Starlow

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

Starlow is a Star Sprite who acts as Mario and Luigi's traveling companion in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.

Background

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 wound up trapped in Bowser's body, and after Mario rescued Starlow, they and Luigi teamed up together to find Princess Peach and the other Toads, with Starlow acting as their guide throughout the quest. During the boss battle with the Scutlet, Starlow was swallowed by the Scutlet but 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 Bowser's 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 in his body or needed 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 he wasn't plotting any evil for the near future.

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. Otherwise, Starlow seems to be defenseless.

Trivia

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