Tanooki Suit

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Mario wearing a Tanooki Suit.

The Tanooki Suit is a rare item found in Super Mario Bros. 3 and its subsequent remakes. It transforms Mario or Luigi into Tanooki Mario or Tanooki Luigi, respectively. The suit grants the same abilities as the Super Leaf, with the added ability of turning into a statue when the player presses down and at the same time. Also, if Mario or Luigi run fast enough to fill the Speed Gauge and jump, they can temporarily fly, like when Mario or Luigi gets a Super Leaf. In the e-Reader level Tanooki Suit's secret, The Tanooki Suit is revealed able to break certain blocks when in statue form. This item is probably the most unique because once a player loses it, it pops out of the player, turns white, and disappears, just like the Frog and Hammer Suit. It can first be found in World 4, and then the rest of the worlds.

While Tanooki Mario returns in Super Mario 3D Land, the Tanooki Suit doesn't. Instead, Mario must obtain a Super Leaf to transform into Tanooki Mario. Tanooki Mario is able to attack enemies with his tail and scuttle to jump longer, but unlike Super Mario Bros. 3, he cannot turn into a statue or fly.

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Mario in the statue form.

Tanooki suits are named after tanukis, Japanese creatures who, according to mythology, can use leaves to shape-shift and cause chaos.

The Tanooki Suit was prominently featured in a Nintendo Comics System story titled "Tanooki Suits Me"; according to this story, the suit was one of many magical suits made by a tailor named Tanooki whose trademark was to sew a tail on the back of each one. It is revealed in this comic that Mario turns into a statue by pressing a button on the front of the suit, and changes back by wishing to return to human form.

Trivia

• Tanookis are also a species found on the Isle Delfino in Super Mario Sunshine.
• It can be combined with the P-Wing.
• If Mario or Luigi defeat a Koopaling in the Tanooki Suit, the Mushroom King will say, "Thank you, kind raccoon. Please tell me your name."
• In Nintendo Monopoly, there is a Coin Block/Brick Block card that charges the player $50 for a new suit. The artwork depicts Mario wearing a Tanooki Suit.
• In the graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, during one of Scott's flashbacks of dating one of his ex-girlfriends, he is wearing a Tanooki Suit.
• In Super Paper Mario, Francis wants a Tanooki Suit that's made out of real Tanooki fur.

References

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