Starlow

Starlow
Species	Star Sprite
Debut	Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Starlow is a Star Sprite who has acted as Mario and Luigi's traveling companion in several Mario & Luigi games, starting with Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.

Background

Bowser's Inside Story

Starlow was a Star Sprite who was initially sent to the Mushroom Kingdom as the Star Sprite representative during a conference held by Princess Peach to find a solution to the epidemic known as The Blorbs. Starlow's casual manners offended some, such as Toadsworth, but Peach respected her. After Bowser arrived and started a fight with Mario and Luigi, Peach and Starlow were able to freeze and levitate Bowser to end the battle by combining Peach's wish power with Starlow's star power. However, soon afterwards Bowser returned under the influence of the Vacuum Mushroom, which caused him to inhale everyone in the room.

They all ended up trapped within Bowser's body, and after Mario rescued Starlow, they and Luigi teamed up together to find Princess Peach and the other Toads. Starlow acted as their guide throughout the quest. During the boss battle with the Scutlet, Starlow was swallowed by the Scutlet, but she was freed after Mario and Luigi defeated the creature. She also eventually began communicating with Bowser to push him in the right directions during their quest. Feeling he would not work with the Mario brothers, Starlow gave her name as Chippy and pretended to be the only person trapped in Bowser's body (although Bowser started to get suspicious after Fawful snatched Peach from his body).

After they found (and lost) Peach, they began to focus on finding a way out of Bowser's body. They eventually found some Warp Pipes that they used to return to the outside world, but they also had to return to Bowser's body several times when they needed something from his body or had to rely on his strength. When the time came for the final battle, Starlow urged Bowser not to be afraid to call on them for help, letting slip that there were others with her, although Bowser did not definitively realize that Mario and Luigi were in him until he regurgitated them after the final battle. Starlow was last seen in the final scene with the package that Peach had mailed to Bowser out of gratitude, checking up on Bowser and making sure that he wasn't plotting any evil for the near future.

Later Appearances

Starlow returned in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team,s he where answered an invitation to visit Pi'illo Island as a representative of the Star Sprites. There, she was reunited with Peach, Mario and Luigi. It was not long before Mario and Luigi got caught up in a quest to rescue the princess and the island in general, and Starlow acted as their helper throughout the quest once more. They were also joined by Prince Dreambert, who acted as another helper for the brothers, primarily within the dream world.

This time, Luigi would often fall asleep on Pi'illo people like Dreambert in order to open portals to the dream world for Mario to enter. Whenever this happened, Starlow would remain in the real world and watch over Luigi's sleeping body. She could also have effects on the dream world by interacting with Luigi's face or hat. Eventually, when the time came for the final battle with Bowser, Starlow combined her power with Peach's once more to destroy the Dream Stone. That ended up not being enough to end Bowser's threat, as Bowser inhaled the fragments of the stone to become Dreamy Bowser. However, the brothers were still able to defeat him. Afterwards, they returned to the island, and Starlow joined the others in enjoying their vacation.

She acted as the brothers' helper once more in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, where she even ended up fighting off some of the Koopalings.

Abilities

Like many sidekicks in Mario RPG games, Starlow's primary ability seems to be that of information, as she helps to guide the player throughout the game and explain the controls to various minigames. Starlow is naturally capable of floating, and during some boss battles can lift Mario and Luigi so that they can avoid certain devastating attacks. Starlow also holds some sort of "star power", which she uses in conjunction with Peach's wish power to freeze and levitate Bowser in midair. This combined power also shatters the Dream Stone before the final battle of Dream Team. In Paper Jam, she also used a powerful attack called a Supernova Sparkle.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Starlow appears as an Advanced Support Spirit. Her Spirit's Support effect is to increase a fighter's attack power while they are undamaged. When fought in a Spirit battle, she possessed Pac-Man and fought alongside Mario and Luigi. During the battle, the three grew and shrunk at different periods, in reference to Bowser's Inside Story.

Trivia

• Starlow's name is combined from "star" and "yellow".
• Starlow is the spiritual successor of Stuffwell from Partners in Time.