Cactuar

Cactuars (or Cactaurs) are enemies in the Square Enix Final Fantasy series. However, a Cactuar appears as a playable character in the game Mario Hoops 3-on-3. Other Final Fantasy characters in Mario Hoops are Ninja, Black Mage, White Mage, and Moogle.

It's unlocked by first unlocking Glare Desert, the final court in Star Cup. Then the player must play the court in exhibition mode. A green lump in the ground will eventually appear. The player has to dribble the ball over the bump a few times and Cactuar will pop out of the sand and run away. Afterwords, the player has to win the exhibition match, and when this is done, Cactuar is unlocked.

More Cactuars can be seen in Glare Desert as spectators, and in the game's ending credits, there is a brief scene with six Cactuars and a watermelon-patterned basketball on Sunset Beach.

Cactuar, along with the other Final Fantasy characters returned in the game Mario Sports Mix It is unlocked by winning 60 games or beating it on a secret route of the Star Cup. It has the highest speed stat (depicted by a red stat bar), but its other stats are at their lowest level. However, Cactuar's high speed comes with a high drawback in that it ends up skidding whenever it has to quickly change direction.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 info

 * Baller Name: Sting & Spring
 * Type: Speedy
 * Special Shot: 1000 Needles
 * Letter to Tap: S

Mario Sports Mix info

 * Type: Tricky
 * Power: 1/5
 * Speed: red
 * Technique: 1/5

Cactuar's special shot is 1000 Needles, in which it'll fire needles to briefly stun opponents. In Basketball, it'll use the move and then spin into the hoop while holding the basketball; in Volleyball, it attacks and aims the volleyball at the ground; in Dodgeball, it attacks and aims the dodgeball at opponents; in Hockey, it attacks and then aims the puck at the goal.

Trivia

 * Cactuar slightly resembles the cacti in Spiny Desert from Mario Party 3.
 * Cactuars are often depicted having stiff arms and legs. However, this Cactuar has segmented limbs, making it more flexible than the others; this makes it possible for Cactuar to play sports to begin with.
 * 1000 Needles is an attack that Cactuars often use in the Final Fantasy series. The attack is unique in that it'll always deduct 1000 HP, regardless of the target's defenses.  However, in some games, the move merely cuts the target's HP in half; Ex.: Chocobo's Dungeon.