Poison (obstacle)

Poison (also known as poisoned water, a Poison Bog,  a Poisoned Bog, or a poisonous bog ) is a liquid hazard found in several Super 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, like 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 (Barrel Bayou, Krockhead Klamber, and Mudhole Marsh), 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 World 5, the forest world. 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 ride and drop in World 3-4. Porcupuffers are resistant to poison.

New Super Mario Bros. U / New Super Luigi U / New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
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 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. As in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Big Wigglers are immune to the poison.

Super Mario 3D World / Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury
Poison makes its next appearance in Super Mario 3D World and its port. The stages in which the hazard mainly appears are Piranha Creeper Creek, Deep Jungle Drift, and their harder counterparts.

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. Poison also appears in several sub-areas in various kingdoms. 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 disappear, 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. Spewart also spits out poison in his battles.

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.

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.

Yoshi's New Island
Poison appears in Yoshi's New Island in the Red Yoshi Star section of Ground Pound Rebound.

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.