MIPS

MIPS
MIPS, in his original Super Mario 64 appearance
Species	Rabbit
First appearance	Super Mario 64 (1996)
Latest appearance	Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)

“Yeeoww! Unhand me, brute! I'm late, so late, I must make haste! This shiny thing? Mine! It's mine. Finders, keepers, losers... Late, late, late... Ouch! Take it then! A gift from Bowser, it was. Now let me be! I have a date! I cannot be late for tea!”

—MIPS, Super Mario 64

MIPS, also known as the Yellow Rabbit, is a minor character found in the basement of the Mushroom Castle in Super Mario 64. He is Princess Peach's pet rabbit.

Along with Mario, MIPS was the first character created for Super Mario 64. He was used extensively in early Nintendo 64 test simulations and ultimately made it into the final game because the development team liked him so much. MIPS is named after the MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) microprocessor, the instruction set used in the Nintendo 64. Several of MIPS's lines reference the White Rabbit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

History

Super Mario 64

MIPS can be first seen in Super Mario 64, after the player collects 15 Power Stars. He is found in the basement of the Mushroom Castle—when Mario approaches MIPS, he runs away. After Mario catches MIPS, the rabbit rewards him with a Power Star. MIPS appears in the basement a second time after Mario has collected 50 Power Stars, and Mario can catch MIPS again for another Power Star. MIPS does not reappear for the rest of the game after that.

In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, MIPS does not make a reappearance, instead being replaced by the rabbits scattered throughout the castle for each player character to find. They are modeled after MIPS, but they do not give up Power Stars. Instead, they give up keys to unlock minigames in the Rec Room. Two of Mario's, one of Wario's, and one of Yoshi's rabbits can be found in the same location MIPS was in the original game. The rabbits are also internally named "MIP" with their key known as a "MIP Key," with the former corroborated by the Shogakukan guide.

Mario Party 3

MIPS also makes a cameo appearance in Mario Party 3 in Woody Woods, where several can be seen gathering near the item shop. MIPS appears in three colors: orange, yellow, and pink, which are colors matching the rabbits that replace MIPS in Super Mario 64 DS (the only absent color is green).

Mario no Bōken Land

MIPS in Mario no Bōken Land

MIPS makes a cameo in the Super Mario 64 storyline of Mario no Bōken Land.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ミップ Mippu	MIP
French	MIPS[?]	-
German	MIPS[?]	-
Italian	MIPS[?]	-

Trivia

• Mario was originally able to throw MIPS, but this was removed.
• Originally, a rabbit that is most likely MIPS was going to be raced, but it ended up being replaced by Koopa the Quick in the final due to Mario not being able to keep up with it because it was too fast during testing.