Nabbit

Nabbit
Species	Rabbit
Eye color	Black
Voiced by	Natsuko Yokoyama
Debut	New Super Mario Bros. U

Nabbit is a recurring character from the Super Mario series who has acted as both an enemy and a playable character. He is a purple rabbit-like being who acts as a thief, and he wears a handkerchief with a mouth drawn on it (similar to the one worn by Bowser Jr.). He carries around a sack that is used to store stolen items.

Background

New Super Mario Bros. U

The Nabbit's primary initial appearance was in New Super Mario Bros. U. In the original version of the game, he was shown to be stealing items from Toad Houses. A special event would appear in which the player(s) must chase Nabbit across a course that has already been completed and catch him within 100 seconds in order to earn a reward. Nabbit chases would occur at seven different levels of the game, each in a different world, with Peach's Castle and Superstar Road being the only worlds without a Nabbit chase. He could also potentially appear to loot treasure chests at enemy courses if the player waited too long to open the chests.

In the other versions of the game (New Super Luigi U and New Super Mario Bros. U Delxue), Nabbit was made into a potentially playable character. As a playable character, the Nabbit was invincible against enemy attacks and only received knockback from stronger enemies. He could only lose a life through hazards such as falling down pits or running out of lives. He could not use any items or power-ups, including being unable to ride a Yoshi, but he could collect items in his sack. At the end of a stage, a Nabbit would earn a 1-Up for every item in his sack. In Deluxe, Nabbit was labeled as Easiest and also added 100 extra seconds to the timer. In those versions, the Nabbit only made its appearance as an enemy if Nabbit was not being played by one of the current players at the time. All versions of the game also contained an area called the Secret Island which contained a purple Toad House known as the Records Toad House. The decor implied that Nabbit owned the house, and this was confirmed in Mario & Sonic a the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. In that game, it is referred to as both his base and home, and it was said that he liked to research Mario for unknown reasons.

If Nabbit was part of the playable group that saved Peach, then he would be seen hiding in the background during Peach's rescue rather then meeting with her directly. Even if Bowser was defeated with Nabbit as the only character being played, Mario would be shown meeting with Peach instead, while Nabbit continued to appear only in the background.

Later Appearances

Nabbit later made a recurring appearance in Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. In it, Nabbit had stolen most of the items utilized for the characters' Bros. Attacks. Throughout the game, Mario's group had to chase Nabbit down and fight him in order to get more Bros. Attacks. This ended in a mission at Bowser's Castle known as Bad Nabbit, in which Mario's group had to chase Nabbit down and engage in six battles. Three of them were battles against Nabbit, and three were battles were Nabbit acted as an ally fighting against some of Bowser's minions. This would result in earning Luigi's final Bros. Attack, the Mega Thwonk. Nabbit also appeared during the game's credits, where he ended up being chased by several Yoshis after taking a melon. Nabbit also appeared in the Bowser Jr.'s Journey mode of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.s Journey as a recruitable ally after the main story was completed. He could only be recruited with Ludwig's Negotiate Captain Command.

He also made his sports debut in Mario Golf: World Tour as a DLC character who was made available through the Flower Pack or Season Pass. He also appeared in Mario & Luigi at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where he was playable in the 100m Dash event. Within the Mario Party games, Nabbit initially appeared in Mario Party 10. In it, Nabbit would appear whenever Team Mario landed on a Bowser Dick Block -1 Space to steal a Dice Block from Bowser. He also made a cameo appearance in the Absent Minded minigame of Super Mario Party.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Nabbit appears at the Mushroom Kingdom U stage that was seen in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Nabbit will attempt to catch fighters in his sack and jump off of the stage, which could result in the fighters being KOed. It is possible to escape from Nabbit's sack through button-mashing, and Nabbit can also be attacked like an ordinary fighter. In the Wii U game, Nabbit could also appear in Smash Tour mode, where he would move along the board and grab all items in his path. Players could attempt to catch the Nabbit in order to claim all of the items he stole. Nabbit has also been represented by a trophy in the Wii U game and an Advance-rank Support Spirit (with the item gravitation effect) in Ultimate.
• In Star Fox Guard, a robotic enemy based on the Nabbit appears. Known as the Nabbot, it would attempt to steal precious metals left behind by destroyed enemies. A stronger version known as the Golden Nabbot also appeared.

Trivia

• The name "Nabbit" is a simple combination of "nab" and "rabbit". His Japanese name is "Totten", based on the Japanse word meaning "to steal".
• In Super Mario Maker, Nabbit was also added through an update as one of the Mystery Mushroom costumes available for Mario to transform into. After being added to the game, his costume could be unlocked as a random prize for completing a 100 Mario Challenge on Normal or harder.
• Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was Nabbit's first appearance with spoken dialogue.
• Similarities have been noted with Ravio from The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, whose costume resembles Nabbit (down to having a similar color) and who also keeps items in a sack, though he is a merchant rather than a thief. Satoru Iwata has dismissed the similarity as an unintentional coincidence.