Black hole
- This article is about the obstacle in the Super Mario franchise. For the item inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, seeList of Super Smash Bros. series items § Black Hole. For Palutena'sFinal Smash in theSuper Smash Bros. series, seeList of fighters debuting in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U § Palutena.
| Black hole | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Render of a black hole fromSuper Mario Galaxy | |||
| First appearance | Mario Party 5 (2003) | ||
| Latest appearance | Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2025) | ||
| |||
- “Be sure not to fall in the black hole!”
- —Luma,Super Mario Galaxy
Black holes appear as hazards in some games within theSuper Mario franchise, most particularly inSuper Mario Galaxy andSuper Mario Galaxy 2. They are based loosely on realblack holes.
Description[edit]
Black holes have varied appearances across the various games they appeared in. In their first appearance inMario Party 5, black holes resemble semi-realistic vortexes.Mario Party 6 portrays them as steadily growing black orbs with the background swirling, warping, and pulsating with lightning. InSuper Mario Galaxy andSuper Mario Galaxy 2, black holes appear as black balls with a blood-red accretion disk and outline.
History[edit]
Mario Party series[edit]
Mario Party 5[edit]
InMario Party 5, a black hole appears in the background of the minigameFrightmare. AfterBowser is defeated, the black hole increases its force and Bowser struggles to escape, but he fails and breaks the side gates, falling into the black hole.
Mario Party 6[edit]
A black hole appears in theMario Party 6 DuelminigameBlack Hole Boogie. Here, both players must rapidly press
to escape the black hole. Also, in the minigameSeer Terror, one of the fortunes hasBowser sucked into a black hole.
Mario Party 8[edit]
Something similar to a black hole appears inMario Party 8 in the background of the final boss minigame,Superstar Showdown. When Bowser is defeated, he gets sucked downwards into the vortex while stuck in hisKoopa Clown Car.
Mario Party 9[edit]
Another black hole appears inMario Party 9, in the background of the final boss minigame,Bowser's Block Battle. It seems to suck in large planets, as well asMini Stars. When Bowser is defeated, he stumbles into the black hole, although in the final cutscene, it is shown that Bowser andBowser Jr. can fly normally inside the black hole with theirKoopa Clown Cars.
Super Mario series[edit]
Super Mario Galaxy[edit]
Black holes play a much larger role inSuper Mario Galaxy and itsNintendo Switchport, where they act as obstacles, sucking in any characters, enemies and objects within their range. Most of them are seen under floating landmasses, acting aspits, or else near areas withSling Pods orcannons. IfMario orLuigi get too close to a black hole, the black hole'sgravity begins to pull them in playing a warped eerie sound in the process. Being sucked into one instantly depletes theHealth Meter, and they lose alife. Enemies destroyed by falling into black holes do not leave behindcoins orStar Bits.
In some galaxies such as theHurry-Scurry Galaxy, successfully collecting a group ofnotes turns a nearby black hole into aPower Star. The Power Star pulls Mario or Luigi closer using a similar gravitational pull.
At the end ofSuper Mario Galaxy, after Mario/Luigi has defeatedBowser for the final time, one of the planets near Bowser's giant star undergoes asupernova. The planet starts to have its rock either split from each other or sink into the magma below, then swells and eventually collapses in on itself, becoming asupermassive black hole, which quickly begins to engulf Mario/Luigi,Princess Peach, Bowser and his entire fleet ofAirships,Peach's Castle, and even theComet Observatory. Just as everything is about to be destroyed,Baby Luma suddenly appears in front of Mario/Luigi, waves at him and then sacrifices himself by throwing himself into the black hole. Thousands of otherLumas soon join him in flinging themselves into the supermassive black hole in hopes of stabilizing it and ultimately saving the universe from destruction. Eventually, the black hole shrinks and twists wildly around in space before finally exploding, thereby reforming the entire cosmos and creating an entirely new galaxy, which Mario/Luigi welcomes in the final cutscene of the game.
The texture of the black hole'sevent horizon, if extracted from the files of the game, is revealed to be a blurry screenshot of an early version ofBeach Bowl Galaxy.[1]
Locations[edit]
- Gateway Galaxy: The second planet has a black hole.
- Good Egg Galaxy: The Bitten Apple Planet visited in the missionsDino Piranha andDino Piranha Speed Run has a black hole. Two more appear next to the Flipswitch Planet in the same missions, and a fourth appears belowKing Kaliente's titularAirships inKing Kaliente's Battle Fleet.
- Honeyhive Galaxy: Beneath the Starting Planet, the Flower Planet and the planet with theHoney Queen's castle inBee Mario Takes Flight, andBugaboom's planet.
- Flipswitch Galaxy: At the center of the Starting Planet.
