Fire Mario

Fire Mario and Fire Luigi (originally known as Fiery Mario ) are the forms Mario and Luigi take after powering up with a Fire Flower. The form was first introduced in Super Mario Bros. and is one of the few forms to appear in more than one game. This form's polar opposite is Ice Mario.

Mario and Luigi have occasionally been able to use fire without Fire Flowers. Mario possessed this ability in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, in the Super Smash Bros. games, and after acquiring the Firebrand skill in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. Luigi, on the other hand, used fire without a Fire Flower in the SSB series and other spin-off games, such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.

Besides Mario and Luigi, other characters have also had fire variants of their own. Wario also made use of a Fire Flower in making a last-ditch attempt to defeat Mario in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad gain fire forms, with Yellow Toad's bearing a color scheme resembling the Super Mushroom's appearance in Super Mario Bros. and the Mega Mushroom. In New Super Mario Bros. U, Miis can become "Fire Miis" as well, and in Nintendo Land, if a red or green Mii plays Yoshi's Fruit Cart, they will resemble Fire Mario and Fire Luigi (respectively) without hats. In Super Mario 3D World, Toad, Princess Peach and Rosalina can make use of Fire Flowers and gain their own fire variants, with Fire Toad's color scheme recycling the color scheme of Yellow Toad's NSMB Wii fire form.

Super Mario Bros. / Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
In the form's first appearance, Super Mario Bros. (and later in the Japan-only sequel, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels), both Mario and Luigi's hats and overalls change to white and their shirts change to red. In Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, however, Fire Luigi has his original normal colors, while in his regular form, his colors are the same as Mario's, but with green replacing red. In the arcade version, Vs. Super Mario Bros, their overalls and hats change to yellow instead of white.

They became Fire Mario or Fire Luigi after coming in contact with a Fire Flower, thus gaining the ability to throw fireballs; there can only be two fireballs on-screen at a time. However, Mario or Luigi will revert back to Small form if they take damage. The fireballs bounce along the ground and can defeat almost all enemies, including otherwise unbeatable ones such as Spinies; they are also Mario and Luigi's only means of attack in underwater stages. Using five fireballs to defeat Bowser and his copies is the only method that yields points (5000 points).

Super Mario Bros. 3
After a brief absence from Super Mario Bros. 2, Fire Mario returned in Super Mario Bros. 3 with one slight change in that Mario and Luigi would both change to an orange colorization instead of their clothing changing. However, this may be because of limitations on the NES, as remakes of the game depict Mario with red overalls and a white hat and shirt and Luigi with green overalls and a white hat and shirt.

This was the first game where, if damage was taken, they would only revert to their Super form. However, in the Japanese version, if Fire Mario or Luigi was hit, they would immediately revert to Small Mario (as in Super Mario Bros.).

Additionally, they were no longer Mario's highest form attainable. Many new power-ups were introduced, and would simply over-ride the Fire form when their items were encountered and utilized.

Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 also grants this form its coin-granting properties from Super Mario World, via scanning the Orange Switch.

Super Mario World
Fire Mario's appearance in Super Mario World was the first time he appeared in-game as depicted in artwork. It was also the first time that Fire Luigi had a different colorization from Fire Mario. They retained all the skills found in earlier releases, with the added ability to throw two fireballs at either side of themselves when using the new Spin Jump move. Also, fireballs turn enemies into coins. However, if the coins are not collected, the enemies will reappear if Mario leaves and revisits the area.

In the Game Boy Advance remake, if Fire Mario/Luigi got damaged, he would change back to their Super form, like in Super Mario Bros. 3; in addition, Luigi's fireballs bounce higher than Mario's.

New Super Mario Bros.
After the release of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Fire Mario did not make another appearance for fourteen years, finally returning in New Super Mario Bros.. Like in Super Mario World, enemies that are destroyed with fireballs will drop coins; otherwise, the form retains its Super Mario Bros. 3 properties, but still retain the current color schemes first seen in Super Mario World.

Super Mario Galaxy
Fire Mario and Fire Luigi make their 3D platformer debut in Super Mario Galaxy, found in the Freezeflame Galaxy, Dusty Dune Galaxy and Deep Dark Galaxy, with a few changes: the form is time-limited instead of being lost by taking damage (which means Mario can be hit and still retain this form), and while Mario can shoot more than two fireballs at a time, he cannot do so underwater. Throwing fireballs also replaces the Spin move.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii
In New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Fire Mario (or Fire Luigi) has the same abilities as in the predecessor. Also, Yellow Toad and Blue Toad can use the Fire Flower, which gives them red-spotted yellow/blue caps, and red vests and pants. In an earlier version of the game, the Toads had white spots instead of the red spots seen in the final version of the game. Fire Mario's polar opposite, Ice Mario, also appears in the game.

Super Mario Galaxy 2
Fire Mario (and Fire Luigi) re-appears from Super Mario Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2 with no changes from the earlier game. Mario can turn into this form in the Rightside Down Galaxy, Freezy Flake Galaxy, Slipsand Galaxy, Upside Dizzy Galaxy and Battle Belt Galaxy. Fire Mario must be used to clear the missions "The Great Crate Incinerator" in the Rightside Down Galaxy, and "Burning Upside Dizzy" in the Upside Dizzy Galaxy, where he must burn all the crates in the time limit.

Super Mario 3D Land
In Super Mario 3D Land, Fire Mario returns once more as one of the forms Mario can obtain. Unlike in Super Mario Galaxy and its sequel, Fire Mario retains its 2D Mario properties. However, the fireballs thrown now bounce off walls and vanish after a while.

