F.L.U.D.D.

"Power-up complete. Thank you for purchasing this item from Gadd Science, Incorporated. Preparing to register customer information. Scanning and classifying subject data...subject identified as Mario, resident of the Mushroom Kingdom. Data storage complete. I am F.L.U.D.D., a Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device. I hope to be of assistance."

- F.L.U.D.D.

The Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device, abbreviated and better known as F.L.U.D.D. or FLUDD (pronounced "flood"), is a multipurpose water pack from Super Mario Sunshine invented by Professor Elvin Gadd. It features a water tank, two handles, and four interchangeable nozzles. It is possible that F.L.U.D.D. is Mario's equivalent of the Poltergust 3000 used by Luigi. In Super Mario Sunshine only, F.L.U.D.D. is also shown to have an artificial intelligence, and is able to communicate with Mario and any other characters by speaking through the nozzle. F.L.U.D.D.'s name is a play on the word "flood", meaning a large mass of water that often causes chaos in a public area. Its name may also be derived from that of Robert Fludd, an inventor who designed many water pumps.

Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, F.L.U.D.D. can be used by Mario to spray water at objects or enemies by pressing. By doing this, Mario is able to perform a multitude of tasks, ranging from enhancing his acrobatics to cleaning graffiti off of various surfaces. F.L.U.D.D. can switch between the Squirt Nozzle and either the Hover, Rocket, or Turbo Nozzle (depending on which one Mario currently has equipped) with. As the player continues to spray water with F.L.U.D.D., the amount of water in its tank will gradually get lower. When its tank is completely empty, the player must enter a body of water and hold the button, or collect a Water Bottle before any water can be sprayed again. Throughout the game, F.L.U.D.D. will also often give the player advice on how best to complete a certain task or challenge via a HUD message, which varies depending on the situation.

Mario first encounters F.L.U.D.D. on the ground of the Delfino Airstrip. When he walks over to F.L.U.D.D., it introduces itself to Mario before he puts it on; the player is then shown a tutorial video detailing how to use it. From this point on, Mario carries F.L.U.D.D. around on his back, and has access to it throughout the rest of the game. However, there are certain situations in the game when F.L.U.D.D. will be unavailable to the player. For example, it is taken by Shadow Mario every time Mario enters a secret level that has not been cleared at least once. It is also taken by Shadow Mario in Episode 3 of Pianta Village, though in this case the mission involves finding a way around the fiery Goop that covers the entire village and retrieving F.L.U.D.D.

After Mario defeats both Bowser and Bowser Jr. in Corona Mountain at the end of the game, Mario and Princess Peach fall through the air and land on a small island on the west side of Delfino Plaza. When Mario locates F.L.U.D.D., laying on the ground a few feet from him, it is shown to be damaged and malfunctioning, asking Mario if "[it] was of assistance" before it shuts down completely. Shortly after, at Sirena Beach, several of the Toads accompanying Mario and Peach to the island present to them F.L.U.D.D., who has been fixed.

Super Mario Galaxy / Super Mario Galaxy 2
Although F.L.U.D.D. itself does not appear in Super Mario Galaxy or its sequel, Water Shooters, and Fire Cannons, which resemble F.L.U.D.D.'s head, appear.

Super Mario-Kun
F.L.U.D.D. also appears in the Super Mario Sunshine adaption of Super Mario-Kun. As with F.L.U.D.D. in the games, it assists Mario, although it expresses more emotion and is more difficult to be with. It sprays Mario's face, causing Mario to yell at it, for example.

Mario Power Tennis
Several F.L.U.D.D.-like water pumps appear in Mario Power Tennis; these heads are used to clear away the Graffiti that can accumulate in the Delfino Plaza Court. Also, in the minigame Tic-Tac-Glow, the player must use balls of water shot by several F.L.U.D.D. pumps to clear-away Goop in a tic-tac-toe like game.

WarioWare: Smooth Moves
F.L.U.D.D. makes a small appearance in WarioWare: Smooth Moves in a microgame, in which it must be used to put out a building fire.

Mario Kart Arcade GP 2
F.L.U.D.D. appears in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 as a "Water Spraying" item.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
F.L.U.D.D. reappears in Mario Kart Arcade GP DX as an item. It presumably acts the same it does in Mario Kart Arcade GP 2, as a "Water Spraying" item.

