MIPS
- “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 is a rabbit found in the basement of Princess Peach's Castle during the events of Super Mario 64. When Mario approaches MIPS, he runs away. After Mario catches MIPS, the rabbit gives him a Power Star. MIPS appears in the basement a second time after Mario has collected fifty Power Stars. Mario can catch MIPS again and will get another Power Star from him. In the remake Super Mario 64 DS, there are many different rabbits 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 and one of Yoshi's rabbits can be found in the same location MIPS was in the original game. Along with Mario, MIPS was the first character created for Super Mario 64. MIPS 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 also makes a cameo appearance in Mario Party 3 on the Woody Woods board where several can be seen around the board.
Trivia
- MIPS got his name from the MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages) microprocessor. Nintendo 64's CPU was a MIPS type, and thus the technology gave its name to the character.
- MIPS is involved in a glitch where if the player picks him up and places him near a wall, Mario will go through that wall.
- Star Bunnies from Super Mario Galaxy and it's successor are similar to MIPS as they both run away from Mario and can give up Power Stars.
- MIPS can be picked up like a normal object when Mario collects the star but this was changed in the DS remake, as if Mario tries to pick up one of the rabbits based on MIPS, they just tell him to leave them alone.
- Although not quoted directly, several of MIPS's lines reference Alice in Wonderland's White Rabbit.
