Wall painting

Wall paintings are square-shaped stone carvings that appear on the cliffs of Noki Bay in Super Mario Sunshine. During Episode 2 of Noki Bay (The Boss of Tricky Ruins), the Noki elder implies that the wall paintings were created by a civilization that was ruled by the ancient Noki king.

Mario can spray wall paintings with water from FLUDD in order to activate them, which typically causes them and parts of the surrounding cliff face to recede, revealing ruins hidden within the cliffs that act as hidden passageways. Wall paintings are interacted with most extensively on Noki Bay's center left cliff face during The Boss of Tricky Ruins, where they reveal maze-like passageways that allow Mario to ascend to the top of the cliffs to a plateau where he battles Gooper Blooper, but they appear throughout the level as well. The wall paintings on the far left-hand cliff face conceal numerous Blue Coins, as well as a pathway that leads up to a plateau where a Gold Bird can be encountered, while those on the right-hand cliff face mostly conceal empty indents or single coins, one of which is guarded by a Cheep Cheep.

Wall paintings display a large variance in design, with some being simple squares, while others have various abstract designs carved into them.