Lightning Bolt

Zap Thing
Zap Thing artwork from Brawl.
Universe	Mario Kart
Appears in	SSBB SSB4
Item class	Status
Article on Super Mario Wiki	Zap Thing (item)

The Zap Thing, known in Japan as Thunder (サンダー, Sandā), is an item from the Mario Kart series that appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.

In the Super Smash Bros. series

The Zap Thing in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

The Zap Thing appears as an item in Brawl and Smash 4. When used, it will shrink every other character to minimal size, similar to its function in the Mario Kart series. However, the item can backfire as well, resulting in the player who picked up the item grow small instead or making the other characters size increase (similar to the effects of the Super Mushroom, except that it's twice as effective). Unlike most other items, the Zap Thing requires a character to simply make contact with it in order to gain its effect. The Zap Thing also appears as a collectible trophy.

Trophy description

An item that goes off the moment you touch it. It may shrink every other character on the screen. Tiny players suffer a reduction in their attack power and become easier to send flying. After a set amount of time, all the characters will return to their normal sizes. In the Mario Kart series, all players but the item user shrunk, and got flattened when run over.

• Super Mario Kart (1992)
• Mario Kart 64 (1997)

Origin

The Zap Thing's primary effect comes from the Mario Kart series. Racers at the back of a race have a chance of acquiring a Zap Thing (sometimes named Thunderbolt), which upon use instantly strikes all other racers, spins them out, and causes them to shrink. Shrunk racers have lowered top speed and may be easily knocked around or even flattened when run over. Beginning in Mario Kart DS, the length of the shrink time depends on what place each opponent was in when the item was used, with those at the back regrowing near-instantly and those are the front staying shrunk for much longer. The item cannot backfire as it does in Brawl.

Transform glitch

If a character uses the Zap Thing on Zelda or Sheik and either character Transforms, this glitch makes the size of the Zap Thing user permanent until either Zelda or Sheik gets KO'd or picks up another size-changing item.

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Trivia

• Any character that is affected by knockback before the Zap Thing's shrink/growth takes place will still be affected by knockback after the shrink/growth occurs. Similar phenomena occur with the Super Mushroom and Poison Mushroom.