Bucket

A bucket is an object that appears within several games in the Mario franchise, often serving a minor role that varies widely between appearances. It first appears in the Japan-exclusive game Mario & Wario as a central game mechanic; among its other appearances, it also plays a relatively minor role in the Yoshi's Island series of games.

Mario & Wario
In Mario & Wario, the bucket is among the objects used by Wario to obstruct the vision of the protagonists—Princess Peach, Mario, and Yoshi—by dropping them on their heads; Wanda the fairy has to guide the blinded heroes through each of several stages. The Bucket itself is used in the very first stage of the game, Yōsei no Mori, and features Mario's "M" insignia when upright; when turned upside-down while over a character's head, the "M" becomes Wario's "W," referencing his "power" over the character. Later stages outside the EXTRA stages will feature multiple different objects.

Yoshi's Island series
Buckets, also referred to as '''? Buckets', make their debut in the Yoshi franchise in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island''. They tend to appear in fort or castle areas and levels, beginning with Burt The Bashful's Fort. These buckets can be found hanging on walls or ceilings, and the Yoshis can knock them down by throwing an egg at them, producing coins or enemies. Some levels have buckets positioned over a body of water or lava, and knocking them down allows the Yoshi to cross that area using the bucket until they reach the other end.

Buckets also appear in Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Yoshi's Island DS and Yoshi's New Island, serving the same role. There is also a gold bucket variety that doesn't fall down when hit.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
A bucket appears in Moleville in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, where it serves as a hidden warp to the Midas River. If the mole girl standing on top of it is given a Carbo Cookie, she jumps off of the bucket, granting access to the river and the Midas Waterfall Course.

Paper Mario
The bucket (alternatively known as the Marvelous Bucket ) is a key item in Paper Mario. Mario must obtain the bucket from Mayor Penguin of Shiver City after getting the Scarf from Merle in Starborn Valley. After Mario gives each of the items to the snowmen in Shiver Snowfield, the passage to Shiver Mountain will open.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
The bucket from Mario & Wario appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a trophy. It can be obtained from the Lottery or when it appears at random in one of the game's single-player modes.

Mario and the Incredible Rescue
The book Mario and the Incredible Rescue has Mario, Luigi, Yoshi and Toad fighting Wario in Booster Pass. The fight has Wario driving his plane, as he throws Buckets down at the gang. Mario and Yoshi defeat him by jumping up to his plane and placing a Bucket on his head, blinding him and causing him to loose control of his plane and spiral out of view.