Pumpkin
Model fromMario Kart Tour
First appearance	Super Mario World (1990, as part of Fall) Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013, independently)
Latest appearance	Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (2024)
Variants Pumpkin box
Related Jack O'Goomba Splunkin

Pumpkins occasionally have functional roles inSuper Mario games. Within the games, they commonly take on the appearance ofjack-o'-lanterns, a type ofHalloween decoration, and are consequently encountered in autumnal or spooky environments. The role pumpkins typically fulfill in the franchise is to release collectibles or grant points when destroyed.

Pumpkins and jack-o'-lanterns are also employed stylistically within the franchise, replacing the heads ofJumping Piranha Plants in theFall mode ofSuper Mario World; being the dominant motif of thePumpkin Zone inSuper Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins; and serving as the basis of thePrancer andPumpkin Kart in theMario Kart series. Walking jack-o'-lantern enemies calledSplunkins appear inNew Super Mario Bros.

History[edit]

Super Mario series[edit]

Super Mario Galaxy /Super Mario Galaxy 2[edit]

Jack O'Goomba, an enemy type appearing inSuper Mario Galaxy andSuper Mario Galaxy 2, is aGoomba with a jack-o'-lantern mounted on its head. The pumpkin fully protects the Goomba fromstomp attacks and allows the enemy to easily bounce back from onespin attack, though it shatters in the process. Regardless, the enemy can instantly be defeated with aGround Pound or by touching it while inRainbow form.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder[edit]

Pumpkin boxes being launched into the air by Mushroom Platforms.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder featurespumpkin boxes^[derived] in the courseUpshroom Downshroom. They appear in various sizes, and typically release items when destroyed. During the course'sWonder Effect, the pumpkin boxes become jack-o'-lanterns and are bounced into the air byMushroom Platforms.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon[edit]

InLuigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, jack-o'-lanterns are among the many interactive objects inScareScraper mode.Luigi can grab one using thePoltergust 5000's vacuuming function, then blow it away into a hard surface to destroy it, potentially releasing aheart.Greenies may pick up a pumpkin and use it as a shield against Luigi'sStrobulb, though Luigi can wrest the pumpkin away from a Greenie by vacuuming it.^[1]

WarioWare Gold[edit]

InWarioWare Gold, thePumpkin Panic minigame hasAshley protecting a pumpkin patch frommandrakes. She can shoot magic at the mandrakes to turn them into pumpkins, then walk into the pumpkins to knock away and destroy them. Kicked pumpkins can also defeat mandrakes. Given time, a pumpkin eventually flickers and vanishes. If there are multiple pumpkins in a line, Ashley can kick one pumpkin into another to cause a chain reaction; the first pumpkin in a row grants 100 points when destroyed, with the number of points earned per pumpkin increasing as more of them are destroyed in the chain. Pumpkins other than the first in a chain grant make mandrakes defeated by them worth more points. Pumpkins produce purple orbs when destroyed, which charge up Ashley's special ability—a torrent of magic that turns all normal mandrakes currently spawned on the play field into pumpkins. After each night phase, pumpkins fall from the sky to fill the area, allowing the player to earn lots of points. Every other night phase, a large mandrake immune to Ashley's normal attack appears. Therefore, the primary way to damage it is to kick pumpkins into it.

Mario Kart Tour[edit]

Shy Guy Jack-o'-lanterns inWii Maple Treeway

Jack-o'-lanterns (written with a capital "J" in-game) appear as course elements inMario Kart Tour, exclusively during tours that occur around Halloween. They have the face ofBowser,Boo, orShy Guy carved on them.

Jack-o'-lanterns appear in several sizes. Smaller ones typically lie on the track and can be knocked away by driving into them or hitting them with an item, growing back in the same spot after a while. Larger Jack-o'-lanterns are found on the sides of tracks or in the background, and, when hit, they make a bobbing movement while remaining in place. Like withfestive trees andkadomatsu, interacting with a Jack-o'-lantern of any size awards the player bonus points, with the action being displayed as "Trick or treat!" Additionally, when hit, Jack-o'-lanterns emit a brief Boo-like chortle, with larger ones emitting said sound at a lower pitch than the small ones. Starting October 25, 2020, 06:00 UTC, interacting with a Jack-o'-lantern also gives drivers anevent token.

The only tours to have featured Jack-o'-lanterns thus far were all theHalloween Tours as of 2020, the 2021Autumn Tour, and theBattle Tour.

The following are courses that have featured Jack-o'-lanterns:

Jack-o'-lanterns do not appear in most bonus challenges. When they do, they are all off the main track.

AMKT Report reveals that a total of 403,223,289 Jack-o'-lanterns were "blown away" by the game's playerbase during the 2024 Battle Tour andHalloween Tour.^[2]

Gallery[edit]

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  Model of a Jack-o'-lantern with aBoo's face fromMario Kart Tour

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  Model of a Jack-o'-lantern with aShy Guy's face fromMario Kart Tour

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  A commonbadge fromMario Kart Tour depicting Jack-o'-lanterns

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  The Today's Challenge badge fromMario Kart Tour depicting Jack-o'-lanterns

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  Some Jack-o'-lanterns inMario Kart Tour

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  Bowser Jack-o'-lantern in Wii Maple Treeway (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Bowser Jack-o'-lantern inDS Airship Fortress (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Boo Jack-o'-lantern inDS Luigi's Mansion R (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Boo Jack-o'-lantern inN64 Frappe Snowland (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Shy Guy Jack-o'-lantern in Wii Maple Treeway (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Knocking away a Jack-o'-lantern in Wii Maple Treeway (Mario Kart Tour). Note the "Trick or treat!" message displayed on the right.

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  Big Jack-o'-lanterns in the background of N64 Frappe Snowland (Mario Kart Tour)

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  Artwork of jack-o'-lanterns from the Autumn Celebration 2024MKT Report

Names in other languages[edit]

Jack-o'-lantern

See also[edit]

• Festive tree
• Kadomatsu
• Spring egg

References[edit]

Wikipedia has an article onpumpkins.

• Pumpkins
• Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
• Mario Kart Tour objects
• WarioWare Gold

• Articles with deprecated external links
• Articles with stub sections
• Articles with unsourced foreign names