Bullet Bill
Bullet Bill NSMB.png
MarioSymbol.svg

Bullet Bill artwork from New Super Mario Bros.

Universe Mario
Level(s) appears in The Jungle
The Lake
The Lake Shore
The Cave
The Swamp
The Great Maze
Point worth 500
Article on Super Mario Wiki Bullet Bill

Bullet Bills (キラー, Killer) are enemies from the Mario series.

Origin

 
Bullet Bills as they appear in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
 
The Bullet Bill item in Mario Kart 8.

Bullet Bills made their debut in Super Mario Bros. as a common enemy, and has become a common enemy in later Mario games. They are black missile-like enemies with scowling eyes and white arms with clenched fists.

Bullet Bills are often shot by Bill Blasters, though in rare cases they appear on their own. They quickly fly in a straight line, damaging the player on contact, but they can be easily defeated by jumping on them. In Super Mario 64 and in later games onward, Bullet Bills can home in on the player.

Bullet Bills have become a recurring item in the Mario Kart series. When used, it will transform the player into a giant Bullet Bill that increases their speed for several seconds and places them in autopilot, knocking over any of the opponents along the way.

The Bullet Bills feature a larger version, Banzai Bill.

Overview

As an enemy

 
Three Bullet Bills flying near Marth in the Subspace Emissary.

In The Subspace Emissary

Bullet Bills appear as enemies. They fly from offscreen, exploding upon impact with a character or on the ground. They also appear in Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's introduction, in which three of them are destroyed by Diddy Kong. They can be reflected, but will often quickly recover and continue their attack. Some of them are homing, following players until they hit. Unlike in the Mario games, Bullet Bills cannot be defeated by jumping on them.

Damage taken
                       
Damage taken ×1.0 ×1.0 ×1.0 ×1.3 ×0.7 ×1.0 ×1.3 ×1.0 ×1.0 ×1.0 ×0.75

In Smash Run

 
Several Bullet Bills homing on Captain Falcon.

Bullet Bills also appear as enemies, reprising their behavior from Brawl, although they can no longer be reflected. They deal 3% damage upon impact, or more if they collide with a surface and explode. In addition to being found on their own, they can also be fired from Bill Blasters, in which case they do not home in on the player.

A large number of Bullet Bills can appear as a random event.

Bullet Bills appear as part of the Mario-themed Vs. Enemy Team final battle, where some of them fly forward like as if they were shot out of a Bill Blaster rather than homing in on the player.

As an item

Bullet Bill
 
 
A Bullet Bill from Mario Kart 8.
Universe Mario
Appears in SSB4
Ultimate
Item class Transformation
Article on Super Mario Wiki Bullet Bill
Use this item to transform into Bullet Bill and shoot straight at the enemy. Your Circle Pad or Control Stick input at the moment you trigger the item will determine your launch direction, after which you'll fly in a straight line.
Super Smash Bros. 4 Official Site
 
A character turned into Bullet Bill after using the item.

The Bullet Bill debuted in Super Smash Bros. 4 as a transformation item.

Bullet Bills appear on the ground and can be picked up. When used, instead of throwing the item itself, the user transforms into a large Bullet Bill and flies in a straight line in whatever direction the control stick/circle pad was pointed in on release. Upon traveling about the length of Final Destination, the user returns to normal, and will recoil backwards to help with returning to stage unless they have aimed directly upwards. The Bullet Bill does 25% damage and delivers high knockback that can KO under 80%, but firing oneself directly downwards or towards a blast zone can cause a self-destruct. If the bullet hits a solid surface, it will produce an explosion that deals 30% damage. It is possible to drive the bullet into the floor with an opponent in between so that the bullet and explosion hit consecutively, dealing a total of 55% damage.

Notably, where the Bullet Bill can be directed is not limited to the cardinal (up, down, left, right) or intermediate (perfect diagonal) directions and can be aimed between such, allowing for more accuracy when using the item. Additionally, the player is considered a projectile while transformed into a Bullet Bill, meaning characters with Reflectors can simply make the Bullet Bill fling back in the direction it came from while damaging the user in that form or attacks with priority will nullify the Bullet Bill and cause it to pass through the attacker, but it can still do damage afterwards.

Humorously, the user is forced into their reeling animation once the Bullet Bill transformation ends, although this is cosmetic and can be cancelled into anything else, such as an attack or jump.

Trophies

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Bullet Bill was mentioned in the Banzai Bill trophy description, which was misidentified as Bullet Bill in earlier PAL versions.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

 
Trophy in Brawl.
A shell fired from a special cannon known as a Bill Blaster. Easily identified by their angry eyes, Bullet Bills fly across the land in perfectly straight lines. Though they easily shrug off fireballs, they can be stopped by jumping on them. A unique characteristic of the cannons is that they will not fire a Bullet Bill if Mario is standing right beside one.
 : Super Mario Bros.
 : Super Mario Sunshine

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Bullet Bill trophy appears in both versions. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U it is part of the Bowser's Minions Trophy Box.

 
Trophy in for 3DS.
 
Trophy in for WiiU.
Bullet Bill

  When you try to throw this item, you'll instead transform into a Bullet Bill and fly in the direction you were throwing. Anyone in your path will be knocked away. Be careful, though, since you fly fast and can barely steer—not to mention that foes can deflect you. KO them, not yourself!

  Turn into a Bullet Bill and charge into your enemies to send them flying. The direction you fly in is pretty much set when you use it. You'll be unstoppable, but on the other hand, you'll fly so fast that you might end up a victim of your own bullet-y...ness. Anyway, be careful!

 : Super Mario Bros. (10/1985)
 : Mario Kart DS (11/2005)

Stickers

Name Game Effect Character(s)
Bullet Bill New Super Mario Bros.   +12  
Bullet Blaster Mario Kart: Double Dash   +50  
 
Bullet Bill
(New Super Mario Bros.)
 
Bullet Blaster
(Mario Kart: DD!!)

Spirit

The Bullet Bill appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a Novice-class primary spirit.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, the Bullet Bill is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. The Bullet Bill's spirit appears in the 8-bit maze setion of The Light Realm.

The Bullet Bill uses an army of Captain Falcon puppet fighters and is fought on the Mushroom Kingdom stage. During the battle, the Bullet Bill items will appear in large numbers, while the Captain Falcon Team will be distracted by the items.

No. Image Name Type Class Slots Base   Max   Base   Max   Base   Max   Ability Series
41 Bullet Bill
 
1 905 4530 575 2877 330 1653 Can Be Enhanced at Lv. 99 Super Mario Series

Gallery

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning
  Japanese キラー Killer
  English Bullet Bill
  French Bill Balle Bullet Bill
  German Kugelwilli Bullet Willy
  Spanish Bill Bala Bullet Bill
  Italian Pallottolo Bill Bullet Bill
  Chinese (Simplified) 炮弹刺客 Bullet Assasin
  Chinese (Traditional) 炮彈刺客 Bullet Assasin
  Korean 킬러 Killer
  Dutch Bullet Bill
  Russian Билл-пуля Bullet Bill