Boomerang

Boomerangs are weapons carried around by the Boomerang Bros. When thrown, a boomerang will eventually reverse its direction and fly back to the Boomerang Bro that threw it, attempting to injure the player along its path.

The first known appearance of boomerangs in the Mario series was in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Crocodile Mario", which was set in a locale based on Australia, known as Down Under Land. In this episode, Koopa Troopas attacked Mario and Luigi with boomerangs; later on, Mario bent his plumber's helper into a working boomerang of his own, which he dubbed as his "plumberang".

The first game that featured Boomerang Bros. and their weapon of choice was Super Mario Bros. 3. They have since appeared in many different games, including the Paper Mario series and most recently, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga featured a Beanish variety of Boomerang Bro. that wielded brown boomerangs, unlike normal Boomerang Bros., which typically favor white boomerangs.

In Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, there is a special variety of blue boomerangs that Mario can use, which are only made available through use of the e-Reader. While a few Japan-only levels featured blue boomerangs, only one of these was made available in other regions: the World-e level Slidin' the Slopes. Near the end is a Boomerang Bro. with a blue boomerang that is dropped when the enemy is defeated; the player can then pick it up and use it for the remainder of the level, though it disappears upon completion, much like Kuribo's Shoe. Once thrown, the blue boomerang defeats any enemy it touches before returning to Mario, who much catch it using the B button if he hopes to re-use it. There was also an e-Reader card released only in Japan that uploaded a boomerang to the player's inventory; the item worked the same way as the blue boomerangs.

In Mario Superstar Baseball, the Boomerang Bro. player uses a boomerang as a baseball bat.

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, Yoshi can eat Boomerang Bros' Boomerangs. And if Yoshi swallows a Crabber he can spit out his claw and it will act like a boomerang.

Link, Young Link and Toon Link also use boomerang attacks in the Super Smash Bros. series.