Durian

Durians are tan spiky Fruit found in the game Super Mario Sunshine. They are based on an actual fruit of the same name from southeastern Asia.

Because of their thorn-covered exterior, Mario cannot pick up durians. He can, however, kick them like a Soccer Ball, as F.L.U.D.D. explains in the game. In real life, durians are a lot heavier than soccer balls.

Despite the durian's spikes, Yoshis can still eat them, turning their skin and Juice purple, allowing them to turn enemies into purple forward-moving platforms.

Durians later get another Mario-related Nintendo GameCube appearance in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, which features a whole world (consisting of two levels, specifically Battle for Storm Hill and Aerie Fortress) known as the Durian Kingdom. Upon reaching the end of levels in this kingdom, Donkey Kong eats an oversized durian.

Durians reappear in Mario Party DS, in the minigame Hexoskeleton. After being hit two times, Dry Bones will start ground-pounding the arena, creating a force that may drop a durian. If Dry Bones ground-pounds one, he will be stunned for a while before he starts to ground-pound the arena again. If the player wins the minigame twice, the player will earn the Boss Trophies collectable.

Trivia

 * There is a soccer ball object in the test level "test11" which acts similarly to the Durian and comes with a cardboard box to serve as a goal. It was most likely used for testing their functionality, specifically when Mario kicks it into a Pianta's basket.