Black hole
- This article is about the obstacle in the Mario franchise. For the item in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, see List of Super Smash Bros. series items § Black Hole. For Palutena's Final Smash in the Super Smash Bros. series, see List of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U § Palutena.
| Black hole | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Render of a black hole from Super Mario Galaxy. | |||
| First appearance | Mario Party 5 (2003) | ||
| Latest appearance | Mario Party Superstars (2021) | ||
| |||
- “Be sure not to fall in the black hole!”
- —Luma, Super Mario Galaxy
A black hole is a dangerous hazard found in a few games within the Super Mario franchise, most notably in Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2. It is based loosely on real black holes.
History
Mario Party series
Mario Party 5
In Mario Party 5, a black hole appears in the background of the minigame Frightmare. After Bowser is defeated, the black hole increases its force and Bowser struggles to escape, but he fails and breaks the side gates, falling into the black hole. This also marks the debut of black holes.
Mario Party 6
A black hole appears in the Mario Party 6 Duel minigame Black Hole Boogie. Here, both players must rapidly press 
to escape the black hole. Also, in the minigame Seer Terror, one of the fortunes has Bowser sucked into a black hole.
Mario Party 8
Something similar to a black hole appears in Mario Party 8 in the background of the final boss minigame, Superstar Showdown. When Bowser is defeated, he gets sucked downwards into the vortex while stuck in his Koopa Clown Car.
Mario Party 9
Another black hole appears in Mario Party 9, in the background of the final boss minigame, Bowser's Block Battle. It seems to suck in large planets, as well as Mini Stars. When Bowser is defeated, he stumbles into the black hole, although in the final cutscene, it is shown that Bowser and Bowser Jr. can fly normally inside the black hole with their Koopa Clown Cars.
Super Mario series
Super Mario Galaxy
Black holes play a much larger role in Super Mario Galaxy, where they act as obstacles that suck in any characters, enemies and objects within its range. Most black holes are seen under floating landmasses, where they act as "pits", or else near areas with Sling Pods or cannons. If Mario or Luigi get too close to a black hole, its gravity begins to pull them in playing a warped eerie sound in the process. Being sucked into one instantly depletes the Health Meter, and they lose a life. Enemies destroyed by falling into black holes do not leave behind coins or Star Bits.
In some galaxies such as the Hurry-Scurry Galaxy, successfully collecting a group of notes turns a nearby black hole into a Power Star. The Power Star pulls Mario or Luigi closer using a similar gravitational pull.
At the end of Super Mario Galaxy, after Mario/Luigi has defeated Bowser for the final time, one of the planets near Bowser's giant star undergoes a supernova. The planet starts to have its rock either split from each other or sink into the magma below, then swells and eventually collapses in on itself, becoming a supermassive black hole, which quickly begins to engulf Mario/Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser and his entire fleet of Airships, Peach's Castle, and even the Comet Observatory. Just as everything is about to be destroyed, Baby Luma suddenly appears in front of Mario/Luigi, waves at him and then sacrifices himself by throwing himself into the black hole. Thousands of other Lumas soon join him in flinging themselves into the supermassive black hole in hopes of stabilizing it and ultimately saving the universe from destruction. Eventually, the black hole shrinks and twists wildly around in space before finally exploding, thereby reforming the entire cosmos and creating an entirely new galaxy, which Mario/Luigi welcomes in the final cutscene of the game.
The texture of the black hole's event horizon, if extracted from the files of the game, is revealed to be a blurry screenshot of an early version of Beach Bowl Galaxy.[1]
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Black holes reappear in Super Mario Galaxy 2, serving a similar role. A black hole also features once more in the final battle against Bowser in Bowser's Galaxy Generator: defeating him in the first phase of the battle causes him to sucked into a black hole. He then emerges from the vortex, inhaling the final Grand Star and growing to a massive size to start the second phase. Defeating Bowser in this phase causes him to be sucked into a slightly larger black hole, which then sucks up the surroundings as well; Princess Peach and the final Grand Star are shot out of its remains several seconds later.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, a single black hole appears under the landing area in the Individual version of Dream Ski Jumping. If the player falls into it due to missing the landing area or falling off the edge of it, they will not gain any bonus points at the end of the event.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ブラックホール[?] Burakku Hōru |
Black hole | |
| French | Trou Noir[2] | Black Hole | |
| Italian | Buco nero[?] | Black hole | |
| Spanish | Agujero negro[?] | Black hole |
References
- ^ @MarioBrothBlog (April 4, 2021). "Every black hole in Super Mario Galaxy contains an image of Mario in Beach Bowl Galaxy, filtered and distorted beyond recognition alongside its outer edge." Twitter. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ^ Super Mario Manga Adventures Volume 1, page 179
