The Lakitu is a recurring enemy and NPC type of the Super Mario series has been described as "the mysterious turtle who controls the clouds". They are a unique species of Koopas that ride on clouds. Enemy Lakitus usually attack by throwing down Spiny Eggs on their unsuspecting foes. They also commonly appear in more passive roles as referees or camera people.

Information

	A Lakitu depicted in Super Paper Mario.
Lakitu
Type	Koopa
Debut	Super Mario Bros.

The Lakitu is usually portrayed as a physically unfit Koopa wearing glasses with an unexplained power over clouds. They float around in their personal clouds and usually drop Spiny eggs towards their enemies, so that their Spinies could fight their battles. Lakitus can usually be knocked out by a simple hop, but their altitude makes them hard to reach. If a Lakitu is defeated, its cloud usually remains behind temporarily and can be ridden by the player's character. However, they do not all ride clouds, as they have also been known to attack from pipes, holes in walls or underwater.

Lakitus are also often seen with fishing poles that they use to lure in prey. Generally, they will bait Mario with a power-up or coin and will begin to pursue him once he shows up. They are generally referred to as Fishin' Lakitu and a similar enemy, Fishin' Boo (which seems to be the ghost version of a Lakitu) uses a similar baiting trick.

Although Lakitus are believed to only be able to control clouds, some Lakitus have shown some signs of weather control as well. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island had Thunder Lakitus which dropped lightning that started fires along the ground, although they seemed to be aided by some sort of mechanical apparatus. One Lakitu who actually had this ability was Lakithunder, a boss in New Super Mario Bros. who dropped bolts of lightning.

Despite all these evil Lakitus working with Bowser's army, there are actually a number of benevolent ones as well. Lakitus have been known to work in camera crews (in Super Mario 64), as shopkeepers (in DDR Mario Mix) as umpires (the tennis games), and they are most well-known for their role in the Mario Kart series, where there is a Lakitu referee will count down to the beginning of the race and use its fishing pole to save any fallen racers. There was also one Lakitu who acted as an ally to Mario in Paper Mario, named Lakilester.

Variations

Aqua Lakitu - In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, they are Lakitus who pop up from the water wearing snorkels and attack by tossing Spiny Balls. They are only vulnerable when they emerge.
Calm Fishin' Boo - An emotional variant of the Fishin' Boo in Super Princess Peach that is usually sleeping. Moving fast will awaken it, at which point it will behave like a normal Fishin' Boo, although it can be destroyed using the Rage Vibe.
Calm Lakitu - An emotional variant from Super Princess Peach. It is simply a sleeping Lakitu, and behaves like a normal Lakitu after being awakened.
Dark Lakitu - In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, they are meaner and stronger versions of the Lakitu found only in the Pit of 100 Trials. It tosses Sky-Blue Spinies.
Fishin' Boo - A ghost version of the Lakitu that dangles fishing lines similar to the Fishin' Lakitu. It usually dangles a blue flame from its line and is immune to most normal attacks. It appears in Super Mario World and Super Princess Peach. In the latter game it can be destroyed by the Rage Vibe.
Glam Lakitu - In Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Glam Lakitus are rare enemies who may appear in the upper screen during battles in Dimble Wood, Bumpsy Plains and Blubble Lake. If Bowser can inhale it before it runs away, Mario and Luigi can then battle it. These Lakitus are somewhat regal, wearing a crown, and toss golden Spinies as well as coins.
Lakipea - The Beanbean Kingdom's counterpart to the Lakitu appearing in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. It is covered in vines and tosses Sharpeas, and otherwise behaves similarly to Lakitus.
Lakitufo - The Shroobian counterpart of the Lakitus appearing in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, although it is uncertain if they are actually of Shroobian origin or are actually modified Lakitus. They are Lakitus with antennas that cling to small UFOs in battle. They toss Spiny Shroopa Eggs and can also beam in additional Spiny Shroopas from their UFOs, and will sometimes attack themselves with an aerial spin attack. They appear in the Vim Factory level.
Thunder Lakitu - In Yoshi's Island, they are Lakitus with a strange mechanical apparatus that shoot down lightning. They appear in one level of the game but also make a surprise cameo appearance in Mario Power Tennis, scattering Klaptraps from the DK Court.