Super Smash Bros. series
F.L.U.D.D. appears as Mario's down special move in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. When Mario uses the move, he will put F.L.U.D.D. on his back and douse his enemies with water. The attack does not damage opponents, but is capable of pushing them back. F.L.U.D.D. can also be charged before use, resulting in a more powerful stream of water. Mario can also destroy projectiles with F.L.U.D.D.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, the F.L.U.D.D. move has two custom variations. The first is Scalding F.L.U.D.D., which deals fire damage to opponents. The second is High-Pressure F.L.U.D.D., which sprays a more powerful stream of water.

When spraying water, F.L.U.D.D.'s nozzle is next to Mario's head on right hand side, while Mario holding a handle with his left hand and holding the nozzle with right hand. However, In the original Super Mario Sunshine, F.L.U.D.D.'s nozzle is above Mario's head, with Mario gripping both handles with both hands.

Nozzles
In Super Mario Sunshine, F.L.U.D.D. is able to use a total of four different nozzles, only two of which can be equipped at one time. Upon starting the game, the Squirt Nozzle and the Hover Nozzle are equipped by default. The remaining two nozzles (the Rocket Nozzle and the Turbo Nozzle) can be equipped by breaking open various Nozzle Boxes located in Delfino Plaza and its surrounding areas (note that not all nozzles can be found in certain levels). When equipping either of the remaining nozzles, the Hover Nozzle is replaced by the new nozzle, as one of the equipped nozzles must always be the Squirt Nozzle; the next nozzle that is equipped replaces the previous nozzle. To change between nozzles equipped, the player must press the button. Every nozzle is controlled with.


 * Squirt Nozzle - The basic nozzle, which allows Mario to spray water at objects or enemies. If the button is held down lightly, Mario can run while squirting in the direction he is facing. If  is held all the way down, Mario stops and squirts in place while the player can use the analog stick to aim. This is the only nozzle that can also be used when in over-the-shoulder mode. When rotating the  before spraying with F.L.U.D.D., Mario can do a spin attack that sprays water in all directions. It is also possible to do this with the Hover Nozzle, but it sprays under Mario instead.
 * Hover Nozzle - This nozzle allows Mario to hover in the air for about 4 seconds, with slowly increasing altitude while in effect. The Hover Nozzle is located inside blue Nozzle Boxes. This nozzle is equipped by default when starting the game or entering a level. Collecting a Blue Coin disables the Hover Nozzle temporarily. When Mario jumps off Yoshi, F.L.U.D.D. will automatically have a full tank of water and be equipped with the Hover Nozzle, regardless of the conditions before Mario jumps on it.
 * Rocket Nozzle - This nozzle allows Mario to blast upwards on a stream of pressurized water after charging up for a brief period of time. He falls without hovering, though he does not take any falling damage. The Rocket Nozzle can be found inside red Nozzle Boxes.
 * Turbo Nozzle - This nozzle allows Mario to move quickly across land or water. Turning is more difficult when using this nozzle on land than using it on water. It rapidly uses up a large amount of water when used on land. It also allows Mario to break through orange and green doors, which are otherwise immovable. The Turbo Nozzle can be found inside gray Nozzle Boxes.

Related articles

 * Water Shooter
 * Fire Cannon
 * Electricity Shooter

Trivia

 * When F.L.U.D.D. scans Mario in Super Mario Sunshine, a little window in the bottom left corner shows short gameplay clips of various Mario games, such as Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, and Super Mario 64. After Bowser is beaten at the end of the game and F.L.U.D.D. is looking at Mario, the window shows the Game Over screen from Mario Bros.. In addition, in the bottom right corner, the titles of several other Mario games that Mario had been in up to and including that point are shown, though they are backwards with no spaces between the words, so they normally cannot be read by the player. The game titles as they are displayed when F.L.U.D.D. scans Mario are as follows: MARIOBROS, SUPERMARIOBROS, SUPERMARIOBROS2, SUPERMARIOBROS3, SUPERMARIOWORLD, SUPERMARIOKIRT, SUPERMARIO64, MARIOKIRT64, and MARIOSUNSHINE ("KART" is misspelled "KIRT" in the game titles for Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64. They might be typos.).
 * During development of Super Mario Sunshine, F.L.U.D.D. was planned to feature a water gun nozzle, but the idea was scrapped due to controversy in the United States at the time.

Reference
Dreckweg 08/17 SPLAC 3000