Giga Cat Mario

Giga Cat Mario
Applies to	Mario, Plessie
Item needed	Giga Bell
Power(s) given	Increased size; Cat Mario's abilities
First appearance	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Latest appearance	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (version 11.0.1, spirit cameo) (2021)

Giga Cat Mario is a gigantic form of Mario that appears in the Bowser's Fury campaign of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. It is a larger, more powerful form of Cat Mario and is only accessible when any of the three Giga Bells across Lake Lapcat are awakened and collected.

History

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Mario assumes this form to fight Fury Bowser directly multiple times throughout the campaign; this requires a certain number of Cat Shines, the specific number being dependent on how many times Fury Bowser has been defeated in battle. Giga Cat Mario's fur takes on a more radiant golden tint than regular Cat Mario's, with a lion mane and a tuft at the end of his tail resembling those of a komainu.

If the player has collected enough Cat Shines to uncorrupt the available Giga Bells, they will awaken and become usable when Fury Bowser begins rampaging. If Mario comes in contact with an active Giga Bell, a cutscene will play showing Cat Mario growing in size and turning into Giga Cat Mario, with the initial power-up form staying as Cat Mario regardless of the form Mario was in when collecting the Giga Bell. The entire map will then reload as a less detailed version of Lake Lapcat with no objects, and the heads-up display disappears for the duration this map is loaded. Fury Bowser then begins attacking as a battle against him starts.

Giga Cat Mario clawing at Fury Bowser

Giga Cat Mario possesses a similar moveset to Cat Mario. He is able to claw swipe, claw dive, and climb up walls (although the latter is difficult to perform, as he is too big to climb a reasonable distance up most structures in Lake Lapcat). While he retains the crouch, dash, Ground Pound Jump, Long Jump, and roll from Mario's normal moveset, the Crouch Jump, Dive, Side Somersault, Spin Jump, and Wall Jump cannot be performed. Unlike other giant transformations such as Mega Mario, and in a similar vein to Big Mario, Mario is not invulnerable in this form. While he is immune to the black goop covering Lake Lapcat, wading through it is slower than moving through water. Coming into contact with Fury Bowser, his attacks, or the lava in Roiling Roller Isle or Mount Magmeow will cause Giga Cat Mario to take damage. Taking damage once causes him to revert to his Super form, and taking damage again in this state reverts him to his Small form. Both of these forms are gigantic versions of their normal forms, with sizes proportional to Giga Cat Mario. If the gigantic version of Small Mario takes damage, the standard death animation plays while Mario shrinks down to normal size. The map will then reload and place Mario in front of the Giga Bell he collected to begin the battle. Because this occurs in the middle of a Fury Bowser rampage, Mario can easily re-collect the Giga Bell to try the battle again.

During Fury Bowser battles, the Giga Bell Mario initially collected will remain absent from its pedestal for a set amount of time. It then reappears, making the same sound that plays when it awakens to signify that it can be collected again and glowing brightly to mark its location. This process occurs for any other Giga Bells that are in regions the player has unlocked, effectively allowing for Mario to transform into Giga Cat Mario an endless number of times.

Giga Cat Plessie in the ending cutscene

After the final battle against Fury Bowser and subsequent battle against Giant Bowser, Plessie obtains all three Giga Bells simultaneously and transforms into Giga Cat Plessie, a gigantic version of Plessie with cat ears, a cat tail, and fur. Giga Cat Plessie easily outclasses Giant Bowser in size, and sends him flying into the horizon upon contact. At the end of the ending cutscene, the camera zooms out to reveal that the scene took place on Giga Cat Plessie's back. After the credits roll and the player re-enters the campaign through the title screen, Plessie returns to normal size, but remains as Cat Plessie permanently on the save file.

After completing the main story, if the player collects all 100 Cat Shines and proceeds to defeat Giant Bowser again, Cat Mario's Cat Suit is changed to resemble Giga Cat Mario when collecting a Super Bell (if collecting a Lucky Bell, he will also have a red collar). However, this is purely aesthetic and does not affect Mario's moveset in any way. This change only appears in the completed Bowser's Fury save file, and not in the Super Mario 3D World campaign. If Fury Bowser is battled after this occurs, the Giga Bells will not respawn during the battle, meaning Mario can only recover health twice if he takes damage.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Giga Cat Mario also appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a primary, Advanced-class, Shield-type spirit, introduced during the five-day "Bowser's Fury" spirit event that began on April 9, 2021. When used, the fighter's jump height is increased. In his spirit battle, he is represented by a giant Mii Brawler wearing the Cat Hat and Suit and teamed up with Bowser Jr. The battle takes place on the Ω form of Find Mii, and "The Great Tower Showdown 2" from Super Mario 3D World is the music that plays.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate spirit

#	Name	Image	Series / game	Type	Class	Strength / effect(s)	How to obtain	Spirit battle
								Opponent(s)	Battle conditions	Stage	Song
1472	Giga Cat Mario		Super Mario Series	Primary (2)	Advanced	Shield Jump ↑	Spirit Board (ver. 11.0.1 or later)	Giant Mii Brawler, Bowser Jr.	Defeat the main fighter to win The enemy is giant	Find Mii (Ω)	The Great Tower Showdown 2

Gallery

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  Mario as a gigantic Small Mario, with Bowser Jr. for scale

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  Mario as a gigantic Super Mario, with Bowser Jr. for scale

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  Giga Cat Mario, with Bowser Jr. for scale

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  Giga Cat Mario facing off against Fury Bowser

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  Giga Cat Mario Ground Pounding Fury Bowser

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  Giga Cat Mario throwing a Disaster Spike at Fury Bowser

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  Giga Cat Mario avoiding Fury Bowser's fury blast

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  Giga Cat Mario claw diving

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  Giant Bowser being defeated by Cat Mario and Plessie

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  Giga Cat Mario and Plessie using the Giga Bells

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  The Cat Suit fashioned after Giga Cat Mario

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  Giga Cat Mario and a cat-like Bowser Jr. preparing to battle Fury Bowser

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  Shaded illustration

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  Thumbnail of a Play Nintendo paint-by-number activity featuring Giga Cat Mario

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  Blank paint-by-number image

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  Fully colored paint-by-number image

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  Vector art of the paint-by-number image

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  Key holder with Giga Cat Mario and Fury Bowser

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  Back view of key holder

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  Promotional screenshot for Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury posted by Nintendo Japan's Instagram account, to celebrate the Japanese Cat Day in 2022

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  Mascot keychain by Takara Tomy

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ギガネコマリオ Giga Neko Mario	Giga Cat Mario. Giga can also be written with non-standard kanji as 巨大, meaning "huge".
Chinese (simplified)	巨型猫咪马力欧 Jùxíng Māomī Mǎlì'ōu	Giant Cat Mario
Chinese (traditional)	巨型貓咪瑪利歐 Jùxíng Māomī Mǎlì'ōu	Giant Cat Mario
Dutch	Giga-Kat-Mario[?]	Giga Cat Mario
French	Giga Mario chat[?]	Giga Cat Mario
German	Giga-Katzen-Mario[?]	Giga Cat Mario
Italian	Giga Mario gatto[?]	Giga Cat Mario
Korean	기가고양이마리오[?] Giga Goyangi Malio	Giga Cat Mario
Portuguese	Giga Mario Gato	Giga Cat Mario
Russian	Гигамарио-кот Gigamario-kot	Giga Cat Mario
Spanish	Giga Mario Felino[?]	Giga Feline Mario