Fungus Unit

The two Fungus Unit characters briefly shown in the film

The Fungus Unit is seemingly a job position and branch of the Dinohattan police department in the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film. Upon the arrest of Mario, Luigi and Toad, they are taken by a police officer named Mike to a room where two men in radiation-type suits power wash the inside of Mario and Luigi's pants. One of the Fungus Unit characters then proceeds to dump a blue liquid out of an overhanging barrel over the brothers. Mario asks, "What was that?" to which Toad replies, "The Fungus Unit. The fungus is choking the city."

The fungus in question is later revealed to be The King's de-evolved fungus form that has grown and spread throughout Dinohattan. President Koopa's character is demonstrated to be a germophobe, wary of being contaminated by the growing fungus throughout the city. This would explain the need for a Fungus Unit, though no other character shows signs of germophobia besides President Koopa and the fungus is not directly shown to be able to negatively affect any character. The Fungus Unit may have been inspired by the Mario franchise's Shy Guys, and their suits bear a resemblance to the Snifits featured later in the film.