- Bowser Jr.'s Robot Reactor: At the center of the Starting Planet.
- Space Junk Galaxy: Beneath the Assembly Block Planet in the missionPull Star Path andPull Star Path Speed Run,Kamella's battle fleet inKamella's Airship Attack, and the stone planet with the archway inTarantox's Tangled Web.
- Battlerock Galaxy: One black hole is seen far below the galaxy in all missions. The same black hole can also be seen at the edge of theCannon's firing cone on the colorfully tiled missile-shaped planet at the end ofBreaking into the Battlerock.
- Hurry-Scurry Galaxy: Beneath the Starting Planet and at the center of the angular planet made ofShrinking platforms.
- Sling Pod Galaxy: Beneath the entire level.
- Bowser's Star Reactor: A few black holes can be found scattered throughout the level to the side or under platforms.
- Beach Bowl Galaxy: At the ends of the Cyclone Stone inThe Secret Undersea Cavern andFast Foes on the Cyclone Stone and beneath the Twin Fall Lake Planet inWall Jumping up Waterfalls. The Starting Planet is the only planet where black holes do not appear.
- Ghostly Galaxy: Beneath the Boo Mansion Gate Planet and the Haunted Mansion. More can be found beneathBouldergeist's planet inBeware of Bouldergeist andBouldergeist's Daredevil Run.
- Bowser Jr.'s Airship Armada: Many can be found beneathBowser Jr.'s fleet.
- Gusty Garden Galaxy: There is a black hole near the Gravity Scramble Planets inGusty Garden's Gravity Scramble. Another, larger one can be found lower, but it seems to be unreachable and therefore could be decoration.
- Freezeflame Galaxy: Beneath and around the mountainside of the Frozen Peak Planet in the missionThe Frozen Peak of Baron Brrr and surrounding the Ice and Lava Platform Planets inHot and Cold Collide and the Ice Platforms Planets inFrosty Cosmic Mario Race. Some around the Frozen Peak planet are removed inPurple Coins on the Summit to allow the player to leap to lower parts of the mountain harmlessly.
- Honeyclimb Galaxy: Beneath each planet.
- Bowser's Dark Matter Plant: A black hole can be found below the first platform of the Dark Matter Holes Planet. There is also another in theGravity field area of the Starting Planet, although unreachable due to being behind a wall.
- Gold Leaf Galaxy: Beneath the Starting Planet.
- Sea Slide Galaxy: At the center of the angular planet made ofShrinking platforms visited inHurry, He's Hungry.
- Toy Time Galaxy: Beneath the Starting Planet, the planet with the pink gravitational walls and bolts, the Dessert Area Planets, and theUndergrunt Gunner's planet.
- Bowser Jr.'s Lava Reactor: At the center of the Starting Planet.
- Dreadnought Galaxy: Beneath the collapsing tower in the missionInfiltrating the Dreadnought and the planet with theChibi Wanwans inDreadnought's Colossal Cannons.
- Melty Molten Galaxy: Only encountered in the missionThrough the Meteor Storm, more specifically at the center of the Stone Octagon Planet and beneath the Lava Ball Rolling Planet.
- Bubble Blast Galaxy: Beneath each planet.
- Bowser's Galaxy Reactor: Beneath the Tower Planet.
Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]
Black holes reappear inSuper Mario Galaxy 2 and its Nintendo Switchport, serving a similar role. A black hole also features once more in the final battle against Bowser inBowser's Galaxy Generator: defeating him in the first phase of the battle causes him to sucked into a black hole. He then emerges from the vortex, swallowing the finalGrand Star and growing to a massive size to start the second phase. Defeating Bowser in this phase causes him to be sucked into a slightly larger black hole, which then sucks up the surroundings as well;Princess Peach and the finalGrand Star are shot out of its remains several seconds later.
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games[edit]
In theWii version ofMario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, a single black hole appears under the landing area in the Individual version ofDream Ski Jumping. If the player falls into it due to missing the landing area or falling off the edge of it, they will not gain any bonus points at the end of the event.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ブラックホール[?] Burakku Hōru | Black hole | |
| French | Trou Noir[2] | Black Hole | |
| Italian | Buco nero[?] | Black hole | |
| Portuguese | Buraco negro[?] | Black hole | |
| Spanish | Agujero negro[?] | Black hole |
References[edit]
- ^@MarioBrothBlog (April 4, 2021).Every black hole in Super Mario Galaxy contains an image of Mario in Beach Bowl Galaxy, filtered and distorted beyond recognition alongside its outer edge..Twitter. Retrieved December 12, 2021. (Archived April 3, 2021, 17:57:35 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^2014.Super Mario Manga Adventures Volume 1.Soleil Productions (French). ISBN978-2302043350. Page 179.
