Bomber Bill
Banzai Bills are an extremely large variety of Bullet Bills that first appeared in Super Mario World. These huge bullets are black and have shark-like smiles. In the game, Banzai Bills are fired off-screen and travel slowly towards Mario. Although they seem impossible to defeat, Banzai Bills are not very strong. In fact, they can be destroyed by simply jumping on top of them (just like regular Bullet Bills). Fireballs are ineffective against Banzai Bills.
Banzai Bills reappear in the New Super Mario Bros. These Banzai Bills look like their Super Mario World counterparts, except that they have red shadow under their eyes to make them look more intimidating. In this game Banzai Bills are fired from huge Banzai Bill Blasters (unlike Super Mario World, where they are fired from an unknown source). Additionally, these Banzai Bills travel very slowly, twirling in the air. Again, a simple jump is enough to defeat these massive shells.
Banzai Bills reappear in the game Super Princess Peach, which also introduced a red, more dangerous variant of Banzai Bills known as Mad Banzai Bills.
Appearances in Other Games
Banzai Bills are a major threat in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where they appeared in the Princess Peach's Castle stage, randomly entering the battle, they would collide into the castle. Once burrowed into the wall, a Banzai Bill will detonate, causing massive damage to anyone caught in its explosion. The explosion will also press any buttons in range, activating platforms and ! Blocks. Also in Super Smash Bros. Melee, a Banzai Bill (as it looks like in Super Mario World) appears in the background of the Yoshi's Island stage.
Banzai Bills make a cameo in Mario Strikers Charged, in the Sand Tomb field. In this game, they only appear painted in one of the pillars in the background. Here, they are painted the same way they appear in Super Mario World.
Enemies named Banzai Bills appeared in the game Hotel Mario. However, these bullets were not giant, and behaved just like Bullet Bills, instead of the Banzai Bills from other games.
Appearances in Other Media
A Banzai Bill makes an minor appearance in the Super Mario World cartoon episode "Mama Luigi"; however, they were renamed Magnum Bills for the show. In the episode, Mario, after narrowly dodging an attack by a Koopa Wizard, accidentally leaps into the path of a Magnum Bill. Luckily, Mario manages to avoid being hit by this Magnum Bill, which simply flies off into the distance.
Trivia
- In the Super Mario World cartoon, Banzai Bills were renamed Magnum Bills, which is a possible combination of the names Bullet Bill and Magnum Killer, which is the Japanese name of Banzai Bills.
