Tanooki Suit
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| Mario donning the suit in Super Mario 3D Land. | |
| Tanooki Suit | |
| Type | Power-Up |
| Debut | Super Mario Bros. 3 |
The Tanooki Suit is a power-up suit that was originally featured in Super Mario Bros. 3. Since then, the Tanooki Suit and its associated forms have appeared in several games of the Mario series. The essential form of the tanooki suit is Tanooki Mario (and variations for several other characters). In a number of its appearances, the tanooki form can also transform into a stone statue, which is known as Statue Mario. Luigi also has his own fox-like variation of the tanooki form, which was introduced in Super Mario 3D Land and is known as Kitsune Luigi.
Information[edit]
The Tanooki Suit is a power-up that has been used by both Mario and Luigi. As the name indicates, it a costume based on the Japanese tanuki. The Tanooki form acts as a foil to the game's Raccoon form, which is achieved through the Super Leaf. Both forms are capable of limited flight with a running start. The unique ability given to Tanooki Mario or Luigi is that he can turn into a stone form, which makes him impervious to attacks. If this done in midair, the stone will slam down to the ground and destroy most enemies as well as hitting switches.
Super Mario 3D Land later combined the two power-ups by having the Super Leaf initiate the Tanooki form. This version of the Tanooki form had abilities that were closer to the Raccoon form, as instead of being capable of turning into stone, Mario could swing the suit's tail as an attack. Tanooki Mario also could only enhance his jumps by fluttering the tail instead of outright flying. Luigi also had his own variation on the suit, which had lighter fur and more fox-like, and so he was known as Kitsune Luigi. An advanced version of the Statue Leaf was only found in the Special Worlds. This version restored more of the original Tanooki Suit's capabilities by allowing Mario or Luigi to turn into a statue in midair, and it was otherwise identical to the other Tanooki form, except for a bandana worn around the neck. Finally, an Invincibility Leaf appeared for struggling players, and it would give the player a glowing white-and-gold version of the Tanooki Suit, along with invincibility for the entirety of the level.
Within the storyline of 3D Land, it was shown that there was a tree full of Super Leaves near Princess Peach's Castle, but the tree was stripped bare by a sudden windstorm. This resulted in various members of Bowser's army having their own Tanooki tails, which they primarily used to enhance their jumping abilities. Some of the game's Bowser battles were revealed to actually be his underlings using the Tanooki tail to assume his appearance. Mario (and some Toads) were still able to use the Tanooki Suits to fly back to the Mushroom Kingdom in the ending. There was also an image of Peach wearing the Tanooki Suit that could be unlocked by clearing all levels.
The Tanooki form also appeared in the sequel to 3D Land, Super Mario 3D World, but without the extra version that allowed the statue transformation. In that game, the suit could also be used by Peach, Toad and Rosalina. In Super Mario Maker', Statue Mario (the statue form of Tanooki mario) appeared as an unlockable costume that Mario could transform into by using the Mystery Mushroom, and it was unlocked by completing an Event Course called The Secrets of Statue Mario. The Tanooki Suit itself also made a cameo appearance in both the first Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2, where it was one of costumes that could be seen being worn by Weird Mario whenever he answered a Warp Door. Weird Mario could also appear in statue form.
Sports Appearances[edit]
The combination of the two items continued in Mario Kart 7, where the Super Leaf appeared as an item that temporarily gave Mario a tail that could be swung around to block items and harm nearby drivers. Tanooki Mario later appeared as a separate playable character in Mario Kart 8 (as a DLC character) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, in addition to being a downloadable alternate color scheme for Mario in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, he plays similarly to Mario, except that he has slightly more acceleration. He can transform into a Statue Mario as an anti-gravity-specific trick and also has a themed Tanooki Kart.
Tanooki Mario costumes were also unlockable as costumes for Mii characters in Mario Tennis Open and Mario Golf: World Tour. In the former game, the costume was unlocked by turning 15 characters into star characters, and its matching tennis racket could be bought at the Clubhouse. In the latter game, it was unlocked by completing 50 Moon Coin challenges, and the matching golf ball and club set could also be purchased.
Other Appearances[edit]
Video Games[edit]
- When using the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack for Nintendo releases of Minecraft, Tanooki Mario and Kitsune Luigi will be available as playable skins, and the Tanooki Suit will also replace the Chain Armor.
- In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, Statue Mario appears as an unlockable form that is gained by clearing the star version of World 1, and Statue Luigi is unlocked by clearing the star version of World 2.
Other Media[edit]
- The Tanooki Suit was featured in one of the Mario comics that were published in the Nintendo Comics System. The suit was shown to be the handiwork of a tailor named Tanooki, who was known to sew tails onto his work. This gave an explanation for the Tanooki Suit's name which ignored the reference to Japanese mythology.
- Statue Mario made an appearance without the Tanooki Suit in the Super Mario-Kun manga. When Mario and his friends were turned into stone by a sphinx, it turned Mario into Statue Mario, and he was shown to be able to fight in that form.
Trivia[edit]
- It is named and modeled after the tanuki, a raccoon-like creature associated with Japanese mythology. The tanuki is known as a shape-shifter, and the stone form is a reference either to the shape-shifting or the prevalent tanuki statues in Japan.
- Luigi's Kitsune variation, introduced in Super Mario 3D Land, references the kistune, a different creature from Japanese mythology that is a fox.
- In Super Mario Bros. 3, if the player defeats one of the Koopalings while wearing the Tanooki Suit, that world's king will confuse Mario or Luigi for a raccoon and ask for his name.
- Although the Tanooki Suit did not appear between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario 3D Land outside of remakes, it was referenced several times during that period. A people called the Tanooki were shown in Super Mario Sunshine, while Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga introduced a type of Goomba called the Tanoomba, which had a Tanooki tail and was closer to the Japanese tanuki, complete with actual shape-changing abilities. One of the Sammer Guys in Super Paper Mario was also named Cloak of Tanooki, and Francis also mentioned that he wanted a Tanooki Suit that was made from real tanooki fur.
- In Super Mario Odyssey, there are statues called Jizos, which resemble Tanooki Mario's Statue Mario form. It is possible for Mario to capture a Jizo with Cappy and move them around, making them like a pseudo appearance of Statue Mario.
- In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, there is a trophy for Tanooki Mario & Kitsune Luigi, as well as a trophy for Statue Mario.