Poison (obstacle)

Poison (also known as poisoned water, Poison Bog,  or Poisoned Bog ) is a liquid hazard found in several Mario games. It is commonly purple, and in most appearances, coming into contact with it will cause the player to instantly lose a life or inflict damage, similar to with lava.

Donkey Kong Country
In Donkey Kong Country, the level Poison Pond takes place in a green toxic pond. However, it is harmless to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, just like water.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest


In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, a poisonous liquid appears quickly rising in Toxic Tower. If Rattly, Squawks or Squitter touch the liquid, they take damage until they lose a life.

Also, in all three swamp levels, while the water is not shown as poisonous, Diddy and Dixie Kong nonetheless cannot swim in it and instantly lose a life.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, poisonous water appears in Poisonous Pipeline. This time, the poison inverts the left/right controls of Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong. Upon jumping out of the poison, the apes instantly go back to normal controls.

Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, poison appears in a secret area found within Delfino Plaza. In this area, Mario must ride on a leaf down the poison in order to collect eight Red Coins. In this instance, touching the water is instantly fatal. Additionally, in certain episodes of Bianco Hills, Ricco Harbor, and Noki Bay, the water is polluted and can damage Mario.

New Super Mario Bros.
In New Super Mario Bros., poison can be found throughout several stages, mainly in World 4. In this game, it is purple and behaves the same way as lava. Dorrie and Koopa Troopas appear to be resistant to poison.

Super Mario Galaxy
In Super Mario Galaxy, poison appears as an obstacle for a small variety of galaxies.

Poison surrounds the Bubble Breeze Galaxy. Mario must navigate while in a bubble away from mines, as steering into one pops his bubble and drops him into the poison.

In the mission Luigi's Purple Coins of Toy Time Galaxy, Mario must carefully and cautiously collect a number of Purple Coins on a pixel Luigi-shaped planet made up of disappearing and rotating platforms, with green poison in between replacing the lava from the pixel Mario planet.

An element similar to poison known as dark matter appears in Bowser's Dark Matter Plant. Mario must be cautious as to not fall in, which would result in him disintegrating and losing a life.

It is possible to escape the poison with a well-timed spin causing Mario to grab a ledge of a platform.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, poison can be found throughout several stages, mostly in the forest worlds World 5. It retains its appearance from New Super Mario Bros. Koopa Troopas and Big Wigglers are resistant to poison.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
In Super Mario Galaxy 2, dark green-colored poison is found in Boo Moon Galaxy (in the Sinking Swamp) and in Mario Squared Galaxy.

Super Mario 3D Land
In Super Mario 3D Land, World 2-2 and, both underground levels, contain poison.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
Poison reappears in New Super Mario Bros. 2, again in forest-themed levels. As a new trait, they can rise and drop in World 3-4. Porcupuffers are resistant to poison.

New Super Mario Bros. U
Poison returns in the game New Super Mario Bros. U, where pools of poison surround Soda Jungle, having the same look. Poison also appears in New Super Luigi U. As in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Big Wigglers are immune to the poison.

Super Mario 3D World
Poison makes its next appearance in Super Mario 3D World. The stages in which the hazard mainly appears are Piranha Creeper Creek and Deep Jungle Drift.

Super Mario Run
Poison returns once again in Super Mario Run, being introduced in the version 3.0.4 update for the game. It appears in the level Spike Bar Jungle of World Star. A new enemy called Poison Bubbles also appear, where they jump in and out of the poison.

Super Mario Odyssey
Poison appears in Super Mario Odyssey, where it can be found in the Sand Kingdom, the Lost Kingdom, and Bowser's Kingdom. In Regular Mode, touching it instantly depletes the Health Meter, but if the player uses Assist Mode, Mario will lose one wedge of health and float back in a bubble if he touches it. Mario can safely ride Jaxi over poison. In the Wooded Kingdom, puddles of poison can be found on the ground, and touching one of the puddles causes Mario to lose a section of his Health Meter. Throwing Cappy at a puddle will cause some of it to go away, which can reveal invisible coins. Poison Piranha Plants and Big Poison Piranha Plants can spit poison, which will create puddles when it hits the ground. Poison has a denser, more tar-like consistency in Super Mario Odyssey than in other titles.

Super Mario Maker 2
Poison appears as a course element in Super Mario Maker 2. It replaces the water in the forest theme when the course is set to nighttime. In the Super Mario Bros. style, poison is dark green, while it is purple in the other game styles. When Yoshi eats a poisoned Cheep Cheep, he can spit purple poison balls which function the same as fireballs, except that they cannot melt Frozen Coins. They also have a different sound effect when spat out.

In version 3.0.0 of Super Mario Maker 2, poison ponds were added as one of the three options of scenery in forest-themed Super Worlds.

Wario World
In Wario World, poison appears in Unithorn's Lair. In this game, it does not damage Wario, but rather cause him to bounce around the room and lose coins while doing so. The poison appears mostly translucent, but with a shining or bubbling surface.

Super Paper Mario
Heavily polluted water appears in Super Paper Mario in the Downtown of Crag, where it is the result of the Cragnons' misguided belief that throwing their trash in the river is "giving [it] back to nature." Falling in it damages the player character and resets their position. Additionally, drinking the contaminated water is what drove King Croacus IV insane, causing him to order the Floro Sapiens to kidnap the Cragnons. At the end of the chapter, Flint Cragley tells the other Cragnons of the Floro Sapiens' problems and they stop polluting, after which the water turns clear, giving the player access to Whacka.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Poison appears throughout World 3 in Paper Mario: Sticker Star. It is created by Gooper Blooper, and it will disappear once Gooper Blooper is defeated. Wiggler, Snifits, and Cheep Cheeps can stay in it without taking damage.

Paper Mario: Color Splash
Poison appears in Plum Park in Paper Mario: Color Splash. The water was poisoned due to Petea Piranha poisoning it from inside a Teapot. Once Petea is defeated, the poison changes to normal water.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
Poison appears in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team in Somnom Woods. Falling into it has the same result as the player falling onto spikes elsewhere in the game. Oddly, in this game it appears to be electrified.

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Poison returns in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker with the same appearance as Super Mario 3D World.

Trivia

 * In Super Mario Galaxy, when Mario falls in poison water, his head rapidly shrinks to the point where it is inside his neck, and the neck itself is longer, being as long as Luigi's. This was made to avoid animation issues, as Mario's head is so big that he could not reach out with his hand without his head being visible.