Appearances

Yoshi also had a Lakitu friend. The Lakitu was brainwashed by Kamek and became the first boss of Tetris Attack. After the Lakitu was defeated, the spell was lifted, and the Lakitu became a playable ally of Yoshi. In Paper Mario, a group of bad Lakitus called Team Lakitu aided Huff N. Puff's attack on Flower Fields. However, one of the Lakitus named Lakilester turned on them and became one of Mario's partners. Lakilester's cloud could protect Mario from harm, and he could blow strong gusts of wind.

In Super Mario Odyssey, a Fishin' Lakitu appeared as an NPC in several different kingdoms, where he tried fishing in a variety of different environments, including at a poison pond. Mario could use Cappy to control the Lakitu and fish for him, which could result in catching large Cheep Cheeps that contained Power Moons.

Sports

As mentioned above, Lakitus often appear in referee roles in the sports-related Mario games. Lakitus have appeared in referee or umpire-related roles in every game of the Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Baseball and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games subseries, as well as in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and for three of the sports (basketball, hockey and dodgeball) represented in Mario Sports Mix. In most of the Mario Golf games, they retrieve balls that fall into the water and also act as referees for the Speed Golf minigames, using the traffic lights from their Mario Kart appearances. A Lakitu cameraman was also present in the first Mario Golf game.

A red-shelled Lakitu also appeared as a playable character in Mario Kart 7, Mario Kart 8 (as an unlockable character) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Mario Party

Within the Mario Party games, Lakitus have made appearances in various minigames throughout the series. Lakitus have also appeared as a capsule item in Mario Party 5and Mario Party 7 (in the Neon Heights area only), and when it was, the Lakitu could be summoned to steal capsules/orbs from other players. A similar item called the Lakitu Leech later appeared on the Perilous Palace Path board in Mario Party: Island Tour, and in this case the Lakitu could be used to seal items in general.

In Mario Party Advance, they acted as minigame referees, and one Lakitu NPC appeared who was known for being an avid fan of Toad Force V. The player had to remind him of a line from the show to earn the Bait 'n Wait Gaddget from him, and in the credits he was said to secretly wish to be a screenwriter. In Mario Party 9, Lakitu appeared as the first boss to be fought at Toad Road.

In Mario Party: Star Rush, there was one space in Toad Scramble mode that was represented by a Lakitu's cloud. Landing on it could summon a Lakitu to give the player a ride to another player's space if paid with coins. Lakitus also appeared in Super Mario Party, where they could steal coins or a Star fro other players, inheriting the role played by Boo in previous games.

Other Appearances

Video Games

Lakitus have also appeared as enemies in The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. In this game, Lakitus appear in the cloud areas and use lightning magic to attack.
The Lakitu appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. The Lakitu is represented in its original 8-bit pixel appearance from Super Mario Bros. and drops Spinies on players. In the 3DS Smash, Lakitus also appear as enemies in Smash Run, using their modern designs rather then the 8-bit appearance.
- A trophy for Lakitu had previously appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee. In Brawl, there is a trophy of the Lakitu using its 8-bit Assist Trophy appearance, as well as two stickers of Lakitu using art from Mario Kart Super Circuit and New Super Mario Bros.. The 3DS/Wii U games both have a trophy for Lakitu in his 8-bit form, while the 3DS game also has a trophy for Lakitu as he appears in Smash Run and a trophy for Lakitu with the Cloud 9 kart from Mario Kart.

Trivia

The Lakitu's Japanese name is Jugem, taken from a Japanese rakugou folk talk, where it is the beginning of someone's comically long name. Lakitu's cloud was accidentally referred to as Jugem's Cloud in the original English localization of Super Mario Bros. 3.
Shigeru Miyamoto has claimed that Lakitu is the game character that represented him the best, because of the way he is "very free, floating in the air, going anywhere".
In Tetris Attack, the Lakitu replaced Windy from the original Panel De Pon.

Lakitu

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