Poltergust 3000

"That’s the vacuum cleaner I engineered to catch ghosts.... It’s the only way to foil ’em! This is the only thing they fear!"

- Professor Elvin Gadd

The Poltergust 3000 is a vacuum invented by Professor Elvin Gadd to catch ghosts. Its first debut is used as the main item in Luigi's Mansion, and makes some appearances later in the Mario series as well.

Sometime after the events of Luigi's Mansion, E. Gadd made a new and improved model of the Poltergust 3000, the Poltergust 5000, which appears in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U.

Features
The Poltergust 3000 is a vacuum used by Luigi to hunt down ghosts in Luigi's Mansion, such as Boos. Luigi can stun a ghost with the flashlight, and then can suck it up. It has the ability, with help from special Elemental Medals, to harness the elements of fire, ice, and water to fight certain ghosts.

It can link up with E. Gadd's Ghost Portrificationizer to upload captured ghosts and turn them into portraits.

Other game appearances

 * The Poltergust appears in Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis: Power Tour as a Defensive Shot.
 * It appears in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where it seems that it was succeeded by a more advanced model, the Super Poltergust 3001. Luigi was also shown to still own the original Poltergust, which he used in various cutscenes in the Starbeans Café.
 * The Porta-Gust, a Gaddget from Mario Party Advance and another of Gadd's inventions, appears to be a portable version of the Poltergust 3000 with Game Boy Advance-style controls.
 * Luigi's special kart in Mario Kart DS is the Poltergust 4000, an upgraded version of the Poltergust 3000. Like the Super Poltergust 3001, it is meant to be ridden on. It was originally designed for Professor Elvin Gadd but he was later removed from the game for unknown reasons.
 * The Poltergust 3000 appears in the Audience on Luigi sometimes in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.
 * The Poltergust 3000 appears in Luigi's Special Attacks in Mario Sports Mix.

Super Smash Bros. series
The Poltergust 3000 makes a cameo in Super Smash Bros. Melee on the Vacuum Luigi trophy's back and it has a trophy of its own in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Appearances in other media
In volume 26 of Super Mario-Kun, Luigi uses the Poltergust 3000 when facing against Huff N. Puff in a Paper Mario arc and King Boo in a Luigi's Mansion arc.

Trivia

 * The Poltergust 3000 is named after the terms "poltergeist", which is a ghost who makes itself known through things such as noises, and "gust", a reference to wind. The "3000" part of the name is probably present because of the "thousand" numbers after mad scientists' inventions in typical science fiction movies.
 * In Super Mario Sunshine, a Pianta at the Sirena Beach hotel asked Mario to "get rid of these ghosts with a vacuum or something" when the hotel was infested with Boos. This is a reference to the Poltergust.
 * The Poltergust shares some similarities to Mario's F.L.U.D.D., as Mario and Luigi use their respective weapons for the entire game and wear them on their backs. It was also made by the same person, Professor Elvin Gadd.
 * In Fortune Street, Luigi, at one point, mentions he should have brought the Poltergust 3000 with him.
 * In Mario Kart DS there is a Luigi-only kart called the Poltergust 4000. It is a half vaccum half go-kart combination

Poltergust 3000