Icicle

It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information.

Icicles are frozen water drops that have sometimes appeared in the Mario franchise.

History

Icicles first appeared in Phase 16 (17 in Japan) of Mario Bros. as obstacles that drop from under the top platforms and pipes, where they would constantly regenerate. They kill the player if they touch an icicle while it was still attached to the ceiling. Touching it while it is still a liquid droplet or using the POW Block will prevent the icicle from being formed, though this will not award any points. However, the POW Block will also cause fully formed icicles to drop prematurely.

In Super Mario Bros. Special, icicles could be defeated by fireballs. They do not regenerate.

In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, throwing an egg at them would cause them to fall down from the ceiling.

Icicles appear in Wario Land: Shake It!, in the level Slipshod Slopes. They appear in a cove part, and seem to be gigantic. When executing the Earthshake Punch, these big icicles will fall down, and crush any enemy underneath (defeating 5 enemies with those icicles is also a mission in that level). When Wario hits a falling icicle, he'll get hurt. Wario can also stand on those icicles as if they are platforms. However, the fallen icicles will break after a short time. when broken, new icicles will grow on the piece of ceiling the old ones were fallen off. There are giant icicles as well in Freezing Fields.

Icicles reappeared in Super Princess Peach in the Gleam Glacier world and behaved the same way as they did in Mario Bros..

They also make a minor reappearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. When fighting on the Ice Climbers' stage, the Summit, they act the exact same way they did in the original Mario Bros., except they are invincible and cannot be melted this time.

They are found in World 3-3 and 3-Castle of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, along with giant indestructible icicles known as Huge Icicles that Mario can walk on after they fall, some of which may tilt to one side. Icicles come long and short, and when the icicles fall similar to a Thwomp, they reform after a few seconds. Mario and company, as well as enemies, will take damage if they come in contact with one. There are also some that don't even fall at all but still hurt the player.

They also appear in New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U. They are seen in Frosted Glacier-Tower, 5, and Castle. In Frosted Glacier-Castle, they are only seen inside Wendy's airship where she shoots magic at them to make them fall onto Mario, Luigi, and the two Toads. In Boost Mode, tapping on an icicle in its idle state will cause it to break and never reform, although tapping a falling one will still cause icicles to form. Additionally, the icicles from Wendy's battle can break but grow right back.

Icicles appear in Luigi Bros., an additional game featured in Super Mario 3D World. Like the other enemies in Luigi Bros., Icicles behave in the same way as Mario Bros., which this game is based on.

Donkey Kong, about to get crushed by a falling icicle. Note the array of icicles on the top right.

In addition, icicles can be encountered in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze during Icicle Arsenal, a level on Donkey Kong Island. They are remarkably sharp and long, slightly varying in size. They hang from ceilings and drop down when the Kongs walk underneath them. Moments before falling, they signal the player with a slight shake. The Kongs lose one heart from their health meter if they get crushed by an icicle; similarly, an enemy gets defeated if hit by one such obstacle. After coming down on either the ground or a character, an icicle breaks and yields a single banana.

Huge Icicles reappear as stage hazards on the Mushroom Kingdom U stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U with their appearance from the New Super Mario Bros. series. They occasionally fall from the top of the screen and can damage fighters. They appear in all four variations of the stage.

A similar obstacle is the Falling Spike in Super Mario World; however, Falling Spikes attack due to proximity as opposed to maturity.