Fluzzard

"You flew! You flew! Even Fluzzard looks happy! Happy!"

- Jibberjay

Fluzzard is a shy bird character that appears in Super Mario Galaxy 2. He appears in only two galaxies in the game: the Wild Glide Galaxy and the Fleet Glide Galaxy. In both galaxies, Mario (or Luigi) must participate in the Fluzzard Gliding minigame, during which Fluzzard acts as a form of transportation for the player. As such, gliding with Fluzzard is the only way to progress through these two galaxies. His name is a portmanteau of "fly" and "buzzard."

Fluzzard is found at the beginning of the level, and an orange Jibberjay tells Mario that Fluzzard is very shy and cannot fly very well, but he can glide. The Jibberjay then notices that Fluzzard seems to be OK with Mario and asks Mario if he will fly with Fluzzard. The Jibberjay then gives Mario a tutorial on how to control Fluzzard and tells him to try to fly through the big sun circle at the end of the race. After Mario completes the race, the Jibberjay gives him a Power Star. Fluzzard later reappears in the Fleet Glide Galaxy and flies again with Mario. After completing the initial races in both of these galaxies, Fluzzard can race the Black Jibberjay to see who is faster.

Controls
Players must control Fluzzard by pointing in the direction they want to go. Pointing it upwards makes Fluzzard slow down and gain minimal height. Pointing it downwards makes him execute a fast nosedive. Tilting it towards either side causes Fluzzard to tilt towards that side.

Trivia

 * The Loftwing from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword resembles Fluzzard in some ways, since they both have a similar color scheme, sounds, and controls.
 * When Mario or Luigi collects a Green Star while gliding with Fluzzard, Fluzzard will suddenly vanish, leaving behind a few pink and green feathers while the brother will get the Star.

Alapinta Tuku-Gleiter