Lakitu's Cloud

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
Revision as of 21:35, March 21, 2024 by Mario jc (talk | contribs) (→‎Mario Kart series: You're still leaving out commas after adverbs.)
Jump to navigationJump to search
Lakitu's Cloud
Promotional artwork of Lakitu's Cloud for Nintendo Switch Online
Artwork of a Lakitu's Cloud for Nintendo Switch Online
First appearance Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Latest appearance Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)
Variant of Cloud Block
Variants
Relatives
Comparable
Notable members

Lakitu's Clouds, occasionally formatted as Lakitu's clouds,[1] are a type of cloud with a smiley face, usually inhabited and maneuvered through the air by Lakitus. In some of the Super Mario titles, Mario can ride around in one.

Appearance

Most Lakitu's Clouds are white. However, in Paper Mario, Lakilulu has a pink-colored cloud; additionally, Dark Lakitus from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door have gray clouds. Lakithunder from New Super Mario Bros. also has a dark gray cloud with glaring, yellow eyes, capable of firing lightning bolts. King Lakitu from Super Mario Galaxy 2, another lightning-firing Lakitu, has a purple cloud. Lakipeas, the Beanbean Kingdom equivalent of Lakitus, have vines covering their clouds.

Cloud that skips levels. SMW2 Lakitu's Cloud.png Lakitu Cloud PM.png
Lakitu's Clouds from left to right: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, and Paper Mario

Many Lakitu's Clouds also have faces. In the Paper Mario series, the clouds share the expressions of their owners; additionally, some Lakitu's Clouds in the Paper Mario series wear sunglasses. The clouds of Fishing Boos and C. Fishing Boos do not have faces, however. In Super Mario 64, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, and Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!, all Lakitus are portrayed without faces on their clouds, but in Super Mario 64, there is an unused texture for a face for Lakitu's Cloud left in the game's data.[2] In the latter, Lakitu and Mario are able to control rain, thunder, sun, typhoons, and snow with levers on the cloud.

Similar cloud characters and items have appeared throughout the Super Mario franchise. In Super Mario World, when Yoshi eats two pink berries in the same stage, a cloud resembling Lakitu's Cloud appears and drops ten striped smiley-faced coins, giving a 1-Up Mushroom if all of them are collected. The Thunder Cloud item in Mario Kart Wii looks like a Lakitu's Cloud, but a bluish-gray color with a Lightning on its head. Ruff Puff's Tattle in Super Paper Mario openly speculates on the relationship between it and the similar Lakitu's Cloud.

History

Super Mario series

Super Mario Bros. 3

In Super Mario Bros. 3, Lakitu's Cloud[3][4] (originally named Jugem's Cloud,[5][6][7] with "Jugem" being the romanization of Lakitu's Japanese name, or Cloud Jewel[8]) can be used by Mario or Luigi on the world map to skip a level and move to the next available space. However, this does not update, so if they lose a life right after using it, they will be transported back to their map position before using it. (This can be avoided by updating the player's saved location as usual, by using a Warp Pipe on the map or clearing a level without losing a life.)

Super Mario World

In Super Mario World, after taking out the Lakitu riding a Lakitu's Cloud, the player can jump on it to temporarily float around and reach places that they could normally not get to. Although Lakitus typically only travel across a horizontal axis, the player's control of the Lakitu's clouds allows for travel in any direction for as long as the cloud lasts. If the player jumps from a Lakitu's Cloud while moving in it, the resulting momentum causes the cloud to float at constant speed in the direction the player was heading until it is reoccupied or despawns. To access a Lakitu's Cloud, the player first has to defeat the Lakitu with a fireball, a cape attack, a sand cloud, a throwing object (such as a shell or a Grab Block), or with invincibility power from a Super Star; stomping on the Lakitu will disintegrate the cloud, rendering it unusable.

A glitch exists in Super Mario World that causes the cloud to last indefinitely if the Lakitu on top is defeated with fire power.

New Super Mario Bros.

Lakitus and their clouds return in New Super Mario Bros., behaving largely the same as in Super Mario World. In order to steal a Lakitu's Cloud, the player has to hit the Lakitu with a fireball or a shell; attacking the Lakitu in any other way will destroy the cloud.

When unoccupied, Lakitu's Clouds can be hit with Shell Mario or Luigi's shell dash ability for 1000 points. The clouds are not physically affected in any way in the process, meaning that points will continuously accrue from them for as long as they are in collision with the character's shell.[9] Like in Super Mario World, Lakitu's Clouds will acquire momentum if the player jumps out of one while moving in it; shell dashing into one can stop it from advancing further.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Lakitus and their Clouds reappear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Here, they behave identically to their appearance in New Super Mario Bros., but this time they can be obtained by simply jumping on a Lakitu.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Lakitus reappear in Super Mario Galaxy 2 riding their clouds, but these clouds cannot be ridden by Mario or Luigi. If a Lakitu's Cloud is eaten by Yoshi, the Lakitu will fall to the ground on its shell and struggle for a few seconds until the cloud reappears, unless defeated.

New Super Mario Bros. 2

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, Lakitu's Clouds swell up for a split second when the music makes the "paah" sound. When the player touches a Gold Ring, Lakitus become Gold Lakitus, and their clouds also become golden; when the player moves in such golden cloud, it produces coins not unlike a Gold Block.

