Pumpkin

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
(Redirected from Jack-o'-lantern)
Jump to navigationJump to search

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information. Reason: include information related to Luigi's Mansion 3 and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD.

Upshroom Downshroom's Wonder Effect
Jack-o'-lanterns in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Pumpkins occasionally have functional roles in Super Mario games. Within the games, they commonly take on the appearance of jack-o'-lanterns, a type of Halloween decoration, and are consequently encountered in autumnal or spooky environments. The role pumpkins typically fulfill in the franchise is to release collectibles or grant points when destroyed.

Pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns are also employed stylistically within the franchise, replacing the heads of Jumping Piranha Plants in the Fall mode of Super Mario World; being the dominant motif of the Pumpkin Zone in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins; and serving as the basis of the Prancer and Pumpkin Kart in the Mario Kart series. Sentient jack-o'-lanterns, called Splunkins, appear in New Super Mario Bros.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

Jack O'Goomba, an enemy type appearing in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, is a Goomba with a jack-o'-lantern mounted on its head. The pumpkin fully protects the Goomba from stomp attacks and allows the enemy to easily bounce back from one spin attack, though it shatters in the process. Regardless, the enemy can instantly be defeated with a Ground Pound or by touching it while in Rainbow form.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder[edit]

Main article: pumpkin box
Unknown Breakable Pumpkin SMBW
A pumpkin box in Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Bros. Wonder features crates called pumpkin boxes[derived] in the course Upshroom Downshroom. They appear in various sizes, and typically release items when destroyed. During the course's Wonder Effect, the pumpkin boxes become jack-o'-lanterns and are bounced into the air by Mushroom Platforms.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon[edit]

In Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, jack-o'-lanterns are among the many interactive objects in ScareScraper mode. Luigi can grab one using the Poltergust 5000's vacuuming function, then blow it away into a hard surface to destroy it, potentially releasing a heart. Greenies may pick up a pumpkin and use it as a shield against Luigi's Strobulb, though Luigi can wrest the pumpkin away from a Greenie by vacuuming it.[1]

WarioWare Gold[edit]

In WarioWare Gold, the Pumpkin Panic minigame has Ashley protecting a pumpkin patch from mandrakes. She can shoot magic at the mandrakes to turn them into pumpkins, then walk into the pumpkins to knock away and destroy them. Kicked pumpkins can also defeat mandrakes. Given time, a pumpkin eventually flickers and vanishes. If there are multiple pumpkins in a line, Ashley can kick one pumpkin into another to cause a chain reaction; the first pumpkin in a row grants 100 points when destroyed, with the number of points earned per pumpkin increasing as more of them are destroyed in the chain. Pumpkins other than the first in a chain grant make mandrakes defeated by them worth more points. Pumpkins produce purple orbs when destroyed, which charge up Ashley's special ability—a torrent of magic that turns all normal mandrakes currently spawned on the play field into pumpkins. After each night phase, pumpkins fall from the sky to fill the area, allowing the player to earn lots of points. Every other night phase, a large mandrake immune to Ashley's normal attack appears. Therefore, the primary way to damage it is to kick pumpkins into it.

Mario Kart Tour[edit]

Toad (Party Time) near two Jack-o'-lanterns in Wii Maple Treeway during the 2020 Halloween Tour
Shy Guy Jack-o'-lanterns in Wii Maple Treeway

Jack-o'-lanterns (written with a capital "J" in-game) appear as course elements in Mario Kart Tour, exclusively during tours that occur around Halloween. They have the face of Bowser, Boo, or Shy Guy carved on them.

Jack-o'-lanterns appear in several sizes. Smaller ones typically lie on the track and can be knocked away by driving into them or hitting them with an item, growing back in the same spot after a while. Larger Jack-o'-lanterns are found on the sides of tracks or in the background, and, when hit, they make a bobbing movement while remaining in place. Like with festive trees and kadomatsu, interacting with a Jack-o'-lantern of any size awards the player bonus points, with the action being displayed as "Trick or treat!" Additionally, when hit, Jack-o'-lanterns emit a brief Boo-like chortle, with larger ones emitting said sound at a lower pitch than the small ones. Starting October 25, 2020, 06:00 UTC, interacting with a Jack-o'-lantern also gives drivers an event token.

The only tours to have featured Jack-o'-lanterns thus far were all the Halloween Tours as of 2020, the 2021 Autumn Tour, and the Battle Tour.

The following are courses that have featured Jack-o'-lanterns:

Jack-o'-lanterns do not appear in most bonus challenges. When they do, they are all off the main track.

A MKT Report reveals that a total of 403,223,289 Jack-o'-lanterns were "blown away" by the game's playerbase during the 2024 Battle Tour and Halloween Tour.[2]

Gallery[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Jack-o'-lantern
Language Name Meaning Notes
Chinese (simplified) 杰克南瓜灯[?]
Jiékè Nánguā Dēng
Jack-o'-lantern Mario Kart Tour
Chinese (traditional) 傑克南瓜燈[?]
Jiékè Nánguā Dēng
Jack-o'-lantern Mario Kart Tour
German Halloweenkürbis[?] Halloween Pumpkin Mario Kart Tour
Italian Zucca di Halloween[?] Halloween pumpkin Mario Kart Tour

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ RetroArchive (November 24, 2022). Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon - ScareScraper All 25 Floors (No Damage - Surprise Expert Mode) (19:51). YouTube. Retrieved October 8, 2024. This gameplay footage of the ScareScraper mode in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon shows a Greenie and Luigi using a jack-o'-lantern.
  2. ^ "While we're here, this is how many jack-o'-lanterns were blown away during the Battle Tour and Halloween Tour:
    "403,223,289
    "We hope you continue to enjoy #MarioKartTour!
    " – mariokarttourEN (November 5, 2024). Post. X. Retrieved November 12, 2024. (Archived November 12, 2024, 20:23:55 UTC via archive.today.)