station Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2.
 * Stone Chomp: These kinds of Chomps appear in Dry Dry Ruins in Paper Mario . Like their name says, these kind of Chomp is made of stone, and have a tan color.
 * Chomp Country: The two Red Chomps Ranked #2 in the Glitz Pit
 * Nibbles: The Chain Chomp fish in Paper Mario: The Thousand year door That bites you if you fall in the water

Trivia

 * Shigeru Miyamoto came up with the idea for the chain chomp because as a child his neighbours dog tried to attack him but was lucky because it was chained to a wooden pole. Very similar to how the chain chomp is.