New Super Mario Bros. 2
In New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Fire Flower is one of the power-ups that Mario can use, retaining the same effects as in previous games. Additionally, when the player beats a stage as Gold Mario, he or she is turned into Fire Mario.

New Super Mario Bros. U
In New Super Mario Bros. U, Fire Mario reappears, once again functioning as it did in previous games. Of note is that Miis are now capable of using Fire Flowers to become Fire Miis.

New Super Luigi U
In New Super Luigi U, Luigi, Yellow Toad and Blue Toad use the Fire form while Nabbit does not. It functions identically to the way it did in New Super Mario Bros. U.

Super Mario 3D World
In Super Mario 3D World, Fire Mario returns, functioning just like in Super Mario 3D Land, though Mario's overalls are a darker and more solid red than in previous games. This time, Toad, Peach, and Rosalina can also use this form. Toad's colors become similar to Fire Yellow Toad (with a red-spotted yellow mushroom cap and red vest), although his pants don't change color. Peach's dress turns white with red panniers, collar, and dress hem, similar to her sprite in Super Mario Bros., while her hair gets tied back in a ponytail, like in Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario 64 DS, and later Mario spin-off titles, except with a red hairband. Rosalina also has her hair tied back in a ponytail with a red hairband, and her dress becomes a solid red with white dress hem, top flap, and sleeve frills. Stamps of Fire Mario and Fire Peach are available in Fort Fire Bros. and Double Cherry Pass, respectively.

Super Mario Land
While Fire Mario didn't appear in Super Mario Land, a form very similar to it, known as Superball Mario, made its first and only appearance.

Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, the form's appearance was changed again, this time only simply adding a feather to the top of Mario and Wario's caps (most likely due to the Game Boy's inability to display the color difference). Additionally, in the final phase in the battle with Mario, Wario uses a Fire Flower to become, attacking solely by throwing fireballs. But after defeating him, he reverts to Tiny Wario and runs away.

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
In The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, this form is called Super Mario or Super Luigi, since their actual Super forms are their regular forms. They resembled their appearances in Super Mario Bros. and the later Deluxe version (in Luigi's case). Unlike in the games, the forms are given from not only Fire Flowers, but also Starmen, a Magic Pendant, and at one point, a shock from a high voltage. In some instances, the form itself is referred as Fire Power, a name that transitioned into the two following series. As well as granting the Mario Bros. the ability to shoot fireballs, the form endowed them with extra strength, speed, and even the ability to fly. Toad used this form in the episode "The Fire of Hercufleas", and Princess Toadstool turned into this form in "The Trojan Koopa", although she did not shoot fire.

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3
In The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, the form was changed to match its appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3: Mario had an orange colorization and could only shoot fireballs. Bowser, by using the Power Pendant, could also use this form in the episode "Super Koopa".

Super Mario World
In the Super Mario World cartoon, the form's appearance was changed again to match its appearance in Super Mario World and later games. However, the form had very limited screen time in this series; it was only featured in the episodes "Send in the Clown" and "King Scoopa Koopa".

Nintendo Comics System
The Nintendo Comics System never features the fire form; however, the prologue short, "The Legend", has one panel where Luigi throws fireballs at some Beezos, but he is wearing his regular outfit rather than his Fire form colors.

Mario Golf series
Although the actual form itself is not present in the Mario Golf series, Mario and Baby Mario have an alternate color scheme that resembles the outfit. The Fire Flower also appears as one of the Item Shots in the game Mario Golf: World Tour.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games
Though Fire Mario doesn't appear in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, players can purchase a Fire Mario suit for their Miis when buying a random lottery ticket at the Secret Shop.

Mario Tennis Open
In Mario Tennis Open, there is a Fire Mario suit that can be unlocked by turning two characters into star characters.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star
Paper Mario: Sticker Star is the first appearance of Mario's Fire transformation in a Paper Mario game. Whenever a Fire Flower sticker or either of its variants are used, Mario transforms into Fire Mario to attack, by hurling one fireball at all on-screen enemies before reverting back to his normal state.

Mario Kart Arcade GP DX
In Mario Kart Arcade GP DX, Fire Mario appears as a downloadable alternate color scheme for Mario.

Super Smash Bros.
Even though Mario and Luigi can throw fireballs without using a Fire Flower, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, one of their alternate costumes are their Fire forms. Also, in Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, Peach and Rosalina have outfits based on their Fire forms in Super Mario 3D World.

Mario & Luigi series
In the Mario & Luigi series (excluding Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time), the Mario Bros. turn into their Fire forms upon using the Fire Flower as a Bros. Attack.

Super Mario-Kun
Some appearances in Super Mario-Kun include Fire Mario, like when Mario uses a move called the "Fireball Punch". Fire Mario make another appearances in volume 44, as Mario and Luigi, as well as the Toads, must use 30 fireballs to take down Bowser. Yoshi tries too, but mistakes "Fire" for "Tire".

Trivia

 * Charles Martinet at the Nintendo World Store, when interacting as Mario, has claimed that the Fire form is fire-resistant, even though this is not actually true for any game.
 * There are two separate glitches in Super Mario Bros. and the Japanese version of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe in which Mario or Luigi can be Fire Mario or Luigi, respectively, while retaining their Small form.
 * If one listens closely to the Fire Mario theme in both Super Mario Galaxy games, one can faintly hear the Super Star theme playing.