New Super Mario Bros. U

In New Super Mario Bros. U, Lakitu's Clouds now mouth to the "paah"s in the music. Aside from appearing in the main game, one Lakitu's Cloud also appears in the Challenge Mode level Lakitu's Cloud Heist, where it has to be used to collect the coins located high in the air.

Super Mario Maker

In Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS, players can shake Lakitus to remove them from their clouds, leaving them for Mario to use or to put other enemies, objects, and power-ups such as Hammer Bros, Cannons, and Super Mushrooms in them. If an enemy is placed in a Lakitu's Cloud, it will move horizontally across the screen. If given Wings, the enemy will move from side to side in a wave-like pattern.

Super Mario Maker 2

Lakitu's Clouds reappear as placeable objects in Super Mario Maker 2, acting the same as in Super Mario Maker. They are present in all game styles except the Super Mario 3D World style. A Lakitu's Cloud is used as a part of Peach's Castle during its reconstruction after completing a certain level.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Lakitu's Clouds are again rideable in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Notably, several areas in Petal Isles Flying Battleship indefinitely spawn Lakitu's Clouds for Mario to traverse the level in.

Mario Kart series

In Mario Kart games, Lakitu's Cloud is frequently seen alongside the recurring Lakitu referee. In Mario Kart 7, the cloud wears goggles in water-themed courses. A kart based on it, Cloud 9, is also introduced in that game. In Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Lakitu's Cloud appears on several flags around the course Dragon Driftway. In Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Lakitu's Standard Kart is based on Lakitu's Cloud. Additionally, the playable Lakitu's emblem is a stylized deception of a Lakitu's Cloud.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Lakitu's Clouds retain their function from Super Mario World, enabling the playable character to float around a level freely upon defeating the Lakitus in them. In these games, contrary to Super Mario World, the only way to hijack a Lakitu's Cloud is to jump on the Lakitu, whereas any other attack destroys the cloud. The clouds will start blinking repeatedly a while after use to signal their disappearance, a trait seen in future 2D platform games in the Super Mario series.

Mario Party 10

Lakitu's Clouds are also used as the basis for the Mario Party 10 minigame Fuzzy Fliers, where they are used to fly to the top of a tower. If a player's Lakitu's Cloud runs out of time, they are eliminated from the minigame.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Lakitu's Clouds from Super Mario Bros. 3 appear in the antiques shop.

Profiles

Super Mario Bros. 3

  • Wii Virtual Console manual: Use this item to pass Mario over an uncompleted level on the map screen.
  • Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console manual bio: Allows Mario to clear a level not yet cleared.

Super Mario Maker

  • Play Nintendo:
    Catch a cloud
    Sure, you could bounce up to that extra high platform on a trampoline, but why not travel in style by knocking off Lakitu and stealing his cloud?    [10]

Gallery

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese じゅげむの雲くも[11] / ジュゲムの雲くも[12]
Jugemu no Kumo 		Lakitu's Cloud
雲くも[13] (Mario Family)
Kumo 		Cloud
Chinese (simplified) 朱盖木云彩[14] (New Super Mario Bros.)
Zhūgàimù Yúncai
球盖姆的云 (Super Mario Maker 2)
Qiúgàimǔ de Yún 		Lakitu Cloud

Lakitu's Cloud
Chinese (traditional) 球蓋姆的雲[15]
Qiúgàimǔ de Yún 		Lakitu's Cloud
French Nuage de Lakitu[?] Lakitu's Cloud
German Lakitus Wolke[?] Lakitu's Cloud
Italian Nuvola di Jugem[16]
Nuvola[17]
Nuvola di Lakitu/Nuvola Lakitu
Nuvoletta[18] 		Jugem's Cloud
Cloud
Lakitu's Cloud
Little cloud
Spanish Nube de Lakitu[?] Lakitu's Cloud

References

  1. ^ "Commandeer Lakitu's cloud and use it to collect coins." - Lakitu's Cloud Heist, New Super Mario Bros. U
  2. ^ Super Mario 64 Unused Textures The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  3. ^ Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet. Page 28.
  4. ^ Peterson, Erik. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Player's Guide. Page 10.
  5. ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 instruction booklet. Page 24.
  6. ^ Super Mario All-Stars instruction booklet. Page 34.
  7. ^ Hodgson, David S J. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 10.
  8. ^ Nintendo Power volume 11. Page 8.
  9. ^ Nishman235 (April 11, 2018). MAX SCORE GLITCH Tutorial [New Super Mario Bros. DS]. YouTube. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  10. ^ Super Mario Maker Platforming Tips. Play Nintendo. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  11. ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 Japanese instruction booklet, page 22.
  12. ^ Super Mario Collection Japanese instruction booklet.
  13. ^ Japanese website for Mario Family. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  14. ^ Official Chinese New Super Mario Bros. website. ique.com. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  15. ^ Official Chinese Super Mario Maker 2 website. nintendo.com.hk. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  16. ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 Italian manual, pag. 24
  17. ^ Club Nintendo (Italy) Volume 3 - 1991 Issue 6, page 18.
  18. ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 (3DS - Virtual Console), Italian e-manual, pag. 14

Template:Nav templates

Retrieved from "https://www.mariowiki.com/index.php?title=Lakitu%27s_Cloud&oldid=4167769"