Lakitu & Spinies

Lakitu & Spinies
File:MarioSymbol.png Official artwork of Lakitu and Spinies in Brawl.
Universe	Mario
Debut	Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB Melee Brawl SSB4
Most recent appearance	Mario Kart 8 (2014)
Console of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	Koopa
Articles on Super Mario Wiki	Lakitu Spiny

Lakitu, known in the Japanese version as Jugem (ジュゲム, Jugemu), is a character in the Mario series of video games from Nintendo. He is typically depicted as a turtle-like creature (a Koopa in Mario terms) with a green shell, orange or yellow body, and thick, black glasses; throwing Spinies, spiky-shelled koopas. He usually rides in a cloud with a smiling face (known as Jugem's Cloud). In the Mario series, Mario can ride this cloud for a short period of time after stomping on Lakitu, as long as the cloud is not destroyed with him. The name Lakitu is also used for an entire species of Koopas, most of whom fly about in this fashion.

Lakitu is one of the few Mario enemies to have appeared in the series from the beginning. This puts Lakitu into the same pantheon as foes such as Goombas, Koopa Troopas, Bullet Bills and Piranha Plants. However, unlike most of these other enemy characters, Lakitu has not changed a great deal from one game to the next.

In his role as an enemy character, Lakitu typically flies about and throws spiked eggs at Mario, although variant types employ other attack patterns. Lakitu appears in a number of games as a figure neutral to Mario. Lakitu features in a handful of non-Mario games and media such as comic books and animated cartoons.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Spinies often appear in their 8-bit forms, as seen in Super Mario Bros. for the NES. They cannot be killed by jumping on them, as this damages/kills Mario.

In Super Smash Bros.

A Fishin' Lakitu appears in the background of the Peach's Castle stage. His design is based on his appearance in Super Mario 64, complete with the camera on the end of the fishing rod.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

8-bit Lakitus and Spinies appear in the background of Mushroom Kingdom, while a Fishin' Lakitu appears in the background of Yoshi's Island.

As a trophy

Lakitu also appears as a trophy in Melee.

Trophy Description

These airborne menaces used to ride their clouds exclusively as Bowser's henchmen. They typically hover just out of Mario's reach and hurl Spinies with irritating precision. More recently, however, they've been known to take on less evil tasks, such as doing camera work for sports events and even helping Mario on his quests.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Brawl, a Lakitu appears from an Assist Trophy. He drops Spinies from the sky, which wander around and damage opponents upon touch. If the character is hit by a Spiny while airborne, they will be meteor smashed. Lakitu can be KO'd, which will prevent any additional Spinies from appearing. However, this can be hard, as reaching him can prove difficult, and hitting him correctly is also difficult. If he holds an egg, it could damage the player if he/she strike him. Sometimes it takes two hits to make Lakitu fall.

Lakitu dropping a Spiny in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

The Spinies thrown walk back and forth, damaging all players who touch them. They can be devastating, but are slow and easy to avoid. If Lakitu is KO'd, the spinies will still remain on-screen, walking around until they all fall off the stage or automatically disappear.

Despite being invunerable, the Spinies have hitboxes. This is likely so that Lakitu can use a Spiny as a shield to avoid taking a hit from a character.

Glitch

When Lakitu is defeated, he'll fall while upside down. A glitch however, can cause Lakitu to be stuck in midair when defeated.

Trophy description

A particularly stubborn breed of Koopa. Lakitus chase Mario aboard clouds and attack by throwing Spiny Eggs down from above. More recently, Lakitus have taken over the role of cameramen, filming with cameras that they dangle from long rods. Spinies are Koopa creatures with tough, spiked shells. Jumping onto them has no effect, but fireballs can dispatch them.

Super Mario Bros. (1985)

Super Mario 64 (1996)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

This page documents information about recently released content. Information may change rapidly as it becomes available. All information in this article must be verifiable.

File:Lakitu Smash Run.png

A Lakitu (top left) in Smash Run.

Lakitus and Spinies reprise their 8-bit styled Assist Trophy role. Additionally, Lakitus and Spinies appear in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS as enemies in Smash Run. In this mode, they use their modern Mario appearance instead.

Trophy Description

With his cute little specs and smiling cloud, it's hard not to love Lakitu...until he starts pelting you with Spiny Eggs. This meanie has been tormenting Mario since the very first Super Mario Bros. game, and his mode of attack is no different here. He'll try and hover out of reach, but only by taking him out can you keep the Spiny rain from falling.

Origin

Lakitu and Spinies made their first appearance in Super Mario Bros.. The Lakitu would follow the player from above on a cloud and throw Spinies at him. It's also possible to get high enough in certain levels to where one can defeat Lakitu by jumping on him. Lakitus also appeared in later Mario games and does the same thing. Lakitu and the Spinies's 8-bit appearence in Brawl and SSB4 is a reference to how they're designed in Super Mario Bros.

Gallery

• Lakitu Peach's Castle background.png

  Lakitu in the background of Peach's Castle in Super Smash Bros.

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  Lakitu trophy in Melee.

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  Lakitu and Spinies trophy in Brawl.

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  Lakitu and Spinies as they originally appeared in Super Mario Bros.